Allah’s personal nature
‘Allahu Waliy yullazina ‘amanu:
“Allah is the Protecting Friend of
those who believe.”
(The Qur’an 2.257)
Shree Chaitanya Mahaprabhu, as already mentioned, pointed out that the Holy Qur’an also “establishes the personal aspect of Allah.”
(Chaitanya-charitamrita, Madhya-lila, 18.189)
Although Mahaprabhu is agreed on the fact that Allah is impersonal, He nevertheless points out that according to the Holy Qur’an, Allah is also a person. Metaphysical philosophy defines a person as “a self-objectifying consciousness”. This means that a person knows his own individuality and is aware of who he is. One who thinks, wills, feels; has senses, desires, qualities, remembrance, knowledge, relationships with others, individual existence, activities and identity is defined as a person. Only if this definition of a person is applicable to Allah, can we accept Mahaprabhu’s statement regarding the personal aspect of Allah. Since Shree Chaitanya refers to the Holy Qur’an let us carefully analyze ayats of Al-Qur’an and ascertain the acceptability of his statement.
Logically, this statement of Mahaprabhu’s makes perfect sense although we say the Supreme Lord is beyond logic. But if that logic is based on the revealed scriptures, then it is confirmed by the statements of the scriptures. Therefore, such logic should always be accepted. Since the scriptures proclaim that the Absolute Truth, Allah, is unlimited, then He must be simultaneously personal and impersonal, for if He is only one and not the other we impose limitation on Him. Thus we limit the unlimited. It will always remain inconceivable for us how Allah can simultaneously be personal and impersonal. It is possible because Allah is not a person in a limited mundane sense. His personality is completely spiritual, free from any material qualities, and beyond limits of time and space. He is an unlimited person with unlimited qualities and as such He can simultaneously be personal and impersonal. His personal feature is the energetic source of His impersonal feature just as the sun is the energetic source of the sunlight. Nothing is impossible for Allah and if He wants to be a person who can prevent Him from doing so? But apart from such undeniable logic, there are many indirect scriptural statements that establish the Supreme Lord, Allah, as a Person. Now let us consider if there are any verses in the Holy Qur’an which support this statement of Mahaprabhu’s.
