In an age defined by doubt, individualism, and a barrage of conflicting philosophies, few questions remain as persistent and perplexing as this: Who is God?
For many, especially in the modern era, the nature of God feels abstract, distant, or even contradictory. Is He a loving caretaker or a stern judge? Is He detached from human affairs or intimately involved? Does He demand worship out of ego, or does worship emerge from something deeper?
This confusion is not new, but it is more urgent now than ever, as traditional understandings are constantly being challenged by reductive analogies and limited human frameworks. Yet in the Qur’an, God introduces Himself with clarity, consistency, and power — not through philosophical argument alone, but through revelation that addresses the heart as well as the intellect.
To understand our relationship with God, we must listen carefully to how He describes Himself. Two chapters — Surah An-Nas and Surah Al-Ikhlas — provide profound insight into God’s essence, His uniqueness, and His role in our lives. Together, they strip away misconception and offer something greater: a relationship rooted in reverence, reliance, and recognition.
Surah An-Naas
بسم الله الرحمن الرحيم
1. Say, “I seek refuge in the Lord of mankind,” 2. “The Sovereign of mankind,” 3. “The God of mankind,” 4. “From the evil of the retreating whisperer—” 5. “Who whispers into the hearts of mankind—” 6. “From among jinn and mankind.”
There is a lot of confusion about the nature of our relationship with God. Is He our Lord? Our King? A Loving Father? And if so, why does He seem to hold authority over us in such a total way?
A dictator?
Let’s use an analogy. Say you had a bowl of fish. Would you command the fish to worship you? And if they disobeyed, would you fry them?
On the surface, the fish would seem foolish not to obey, since there’s no real escape. Either fishy paradise or the frying pan. A simple choice.
But does this analogy make God seem egotistical or cruel? Absolutely not.
Surah An-Nas addresses this head-on. God is:
- The Lord of mankind (ربّ النَّاس): the One who nurtures, sustains, and cares. Though a Lord maintains the authority of setting laws.
- The King of mankind (مَلِكِ النَّاس): the sovereign to whom ultimate allegiance is owed. This alleigance is necessary as we live in the kingdom of God. His grasp cannot be escaped. His throne encompasses all.
- The God of mankind (إِلَهِ النَّاس): the one truly worthy of worship and the only source of protection from the unseen evils that whisper within our hearts.
Only God can be beseeched for protection from the whispers of the hidden, retreating devil. These whispers don’t only come from jinn — they also come from humans. And God alone can shield us from them. This is the main confusion. God tells us many of his names including those listed above. But the summary of those names is simply that he is GOD. There is no equivalent relationship to God that can fully encapsulate our connection to him. Only he holds certain powers over us that are incomparable to the powers any other human relationship holds.
Surah Al-Ikhlas
بسم الله الرحمن الرحيم
1. Say, “He is Allah, [who is] One,” 2. “Allah, the Eternal Refuge.” 3. “He neither begets nor is born,” 4. “Nor is there to Him any equivalent.”
Is there any relationship that we have that can perfectly map onto the relationship we share with God? I believe not.
God is not just one in number; He is The One—uniquely and perfectly singular.
He is Al-Samad — the Eternal Refuge, the One to whom all creation turns in need, yet He needs nothing from them. This name of God comes from the Arabic for a boulder that soldiers would hide behind to save themselves from the oncoming onslaught during. Through all the pain and suffering we experience in our lives, the oncoming onslaught of sustenance, the responsiblity of provision, the race to be the best, God is the refuge, the rock.
The LORD is my rock, my fortress and my deliverer; my God is my rock, in whom I take refuge, my shield and the horn of my salvation, my stronghold. (Psalms 18:2)
He does not beget — He has no children, because He has no need. People often find validation or support through children, especially in tribal societies. But God is beyond such need.
He was not begotten — He has no origin, no dependency on anything before Him. He is the Eternal.
There is none comparable to Him.
So we cannot truly liken God to any human analogy. Even the word ‘equivalent’ fails:
- “Equi-” = equal
- “-valent” = from Latin valēre, meaning “to be strong”
Allah says:
فَلَا تَضْرِبُوا لِلَّهِ الْأَمْثَالَِ إِنَّ اللهَ يَعْلَمُ وَأَنْتُمْ لَا تَعْلَمُونَ (74) — Surah An-Nahl
“So do not set up analogies for God. Indeed, God knows, and you do not know.” (16:74)
This verse is of great significance as many of us fall into the trap of asking questions such as “If God loves us like a father so much why does he punish us?”. We are instructed not to present such similitudes to God. Only God himself can tell us who he is.
So who is God?
He is not just the caretaker, the king, or the judge. He is all of these and more — the One beyond analogy, beyond need, beyond comparison. He is the One to whom we turn, not out of compulsion, but out of recognition that no one else can fulfill the role He holds.
He is the One Lord, the One King, and the One God of mankind.
Engraved Light 
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