From: irfan@apollo.ece.wisc.edu (Irfan Alan)
Newsgroups: soc.religion.islam
Subject: RE: non-muslim seeking info
Date: 14 Aug 92 22:42:19 GMT
Reply-To: Irfan Alan <irfan@apollo.ece.wisc.edu>
Originator: gwydion@churchy.gnu.ai.mit.edu

I would like to post the transcripts of an Islamic Point of View
most of which presented in the dialogues held between Muslims and Christians
in Madison, WI.  Two of these dialogues were held in June 91 and the other two 
in Feb 92 and all were arranged by the Intervarsity Christian Fellowship 
organization in Madison.

I was planning to post these transcripts part by part in the nets.
Yet due to your request, I felt that rather an urgent response is necessary.
Therefore, I will not (ALLAH WILLING) divide them into sections eventhough
it is a quite long posting. 

Therefore, I am now sending one of these transcripts which I think you need most.

The dialogue was titled as

"The Oneness and Uniqueness of God, and The Purpose of Creation" 

The transcript of the Islamic point of view presented in that dialouge 
almost covers a quite deal of the most essential and needed information 
for you to start with in understanding the basic creed of the belief 
system in Islam.

Later I am willing to send the transcripts of the other dialogues, also.  
In actuality, I had posted the transcript of the first of 
these dialogue series in 5 parts with the title 

"THE QUR'AN AND THE BIBLE: Dialogue Between Christians and Muslims"

If you did not have access to those postings, please tell me so that
I can post them again for you.  

I am going to give some adresses (ALLAH WILLING) that you can ask free 
literature about Islam, also.  I don't have theose addresses with me now.

With best wishes.
Irfan Alan.

-------------------------------------------------------------------------
Orginized by Intervarsity Christian Fellowship 
in Madison, WI on Feb 92.

Christian Speaker: Chawkat Mucharry, Arab Christian,
                   Ph.D. Student in Theology in France
Muslim Speaker   : Muhammad Kahraman, Turkish Muslim,
                   Ph.D. Student in Electrical Engineering
                   in University of Wisconsin-Madison 

You will find in the following posting a transcript of the Islamic 
point of view on the subject of 

"TAWHEED IN ISLAM (The Oneness and Uniqueness of the Creator), 
and the PURPOSE OF CREATION."  

Most of this transcript is presented in the mentioned dialogue.

IN THE NAME OF ALLAH; THE MOST GRACIOUS AND THE MOST MERCIFUL
-----------------------------------------------------------------------


TAWHEED IN ISLAM  (The Oneness and Uniqueness of the Creator),
and  the PURPOSE OF CREATION.

A Lecture Presenting the Islamic Point of View in a Dialogue
with Christians.

 STATEMENT OF INTENTION

"Invite (all) to the way of your Lord with wisdom and beautiful
instruction;  and reason with them in ways that are best and
most gracious:"  (Qur'an 16:125)

 "Say: O People of the Book!  Come to common terms as between us
and you: That we worship none but Allah; That we associate no
partners with Him; That we erect not, from among ourselves, 
Lords and patrons other than Allah. If then they turn back,  Say
(you):'Bear witness that  we at least are Muslims bowing to
Allah's Will.  (Qur'an 2:64.)

 O U T L I N E 

1	Creation as a Sign to the One Creator

2	The Oneness and Uniqueness of  Allah

3	The Purpose of Creation, and Human's Duty

4	A Discussion of a Misgiving

5	Rejection of Pauline Doctrine of Faith

6	How do We understand the Names of Allah?

7	Why Association of Partners with Allah is Condemned? 


In the Name of Allah, the Merciful, the Compassionate 


Creation as a Sign to the One Creator
*************************************
Allah says in the Qur'an:

"... 'Is there any doubt about Allah, Creator of the heavens and
the earth?'"  (Qur'an 14:10)  

Through the use of this rhetoric question, there cannot and
should not be any doubt that the creation of the heavens and the
earth only belongs to Almighty Allah.  The nature or causes or
other claimed partners have no share in creating the universe.

"And among His Signs is the creation of the heavens and the
earth, and the variations in your languages and your colors;
verily In that are Signs for those who know"  (Qur'an 30:22)

With these and many verses like them, the All-Wise Qur'an
presents the creation of the heavens and the earth as obvious
witnesses to Allah's Oneness.  Willingly or not, anyone with
conscious and intelligence will be compelled to affirm the
Glorious Creator because of the very way that the heavens and
the earth are created.  

Allah says in the Qur'an, the Miraculous Exposition:

"Do not the unbelievers see that the heavens and the earth were
joint together, before we clove them asunder?  We made from
water every living thing.  Will they not then believe?" (Qur'an
21:30)

"The heaven, We have built it with power, verily We are
expanding it." (Qur'an 51:47)

The information given in these verses of the Qur'an are more
than 14 centuries old.  Now, today true science is gradually
unfolding these facts.

When the universe fastens our gaze on its face, we see at first
a universal order, tranquility, a comprehensive and sensitive
equilibrium.  Everything is well placed within a precise balance
and measure.  Then we look more carefully, and observe that such
precision in measuredness, and balance is in fact dynamic, in
continuous change.  Everything is a model on which various
purposeful designs are clothed.  When we further study it , a
wisdom and justice appear behind that ordering and precision. 
We understand that a purpose and benefit is intended in the
motion of everything, even the minutest particles.  

If we think more on our findings, we realize that we are faced
with a demonstration of a power behind an extremely wise
activity, and display of a most comprehensive knowledge to which
the functioning of all things belong.  That is to say, One
Powerful Over All Things and Knowledgable of All Things makes
Himself known to the intellect behind the curtain of this
universe.

As all these examples demonstrate, the Qur'an the Miraculous
Exposition is allied with the Book of Creation, the universe. 
It is therefore, that Islam always stays alive and shows its
potential even more as science unfolds more of the true
knowledge. 


The Oneness and Uniqueness of The Creator
*****************************************

The distinguishing features of individual things and identifying
marks on everyone, all the differences in faces, voices, and
languages, also occur only through His Knowledge and Wisdom. 
There is a sign in this to the Oneness and Uniqueness of Allah.

Face Example
------------
While each single, isolated thing is in a hesitant, bewildered,
and shapeless form among innumerable possible ways, they are
suddenly given a most well-ordered and wise aspect of identity,
a definitive individuality. 

For example, each human face has its unique characteristics
which differ from all other faces, yet there is also unity in
the way every face is shaped.  

The former quality is a manifestation of Uniqueness of the
Creator whereas the latter looks to His Oneness.  The one who
does not know, all at once, the exact qualities of all faces
from the first human to the last cannot give such a
differentiation among them.  

Furthermore, the very resemblance of faces (i.e., two eyes, two
ears, a nose with two holes, mouth structure, etc.) is a clear
proof that the One who gives such a perfect form to one face
also gives their forms to all faces.

The differentiation of the creation is the signature of the
Uniqueness of Allah, whereas the harmony and coherence among the
creation is the signature of Oneness. 

Soldier Example
----------------
If all beings are not attributed to a single being, it becomes
necessary to ascribe a single little thing to innumerable
causes, and then the existence of a single thing becomes as
difficult as all beings.  Then a fruit becomes as difficult as
the universe, in fact more difficult.  

For example, just as the management of one soldier is given to a
hundred different people, a hundred difficulties arise. 
However, if thousands of soldiers are given to the direction of
one officer, they are as easy to manage as one soldier.  

The coinciding of numerous different causes in the creation of a
single thing is difficult to the millionth degree.  

Given to One All-Powerful Creator, creating all is as easy as
creating one. 

Particle Example
-------------------
If every particle is not an official of Allah acting with His
permission and under His authority, and if it is not undergoing
change within His Knowledge and Power, then every particle must
have infinite knowledge and limitless power, it must have eyes
that see everything, a face that looks to all things, and
authority over all things... Indeed, a particle despite being
powerless and lifeless by carrying out its important duties
consciously and by raising mighty loads bears decisive witness
to the existence of the Necessarily Existent One.

Individual motions and duties of each particle is the signature
of the Uniqueness of Allah.  They show His Absolute Will and
Power.  Whereas the unity in purpose, correlation, and
cooperation of billions of particles acting in a mutual way to
serve one function is the signature of the Oneness of Allah, and
show His Absolute Knowledge and Power. 


The Purpose of the Creation
****************************
The Glorious Creator of this universe makes Himself known to
thinking beings through all His beautiful works, and bestows
precious favors of life upon them in order that they should
adore and fully submit to Him.  

For the fulfillment of the purpose in Creating all the Worlds
and the Human, Allah surely sends envoys to communicate to them
His Will, His Great Design, and His Commands; to teach them His
Names and Attributes; to show them the means of attainment of
His acceptance, and to teach them the ways of giving thanks to
Him with appreciation of His Beautiful Names and their
manifestations.

The Creator of the worlds has adorned the universe with endless
kinds of wonders and ornaments, and then settled His thinking
creatures in it in order that they should travel therein to
ponder over His works of beauty.  

He, being the Absolute Wise, communicates to the spectators
through His Prophets and revelations describing to them the
meanings and the values of His creation and His wondrous works. 

The Owner of the Worlds has endowed human, the fruit of the
creation, with many faculties, and prepared them for a
comprehensive submission and worship.  Human becomes the fruit
of the creation because of 

The very purpose of their creation as stated in the Qur'an:
-----------------------------------------------------------

Allah says in the Qur'an:

"I created the jinn and humankind only that they might worship
Me.  I seek no sustainance from them, nor do I ask that they
should feed Me."  (Qur'an 51:56-57)

But as human is addicted to the world and to the multitude of
its objects through their self-desires, Allah determines for
them a Law of High Conduct and sends His Prophets to exemplify
and transmit His Law.  

In this way human are not left to the winds of their inner
desires and misgivings of their unguided intellects.  Rather,
they are directed with wisdom to use their given faculties and
desires in the described and the most useful ways without going
into extremes, and thus ruining their purpose in this life as
humans.  Their senses and attention are diverted from the
multitude to the One Creator, and from transient creation to the
Everlasting One.

As we see, the purpose of creation is so much attached to the
Exalted Attributes and Names of the Glorious Creator and such a
purpose with all its fruits belongs to the Creator. 

Disobedience or removal of sins, in contrast, being attached to
the low meanings, and connected to nothingness, are far distant
from being the purpose of creation.  

Lets then all be certain of this:

The highest aim of creation and its most important result
is belief in Allah (Imani billah) and His Beautiful Names in 
certainty (Marifetullah).  

The most brightest happiness and sweetest bounty for human
is the love of Allah as a result of realizing the manifestations 
of His Beautiful Names (Muhabbetullah).  

The purest joy for the human heart and the sheerest delight
is to fully submit to Allah (Ibadullah, ittakullah).  

Indeed;  all true happinesses, pure joys, sweet bounties, 
and untroubled pleasures can only be attained through submission 
to Him. For any other purpose, everything becomes meaningless,
transient, and destined to annihilation. 


How does a Muslim believe in Allah.
===================================
A Muslim affirms the Existence of One Creator by sound judgement
and contentment coming from the certainty of knowledge of
Allah's Attributes, and thus fully submits to Allah's Will
(iman=belief).  A true declaration of faith in Allah is not just to say
'There must be a God', and then divide up His sovereignty among
causes and nature, associate His absolute Attributes to the
number of causes and intermediaries, to fail to perceive His
Absolute Will and Knowledge as present with all things; to
refuse to acknowledge His Commands, to belittle or reject His
prophets, and not to make sincere repentance, seek pardon, and
feel genuine regret for every disobedience.

Not denying is one thing, believing and affirming is something
completely different.  The declaration of a Muslim by saying
"There is no god but Allah, and He has no partners" carries an
affirmation by heart and mind in the way taught by the Qur'an
the Miraculous Exposition.

Actually, Jesus (AS) also encouraged his followers to have
certainty in their belief in the Creator through wisdom and
contentment of the heart and the mind.  He facilitated
understanding of his people by appealing to their wisdom and
thinking through many simple stories and examples. Matt.7:24

As Muslims we want to show  that the real religion of Jesus (AS)
is contained in the Qur'an. 

If four people who have arrived via four different routes all
speak of the same event, it suggests, with a certainty born out
of unanimity, that event definitely occurred.  Thus, although
their ways, dispositions, abilities, circumstances, and times
were all completely different, all the prophets of Allah,
starting from the prophet Adam (AS), up to the last prophet
Muhammad (ASM), all authentic revelations give this unique
message:

"That there is no god but Allah; He is One, He has no partner."

Indeed, this is the message of Moses (A.S.):  "Hear, O Israel:
The Lord our God is One Lord." (Deuteronomy 6:14)..The same
message is shared by Jesus (AS) with identical words, 13
centuries after Moses (AS).  The last Messenger of Allah,
Muhammed (AS) delivered the same message with all its proofs and
gave all the truth:

"In the Name of Allah, the Merciful, the Compassionate

Say: He is Allah, The One and Only.  Allah, the Eternally
Besought , Absolute;

He begets not, nor is He begotten; And there is none like unto
Him." (Qur'an 112)

All the perfections of the Glorious Creator, the All-Powerful
Creator are true perfections, His Names and Attributes are
absolute.  All things other than Him are contingent, whereas He
is the Necessarily Existent; all things are all created and have
a beginning and an end, whereas He is the Creator, with no
beginning, with no end, Ever-enduring (does not change, His
knowledge does not  increase or decrease.); all things are
recipient and dependent, whereas He is the Source, and Provider
of all needs, and He Himself depends on nothing nor is He in
need of anything.

Moreover, qualities pertaining to material, contingent, dense,
numerable, restricted and limited beings are that of change,
decay, transformation, division, and localization.  Therefore,
can such consequences of weakness and contingency in any way
touch the Most Pure and Most High Allah Who is far beyond
matter, Who is Necessarily Existent, Who is the Light of Lights,
and Who is Unique with nothing like unto Him?  He is free from
any restriction or limitation, exalted above all, and pure of
any fault or deficiency?  Could impotence in any way be fitting
to Him? Could any defect approach His splendor and glory?  No,
thousands No! No Need For Partners

Since, we all see, that the creation of the heaven and the earth
witnesses to the Creator whose Power is absolute, there is
absolutely no need of partners and such a Power does not accept
any partnership.  

In other words, Allah is in no way in need of any associates or
channels.  Moreover, as both He and His Creating the universe
with no sense of difficulty, requires no partners to His
Absolute Lordship, so, too, the continuity, sustenance, and
guidance of the universe is infinitely distant from any need of
associates.

So, since Allah is in need of nothing, why do some people take
the difficult and dark paths?  Why is it that they feel
constraint to take those paths which lead to blasphemy?  But,
specially how come do Christians accept such false claims about
God?  Why do they think Jesus -Son of Mary- is their god?  What
makes Jesus (AS) their creator and creator of the universe? 

Let's consider two points. 

First point:  The mind, lingual ability, and hearing of human
are little and constrained; therefore, he can only accomplish
one thing at a time.  And also the value and the quality of
human are as much as his endeavors.  The degree of his endeavors
is proportional to his purpose and the things with which he is
dealing. In the view of this point, an insignificant and a small
task cannot be given to a high person, because he would not
lower himself to do that nor his endeavor can fit in that task. 
His endeavor is heavy and that thing is light; therefore, the
balance spoils.  Similarly, an overwhelming task cannot be taken
by a limited person, either.

Second point:  Whenever human tries to understand a thing, he
would seek its fundamentals and similarities in himself; if he
cannot find them, he would search their similarities in his
environment or in his kind.

Such a procedure which applies only to contingent beings breaks
down when it is used to understand the Necessary-Existent
Creator, Who does not resemble any created, contingent being. 
Then this procedure becomes misleading.  In no way, the Creator,
the Owner of Glory, can be considered regarding these two points
since there is no constraint to His power (Contrary to
creatures). His Power, Knowledge, and Will are all-embracing,
universal, and cannot be restricted.  As He has relations with
the bigger objects, He also has relations with the smallest and
insignificant things.  All of his creation is the indicator to
His Greatness and Perfection, and, yet, nothing can be a measure
or scale to His power.  Hence comparing the Necessary-Existent
Creator with the contingent things is irrational.  

Because of this, following groups were mislead: naturalists
considered that causes have the power to create their effects,
school of Mutezile thought that the animals are creating their
voluntary actions, philosophers thought that the Knowledge and
Will of Allah does not penetrate into the small things, and
fireworshippers believed that the creation of evil belong to
another god.  Christians also make this mistake; by thinking
that Almighty God's Attributes are like man's attributes, and
compare them.  They give the attributes of the Necessary
Existent Creator to a created, dependent, contingent, and
restricted being.  By doing so, they make the teachings and the
high status of Jesus (AS) himself as a mighty messenger of Allah
obsolete.  The truth is strong, transparent, and pure as it
stands, it is already beautiful as is; any attempt to exaggerate
it, or to try to beautify it weakens it and shadows it.   

A Question:
 If one in confusion asks, 'The creation means giving existence
which always comes with dissipation.  We are not able to imagine
the existence from a state of absolute nothing and annihilation
from a state of existence'. 

Answer:  
O you! your difficulty and confusion in this matter are 
the imaginary results of a tricky analogy.  
That is, you compare the creation (out of nothing, icad)
 nd creation (out of a composition, ibda) of Allah with 
the acquired works of human.  However, the hands of
any servant can neither give death nor life to a particle,
maybe, he has an earning or a work only on the conventional
affairs and deals with the compositions.  

Yes, this analogy is tricky, and human mind cannot get rid of it
easily.  

Bottom line: Human did not see a force or a power of
some creature such that it creates someting from nothing and
annihilate something.  Whereas, his intelligent judgements comes
from his observation.  This is always his method.  That is, he
is looking at the arts of Allah from direction of creatures;
whereas, he has to look at the whole universe from the point of
view of the power of the Creator who is indicated by His awesome
arts.  Thus he looks at the matter by assuming a creator with a
power which he has in his imagination.  Exactly, here, he makes
the mistake: because the kind of powers he imagines are the
limited powers of the contingent things having no role in
creation except being positioned in compositions.  Whereas we
have to look from the direction of Necessary-Existence and from
the point of view of Absolute Power.  
This needs some examples:

Mountain Example:  
----------------
It is difficult to move a mountain.  Yes. 
Yes, if you go try to use your hands.  But what if you had a
pivot.  Then you can put one mountain on the left and another on
the right.  So an effort as small as a nut will move the
mountains quite easily.  Conceptually mountain's weight and
difficulty in matter ceased.  Similarly, you can move two
balloons with the same nut-effort as easy as moving the
mountains.  So matter and weight lose its effect.  If you ask
where the pivot is, then think of the earth hanging in the air! 
or by the same token, the whole universe!  Idea is remoteness
from any characteristic of the contingency, being not subject to
the characteristics and difficulties of corporeality.
Electricity and light example:  At its face, solid is
impenetrable.  Yes.  Yes, if you want to penetrate materially. 
But what if you are electricity in solid copper, or light in
solid glass.  Conceptually, things are rigid in one way are
totally obedient in a different way.  So all the matter, all
contingency, or everything in the universe, matter, fire, or
light are obedient to the Laws of Creation. They are not
resistive nor is there any characteristic in them to resist. 
Idea is remoteness from any characteristic of the contingency,
being not subject to the characteristics and difficulties of
corporeality.  Here one should think about what in the world
electricity and light are. Absence of Partnership

Let's elaborate little more.  Since partners are absent, and
their existence is impossible, to claim otherwise is arbitrary
imagination.  That is, since there is no rational, intellectual,
sensible cause or foundation that could induce such an
assertion, it remains as a undefined statement.  These kind of
statements are designated as arbitrary or null claims.  

For example, one may assert: " It is possible that Lake Mendota
has turned into grape-juice or transformed into oil."  But,
since that possibility does not originate from any indication,
it does not affect our certain knowledge, or induce doubt in the
fact that it is still water.  A possibility which does not
originate from an indication or a sign has no importance, such a
possibility cannot interfere or induce doubt in a certainty of
knowledge.  It cannot shake a definite sound judgement.  Allah
says in the Qur'an:

"The Jews call 'Uzayr a son of God', and the Christians call
Christ the son of God.  That is a saying from their mouth; (in
this) they but imitate what the unbelievers of old used to say."
 (Qur'an 9:30, about 'old' see reference on old pagan christs).
What do Muslims believe about Jesus (AS):

Muslims believe that Jesus (AS) was a mighty messenger of Allah.
 We believe his miraculous birth by Allah's Permission, his
speech as an infant by Allah's Permission, his bringing the dead
to life by Allah's Permission, his healing of the leper by
Allah's Permission.  We believe that he did not teach any false
worship, and was given the Indgil.  We glorify him and his
mother, and truly follow him.  All this, we believe without any
interference or pressure from Christians.  The All-Wise Qur'an
included these in the pillars of Islam.  No Muslim is a Muslim
unless he acknowledges these facts.  However, Qur'an made us to
reject any association of partnership with Allah, we are told in
Qur'an:

"They say: '(Allah) Most Gracious Has begotten a son!  Indeed
you have put forth a thing most monstrous!..

As if the skies are ready to burst, the earth to split asunder, 
and the mountains to fall down in utter ruin.

That they should invoke a son for the Most Gracious.  For it is
not consonant with the majesty of (Allah)

Most Gracious that He should beget a son."  (Qur'an 19:88)

Indeed, there is no revealed nor consistent indication that
Jesus -or any man for that matter- was to become a begotten son
of God.  A messenger of Allah would never claim divinity.  The
earlier scriptures and the Qur'an refuse such claims.  Nor do we
have any reason to believe that God changes His plans, or is in
need of a sacrifice to forgive.  Even further, it is much more
arbitrary to say that such a sacrifice has to be His so-called
begotten son.  Such a scheme implies a shortcoming, dependence,
and constraint to God's Will and Attributes.  

The doctrine of original sin, a begotten son, and redemption of
sins through crucifiction and resurrection are not founded
claims, and cannot constitute a basis for the purpose of
creation.  Such a doctrine is not in the teachings of Jesus
(AS), it is the teaching of the Church, devised by other people
hundreds of years after him, specially by -self-appointed
apostle- Paul.  This whole scheme falls apart, it is incoherent:
 On one hand, every person is destined to torture in hell
because of an alleged sin that he/she never committed, on the
other hand he/she is given redemption by the suffering and
killing of somebody else!  In fact, there are numerous evidences
even in today's Bible which nullifies this doctrine.  I can show
them to you if you ask.  (Obtain your copy of the video "Is
Jesus (pbuh) God?" prepared by Ahmed Deedat, IPCI, P.O. Box
2439, Durban 4000, RSA., or order from 3301 Leopold Way #212,
Madison, WI 53713. ph. .608 273 4627) How should we understand
the manifestations of Allah's Names and Attributes.?

We said many times that the Unique, Most Pure, Almighty Allah,
Whose attributes are absolute and functions are universally
manifested, is far beyond matter and corporeality, infinitely
distant from any restriction, and not bounded by the
difficulties of density and multiplicity.  How should we then
understand His attributes?

For example, although the sun is a single being, by means of its
luminosity it is present in every shining object.  A mighty law
of a truth is demonstrated by means of this comparison which
states that light and luminosity cannot be restricted: for them,
distance and proximity are the same, many and few are equal, and
space cannot conquer them.

One thing would not be obstacle to another.  Illuminating one
thing would not be a barrier to illuminating the other.  A drop
of water becomes equivalent to a vast ocean.   Reaching all
things would be as easy as reaching just one.  While present
everywhere with its light, it would be present nowhere by itself.

If the sun, which is a material, tiny, inanimate mirror to the
manifestation of the Name Light (Al-Nur), can display universal
activity in a vast space while being a single thing, should not
the Glorious Almighty Allah perform far exceedingly innumerable
actions at the same time at all places?

What being, which is itself a manifestation of His attributes,
can be hidden from His Oneness, His Will, His Absolute Power,
and All-Embracing Knowledge? What task can be difficult for Him?
What place can be concealed from Him?  What object can remain
distant from Him?  What individual can draw close to Him without
His Will?  Can anything at all be hidden from Him? Can any
matter at all be an obstacle to another?  Can any place at all
be void of His presence?

Are not all beings in swift obedience to His commands and laws,
as the electricity in wires and light in transparent objects are
easily welcomed?

"Allah creates what He wills:  When He has decreed a plan, but
He says to it, 'BE', and it is!"  (Qur'an 3:47)

Does not the obstacles and difficulties become obsolete against
His Disposal of Affairs?  Does not the causes and intermediaries
become apparent veils to His Glory and Highness?  (Explain here,
His Glory and Highness requires causes as veils to His Pure
Honor and Excellence, whereas His Oneness and Uniqueness
requires complete submission to Him denouncing the causes and
nature.)  While He is present nowhere, is He not present
everywhere with His attributes?  Can He at all be located in a
place or a time?  Can the distance, smallness and corporeality
be obstacles to His proximity, power, and will?

All the perfections in all the universe are signs and
indications to a Glorious One's True Perfections.  All the
goodness, perfection, and beauty in the universe is but a palest
shadow in relation to His True Perfection.  They are just
mirrors showing His Names' manifestations.  Therefore, a Muslim
shows his wonder and love of a beautiful flower by saying: "How
beautiful and wonderful it is made, how wisely it is adorned." 
By saying this, he acknowledges the Glorious Maker, to Whose
Absolute Power, it is as easy to create a single flower as
creating the Paradise.  He sees the beauty in the flower as a
pale mirror to the manifestation of the Name, The Absolute
Beautiful, and thus sees it as recipient of beauty, not the
source.  But, at the same time, a Muslim knows clearly that the
degree of recipient beauty accepts no comparison with that of
the source.

It is obvious that bounty comes from riches, kindness proceeds
from one who is kind, and that which illuminates must be
luminous.  Since this is so, the fact that all this loveliness,
beauty, and perfection is given to the universe shows the
existence of The Eternally Beautiful One.  All things pass
through the face of the earth like mighty river sparkling with
flashes of light.  In the same way that a river sparkles with
manifestations of the sun, the flood of beings, also, temporally
sparkle with flashes of loveliness, beauty, and meaningful
duties, and then they pass away, disappear.  And those that come
after them take over and display the same sparkling and beauty.

It may be understood from this that the manifestations and
instances of beauty on the flowing water bubbles are not from
themselves.  Rather, they are the manifestations of beauty
coming from the light of a sun.  And so, too, the qualities and
perfections that briefly sparkle on this flood of the universe
are the flashes of beauty coming from Allah's Eternal Beauty.
Condemnation of association of partners with Allah

Is it at all possible that an All-Wise Maker Who created the
heavens and the earth would leave human beings without purpose? 
Yet, those human are the most important result of the heavens
and the earth, and the most perfect fruit of the universe.  Is
it at all possible that He would hand over their praise and
submission to causes and coincidence, or accept partners to
share His Glory?  Would He ever transform His self-evident
wisdom into futility?  No, by no means!

The universe's most perfect fruit, result and aim is human.  Is
it possible that the All-Wise Maker of the universe would give
to others the praise and worship, thanks and love, which are the
fruits of those conscious humans?  Would He let His wisdom be
nullified, His absolute power be weakened, and His
all-encompassing knowledge converted into ignorance?  No, a
hundred thousand times, no!

Moreover, is it at all possible that He would make Himself loved
by conscious beings through the endless varieties of His
bounties, and that He would make Himself known to them through
the innumerable miracles of His art and then, attaching no
importance to them, abandon their thanks, their praise, their
love, and worship to causes, nature, and man-made gods?.  Is it
at all possible that He would make His absolute wisdom denied
and the His absolute sovereignty nullified?  A hundred thousand
times, God forbid!  Thank you.

"There is no god but Allah; He is One, He has no partner"


 Appendix 1

Since an absolute and all-encompassing thing has no limits or
end, neither may a shape given to it, nor may a form be
conferred on it, nor may it be identified; its quiddity may not
be fully comprehended.  For example, an endless light without
darkness may not be known or perceived.  But if a line of
darkness is drawn, then it becomes known.  Thus, since Almighty
Allah's names and attributes, like Owner of Absolute Knowledge
and Power, All-Wise, and All-Compassionate, are
all-encompassing, limitless, and without like, they may not be
fully comprehended, may not be fully known or perceived.  

A person with this difficulty may question how it is that the
reins of everything are directly in His Power, nothing can
interfere with His creation, and how can One Single Power reach
to innumerable places and do innumerable things at the same time
without any hardship.  This question may be answered through
explaining an extremely profound, subtle, elevated,
comprehensive, and abstract notion concerning Allah's names and
attributes, especially the names The One and The Unique, and the
Owner of absolute Power.  While there is nothing similar or
analogous to Almighty Allah's Self and Names, the functions and
manifestations of His names may be looked at and understood to
some degree by means of comparison and allegory.  

Even though not all analogies constitute proof of definite
knowledge, there is one type called 'telescoping analogy' which
carries even stronger proof than that of evidenced knowledge. 
Such a telescoping analogy demonstrates, by means of a partial
comparison, the tip of a universal truth and constructs its
judgement on that truth. It shows that truth's law in a
particular matter, so that that vast magnificent truth may be
known and reduced to smaller scale matters. In this way, human
mind can telescope to distant abstract truths  by means of
material allegories.  

We actually used such allegory in the text which is repeated
here again:

For example, although the sun is a single being, by means of its
luminosity it is present in every shining object.  A mighty law
of a truth is demostrated by means of this comparison which
states that light and luminosity cannot be restricted: for them,
distance and proximity are the same, many and few are equal, and
space cannot conquer them.

Further, lets suppose the sun had knowledge and consciousness,
then it would be in contact with every mirror-like object and
would communicate with every conscious creature.  One thing
would not be obstacle to another.  Communicating with one thing
would not be a barrier to communicating with another.  Reaching
all things would be as easy as reaching just one.  While present
everywhere, it would be present nowhere.

What being, which is itself a manifestation of His attributes,
can be hidden from His Oneness, His Will, His Absolute Power,
and All-Embracing Knowledge? What task can be difficult for Him?
What place can be concealed from Him?  What object can remain
distant from Him?  What individual can draw close to Him without
His Will?  Can anything at all be hidden from Him? Can any
matter at all be an obstacle to another?  Can any place at all
be void of His presence?  Are not the chains of beings in swift
obedience to His commands and laws, as the electricity in wires
and light in transparent objects are easily welcomed?  Does not
the obstacles and difficulties become obsolete against His
Disposal of Affairs?  Does not the causes and intermediaries
become apparent veils to His Glory and Highness?

Appendix 2

Confronted with this profound testimony as big as the universe,
a person in confusion may ask "Do not the causes in cosmos give
possibility to the existance of partners.  Everything is tied to
a cause.  That might mean that causes have an actual effect, and
if they have an effect, are not they able to claim partnership
in creation?"

	The answer to this would be by showing the real functions and
characteristics of causes, and the purpose of their creation. 
Yes, effects have been tied to causes as a requirement of the
Will and Wisdom of Allah so that many Names of Him would be
manifested in the realm of this contingent universe.  However,
we may give many decisive evidences to the fact that 'causes
have no actual power with which to create their effects'.

here give examples to show causes have no power to create. 1)
Dome example 2) 

	If the sun, which is a material, tiny, inanimate mirror to the
manifestation of the Name Light (Al-Nur), can display universal
activity in a vast space while being a single thing, should not
the Glorious Almighty Allah perform far exceedingly innumerable
actions at the same time at all places?

If we were to question every sort of thing from every corner of
the universe, from minute particles to the huge stars, they will
all witness to the Oneness of Allah through their tongues of
being and functioning, they will all show us the signature of
their One Creator.  

Hence, now, we all see.  There is no indication in any of the
creatures in the universe on which the possibility of any
partners can be constructed.  Thus, our affirmation of the
Necessary Existance and Oneness of Allah is sound judgement, it
is the Truth.  And such affirmation cannot be shaked by any
arbitrary claim made by ignorance.

Appendix 3

A person in confusion may ask "If something has no opposites how
can it have perfection?"  The immediate answer is that this
person does not know what true perfection means.  What he has in
mind is only the relative perfection.  Lets explain.  For
merits, virtues, and qualities that look to something else and
are perceived in relation to something else are not real, are
not absolute, rather they are coupled to their opposites and,
therefore weak in their value.  If their opposite or counterpart
disappers, they also disappear, therefore, they are not
absolute.  For example, the relative merits of heat occur
through the effect of cold.  The relative pleasure of food
accepts degrees through the degrees of hunger.  If the cold and
hunger disappear, then the notion and the pleasure of heat and
food as well disappears.  However, true pleasure, perfection and
virtue are such that they are not constructed on the basis of an
opposite.  They are essential, they are present of themselves. 
Some of the qualities in this category are like this: the
pleasure of existance, life, love, trusting and submitting to
the Creator, and affirming His existance, sense of permanence,
mercy, and compassion; and the beauties of light, sight, speech,
noble-heartedness, and fine character.  These qualities are not
coupled to an opposite for their existance.

Indeed, the disappearance of the mirrors and vanishing of beings
occurs together with constant manifestation and abiding grace. 
It is most clear from their appearing that this apparent beauty
is not the property of the manifestations, Rather, they are most
eloquent manifestos and most clear proofs to an Immetarial
Beauty, Continuous Munificence, and witnesses to the Necessarily
Existent, the Loving, and the Undying One.