Article: Chapter 112 of the Quran

Establishing the concept of Allah

We have answered the question Who is Allah? Is Allah different from God?. If you have read that answer, you may be wondering what is the source of that information. For Muslims, the main sources of all religious knowledge are the holy Quran and the confirmed teachings of Prophet Mohammad. To learn more about Allah, all we need to do is refer to chapter 112 of the Holy Quran, which summarizes the Islamic belief in Allah in four short verses.

The verses of this chapter be translated to English as:

1) Say: Allah is One.

2) Allah is the sustainer of all creation

3) He did not have any offspring, nor was He born

4) And there is no one equal or comparable to Him

The first verse establishes and affirms that there is only one God. The second verse reminds us that it is only God that sustains all of the creation. God does not need anyone, but all creation needs God.

The third verse dispels any notion that would come to our mind as humans about God having offspring or about God having been born. As humans, we witness all creatures procreate, but God is the creator and so this does not apply to God. Finally, the fourth verse establishes our faith in that there is no one that is equal to God or that is even comparable to God.

You may wonder, why then do we refer to God as "He" and "Him" when we translate the Quran. This is simply a limitation of our language, rather than being an indication that God has a gender as humans would understand it. This is made clear in verse 11 of chapter 42:

"The originator of the heavens and the earth. He has made for you spouses from amongst yourselves, and from cattle he has made mates as well, so that you can multiply. There is nothing like Him. He is the All-Hearing, All-Seeing." (Quran 11:42)

As you can see, Allah made it clear to us that he created us and animals in pairs so that we can procreate, but then he establishes the belief that there is nothing like Allah, so that our minds do not try to draw parallels between humans or any other creatures and God. The verse ends with a reminder that God is All-Hearing, All-Seeing.

This is a quick review of chapter 112 of the holy Quran and what it teaches us about Allah, the one God. If you found this answer to be useful, interesting, or thought provoking, please let us know on our facebook page QuestionsAboutIslamFB.