Why Islam Rejects the Idea That Allah Has a Child
The greatest theological deviations do
not usually begin with denying the existence of Allah. Rather, they sometimes
begin with a false conception of God—a distorted understanding built upon ideas
that have no rational or religious foundation.
When qualities that belong only to a
weak created being are attributed to the powerful Creator, and when the essence
of Allah is measured according to human standards and limited human minds, we
find people attributing a child to Allah, the Most High, saying that someone is
the son of Allah. Allah, the Most High, says: {The
Jews say, “Ezra is the son of Allah,” while the Christians say, “The Messiah is
the son of Allah.”} [At-Tawbah 9:30]
Thus, the Quran came to destroy the
foundation of this claim from its roots: {Indeed,
it is one of their ˹outrageous˺
fabrications to say, “Allah has children.” They are simply liars.} [As-Saffat
37:151–152]
Let us reflect on the Quranic
expression {it is one of their ˹outrageous˺ fabrications.} It shows that the problem is not merely a word that
was spoken by the tongue. Rather, behind that word lies a mistaken and
distorted conception.
This statement results from a way of
thinking that confuses the Creator with the created, and the powerful with the
weak—a conception that seeks to nourish the spirit with something the intellect
cannot accept, while attempting to convince the intellect of something from
which the spirit cannot be nourished.
Before Asking Whether Allah Has a Child,
Ask: Who Is Allah?
Before we ask, “Does Allah have a
child?”—before we even consider and evaluate this question—we must correct the
question from its very foundation.
You cannot speak about a child
belonging to Allah before knowing: Who is Allah?
Allah is not a human being or a
created being whose characteristics and qualities can be measured according to
human characteristics. He is not a weak being who needs offspring to preserve
his existence. He does not need someone to carry his name after him so that his
legacy does not disappear, nor does He need a partner to assist Him in His
dominion. Exalted is Allah far above all such things.
Allah is the One,
meaning the singular Being who has always been alone, with no other deity
alongside Him, and who is unique in His oneness.
He is the Creator, while everything
besides Him is created. He is the Self-Sufficient, while all creation is
dependent upon Him and He is dependent upon no one.
He is the Master whom all people need,
while He needs no one.
Therefore, the error in saying “Allah
has offspring” is deeper than merely an incorrect expression. It is an error in
understanding the divine essence itself. When your conception of Allah is
sound, your words will become sound as well. And when you understand His
perfection, self-sufficiency, and oneness, you realize that having a child is
not a quality of perfection for the Creator. Rather, it is one of the
characteristics of created beings.
For a created being, not having a
child can be associated with weakness, deficiency, and need. Far exalted is
Allah above having any weakness, deficiency, or need.
Does a Perfect Creator Need a Child?
In the human world, having children is
connected to the need to extend one’s lineage, to have support in times of
weakness and inability, and to continue one’s descendants after one’s
departure. All of this is connected to the nature of created beings: weakness,
need, and mortality.
But can any of these qualities apply
to Allah?
The answer must certainly be no, for
anyone of sound innate nature and sound reason.
The perfection and majesty of God
require that He be self-sufficient and in need of no one, and that He be the
One upon whom creation depends for all its needs. He does not need anyone to
assist Him, anyone to create Him, or anyone to inherit His dominion after Him,
because divine perfection admits no deficiency.
Sound human nature therefore
recognizes that Allah does not become complete through having a child. For
anything that becomes complete through something else was incomplete before it.
Allah, the Most High, is perfect in Himself and independent of His creation.
Therefore, the Quran gives a
comprehensive and decisive answer: {Allah—the
Sustainer ˹needed by all˺. He has never had offspring, nor was He born.} [Al-Ikhlas 112:2–3]
Thus, the question is not merely:
Where is the evidence that Allah has a child?
The deeper question is: What need
could a child fulfill for a perfect God who is independent of all creation?
And would that child also be a god
like his father? At that point, there would be multiple gods and the foundation
of monotheism would
collapse.
When our conception of God is correct
and grounded in awareness of these truths, the false idea collapses at its
foundation before any argument about it even begins.
Where Did the Idea That Allah Has a
Child Come From?
The idea that Allah has offspring did
not arise from a correct understanding of the perfect God. Rather, it emerged
from projecting human experience onto God and measuring Him according to it.
Human beings know birth within their
own world. They know children and descendants. They also attempt to explain
unseen matters through what is familiar to them because human beings are
naturally eager to explain what lies beyond their knowledge. They may explain
it through things that are completely wrong simply to satisfy that curiosity.
Thus, because of limited insight,
deficient reasoning, and the failure to establish true and sound faith in the
heart, human beings transfer the characteristics of created beings to the
Creator.
A human being is born because he did
not exist before. He needs children because he is a limited and mortal being.
He seeks descendants to achieve continuity and survival.
But Allah’s existence is not an
extension of an existence that preceded Him, nor is His continued existence
dependent upon offspring who come after Him. He is the First, without a
beginning, and the Last, without an end.
From here, the Quran directs our minds
to the root of this deviation: {Still the pagans
have made some of His creation out to be a part of Him. Indeed, humankind is
clearly ungrateful.} [Az-Zukhruf 43:15]
Monotheism Frees the Mind From False
Comparisons
Monotheism is not merely saying,
“Allah is One.” It means understanding what it means for Allah to be One and
recognizing that the Creator does not resemble His creation, and that whatever
images of created beings arise in your mind cannot represent the Creator.
When a person imagines his god in the
form of a created being or measures divine attributes according to human
attributes, he has made the limited a standard for the limitless and the
created a measure for the Creator.
Monotheism frees the mind from this
illusion at its very roots. It states clearly: {There
is nothing like Him.} [Ash-Shura 42:11]
Allah is not simply a greater human
being, a greater physical body, or a being governed by the laws of matter,
time, and space in the same way that created beings are.
Here lies the profound intellectual
purpose of Islamic creed: to affirm what befits Allah’s majesty and greatness
while declaring Him far above resembling created beings, without turning the
mind’s inability to fully comprehend Allah into evidence that Allah does not
exist.
The human intellect can understand
that the Creator possesses a perfection appropriate to Him, but it cannot
encompass the reality of His essence.
Encompassing something does not mean
merely knowing it. Rather, it means possessing complete knowledge of it or
comprehending it from every possible aspect, whether regarding its attributes
or anything else.
Allah is far greater and more majestic
than to be encompassed by the mind of a weak human being whose thinking and
perception have limits.
Rather, Allah encompasses everything,
while nothing can encompass Him, as Allah, the Most High, says, {No vision can encompass Him, but He encompasses all
vision.} [Al-An`am 6:103]
And He says, {But
no one can grasp any of His knowledge—except what He wills ˹to reveal˺.} [Al-Baqarah 2:255]
The Beauty of Monotheism
This is the beauty of monotheism:
- The beauty of monotheism appears when it frees
your mind from creating a god according to the measure of your
imagination, only to worship the image you have created yourself.
- It establishes truth firmly in your heart before
doubt can enter it, because prevention is better than cure.
- It teaches each of us to recognize our own limits
and the limits of our intellect, so that we stop where those limits end
and do not overstep them.
- It teaches us to attribute every form of beauty
and perfection to Allah and to declare Him far above every deficiency,
weakness, and flaw.
- It firmly establishes faith in matters of the
unseen within us, while also teaching us the limits of human reason
regarding them and where its reach ends.
-------------------------------------------------------------
