Quranic Terminology: The Absolute Truth

Published in January 11, 2019

Translated by: Ahmed Fathy

Firstly: the Absolute Truth comes exclusively from the Omniscient Lord God:

1- "...God is Witness over all things." (4:33 + 22:17).

2- "...God Encompasses everything in knowledge." (65:12); "To God belongs what is in the heavens and what is on earth, and God encompasses everything." (4:126).

3- Because God is the Omniscient Lord Who knows all about the (meta)physical realms; i.e., the (in)visible worlds.

3/1: "The Knower of the Unseen and the Seen, the Almighty, the Wise." (64:18); "He is Allah. There is no God but He, the Knower of secrets and declarations. He is the Dominant, the Merciful.He is God; besides Whom there is no god; the Sovereign, the Holy, the Peace-Giver, the Faith-Giver, the Overseer, the Almighty, the Omnipotent, the Overwhelming. Glory be to God, beyond what they associate.He is Allah; the Creator, the Maker, the Designer. His are the Holy Names. Whatever is in the heavens and the earth glorifies Him. He is the Majestic, the Wise." (59:22-24).

3/2: The Lord God's Omniscience is linked to His being the Creator of the heavens and the earth.

3/2/1: "The Knower of the Invisible and the Visible; the Grand, the Supreme. It is the same; whether one of you conceals his speech, or declares it; whether he goes into hiding by night, or goes out by day." (13:9-10).

3/2/2: The Omniscient Lord God knows (and His angels write/record) all about all things lesser or bigger than atoms in the heavens and the earth.

3/2/2/1: "Those who disbelieve say, "The Hour will not come upon us." Say, "Yes indeed, by my Lord, it will come upon you. He is the Knower of the unseen." Not an atom's weight in the heavens and the earth, or anything smaller or larger, escapes His knowledge. All are in a Clear Record." (34:3).

3/2/2/2: "With Him are the keys of the unseen; none knows them except He. And He knows everything on land and in the sea. Not a leaf falls but He knows it; and there is not a single grain in the darkness of earth, nor is there anything wet or dry, but is in a clear record." (6:59).

3/2/3: This is why, in light of the above verses about His Omniscience, He is the Only One to judge human beings on the Last day; this means that there is no compulsion in religion and there is no death-penalty for those 'apostates' who forsook religion: "Say, "Our God, Initiator of the heavens and the earth, Knower of all secrets and declarations. You will judge between your servants regarding what they had differed about."" (39:46).

3/2/4: The Lord God's Word is the Absolute Truth: "It is He who created the heavens and the earth in truth. On the Day when He says: "Be," it will be. His saying is the Truth..." (6:73).

3/2/5: This is about the Quran as the Absolute Truth from the Omniscient Lord, the Book which is never doubted by monotheists: "The revelation of the Book, without a doubt, is from the Lord of the worlds. Yet they say, "He made it up." In fact, it is the Truth from your Lord, to warn a people who received no warner before you, that they may be guided. God is He who created the heavens and the earth and everything between them in six days, and then established Himself on the Throne. Apart from Him, you have no master and no intercessor. Will you not reflect? He regulates all affairs, from the heavens, to the earth. Then it ascends to Him on a Day the length of which is a thousand years by your count. That is the Knower of the Invisible and the Visible, the Powerful, the Merciful." (32:2-6).

Secondly: The Lord God's Omniscience includes the Quran as the Absolute Truth which is never doubted by pious monotheists:

1- The Quran describes itself as the Absolute Truth which is not doubted by believers.

1/1: "This is the Absolute Truth." (56:95).

1/2: "Yet it is the Absolute Truth." (69:51).

2- Islam is the religion of the Absolute Truth and one-hundred percent of monotheism, with no room for doubt, polytheism, hesitation, conjectures, or guesses. This applies to the following points. 

2/1: The testimony of (There is no God but Allah): "Such is God, your Lord - the Truth. What is there, beyond the Truth, except falsehood? How are you turned away?" (10:32); "That is because God is the Truth, and what they worship besides Him are falsehoods, and because God is the Exalted, the Supreme." (31:30).

2/2: The Quran itself: no monotheists believe in any discourses besides it: "Have they not observed the government of the heavens and the earth, and all the things that God created, and that their time may have drawn near? Which discourse, besides this, will they believe in?" (7:185); "In what discourse, beyond this, will they believe?" (77:50); "These are God's Verses which We recite to you in truth. In which discourse, after God and His Verses, will they believe?" (45:6).

2/3: Islam (i.e., total submission to the Lord God within monotheism) is the only religion accepted by the Lord God on the Last Day; this is His Only Religion given to humanity in all eras: "Whoever seeks other than Islam as a religion, it will not be accepted from him, and in the Hereafter he will be among the losers." (3:85).

3- The Lord Gods says the Absolute Truth within details of Quranic stories; disbelievers prefer instead conjectures, assumptions, myths, and lies; this is exemplified here: "And for their saying, "We have killed the Messiah, Jesus, the son of Mary, the messenger of God." In fact, they did not kill him, nor did they crucify him, but it appeared to them as if they did. Indeed, those who differ about him are in doubt about it. They have no knowledge of it, except the following of assumptions. Certainly, they did not kill him." (4:157).

Thirdly: the reason why living human beings cannot understand/reach the Absolute Truth fully however hard they try:

1- That is because no-one among human beings is infallible.

1/1: Human souls are created within the ability to choose freely between piety and sin: "And the soul and He who proportioned it. And inspired it with its wickedness and its righteousness. Successful is he who purifies it. Failing is he who corrupts it." (91:7-10).

1/2: The winners on the Last Day are those whose souls avoid sinful whims/desires: "But as for him who feared the Stature of his Lord, and restrained the self from desires. Then Paradise is the shelter." (79:40-41).

1/3: Those winners were not infallible during their lifetimes on earth; on the Last Day, each soul will defend itself: "On the Day when every soul will come pleading for itself, and every soul will be paid in full for what it has done, and they will not be wronged." (16:111).

1/4: All human beings err and make mistakes, as per these verses:

1/4/1: "If God were to hold mankind for their injustices, He would not leave upon it a single creature, but He postpones them until an appointed time. Then, when their time arrives, they will not delay it by one hour, nor will they advance it." (16:61).

1/4/2: "If God were to punish the people for what they have earned, He would not leave a single living creature on its surface. But He defers them until a stated time. Then, when their time has arrived - God is Observant of His creatures." (35:45).

1/5: All of the above points in this section apply to all human beings including all God's prophets/messengers.

2- This is because faith/belief increases and decreases as per stances, situations, and deeds of a given soul.

2/1: The hypocrites of Yathreb during Muhammad's lifetime fluctuated between belief and disbelief within several situations; we read this about their stance of refusing to participate in the self-defense fighting: "And that He may know the hypocrites. And it was said to them, "Come, fight in the cause of God, or contribute." They said, "If we knew how to fight, we would have followed you." On that day they were closer to disbelief than they were to belief..." (3:167).

2/2: Within situations of hardships and ordeals, the belief of true believers in Yathreb increased, as we read in the same context: "Those to whom the people have said, "The people have mobilized against you, so fear them." But this only increased them in belief..." (3:173).

2/3: In general, the Quran increases the belief of monotheists and the disbelief of those who hate the Quran.

2/3/1: "The believers are those whose hearts tremble when God is mentioned, and when His Verses are recited to them, they increase their belief, and upon their Lord they rely." (8:2).

2/3/2: "Whenever a chapter is revealed, some of them say, "Which of you has this increased in belief?" As for those who believe: it increases them in belief, and they rejoice. But as for those in whose hearts is sickness: it adds disgrace to their disgrace, and they die as unbelievers." (9:124-125).

2/3/3: "...Certainly, what was revealed to you from your Lord will increase many of them in tyranny and disbelief..." (5:64 + 5:68).

3- Sadly, there are those who believe in (There is no God but Allah) but their addiction to committing sins leads them to deny and/or ridicule (some) Quranic verses: "Then, evil was the end of those who committed evil. That is because they rejected God's Verses and used to ridicule them." (30:10).

Fourthly: the pious ones who will enter into Paradise never reach Absolute Truth regarding faith/belief during their life on earth:

1- The Paradise is confined only to the pious monotheists.

1/1 "Such is Paradise which We will give as inheritance to those of Our servants who are pious." (19:63).

1/2: "Those who disbelieved will be driven to Hell in throngs..." (39:71); "And those who feared their Lord within piety will be led to Paradise in throngs..." (39:73).

2- As per the Quranic Chapter 56, the dwellers of Paradise are of two categories; this means they were not infallible during their lives on earth.

3- Some of the Paradise-dwellers will be sincerely repentant ones within monotheism and the belief in the Absolute Truth who previously committed grave sins: "But he who promotes the truth, and testifies to it - these are the righteous. They will have whatever they please with their Lord. Such is the reward for the virtuous. God will acquit them of the worst of their deeds, and will reward them according to the best of what they used to do." (39:33-35).

4- Some pious ones who repented committed grave sins of injustices and immorality: "And race towards forgiveness from your Lord, and a Garden as wide as the heavens and the earth, prepared for the righteous. Those who give in prosperity and adversity, and those who restrain anger, and those who forgive people. God loves the doers of good. And those who, when they commit an indecency or wrong themselves, remember God and ask forgiveness for their sins-and who forgives sins except God? And they do not persist in their wrongdoing while they know. Those - their reward is forgiveness from their Lord, and gardens beneath which rivers flow, abiding therein forever. How excellent is the reward of the workers." (3:133-136).

5- This means that piety (which is adherence to the Absolute Truth) does not last the whole duration of one's lifetime; part of being created as human beings is to commit errors/mistakes; repentance is required by everyone all the time; sensing/reaching the Absolute Truth and/or adhering to it all the time is impossible. This topic is covered in our very next article.