h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

Muslims believe that the only way we can know anything about God is through what He has chosen to reveal to us.

At a basic level, we know that He is Unique, He is our Creator and we must 'worship' Him alone. ('Worship' has a particular meaning in Islam.) His proper name is Allah (probably a contraction of the Arabic 'al-Ilah', lit. 'the God').

The importance of a proper understanding and perspective, as much as is humanly possible, cannot be understated, and the central theme of Islam. This is discussed under the name 'Tawheed' (a verbal noun meaning 'to make one'). It is a subject of enormous depth. There are a number of approaches to this, but one of the most common is to discuss Tawheed in three aspects: the unique lordship of God, the worship of God, and His unique names and attributes.

The unique lordship of God is the understanding that He alone created everything, He alone sustains Creation and He alone controls all things.

The unique worship of God means that He alone should be worshipped. Worship here essentially means doing as He commands, and following someone else or our desires in preference.

His unique Names and Attributes give us some understanding of His qualities and power. Amongst these are:

'Al-Rahman' - the Most Merciful
'Al-Razaq' - the One Who provides sustenance
'Al-Khaliq' - the Creator
'Al-Azeez' - the All-Powerful
'Al-Aleem' - the All-Knowing
'Al-Hakeem' - the Most Wise

Nothing can be compared to God. In His Names the Arabic word 'al', meaning 'the', is vital. A person can be 'Hakeem' - wise, but only God can be 'Al-Hakeem' - the Most Wise. Even the English translation causes a problem, because 'Most Wise' is a comparison, whereas nothing can be compared to God; 'Al-Hakeem' in Arabic conveys intensity.

Practising Muslims are very reverent when referring to God, and do not make jokes about Him.

Finally, three short quotes from the Qur'an, the Word of God, where He tells us something about him:

"Say, He is Allah, (who is) One,
Allah, the Eternal Refuge,
He neither begets nor is born,
And there is none comparable to Him."
(chapter 112)

"Allah - there is no deity except Him,
the Ever-Living,
the Sustainer of all-Existence.
Neither drowsiness overtakes him nor sleep.
To Him belongs whatever is in the heavens
and whatever is on the earth.
Who is there that can intercede with Him
except by His permission.
He knows what is (presently) before them
and what will be after them,
and they encompass not a thing of His knowledge
except for what He wills.
His Kursi extends over the heavens and the earth,
And their preservation tires him not.
And He is the Most High, the Most Great."
(chapter 2, verse 255)

"He is Allah,
other than Whom there is no deity,
knower of the unseen and seen.
He is the Most Merciful, the Especially Merciful.
He is Allah,
Other than Whom there is no deity,
the Sovereign, the Pure, the Perfection,
the Bestower of Faith, the Overseer, the Exalted in Might,
the Compeller, the Supreme.
Exalted is Allah above whatever they associate with Him.
He is Allah,
the Creator, the Inventor, the Fashioner;
to Him belong the best names.
Whatever is in the heavens and the earth is exalting Him.
And He is the Exalted in Might, the Wise.

Oops!

The key word 'not' is missing before the word 'following' in the 5th paragraph. Serious blunder. Sorry!

I think you have the makings of your own entry here.


I thought that Jews, Christians and Muslims believed in the same God?

Essentially they do, but their understanding of God differs because of their different sources.

Of course, from my point of view, Islam corrects the errors of understanding that the 'People of the Book' (Jews and Christians) have.

it is not comonly known, but god actually has a name. this name is written in the bible and the quran. this name is Jehovah.
"Jehovah" is translated from the hebrew Tetragrammaton, four hebrew letters represented in many languages by the letters JHVH or YHWH.
It is the greatest name of god because it is his personal name. His own self-designation. Unlike other names which are tiles,
e.g. like 'doctor' or 'mister'.
its meaning is, literally,:'he causes to become'. -he causes his purpose to become a reality.

the hebrew pronunciation is 'yahweh'.
actually, the meaning of the word 'god' is powerful or mighty one.

'Jehovah' is a bit made up, because as you said the original Hebrew is (transliterated) YHWH. Muqtadee can correct me if I'm wrong, but Hebrew has similarities with Arabic. The vowels for this word are not found in the original texts, which is why some Jewish scholars say the word should not be pronounced.

nod - an entry on Islam would be a valuable addition to the guide. In the meantime some of what you've written here will hopefully be used in the collaborative entry. Excellent stuff.

Muqtadee, thank you for sharing with us.

I am moved by the beauty of your translation, and finally -- speechless.

Salaam,

-Joe G.

Thanks for the kind words. I hope I'll be able to find time to contribute some articles about Islam. I'm afraid I can't take credit for the translations from the Qur'an -- I have some good references here on my desk!

On the issue of the word "Jehovah", prior to the sixteenth century it was unheard of in that form. Whenever the origin of this word appeared in its true Hebrew form in Jewish Scriptures (read from right to left as in Arabic) Yet, Huh, Wav, Huh (or YHWH) these four letters were preceded by a substitute word "Adonai," to warn the reader that the following word was not to be articulated. The Jews took meticulous care in repeating this exercise in their "Book of God" six thousand, eight hundred and twenty-three times -- interpolating the words "Adonai" or "Elohim." They sincerely believed that this awesome name of God was never to be pronounced. This prohibition was no ordinary affair: it called for a penalty of death on one who dared to utter it.

The letters Y H W H occur in the Hebrew (Jewish) Scriptures 6,823 times, and it occurs in combination with the word "Elohim". 156 times in the booklet called Genesis alone. This combination YHWH/ELOHIM is consistently translated in the English Bible as "Lord God".

As for the pronunciation, since it is not known in Hebrew because it was avoided for centuries, perhaps the only recourse is to seek the aid in Arabic, which as Kaeori implied is a sister language. Racially and linguistically, the Arabs and the Jews have a common origin, going back to Abraham.

Just a note... the practice of stoning people to death for pronouncing the forbidden name of God came pretty late to the practice of Judaism, after the rebuilding of the temple by Cyrus the great. Prior to the sacking of Judah by Nebuchadnezzar, jewish culture was pretty much just a regular old run-of-the-mill culture with a regular old run-of-the-mill god. Cyrus rebuilt it into the draconian theocracy most of us are familiar with, apparently for the greater glory of the Zoroastrian demiurge. Since the holy writings of the jews were rather thoroughly revised around this period, it seems likely that the revisions you've noted were made then as well.

As I have it, the closest possible literal translation of "yahweh" into English is "I am that I am".

'Jehovah' is the accepted form of of the name in english.
though the true pronunciation is unknown.