Q42. Water is called by different names in different languages: in English as
water, in Hindi as ‘paani’, in Tamil as ‘tanni’. Similarly if God is
called either Allaah, Ram, or Jesus is it not one and the same?
Answer..
1.
The
Glorious Qur’an says in Surah Isra chapter 17 verse 110
"Say: ‘Call upon Allaah, or call upon Rahman: by whatever name ye call
upon Him, (it is well): for to Him belong the Most Beautiful Names.‘"
You can call Allaah by any name, but it should be a beautiful name, should not
conjure up a mental picture, and should have qualities that only Allaah
possesses.
2. Water can be called by
different
names
in different languages but something else besides water cannot be called water
in another language.
You can call water by various names in different languages, like water
in English, paani in Hindi, tanni in
Tamil, mai in Arabic, apah
in Sanskrit, jal in Shudh Hindi, jal or
paani in Gujrati, pandi
in Marathi, neer in Kannad, neeru in
Telugu, vellam in Malayalam, etc. If a
person tells me that his friend has advised that everyday early in the morning
he should have one glass of paani, but
he is unable to drink it because when he drinks it, he feels like vomiting. On
enquiry he says that the paani stinks
and it is yellowish in colour. Later I realise that what he is referring to as paani
is not water but urine. Thus you can call water by different names having the
same meaning but you cannot call other things as water or paani.
People may think that the example is not realistic and I agree with them because
even an ignorant person knows the difference between water and urine. He will
have to be a fool to call urine ‘water’. Similarly when any person who knows
the correct concept of God, sees people worshipping false gods, he naturally
wonders how a person cannot differentiate between a true God and false gods.
3. Purity of Gold is not verified by
calling it by different names in different languages but rubbing it against a
Touchstone.
In the same way, gold can be called sona
in Hindi, gold in English, dhahaba in
Arabic. Inspite of knowing all these different names for gold, if a person wants
to sell you his gold jewellery and says this is 24 carat pure sona, you will not
blindly believe, without verifying it with a goldsmith. The goldsmith confirms
whether it is gold or not with the help of a touchstone. The yellow glittering
jewellery may not be gold, because all that glitters is not gold.
4. Surah Ikhlas is the Touchstone of
Theology.
Similarly, any person or candidate who is called God cannot be accepted as the
true God without verifying him with the touchstone. The touchstone of theology,
that is study of God, is Surah Ikhlas chapter 112 of the Holy Qur’an which
says:
5. Any candidate who passes the Acid Test
can be called God.
Any candidate who claims to be God and fits in this four line definition, passes
the Acid test, is entitled to be called God and worshipped as God.
Suppose a lunatic says that Muhammad (pbuh) is God, (God forbid). Let’s put
him to the test of Surah Ikhlas.
(i) "Kul hu allah hu ahad"
– Say He is Allaah, The One and Only;
Is Muhammad (pbuh) one and only? No! he was not the only messenger. There were
many other messengers.
(ii) "Allaah hus Samad" –
Allaah, The Eternal, Absolute;
We know that Muhammad (pbuh) had to undergo many hardships. Though he was the
mightiest messenger of God, he died at the age of 63 and was buried in Madeenah.
(iii) "Lam ya lid wa lam yulad"
– He begetteth not Nor is He begotten;
(iv) "Wa lam ya kullahu kufuwan
ahad" – And there is none like unto Him.
Though all the Muslims love and revere the Prophet (pbuh) and are supposed to
follow each and every of his commandments, yet you will not find a single Muslim
in the whole world, who in his senses will ever say that Muhammad (pbuh) is God.
The Islamic Creed is, "La illaha
illallah Muhammadur Rasoolullah", which means that there is no god but
Allah, and Muhammad (pbuh) is the messenger of Allah. This is repeated five
times a day during the call for prayer, so that the Muslims are reminded daily
that although they respect and obey him, he is only a Messenger and servant of
God, and not God Himself.
6.
Verify the Gods you worship.
Now that we have explained to you how to use the touchstone of theology it is
the duty of everyone to verify with this touchstone, whether the gods that they
worship are true or false.
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