Islamic Studies Commons^™

The Qur’Ānic Doctrine Of The Divine Names And The Muslim Understanding Of The Divine, Sibgha Javaid

College Honors Program

What is the Muslim conception of the Divine? To answer this question, we first must look to the Qur’an, since Muslims consider it God’s self-revelation to human beings. However, when we look to the Qur’an for guidance, we are presented with a God who describes Himself using Names that indicate both His incomparability to creation (tanzīh) and His similarity (tashbīh) to the created order. For example, God refers to Himself as the Hearing (as-Samī), the Seeing (al- Baṣīr), and the Living (al-Ḥayy), but also says He is the Unique (al-Ahad). For many Muslim scholars, these contrasts lead to paradoxes when …