Islamiyat · Oct / Nov 2020 · Paper 22 · Question 4

Write a detailed account of belief in:

God as Supreme Lord and Master of all Creation:

Belief in God’s Lordship and Supremacy means that both heavens and earth and all that is in between them and beyond belongs to God.

He alone is the Master who created everything that exists from nothingness and everything is dependent on him for their existence and continuation. He alone has the power to bring them all to an end and to bring them to life again. Belief in His supremacy means to acknowledge Him alone as the supreme lawgiver, absolute judge and legislator and to submit to His laws and regulations.

God alone is entitled to worship:

In Islam, God’s right to be worshipped cannot be questioned.

God has the exclusive right to be worshipped both inwardly and outwardly, by one’s heart, body and soul.

No one can be worshipped other than Him or alongside Him.

God is known by His most beautiful names and attributes

The names of God reflect His majesty, power and perfection. His attributes are unique and all-encompassing. Amongst his 99 names are: Al-Qawee, Al-Ahad, Al-Aleem, Ar-Rahman etc.

Muslims start their day and tasks with the name of God and before every task remind themselves of His mercy.

Forgiveness is an important dimension of human relationship with God. God in His mercy forgives all those who turn to Him in repentance. He is the Forgiver, Al-Ghafur and Oft-forgiving, Al-Ghaffar.

As He alone is perfect no one else should be named or qualified with the names or qualifications of God.

Attributing God’s qualities to another deity or human is shirk.

Why is the declaration of faith (Shahadah) at the core of Islam?

It could be said that in Islam only God is worthy of worship and the essence of Islam is bearing witness to the phrase, La Ilaha ill-Allah, there is no god but Allah.

This testimony to belief is the axis around which Islam revolves and all the other Pillars follow on from it.