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II. THE CHARACTER AND ATTRIBUTES OF GOD
WE must now pass on to consider what the Qur'an
teaches concerning the character and attributes of God.
We have already seen that according to the Qur'an
the Nature of God is incomprehensible by man, though
man may know something of God because He has chosen
to reveal Himself. When we come now to consider what
the Qur'an has to say of the divine character and
attributes we shall find that it takes up the same position.
Man cannot understand these fully, but he can nevertheless
know something of the divine character and attributes,
because God has declared these also, in part, to mankind.
1. The first attribute which we shall consider is His
Unchangeableness. All else shall pass away, but He shall
remain, for He is the Steadfastly-existing (AlQayyim).
God's continued existence means necessarily that
He has not only unbroken and everlasting continuity
of Being, but that He continues in the same condition.
He remains unchangeable in His Being, He remains that
which He always was. How this unchangeableness of God
determines His attitude to man and to His own character
in its relation to right and wrong we shall see later.
2. God is Omnipresent. He sits on His throne, it is
true, in majesty above and beyond man; but He is not |
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CHARACTER AND ATTRIBUTES OF GOD |
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therefore a God afar off. While there is not a little
in the Qur'an concerning the Throne of God, which
leads one to think that Muhammad, at times at least,
pictured God as actually seated on a Throne, and while
the commentators tell us how the throne of God is one
of His creations though the manner of His sitting thereon
is not to be enquired into, there can be little doubt
but that, for the most part, God's 'sitting
on His throne' is to be regarded as a figure of
speech whereby is expressed His ruling and sustaining
the world which He has created. 'Your Lord is God,
who in six days created the Heavens and the Earth, and
then mounted the throne.' 1 The verse
draws a distinction between the work of creation and
the subsequent ruling by God of this world which he
made. This ruling of the world is so far above the conceptions
which man can have of what it is to govern a world,
that the throne itself is spoken of in terms which are
intended to convey to man's mind the greatness of
Him who rules, and the incomprehensible manner of His
government. God Himself is frequently spoken of as 'the
possessor of the glorious throne' 2 'the
Lord of the Throne' 3 'Lord of the
stately Throne' 4 'of the Throne
possessed'. 5
That by 'the Throne of God' we are to understand
the divine rule and government of the world, is further
borne out by the verse which speaks of the universality
of God's rule, by stating that 'His Throne reacheth
over the Heavens and the Earth'. 6
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