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Since
God is able to do all things, He should be able to have a
son. Did God have a Son? However, this claim reduces God to
the lowly status of His creation. Creatures procreate by
giving birth to mini versions of themselves that later grow
up and reproduce copies of themselves, and so on and so
forth. Dogs have puppies, cats have kittens, cows have
calves, and men have children. So, what does God have – a
baby God? Gods must give birth to Gods. But, for God to have
a son, there has to exist another God besides Him. It is not
befitting for God to have a son as such an act equates Him
with His creation.
Everything other than God comes into existence by the
commandment of God, not that God becomes His creation or a
part of God becomes creation. God does not become His
creation nor does God give birth to creation. God is God,
the Creator, and man and the contents of the universe are
His creation. Although humans cannot grasp the concept of
creation from nothing, that is exactly what God did and
does. He alone creates from nothing, which 1s among the
attributes that make Him unique and distinct from His
creation. His act of creation is entirely different from
that of human beings.
This was the essence of the message of all the true
messengers and prophets of God sent to humanity – Abraham,
Moses, Jesus and Muhammad – as well as those sent throughout
the world whose names are now unknown to humanity - may
God’s peace and blessings be on them all. Today, this
precise message can only be found in the Quran; the last
scripture revealed by God to humankind. The message remains
loud and clear only in the Quran because it has remained
unchanged since the time of its revelation, one thousand
four hundred years ago, until today.
God
states in the Quran for those who make Him like His creation
or vice versa: “There is nothing similar to Him.” (Quran
42:11 Translated meaning)
He also states for those who attributed to Him a son: “But
it is not suitable for Ar-Rahmaan (the Most Beneficent
-Allah) that He should beget a child.” (Quran 19:92
Translated meaning)
He further states for those who believe that He created the
world from Himself: “If He wishes anything to exist, He
merely commands it: ‘Be’, and it is.” (Quran 36:82
Translated meaning)
For the polytheists He states: “There was no other god along
with Him, for if there were each would have taken away what
he created and tried to overcome the other.” (Quran 23:91
Translated meaning)
He asks the atheists: “Did nothing create them or did they
create themselves?” (Quran 52:35 Translated meaning)
And in reference to Jesus and his mother, Mary, He confirmed
their humanity by saying simply: “They both used to eat
food.” (Quran 5:75 Translated meaning)
The concept of God not becoming man is very important for
every human being to grasp because it lies at the foundation
of the difference between Islam and all other existing
religions. All other religions have a distorted concept of
God, to one degree or another. The most important idea which
needs to be understood, is that God did not become man. God
is unique; He alone deserves to be worshipped by His
creation. To believe that a man is God or that a man became
God and to worship that man is the greatest sin and the
greatest evil that humans can do on this earth. This
understanding is most important because it forms the
foundation for salvation. There can be no salvation
without it. However, this belief alone is not the key
salvation. True, correct belief must be translated into
practice, and not merely remain in the realm of knowledge,
for it to become pure faith. A person has to live a
righteous life based on the correct belief to attain
salvation. Nevertheless, the starting point is, knowing
who God is, knowing that God never became and will never
become a human being.
Courtesy: Dr. Abu Ameenah Bilal Philips
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