Definition of the Creator
Say, “He is Allah, the One. Allah, the Eternal and Self-Sufficient. He neither begets nor is born, and there is none comparable to Him.”
112-Surah Ikhlas, Al Quran
Surah Al-Ikhlas gives a remarkably concise definition of the Creator: He is One, eternal, self-sufficient, neither born nor giving birth, and nothing is comparable to Him. These statements separate the Creator completely from the characteristics and limitations of His creation.
He Was Not Born
Everything that is born has a beginning. It comes into existence at a particular moment and depends upon causes and conditions that existed before it.
God declares that He was not born. This means His existence did not begin. There was never a moment when God did not exist and then came into existence. He has no parents, no origin and no creator.
If God required someone or something to bring Him into existence, then that preceding cause would have a greater claim to being the ultimate Creator. Surah Al-Ikhlas removes this contradiction by defining God as the uncreated and self-sufficient One.
He Does Not Have a Son
The statement “He neither begets” is equally important.
Having offspring is a characteristic of created living beings. We reproduce because our lives are temporary and our existence as individuals does not continue forever. God has no such limitation.
He does not need a son, heir, successor or continuation of Himself. The Eternal does not need someone to inherit His authority, continue His existence or share His divinity.
Therefore, no human being—however honoured—becomes part of God or shares His status as the Creator. The Creator remains One.
The Creator of Time Is Not Dependent Upon Time
Time is part of the created universe. We experience existence through past, present and future. We remember yesterday, experience the present moment and do not know what tomorrow will bring.
But the Creator of time cannot be understood as though He were trapped within time in exactly the same way that we are.
The Qur’an describes God as “the First and the Last” and repeatedly describes His knowledge as encompassing all things. From the Islamic perspective, history, the present and the future are all completely within God’s knowledge.
For us, tomorrow is unknown.
For God, nothing is unknown.
The rise and fall of civilizations, every moment occurring now, and every event still awaiting humanity are within His knowledge. Time limits creation; it does not limit the Creator.
Darkness Cannot Hide Anything From Him
Human vision depends upon light. When light disappears, our ability to see disappears with it. Our senses therefore depend upon conditions outside ourselves.
God’s knowledge and awareness do not depend upon sunlight, lamps, cameras, eyes or any other physical mechanism.
The Qur’an says that He knows what enters the earth and what emerges from it, what descends from the heaven and what ascends into it. It also declares that not even the weight of an atom escapes His knowledge.
For the Creator, therefore, darkness provides no hiding place.
Light and darkness affect our ability to perceive; they do not restrict His knowledge.
Nothing Is Comparable to Him
This brings us to the final statement of Surah Al-Ikhlas:
“And there is none comparable to Him.”
We should therefore not imagine God as a larger or more powerful version of ourselves. A human being exists within space and time, requires resources, has physical limitations and possesses only limited knowledge.
The Creator is not another object within the universe.
He is the One who created the universe, matter, space, time, light and the laws by which creation operates.
That is the distinction Surah Al-Ikhlas asks us to understand:
He was not created—He is the Creator.
He was not born—He is eternal.
He has no son—He needs no successor.
He is not dependent on time—He created it.
Darkness does not conceal and distance does not hide from His knowledge.
He depends upon nothing—while all creation ultimately depends upon Him.
This is the God that the Qur’an invites humanity to know.