Welcome to this tutorial on Allah. Allah is the supreme and all-comprehensive divine name in Islam. So all of the other names for God in the Koran refer back to this one divine name. This is the generic name for God in Arabic. And of course, Arabic is the only official language of Islam. The Koran is only the Koran when it is written in Arabic. So if you see it translated, it will normally say an interpretation of the holy Koran. And for prayer times, the Muslim prayers are recited in Arabic.
We're going to take a look at-- there's a prayer called asma Allah al-husna, which is the 99 names of Allah. You can find many excellent recordings of it available on the internet. We're just going to focus on a few of the divine names.
Beginning here, Allah, this is the greatest name. And all of the others that we're going to be talking about refer back to Allah. Let's go on to Al-Khaliq, the creator. Creation is mentioned in several suras in the Koran. There's no one creation story per se, but creation is mentioned several times. It happens in six days, just as in the Jewish and Christian scriptures. But there is no mention of a day of rest, and there is no specific sequence given to the creation. Nevertheless, Islam agrees with Judaism and Christianity that Allah or God is the creator.
We'll go on to Al-Wadud, the loving one. This attribute of God is mentioned many times in the Koran, specifically in the context of Allah loving those who are righteous and do good. Allah is the guarantor of justice. By loving those who are just and by punishing those who are not just, the world is guaranteed a standard of justice.
Next, As-Salam, the source of peace. If you've ever been around any Muslim people, you know that the Muslim greeting is As-salamu alaykum, peace be upon you. This greeting affirms that peace is the overall goal of Islam. And this peace should be extended not only to other believers, but to all people. Muslims are to conduct all of their dealings in peace wherever possible.
Moving on to Ar-Rahman, the all-compassionate. The first sentence of the Koran reads, in the name of Allah, the compassionate, the merciful. So the idea of Allah as compassionate is a recurring theme. In fact, this phrase is repeated 114 times in the Koran.
Moving on to Ar-Rahim, the all-merciful. This will be familiar to the readers of Jewish and Christian scriptures, the idea that God stands ready to forgive. The Koran affirms that no matter how great the sin, when people repent and turn to Allah, they will be forgiven.
Next, Al-Malik, the absolute ruler. Allah is the sovereign king or ruler of the entire universe. He is said to be all powerful over everything in the Koran. The Koran also says that Allah has no associate. So this is a very strict monotheism, perhaps even more strict than certainly Christianity, perhaps even more strict than Judaism.
Moving on to Al-Quddus, the pure one. Forgiveness requires a truly pure one. So god as the truly pure one, when the believers submit to Allah, they partake of that divine purity and receive forgiveness for their sins.
All of these divine names and many, many others ultimately refer back to Allah, the greatest name. And you can feel free to look at some of the other 99 names of God. Again, in Islam, Allah is unique and is considered to be the only deity. Allah is the creator of the universe who is omnipotent. So a unique single deity, the creator of the universe, who is omnipotent, known by the greatest name of Allah.
Allah is the Supreme Being in Islam, or simply God. Allah is the Supreme and all-comprehensive divine name. We also talked about some of the other names for God mentioned in the Koran-- the creator, the loving, the source of peace, the compassionate, the merciful, the supreme ruler, and the pure one. All of these names for God to refer back to the one name of Allah. Muslims view Allah as unique, the only diety, and the creator of the universe.
