Ayatul Kursi summarizes, in powerful and succinct Words, the basic principles of the Islamic faith, citing those attributes of Allah that most aptly assert the meaning and significance of the basic Islamic principle of Tawheed: the oneness of Allah.
اللّٰهُ لَاۤ اِلٰهَ اِلَّا هُوَ الۡحَـىُّ الۡقَيُّوۡمُ - لَا تَاۡخُذُهٗ سِنَةٌ وَّلَا نَوۡمٌؕ لَهٗ مَا فِى السَّمٰوٰتِ وَمَا فِى الۡاَرۡضِؕ مَنۡ ذَا الَّذِىۡ يَشۡفَعُ عِنۡدَهٗۤ اِلَّا بِاِذۡنِهٖؕ يَعۡلَمُ مَا بَيۡنَ اَيۡدِيۡهِمۡ وَمَا خَلۡفَهُمۡۚ وَلَا يُحِيۡطُوۡنَ بِشَىۡءٍ مِّنۡ عِلۡمِهٖۤ اِلَّا بِمَا شَآءَ ۚ وَسِعَ كُرۡسِيُّهُ السَّمٰوٰتِ وَالۡاَرۡضَۚ وَلَا يَـُٔوۡدُهٗ حِفۡظُهُمَا ۚ وَ هُوَ الۡعَلِىُّ الۡعَظِيۡمُ -
“Allah: there is no deity but Him, the Ever-Living, the Eternal Master of all. Neither slumber nor sleep overtakes Him. His is all that is in the heavens and all that is on earth. Who is there that can intercede with Him, except by His permission? He knows all that lies open before them and all that lies hidden from them; whereas they cannot attain to anything of His knowledge save as He wills. His throne extends over the heavens and the earth, and the preservation of both does not weary Him. He is the Most High, the Most Great.” (Surah Baqarah : 255)
“God: there is no deity but Him...“ This statement clearly and definitively distinguishes the Islamic concept of Allah from that of the Trinity, adopted and advanced by Christian church councils long after Jesus, and from the pagan beliefs of the ancient Egyptians who confused God with the sun and recognized the existence of lesser gods beside Him.’ This clear and uncompromising concept is the foundation of Islamic belief and of the whole Islamic system of life. It defines the object of worship and submission for all, so that man submits to none other than Allah, who alone should be worshiped, obeyed and revered. It gives rise to the principle that Allah alone should be the source of law and legislation for human life on this earth. The laws and rules that people may lay down should derive from those that Allah has laid down. This would in turn imply that values and concepts originate with Allah and that all ethics, traditions and moral systems must be judged in relation to them.
The Ayah describes Allah as “the Ever-Living, the Eternal Master of all”. This implies a self-generating, self-sustaining being that is unique and independent of everything else. It is also a being without a beginning or an end, totally outside the dimension of time which defines the beginning and end of other ephemeral beings. Furthermore, Allah Almighty, is absolute and cannot be defined in conventional terms applicable to all creation. He is unique in every respect, and nothing can be compared with Him. Thus, all other definitions or representations of Allah, conjured up by the human mind throughout the ages, are false and inadequate.
“The Eternal Master of all”, implies that Allah has power over all things and that He is the supreme and ultimate cause, without whom there can be no existence or action. This is diametrically opposite to the misguided view of Aristotle, the most eminent of Greek philosophers, that God takes no interest in His creation, because He is too great to preoccupy Himself with anything else. Aristotle took this to be a glorification of God, but in effect it means the elimination of God from the daily affairs of the world He created. The Islamic view of God, on the other hand, is a positive one, based on the principle that Allah is actively and constantly sustaining all existence, and that the existence of everything emanates from His will and design. The Islamic view of Allah gives total assurance and relates a Muslim’s conscience and being, as well as everything around him, directly to Allah, the power that controls all existence, according to the divine scheme and order. A believer thus draws all his values, norms and standards from Allah’s order and watches Allah in all his actions and behaviour.
“Neither slumber nor sleep overtakes Him.” This statement reinforces, in simpler and more graphic terms, the preceding one: that Allah is the everlasting power sustaining everything in existence. It also distinguishes Allah from other beings by pointing out that He is not affected by sleep to any degree, in any shape or form. Allah’s unique being and His total and absolute control over all things, large and small, at all times, are awesome concepts to comprehend. No matter how much the limited human mind may be able to grasp the size and variety of creatures and events of this vast universe, it would not be possible for man to adequately perceive how Allah exercises His power and control over the world. What we are able to appreciate is bound to fill us with amazement, and also give us endless reassurance of Allah’s presence and protection over us.
“His is all that is in the heavens and all that is on earth.” Allah’s claim over the cosmos is total and absolute; unconditional and incontestable. This is another aspect of the principle of Allah’s oneness which confirms that Allah is supreme, ever-present, eternal, master and owner of all. It completely invalidates the assumption that Allah has partners in His power or actions. This concept gives a new definition of ownership as applied to individual human beings. For, since Allah is the ultimate owner of all that exists, no one else can claim ownership of anything in this world. People are, therefore, mere custodians of what they possess, which is entrusted to them by Allah. Accordingly, they are bound by the terms of that custodianship, as set out by Allah Almighty, the ultimate owner, in the divine code of living revealed to mankind. Any violation of these terms leads to disqualification and censure of the trustee. Here we can see how Islamic principles are directly translated into law for immediate application in life.
When Allah says: “His is all that is in the heavens and all that is on earth,” He (SWT) is not merely stating a principle of faith, but also laying down a fundamental rule of the order of life He (SWT) envisages for mankind. Once the belief is firmly established in our consciousness that everything in this world belongs to Allah and that what we own is merely on loan for a limited period of time, greed and lust to accumulate wealth and worldly possessions by any means will not be difficult to hold in check. This belief is bound to fill our hearts with contentment, humility, tolerance, and magnanimity. One will face wealth and poverty with equal ease and steadfastness, and if impoverished will not be in the least bitter or grudging.
“Who is there that can intercede with Him, except by His permission?” This statement underlines yet another aspect of the concept of Allah’s oneness, distinguishing clearly the Supreme Being, Allah, and His subordinate creation. All creatures stand in total humility and submission to the Master, never arrogating to themselves powers or authorities not delegated to them by Him. Above all, they are not to intercede on behalf of anyone without Allah’s permission, and when they are granted such permission, they will act within its limits, as set out by Allah Almighty. Some will certainly attain a higher degree of approval than others, but none of them will overstep their set limits. The tone of the statement is plainly one of divine majesty and authority, enhanced by its rhetorical form which seems to question the legitimacy of the proposition that anyone can intercede on behalf of another without Allah’s permission and authority. The Islamic concept of Allah is crystal-clear and unambiguous. It makes a sharp distinction between Allah, the Master, and all creation, His subordinates, leaving no room whatsoever for any confusion or overlap between the essence or status of the two. Islam complements this distinction by emphasizing Allah’s merciful, caring, compassionate and munificent attitude towards His creation. All believers can enjoy His grace without the need for distorting their conception of Allah’s omnipresence and omnipotence, or perverting the nature of their relationship with Him.
“He knows all that lies open before them and all that lies hidden from them; whereas they cannot attain to anything of His knowledge save as He wills.” This statement expresses Allah’s omniscience. He (SWT) has full and total knowledge of the present, the past and the future, which human beings cannot possibly know or perceive. He is ever aware of what human beings know and what they do not, and will not, know. They can learn only what He allows them to learn. The fact that Allah knows our present, past and future actions and deeds, and beyond, ought to fill us with dread and awe, for being totally and permanently exposed before Allah Almighty. It inspires total humility and submission to the one omniscient Allah.
Allah alone possesses full and absolute knowledge of all existence. He is able, in His infinite wisdom, to impart whatever He chooses of His knowledge to mankind, as He has promised: “We will show them Our signs in all the regions of the earth and in their own souls, until they clearly see that this is the truth.” (41: 53) This fact is often forgotten, and so is the fact that whatever knowledge Allah imparts to man, whether relating to the physical or to the metaphysical world, entails a certain degree of responsibility and accountability. Despite this, men often forget that Allah is the source of the knowledge they have acquired, while others deny the fact altogether. Allah has been giving man knowledge ever since the day He appointed man His vicegerent on earth and undertook to guide him and show him the way forward, unfolding before him the secrets of the physical world and all the principles, laws and tools that facilitate human life and progress on earth. While Allah has generously enabled man to acquire vast amounts of knowledge and made him privy to many of the world’s mysteries, He has withheld many others. These are not required for man to know in order to fulfil his role on earth. These include the secret of life, which continues to elude human knowledge and which man continues to pursue with zeal but little success. The same applies to knowledge of the future, which remains hidden behind an impregnable wall, despite man’s persistent efforts to predict and determine the future. Occasionally, however, with Allah’s permission certain individuals are given glimpses of the future, but the curtain soon falls, leaving that world firmly inaccessible. All the stores of knowledge that are not necessary for man’s role in this world remain locked, and the great leaps man has made have barely reached beyond planet earth, a mere speck in a vast immeasurable universe. Nevertheless, man is beguiled and overwhelmed by the little knowledge he has acquired, which he owes to Allah’s grace and generosity, and has assumed for himself a quasi- divine status, a demigod, denying the very existence of Allah, the Creator. In recent decades, scientists have begun to show a certain degree of humility in recognizing the inadequacy and shortcomings of human knowledge. There are, however, many fools who continue to think that they know everything there is to know.
“His throne extends over the heavens and the earth, and the preservation of both does not weary Him. He is the Most High, the Most Great.” Here we have another example of the unique style of the Qur’ān in expressing an abstract idea by means of a visual image, in order to make the meaning clear and accessible. The word kursī, meaning ‘seat’ or ‘chair’ and translated here as “throne”, is usually used to denote realm or sovereignty. The idea here is that Allah’s sovereignty and authority extend over the entire cosmos, and the image makes it clear, easy to grasp and comprehend. Likewise, the phrase, “the preservation of both does not weary Him,” is an expression of Allah’s omnipotence, depicting in simple but powerful terms how easy it is for Allah to sustain and preserve the heavens and the earth.
The Ayah ends with two more attributes of Allah: “He is the Most High, the Most Great,” exalting Allah above all else. The Arabic words make it clear that these attributes are exclusive to Allah Almighty. No human being, or any other creature, could aspire to these qualities, and those who try shall be humbled and disgraced.
Elsewhere in the Qur’ān, Allah says: “As for the [happy] life to come, We grant it exclusively to those who seek neither to exalt themselves on earth nor yet to spread corruption.” (28: 83) It also castigates Pharaoh for being “a tyrant and a transgressor” (44: 31) No matter how powerful or great a human being may grow, he can never rise above being a servant of Allah. Once this fact is firmly established in man’s mind, it will enhance his status as subordinate to Allah and restrain his pride and transgression. He will truly fear Allah and appreciate His majesty and power, and will seek to be more humble towards Allah and less haughty in dealing with his fellow human beings. Here again, we see how a tenet of faith is immediately translated into a code of conduct in real life.
Rest Allah knows best.
Source: Quran, In the Shade of the Quran, Tafsir Ibn Kathir