Inside Islam: A Guide for Catholics

(Jacob Rumans) #1

Loving’’ is not among these Names, however.) It is
interesting to note, however, that although Muslims claim
that all of these Names are in the Koran, only 73 can
actually be found there. Muslims duplicate fifteen Names
that are found in the Koran by listing them both in verb and
noun forms; the remaining eleven names do not exist in the
Koran at all. Other traditions say that Allah has 100 names,
but only a camel knows the hundredth.[3]


Allah’s Names are not to be understood as articulating
anything about His nature. Islamic theologians claim that in
the Koran Allah did not reveal His attributes, but only His
commands. Muslims are called to obedience, not to hopeless
attempts to understand or know Allah. Muslims insist that
Allah is basically unknowable. His nature cannot be
comprehended. In fact, speculating on Allah’s nature is
considered blasphemy, since it assumes that Allah is
knowable.


This unknowable God is completely different from the
loving Father of the Bible, who reveals His nature in the
Trinity and His love in the Incarnation of His Son. A
Catholic would counter the Muslim view of Allah’s radical
transcendence with the firm conviction that God wills us to
know Him so that we might love Him. It is impossible to
love someone you do not know. Naturally, because God is
infinite and we are finite, we can never know Him fully. Yet
even a partial knowledge of God and His love for us is
enough to inflame our desire to love Him in return.



  1. It would seem that Islam’s significantly different

Free download pdf