ISLAM

Articles of faith

GOD

Islam's most fundamental concept is a rigorous monotheism, called tawḥīd (Arabic: توحيد‎). God is described in chapter 112 of the Qur'an as:^[26]"Say: He is God, the One and Only; God, the Eternal, Absolute; He begetteth not, nor is He begotten; And there is none like unto Him."(112:1-4) Muslims and Jews repudiate the Christian doctrine of the Trinity and divinity of Jesus, comparing it to polytheism. In Islam, God is beyond all comprehension and Muslims are not expected to visualize God.^{[27][28][29][30]} God is described and referred to by certain names or attributes, the most common being Al-Rahmān, meaning "The Compassionate" and Al-Rahīm, meaning "The Merciful" (See Names of God in Islam).^[31]

Muslims believe that the creation of everything in the universe was brought into being by God's sheer command, "'Be' and so it is,"^[32] and that the purpose of existence is to worship God.^[33] He is viewed as a personal god who responds whenever a person in need or distress calls him.^[34] There are no intermediaries, such as clergy, to contact God who states, "I am nearer to him than (his) jugular vein."^[35] The reciprocal nature is mentioned in the hadith qudsi, "I am as My servant thinks (expects) I am."^[36]

Allāh is the term with no plural or gender used by Muslims and Arabic-speaking Christians and Jews to reference God, while ʾilāh (Arabic: إله‎) is the term used for a deity or a god in general.^[37] Other non-Arab Muslims might use different names as much as Allah, for instance "Tanrı" inTurkish, "Khodā" in Persian or Ḵẖudā in Urdu.