Article appeared Friday, February 27th, 2015 in The News Today, Bangladesh

The Revelation (368)

yousuf mahbubul Islam, PhD

Have we personally worked out who the Creator is? Without physically seeing Him, can we
work out who He is and come to an understanding of how real He is? Just as He has made
each of us unique, relating to Him must also be individual. In what ways can we start to launch
our thinking about the Creator? For example, we can start by examining His Attributes listed in
the Holy Scriptures. How would we relate to the Attributes? We can examine them in the light of
our personal experiences and perception of things. Lets, for example, take the attributes given
at the beginning of Chapter 40 of the Quran,
The Forgiver of sin, the Acceptor of repentance, the Severe in punishment, the Owner
of abundance. There is no deity except Him; to Him is the destination. [40.3]
No one disputes concerning the Signs of Allah except those who disbelieve, so be not
deceived by their (unrestricted) movement throughout the land. [40.4]
Let us first review the overall concepts in the Verses before examining the individual words and
trying to relate to them. Verse 40.3 lists five Attributes or qualities of the Creator. The Verse also
enlightens us that He is our destination or objective besides saying that He is exclusively the
only power that exists. The next Verse (40.4) says that it is only those who wish to disbelieve
that would ignore these qualities and attributes of the Creator. Finally that one should not be
fooled by those who seem to hold power in the world as they are equally accountable for what
they individually do.
Assuming that we wish to know more about the Creator, let us examine the attributes one by
one. The first one, what would Forgiver of sin mean? Before we examine the word Forgiver, we
need to work out what sin is, as forgiveness is obviously related to it. A little thought would show
that sin would have to be something that would seriously displease or annoy the Creator. As sin
has something to do with the Creator, only He can forgive if He wishes. There are no other
conditions. If we work out that we have sinned and approach Him, He does forgive as implied
by the second attribute, the Acceptor of repentance. We must therefore repent and implore Him
for forgiveness. If we do not do this, He is Severe in punishment. If we sincerely repent to Him,
He forgives and adds Blessings as He is the source of all good, i.e., the Owner of abundance. If
we can get into His good book, we can solicit Him for anything we want. But this will happen
only if our hearts value Him as the objective of our individual life, i.e., someone we wish to
please while understanding that He is the sole Source of everything.
And whoever repents and does good has truly turned to Allah with an (acceptable)
conversion. [25.71]
Not giving the Creator a thought is tantamount to disputing His Signs, i.e., proving our disbelief.
There are so many people around us who do not acknowledge the Creator, yet are well off and
powerful. We may mistakenly take their standards as our own as we feel that is the right way to
follow. If we do so, we should be reminded that the Creator is also Severe in giving punishment!
To help us link to the reality of these Attributes the Creator gives examples from history. As an
example, He relates an incident from the time of Abraham (pbuh). In the incident, the Creator
sent angels with a piece of good news (Blessings from the Owner of Abundance) and one of
severe punishment.

11.69 And certainly did Our Messengers (i.e., angels) come to Abraham with
good tidings; they said, "Peace!" He answered "Peace!" and did not delay to
entertain them with a roasted calf.

Abraham (pbuh) moved to entertain his guests just as we would. He acted as any good host.

11.70 But when he saw their hands were not reaching for the meal, he felt some
distrust and a fear of them. They said, "Fear not. We have been sent against the
people of Lot."
As the guests did not eat, nor did they touch the food, Abraham did not understand what was
going on. He felt something was not right. Just as any human being would, he became afraid.
Why were the angels sent to the people of Prophet Lot (pbuh)?
They said: "We have been sent to a people (deep) in sin. [15.58]
What Attribute of the Creator does this show? What then happened to the people of Lot?

11.71 And his wife was standing (there) and she smiled. Then We gave her good
tidings of Isaac and after Isaac, of Jacob.
(When they did not eat) He conceived a fear of them. They said "Fear not" and they
gave him glad tidings of a son endowed with knowledge. But his wife came forward
(laughing) aloud: she smote her forehead and said: "(what, from) a barren old woman!"
[51.28 51.29]

11.72 She said: "Alas for me! Shall I give birth while I am an old woman and my
husband here, is an old man? Indeed, that would be an amazing thing!"
Abrahams wife subsequently gave birth to Isaac. Which of the Creators Attributes does this
demonstrate?

11.73 They said, "Are you amazed at the decree (decision) of Allah? May the
mercy of Allah and His blessings be upon you, the people of the house! Indeed,
He is indeed worthy of all praise and Honorable!"
The Creator is the Source of everything. He is not limited by physical barriers that we feel
restrict us.
He bestows both males and females, and He leaves barren whom He will: for He is
full of Knowledge and Power. [42.50]

11.74 And when fear had left from (the mind of) Abraham and the significance of
the good tidings had reached him, he began to plead with Us concerning the
people of Lot.
Like any other human being, it took time for Abraham to understand the significance of what the
angels were saying. Then he also realized what was about to happen to Lots people and he
started pleading to the Creator on their behalf!

11.75 For indeed, Abraham was forbearing (of faults), compassionate and given
to look to Allah frequently.
11.76 (The angels said,) O Abraham! Seek not this. Indeed, the command of your
Lord has come, and indeed, there will reach them a punishment that cannot be
turned back!
So, what happened to the people of Lot?
And We rained down on them a shower (of brimstone): then see what was the end of
those who indulged in sin and crime! [7.84]