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In Islamic theology, God (Arabic: Allāh) is the all-powerful and all-knowing creator, sustainer, ordainer, and judge of the universe.^[1][2] Islam emphasizes that God is strictly singular (tawhid)^[3] unique (wahid) and inherently One (ahad), all-merciful and omnipotent.^[4] According to Islamic teachings, God exists without place^[5] and according to the Qur'an, "No vision can grasp Him, but His grasp is over all vision. God is above all comprehension, yet is acquainted with all things" (Qur'an 6:103)^[2] God, as referenced in the Qur'an, is the only God and the same God worshiped by members of other Abrahamic religions such as Christianity and Judaism. (29:46).^[6]

In Islam, there are 99 Names of God (al-asma al-husna lit. meaning: "The best names") each of which evoke a distinct attribute of God.^[7][8] All these names refer to Allah, the supreme and all-comprehensive divine name.^[9] Among the 99 names of God, the most famous and most frequent of these names are "the Compassionate" (al-rahman) and "the Merciful" (al-rahim).^[7][8] Creation and ordering of the universe is seen as an act of prime mercy for which all creatures sing God's glories and bear witness to God's unity and lordship. God responds to those in need or distress whenever they call. Above all, God guides humanity to the right way, “the holy ways.”^[5]

Etymology[link]

Allāh is the term with no plural or gender used by Muslims and Arabic speaking Christians and Jews meaning the one God, while ʾilāh (Arabic: إله‎) is the term used for a deity or a god in general.^[10][11][12] It is related to ʼĔlāhā in Aramaic, the language of Jesus and the New Testament. Other non-Arab Muslims might use different names as much as Allah, for instance "Tanrı" in Turkish, "Khodā" in Persian, or "Yakush" in Berber.

Evidence[link]

The Islamic concept of God is formulated from the Quran and Hadith. The Quran is believed by Muslims to be the verbatim word of God as revealed to the Islamic prophet Muhammad. Hadith are the records of Muhammad's sayings and example. Hadith Qudsi is a sub-category of hadith, which Muslims regard as the words of God repeated by Muhammad. According to as-Sayyid ash-Sharif al-Jurjani, the Hadith Qudsi differ from the Quran in that the former are "expressed in Muhammad's words", whereas the latter are the "direct words of God".

Oneness[link]

Islam's most fundamental concept is a strict monotheism called tawhīd, affirming that God (Arabic: Allah) is one and incomparable(wāḥid). The basic creed of Islam, the Shahadah,^[13] (recited under oath to enter the religion) involves لا إله إلا الله (lā ʾilāha ʾillallāh), or "I testify there are no deities other than God alone." The Qur'an asserts the existence of a single and absolute truth that transcends the world; a unique and indivisible being who is independent of the entire creation.^[14]

"Say: He is God, the One and Only; God, the Eternal, Absolute; He begetteth not, nor is He begotten; And there is none like unto Him."

—Qur'an, Sura 112 (Al-Ikhlas), ayat 1-4^[15]

"Thy Lord is self-sufficient, full of Mercy: if it were God's will, God could destroy you, and in your place appoint whom God will as your successors, even as God raised you up from the posterity of other people."

— Qur'an, Sura 6 (Al-An'am), ayat 133^[16]

Muslims deny the Christian doctrine of the Trinity and divinity of Jesus, comparing it to polytheism. In Islam, God is beyond all comprehension or equal and does not to resemble any of his creations in any way. Thus, Muslims are not iconodules and are not expected to visualize God.

According to Vincent J. Cornell, the Qur'an also provides a monist image of God by describing the reality as a unified whole, with God being a single concept that would describe or ascribe all existing things:"God is the First and the Last, the Outward and the Inward; God is the Knower of everything (Sura 57:3)"^[14] Some Muslims have however vigorously criticized interpretations that would lead to a monist view of God for what they see as blurring the distinction between the creator and the creature, and its incompatibility with the monotheism of Islam.^[17]

The indivisibility of God implies the indivisibility of God's sovereignty which in turn leads to the conception of universe as a just and coherent moral universe rather than an existential and moral chaos. Similarly the Qur'an rejects the binary modes of thinking such as the idea of duality of God by arguing that both good and evil generate from God's creative act and that the evil forces have no power to create anything. God in Islam is a universal god rather than a local, tribal or parochial one; an absolute who integrates all affirmative values and brooks no evil.^[18]

Tawhid constitutes the foremost article of the Muslim profession.^[19] To attribute divinity to a created entity is the only unpardonable sin mentioned in the Qur'an.^[18] Muslims believe that the entirety of the Islamic teaching rests on the principle of Tawhid.^[20]

Other attributes[link]

Name of Allāh written in Arabic calligraphy by 17th century Ottoman artist Hâfız Osman

God is described and referred in the Quran and hadith by certain names or attributes, the most common being Al-Rahman, meaning "Most Compassionate" and Al-Rahim, meaning "Most Merciful" (See Names of God in Islam).^[7] The Qur'an refers to the attributes of God as God's “most beautiful names” (see 7:180, 17:110, 20:8, 59:24). According to Gerhard Böwering, "They are traditionally enumerated as 99 in number to which is added as the highest name (al-ism al-aʿẓam), the supreme name of God, Allāh. The locus classicus for listing the divine names in the literature of qurʾānic commentary is 17:110, “Call him Allah (the God), or call him Ar-Rahman (the Gracious); whichsoever you call upon, to him belong the most beautiful names,” and also 59:22-24, which includes a cluster of more than a dozen divine epithets."^[21] The most commonly used names for god in Islam are:

• The Most High (al-Ala)
• The Most Glorious (al-Aziz)
• The Ever Forgiving (al-Ghaffar)
• The Ever Providing (ar-Razzaq)
• The Ever Living (al-Hayy)
• The Self-Subsisting by Whom all Subsist (al-Qayyum)
• The Lord and Cherisher of the Worlds (Rabb al-Alameen)
• The Ultimate Truth (al-Haqq)
• The Eternal Lord (al-Baqi)
• The Sustainer (al-Muqsith)
• The Source of Peace (As-Salaam)

Islamic theology makes a distinction between the attributes of God and the divine essence.^[21]

Furthermore, it is one of the fundamentals in Islam that God exists without a place and has no resemblance to his creations. For instance, God is not a body and there is nothing like him. In the Quran it says what mean "Nothing is like him in any way," [see Quran 42:11]. Allah is not limited to Dimensions.

Omniscience[link]

The Qur'an describes God as being fully aware of everything that happens in the universe, including private thoughts and feelings, and asserts that one can not hide anything from God:

In whatever business thou mayest be, and whatever portion thou mayest be reciting from the Qur'an,- and whatever deed ye (mankind) may be doing,- We are witnesses thereof when ye are deeply engrossed therein. Nor is hidden from thy Lord (so much as) the weight of an atom on the earth or in heaven. And not the least and not the greatest of these things but are recorded in a clear record.

—[10:61]

Relationship with creation[link]

Muslims believe that creation of everything in the universe is brought into being by God’s sheer command “‘Be’ and so it is.”^[4][22] and that the purpose of existence is to worship God.^[23][24] He is viewed as a personal God who responds whenever a person in need or distress calls Him.^[4][25] There are no intermediaries, such as clergy, to contact God who states in the Qur'an "We have created man, and We know whatever thoughts his inner self thinks, and We are closer to him than (his) jugular vein".^[26] Sahih Bukhari narrates a hadith qudsi that God says, "I am as My servant thinks (expects) I am".^[27]

Comparative theology[link]

Islamic theology identifies God as described in the Qur'an as the same god of Israel who covenated with Abraham.^[28] Islam and Judaism alike reject the Trinity of Christianity, instead teaching that God is a singular entity beside whom no one else should be worshiped. However, the identification of God both in Islam and in Christianity with the God of Abraham led to a limited amount of mutual recognition among the Abrahamic religions.^[29]

See also[link]

	Islam portal
	Religion portal

• God
• Conceptions of God
• Existence of God
• Monotheism

Notes[link]

External links[link]

• Allah an article by Encyclopaedia Britannica
• Allah's 99 Names, their Meanings and related audio at www.SearchTruth.com
• Some Names of Allaah
• Who is Allah?
• Allah, the unique name of God

Bibliography[link]

• Al-Bayhaqi (1999), Allah's Names and Attributes, ISCA, ISBN 1-930409-03-6
• Hulusi, Ahmed (1999), "Allah" as introduced by Mohammed, Kitsan, 10th ed., ISBN 975-7557-41-2
• Muhaiyaddeen, M. R. Bawa (1976), Asmāʼul-Husnā: the 99 beautiful names of Allah, The Bawa Muhaiyaddeen Fellowship, ISBN 0-914390-13-9
• Netton, Ian Richard (1994), Allah Transcendent: Studies in the Structure and Semiotics of Islamic Philosophy, Theology and Cosmology, Routledge, ISBN 0-7007-0287-3

Abadin Tadia Tjoessoep (1626–1699), more commonly known as Sheikh Yusuf, was an Indonesian muslim of noble descent. In 1693 he was exiled to the Cape of Good Hope which resulted in his establishing Islam in the Cape.^[1]

Early and middle life (Indonesia)[link]

Yusuf was born in Makassar, Indonesia, the nephew of King Biset of Gowa.^[2] In 1644 he embarked on the Hajj to Mecca and spent several years in Arabia learning under various pious scholars. During this period the Dutch and British East India Companies were fighting for control of the region due to its lucrative trade in spices and gold. When Yusuf left Arabia in 1664, Makassar had been captured by the Dutch, and he was unable to return home.^[3] Instead, he headed for Bantam on the island of Java, where he was welcomed by Sultan Ageng Tirtayasa. Ageng gave Yusuf the hand of one of his daughters in marriage, and made him his chief religious judge and personal advisor. Yusuf stayed in Bantam for 16 years until 1680, when Ageng's son, Pangeran Hajji, rose against his father, possibly at the urgings of the Dutch East India Company. Ageng rallied his forces, including Yusuf, and in 1683 besieged Hajji in his fortress at Soerdesoeang. Ageng was defeated but managed to escape capture, along with an entourage of about 5,000, among them the 57-year-old Yusuf. Ageng was captured later that year but Yusuf managed to escape a second time and continued the resistance.^[2][3]

Exile to the Cape and establishment of Islam[link]

In 1684 Yusuf was persuaded to surrender on the promise of a pardon, but the Dutch reneged on their promise and instead imprisoned him at the castle of Batavia. Suspecting that he would attempt escape, the Dutch transferred him to Ceylon in September that year, before exiling him to the Cape on 27 June 1693 on the ship Voetboeg. Yusuf, along with 49 followers including two wives and twelve children, were received in the Cape on 2 April 1694 by governor Simon van der Stel. They were housed on the farm Zandvliet, far outside of Cape Town, in an attempt to minimise his influence on the DEIC's slaves.^[1] The plan failed however; Yusuf's settlement soon became a sanctuary for slaves and it was here that the first cohesive Islamic community in South Africa was established. From here the message of Islam was disseminated to the slave community of Cape Town.^[2]

Sheikh Yusuf died at Zandvliet on 23 May 1699.

Legacy and honours[link]

The area surrounding Zandvliet farm was renamed Macassar in honour of Yusuf's place of birth.^[3] Yusuf was buried on the hills of Faure, overlooking Macassar. A shrine was erected over his grave and to this day Muslims in the area visit it to pay their respects.

On 27 September 2005 Sheikh Yusuf was posthumously awarded the The Order of the Companions of OR Tambo in Gold for his contribution to the struggle against colonialism.^[3]

References[link]

Yusuf Estes (born in 1944) is an American Muslim preacher and teacher who converted from Christianity to Islam in 1991. He was a Muslim Chaplain for the United States Bureau of Prisons through the 1990s.^[1] He was a Muslim Delegate to the United Nations World Peace Conference for Religious Leaders held at the U.N. in September 2000.^[1]

Active in Islamic missionary work in the United States, Estes is often featured as guest presenter and keynote speaker at various Islamic events as well as frequently appearing on various Islamic satellite TV channels. Estes takes a dim view of today's public school system in the United States for any children, and highly recommends schools where they might receive a religious education combined with more advanced scholastic education.^[2]

Personal life[link]

Yusuf Estes was born in Ohio, and was raised in Houston, Texas in a Anglo-Saxon Protestant family.^[3] From 1962 to 1990, his career was in the music, entertainment and marketing fields. He also taught music and served as a music minister. He owned several musical instrument companies including the Estes Piano and Organ Company. He produced and directed live entertainment programs in the United States from the mid 1960s until his last endeavor for cable TV in Florida, entitled 'Estes Music Jamboree'.^[4]

Yusuf Estes became a Muslim in 1991 after meeting an Egyptian named Mohamed.^[1] Following his conversion, Estes entered the field of Dawah, or evangelizing the Islamic faith. Estes denies the theory of Darwinian evolution and instead professes creationism as described by Islamic scriptures.^[5]

Islamic Activities[link]

After embracing Islam, Estes pursued Arabic language and Quranic studies in Egypt, Morocco and Turkey.^[6] From 2004, Estes regularly appeared on the Islam Channel, as well as Peace TV and on Huda TV which are 24/7 Islamic channels broadcasting in many countries around the globe, via satellite and via the website WatchIslam.

Estes has started a free-to-air Internet and satellite TV channel called GuideUS TV which currently broadcasts commercial-free programming on Islam 24/7. He has also set up various websites directed toward English speaking Muslims which include TubeIslam (a Muslim video sharing site), ChatIslam (a Muslim chat room), and WorldPreschool (a defunct preschool learning site for young children).^[7]

Estes produced a video presentation series called Arabic in English, designed to help English speakers learn the Arabic language easily using his proprietary teaching method.^[8] He sells the series online, and also provides a set of free chatroom-based courses with volunteer teachers.^[9] He also produced a television series entitled Qisas Al Anbiyah (Stories of the Prophets), aimed toward English speaking children of Muslim parents.^[10]

See also[link]

• Islamic Missionary Activity
• List of American Muslims

References[link]

Further reading[link]

• Blade, David Yonke Toledo. (July 14, 2001) Journal Gazette Proselytizing preacher finds faith in Islam: Sheik Yusuf Estes. Page 1.
• Tilove, Jonathan. (October 23, 2001) The Star-Ledger To be a white U.S. Muslim: Converts embrace the oddity. Section: News; Page 10.
• Pinsky, Mark I. (January 6, 2003) Orlando Sentinel Muslims' radio message: we are regular people. Section: Life & Times; Page C1.
• The Hamilton Spectator (February 14, 2003) A Christian attends a mosque; A visitor finds a warm welcome and wonders if he'd be as liberal.
• Columbia State (SC). (April 7, 2003) Chaplain to speak at USC about Islam. Section: Metro/Region; Page B5.
• UWIRE (March 1, 2004) U. New Mexico speaker asks religions to unite.
• UWIRE (April 18, 2005) Muslim speaker educates U. Northern Colorado students about faith.
• US State News. (April 12, 2006) National Muslim chaplain Yusuf Estes to speak at senior center on April 14.
• The Modesto Bee (April 22, 2006) Converted preacher to speak about 'pure Islam.' Section: Lifestyles; Page G1.
• Nomani, Asra Q. (October 22, 2006) Washington Post Wife-Beating, Chapter and Verse.
• Wen, Sarah. (January 23, 2007 ) University Wire UCLA Muslim student group to promote Islam, religious unity.

External links[link]

• Personal website of Yusuf Estes
• IslamAlways
• IslamTomorrow
• ShareIslam
• Yusuf Estes audio and video lectures from Halal Tube

This article needs additional citations for verification. Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. (November 2011)

Hamza Yusuf
Hamza Yusuf at Doha Academy Education Conference in Qatar, 2010.
Born	Mark Hanson 1958 (age 53–54) Walla Walla, Washington, United States
Residence	Northern California, United States
Occupation	Islamic scholar
Religion	Sunni Islam[1][2]
Spouse	Liliana (Umm Yahya) Hanson
Website
Sandala.org

Hamza Yusuf Hanson is an American Islamic scholar^[3][4], and (with Zaid Shakir and Hatem Bazian) is co-founder of Zaytuna College in Berkeley, California, United States. He is a convert to Islam, and is one of the signatories of A Common Word Between Us and You, an open letter by Islamic scholars to Christian leaders, calling for peace and understanding. He has described the 9/11 attacks as "an act of 'mass murder, pure and simple'". Condemning the attacks, he has also stated "Islam was hijacked ... on that plane as an innocent victim".^[5] The Guardian newspaper in the United Kingdom reported that he "is arguably the west's most influential Islamic scholar" and added that "many Muslims find his views hard to stomach."^[6]

Biography[link]

Hamza Yusuf was born to two academics^[7] in Washington State and raised in Northern California. In 1977, he became Muslim and subsequently traveled to the Muslim world and studied for ten years in the United Arab Emirates, Saudi Arabia, as well as North and West Africa.^[8] Hamza Yusuf spent four years studying in the United Arab Emirates and elsewhere in the Middle East. Later he traveled to West Africa and studied in Mauritania, Medina, Algeria, and Morocco under such scholars as Murabit al Haaj; Baya bin Salik, head of the Islamic court in Al-'Ain, United Arab Emirates; Muhammad Shaybani, Mufti of Abu Dhabi; Hamad al-Wali; and Muhammad al-Fatrati of Al Azhar University in Cairo, Egypt.^{[citation needed]} After more than a decade abroad, he returned to the United States and earned degrees in nursing from Imperial Valley College and religious studies at San José State University.^{[citation needed]}

Hamza Yusuf is a co-founder of Zaytuna College, located in Berkeley, California. He is an advisor to Stanford University's Program in Islamic Studies and the Center for Islamic Studies at Berkeley's Graduate Theological Union.^{[citation needed]} He also serves as a member of the board of advisors of George Russell's One Nation, a national philanthropic initiative that promotes pluralism and inclusion in America. In addition, he serves as vice-president for the Global Center for Guidance and Renewal, which was founded and is currently presided over by Abdallah Bin Bayyah, one of the top jurists and masters of Islamic sciences in the world.^{[citation needed]}

Hamza Yusuf has promoted Islamic sciences and classical teaching methodologies throughout the world. He has also been an advocate for social justice, peace, and conviviality among peoples and places. For several years, he has argued that the "them versus us" problem is fundamentally flawed, and, in R. D. Laing’s term, a “knot” that will destroy people if they do not extricate themselves from it.^{[citation needed]}

Hamza Yusuf has served as an advisor to many organizations, leaders, and heads of state.^{[citation needed]} He has been an innovator in modern Islamic education^{[citation needed]}, founding the highly imitated Deen Intensives, and with Ibrahim Osi-Efa, he started the first Rihla program in England, which has been running for over fifteen years. Dozens of young Muslims who were influenced by his call to reviving traditional Islamic studies in the West went to the Muslim lands in the nineties and early part of the current decade to study, many of who are now teachers in their own right.^{[citation needed]}

With Eissa Bougari, Hamza Yusuf initiated a media challenge to the Arab world that resulted in a highly successful cultural religious program that he hosted for three years and was one of the most watched programs in the Arab world during Ramadan.^{[citation needed]} Cambridge Media Studies stated that this program had a profound influence on subsequent religious programming in the Arab world. He has also been interviewed on BBC several times and was the subject of a BBC documentary segment The Faces of Islam, ushering in the new millennium, as it aired at 11:30 pm on December 31, 1999. Hamza Yusuf has been an outspoken critic of American foreign policy as well as Islamic extremist responses to those policies.^{[citation needed]}

He has drawn criticism from both the extreme right in the West and Muslim extremists in the East.^[9] He told The Guardian: "Many people in the west do not realise how oppressive some Muslim states are – both for men and for women. This is a cultural issue, not an Islamic one. I would rather live as a Muslim in the west than in most of the Muslim countries, because I think the way Muslims are allowed to live in the west is closer to the Muslim way. A lot of Muslim immigrants feel the same way, which is why they are here."^[10]

He and colleagues founded the Zaytuna Institute in 1996, which has established an international reputation^{[citation needed]} for presenting a classical picture of Islam in the West and which is dedicated to the revival of traditional study methods and the sciences of Islam. Hamza Yusuf currently resides in Northern California with his wife and five children.^{[citation needed]}

Hamza Yusuf has also authored several encyclopedia articles and research papers. His published books include The Burda (2003), Purification of the Heart (2004), The Content of Character (2004), The Creed of Imam al-Tahawi (2007), Agenda to Change our Condition (2007), and Walking on Water (2010). Forthcoming are The Prayer of the Oppressed, and The Helpful Guide.^{[citation needed]}

Hamza Yusuf is the first American lecturer to teach in Morocco's prestigious and oldest university, the University of Al-Karaouine in Fes.^[11] He is married and has five children, all boys.

Critical reception[link]

Jordan's Royal Islamic Strategic Studies Centre placed him on its list of the top 50 most influential Muslims in the world.^{[citation needed]} The magazine Egypt Today described him as a kind of theological rock star, "the Elvis Presley of western Muslims."^[12] Recently, Hamza Yusuf was ranked as "the Western world's most influential Islamic scholar" by The 500 Most Influential Muslims, edited by John Esposito and Ibrahim Kalin, (2009).^[13]

Publications[link]

Books Authored[link]

• The Burda The Burda (2003)
• Purification of the Heart: Signs, Symptoms and Cures of the Spiritual Diseases of the Heart (2004)
• The Content of Character (2004)
• The State We Are In: Identity, Terror, and the Law of Jihad (contributing Author) (2006)
• The Creed of Imam al-Tahawi The Creed of Imam Al-Tahawi (2007)
• Agenda to Change our Condition co-authored with Zaid Shakir (2007)
• Walk on Water: The wisdom of Jesus Walk on Water: The wisdom of Jesus (2010)
• Educating your Child in Modern Times

Books with Foreword or note[link]

• Instruction of the Student: The Method of Learning
• The Prophetic Invocations By Mostafa Al-Badawi

Book Edited with Zaid Shakir[link]

• Submission Faith and Beauty Submission Faith and Beauty, The Religion of Islam by Joseph Lumbard (2009)

Papers[link]

• Caesarean Moon Births Part 1
• Caesarean Moon Births Part 2
• Climbing Mount Purgatorio
• Religion, Violence, and the Modern World
• Generous Tolerance in Islam and its Effects on the Life of a Muslim
• Chess in the Light of the Jurist
• Who are the Disbelievers?

References[link]

External links[link]

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Hamza Yusuf

Websites[link]

• Sandala.org – Official website of Hamza Yusuf
• Zaytuna.org – Zaytuna College
• Sheikhhamza.com – Contains list of books recommended by Hamza Yusuf and a biography

See also[link]

• Zaytuna College
• Zaid Shakir