Article appeared Friday, September 5th, 2014 in The News Today, Bangladesh

The e!elation "#4#$ yo%s%& mahb%b%l 'slam, (h)

's it possible to de&ine the phrase *the +reator,- To start o&&, we may loo. %p the de&initions
gi!en in dictionaries and/or encyclopedias0 The website {1} that promotes 1ebster2s New 1orld
+ollege )ictionary gi!es the &ollowing de&inition3
4od5 the S%preme Being5 the deity that created the world5 a god who created the
6ni!erse7 {1}
The website {2} &or the 8acmillan dictionary gi!es,
the Almighty7 {2}
8%slims, on the other hand, %se the term *Allah, to re&er to the Almighty, i.e., the +reator o& the
6ni!erse0 't is interesting to note that Arab +hristians %sed the same term Allah to re&er to the
+reator since pre9'slamic times {3}0 1hile ic. Brown, a +hristian Bible Scholar, sheds light on
the non-Trinitarian concept o& the term Allah {4}, i.e., that it re&ers to a single, %ni:%e, indi!id%al,
all9encompassing deity, there remains a lot o& debate on what the *name, o& the deity is0 The
*name, debate, in which 8%slims also seem to ta.e part, o&ten s%ggests *ownership, by a
religio%s gro%p, e.g., who owns the term Allah0 'n the heated debates, what is o&ten o!erloo.ed
is the p%rpose o& *words,, i.e., the sense, the concept, theme or logic that the word represents0
To help clari&y the logic behind the terms, the +reator or the name Allah, one may &orm%late a
&ew :%estions, e.g., can created beings become owners o& their creator or con!ersely does the
+reator own the beings that ;e has created- A parallel :%estion co%ld be, can a car own the
man%&act%rer or does the man%&act%rer own the car- A man%&act%rer can sell the car, p%t the
car into a showroom or %se the car in a race < at will0 +an the car debate its %se or e!en debate
what to call the man%&act%rer, e.g., ma.er, man%&act%rer, prod%cer, cra&ter, &ashioner, designer,
etc.? 1o%ld debating change the &act that the car is man%&act%red and/or s%bstit%te the
man%&act%rer- The most recent e!elation, the =%r2an g%ides %s regarding names and
attrib%tes o& the deity 1ho has created %s0
Say3 >+all %pon Allah or call %pon Rahman3 by whate!er name yo% choose to call %pon
;im5 for to Him belong the Most Beautiful Names ?1@0110A
The highest and the most bea%ti&%l :%alities belong to the Bne who has created %s0 The Arabic
word, *ahman, is an eCample o& s%ch a bea%ti&%l name or attrib%te0 Translators o&ten translate
Rahman as *The Bene&icent, The 8ost 8erci&%l in Dssence, The +ompassionate, The 8ost
4racio%s7,, while the meaning deri!ed &rom the =%r2an itsel& s%ggests imploring *the power,
the a%thority and the all9encompassing might o& Allah, glory to ;im as the highest,, when the
name is in!o.ed0 The name encompasses the meaning o& all the attrib%tes that are eCcl%si!ely
;is as The AlmightyE,{5}
ather than debate what name the +reator sho%ld be addressed by, more appropriate and
rele!ant &or h%man beings wo%ld be to wor. o%t the p%rpose o& their creation0 For eCample, why
has the +reator created h%man beings who can read, write, interpret and analyFe concepts- To
cite an eCample &rom the =%r2an, Allah eCplains 1ho ;e is3
Allah is ;e, other than 1ho there is no deity, the So!ereign, the (%re, the (er&ection,
the Bestower o& Faith, the B!erseer, the DCalted in 8ight, the +ompeller, the S%preme0
4lory to AllahE High is He above the partners that the attribute to Him. ?5G02#A
1ho other than indi!id%al h%man beings can analyFe the attrib%tes or :%alities o& Allah, attach
logic and lin. each word to daily li&e- 't is only the intelligence o& h%man beings that can
*!is%aliFe, the meaning o& the attrib%tes gi!en in the Herse abo!e0 For eCample, i& ;e has
created h%man intelligence that can process words, attach meaning and mentally !is%aliFe,
does ;e deser!e o%r praise and appreciation- +o%ld we imagine a scientist creating a brain
with a capacity similar to a h%man being- '& it were possible, wo%ld the scientist deser!e praise-
So the p%rpose o& a h%man being is to apply his/her intelligence to recogniFe and appreciate the
%nseen +reator < ;is (owers and =%alities, lo!e ;im and be grate&%l0 'nstead o& &%l&illing this
p%rpose, sho%ld h%man beings imagine that other obIects, things or beings to ha!e power "o!er
their li!es$ other than the +reator- For eCample, once we ha!e realiFed the concept o& the
+reator and ;is creation, sho%ld we,
Say3 >(raise be to Allah 1ho begets no son and has no partner in ";is$ dominion3 nor
"needs$ ;e anyone to protect ;im &rom h%miliation3 es, magnif Him for His !reatness
an" !lor#$ ?1@0111A
Anything that we imagine has power o!er o%r li!es is a potential partner0 '& we %se o%r
intelligence to assign powers to obIects or beings other than Allah, ;e warns,
10.28 One Day, We shall gather them all together. Then We shall say to those
who o!ne" go"s w!th #llah, $To yo%r &ass!gne"' (la)e, yo% an" those yo% o!ne"
as *(artners+.$ We shall se(arate them, an" the!r $(artners$ w!ll "eny the!r
worsh!( an" say, $,t was not %s that yo% worsh!(e"-$
'nanimate obIects s%ch as l%c.y charms ha!e no senses I%st as h%man beings who ha!e died
cannot listen to those praying to them0 There&ore they will say,
10.2. /no%gh !s #llah 0or a w!tness 1etween %s an" yo%2 we certainly knew
nothing of your worship of us!
10.30 There e3ery so%l w!ll 1e g!3en the 0r%!ts o0 the "ee"s !t "!"2 e3eryone w!ll
1e 1ro%ght 1a)4 to #llah, the!r r!ght0%l 5or". The!r !n3ente" 0alsehoo"s w!ll lea3e
them 1eh!n" &w!tho%t s%((ort'.
Allah in!o.es o%r intelligence and as.s who is it that s%stains and s%pports each h%man being-
'& it is Allah, is there anybody or anything else that we sho%ld &eel has power o!er o%r li!es-
1hat does o%r intelligence say-
10.31 #s42 $Who !s !t that s%sta!ns yo% &!n l!0e' 0rom the s4y an" 0rom the earth6
Or who !s !t that has (ower o3er hear!ng an" s!ght6 #n" who !s !t that 1r!ngs o%t
the l!3!ng 0rom the "ea" an" the "ea" 0rom the l!3!ng6 #n" who !s !t that r%les an"
reg%lates all a00a!rs6$ They w!ll soon say $#llah.$ Then as4, $W!ll yo% not then
show (!ety &e7)l%s!3ely to 8!m'6$
10.32 9%)h !s #llah, yo%r real :her!sher an" 9%sta!ner; other than the Tr%th what
&rema!ns' 1%t error6 8ow then "o yo% a3o!" the tr%th6
99999
{<otes}3
{1} http3//www0yo%rdictionary0com/creator
{2} http3//www0macmillandictionary0com/thesa%r%s/british/creatorJcreatorKL
{3} http3//en0wi.ipedia0org/wi.i/Allah
{4} http3//www0iI&m0org/()FsK'MF8/2#K2K()Fs/BrownK1ho'sAllah0pd&
{5} http3//www0:%ran9islam0org/articles/al9rahmanK"(11@2$0html