Who is Allah?
Allah is the Arabic name for God — the one Creator and Lord of everything that exists.
Allah
Allah is not a different god, and not a tribal or national deity. The word is simply Arabic for God — the same word used by Arabic-speaking Christians and Jews when they open their scriptures.
The question Islam asks is not whether people have a word for God, but what they claim about Him. On that, the Qur'an is unusually direct: worship belongs to One alone, who created everything and depends on nothing.
Surah Al-Ikhlas is four short verses. Muslims consider them the clearest statement of who God is.
قُلْ هُوَ ٱللَّهُ أَحَدٌ ٱللَّهُ ٱلصَّمَدُ لَمْ يَلِدْ وَلَمْ يُولَدْ وَلَمْ يَكُن لَّهُۥ كُفُوًا أَحَدٌ
Say, "He is Allah, [who is] One, Allah, the Eternal Refuge. He neither begets nor is born, nor is there to Him any equivalent."
What these four verses establish
- 01
He is One
Aḥad — one in a sense that admits no parts, no division and no second. Not one of a kind among others; the only one there is.
- Qur'anQur'an 112:1–4 (Surah Al-Ikhlas)
- TafsirIbn Kathir, Tafsir al-Qur'an al-'Azim, commentary on Surah Al-IkhlasClassical Sunni commentary (d. 774 AH).
- 02
Everything depends on Him; He depends on nothing
Aṣ-Ṣamad is explained by the classical commentators as the one who is turned to in every need, who is complete and self-sufficient.
- TafsirIbn Kathir, Tafsir al-Qur'an al-'Azim, commentary on Surah Al-IkhlasClassical Sunni commentary (d. 774 AH).
- 03
He has no children and no parents
Begetting and being born belong to created things, which come into existence, grow and pass away. The Qur'an removes both from God.
- 04
Nothing is comparable to Him
No rival, no equal, no likeness — not in power, not in knowledge, not in being.
The same principle appears again in Surah Ash-Shura, and it governs how Muslims speak about God at all.
لَيْسَ كَمِثْلِهِۦ شَىْءٌ ۖ وَهُوَ ٱلسَّمِيعُ ٱلْبَصِيرُ
There is nothing like unto Him, and He is the Hearing, the Seeing.
Why Islam permits no image of God
Because nothing resembles Him, nothing can depict Him. Any picture, statue, form or figure would necessarily be a picture of something created — and therefore not of God.
This is why you will find no representation of Allah anywhere on this site, and none in any mosque. What you will find instead is creation: sky, sea, seed and star, offered as things to think about rather than things to worship.
He is described as near, and as knowing what a person does not say aloud.
And We have already created man and know what his soul whispers to him, and We are closer to him than [his] jugular vein.
- Qur'anQur'an 50:16 (Surah Qaf)
Sources & References
4 cited- 1Ibn Kathir, Tafsir al-Qur'an al-'Azim, commentary on Surah Al-IkhlasClassical Sunni commentary (d. 774 AH).
Religious content here follows the Qur'an, the authentic Sunnah, and the established scholarship of Ahl al-Sunnah wa al-Jama'ah. Qur'an citations link to the verse; hadith carry collection and number; Tafsir and historical claims name the work. Where something could not be verified, it is not published.
This page is also chapter 03 of the guided journey.
Continue
- Understanding TawhidThe single idea the whole of Islam is built on — and the three aspects scholars use to teach it.
- Knowing Your CreatorA small, verified selection of the Names Allah uses for Himself in the Qur'an — Arabic, transliteration, meaning and reference.
- Does God Exist?Where existence points, what the Qur'an actually argues, and why Islam says belief in a Creator is natural before it is learned.
- How Does a Muslim Relate to Allah?The Sunni understanding of the believer's heart: love of Allah, hope in His mercy, fear of His justice, and why all three are needed.