Touchstone of Theology

Testing the Core of Theology

Who Is God?

Across cultures and civilisations, people have searched for the One behind existence — the source of life, order, beauty, and meaning. The Qur’an offers a clear, timeless description of the Creator, one that becomes the touchstone by which all ideas of God can be measured.

Many say, “I don’t believe in God,” yet rarely define what they are rejecting. In simple logic, you cannot deny what you cannot first describe. If I claim a pen is not a book, I must know both to make that distinction. Likewise, to say “there is no God,” one must first know what “God” means; otherwise, the denial is emotional, not reasoned.

And in a striking twist, such a person has already affirmed the first half of the Islamic testimony — “There is no god…” — clearing away false ideas of God. What remains is the second half: “…except Allah.” Once this definition is clarified, the conversation can then begin with clarity and sincerity.

Who Is Not God?

A basic truth sits at the heart of theology: the Creator cannot be the same as the creation. A designer is distinct from the product he designs; a manufacturer is not identical to the object he produces.

This simple logic helps us avoid confusion when thinking about God. If God were part of creation, He would be limited like creation — dependent, changeable, and finite.

But the Creator, by definition, must be above these limitations.

In English, the word God is widely used, but it carries multiple meanings and cultural associations — goddess, demigod, godfather, Roman gods, Greek gods, and so on. These variations can blur the concept of the One, Supreme Creator.

Arabic, however, preserves a unique clarity. The word Allah has no plural, no gender, no linguistic variants that dilute its meaning. It comes from alIlāh — The One worthy of worship. It does not evoke an image, form, or creature. It points only to the One, Eternal, Absolute Creator. Even to this day, Arabicspeaking Jews and Christians use the word Allah to refer to God in their scriptures.

The Qur’an provides the most concise and profound description of the Creator in Chapter 112 — a passage often called the Touchstone of Theology because it clarifies what God is and what God is not:

He is One and Unique

He is Eternal and SelfSufficient

He does not beget, nor was He begotten

There is nothing comparable to Him

This short chapter dismantles every human attempt to imagine God as a physical being, a force within nature, or a deity resembling creation. It establishes a pure, uncompromised monotheism.

Allah is described as the Creator, Provider, and Sustainer of everything — known and unknown. He is independent of all, while everything depends on Him. This relationship is not distant or abstract.

The Qur’an records God saying: “Indeed, I am God. There is no deity worthy of worship except Me, so worship Me and establish prayer for My remembrance.” (Chapter 20, verse 14)

Why Were We Created?

The Qur’an states the purpose of human existence with striking clarity: “I did not create jinn and humankind except to worship Me.” (Chapter 51, verse 56)

Worship is not merely ritual; it is an innate human tendency — the heart’s need to devote itself to something.

If we do not worship God, we inevitably end up worshipping something else: wealth, status, desires, people, or even ourselves. These become our “masters,” pulling us in conflicting directions and leaving us restless.

In Islam, worship means aligning life with God’s guidance — following the Qur’an, the final preserved message, and the example of the Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him).

This alignment fills the heart with awe, love, and serenity. It anchors a person through trials, gives meaning to success and hardship, and opens the way to both a fulfilling life here and an eternal life to come.

To know God is to know the One who created us, sustains us, and calls us to what is good.

The Qur’an’s touchstone invites us to clear away confusion and return to a pure understanding: a Creator who is One, Eternal, unlike anything we can imagine — and closer to us than we often realise.