Short answer
In Islam, God (﷾) has real names and attributes, and nothing is like Him. He made them known Himself: He hears, He sees, He is the Most Merciful. The Guru Granth Sahib, which Sikhs honour as their living Guru, calls God both nirgun and sargun. Sikh scholars explain nirgun as God (﷾) in Himself, beyond all attributes. Sargun is the same God with attributes, showing Himself in His creation. Islam agrees that nothing in creation is like Him. But it says His names are His own from eternity. It also says creation is His work, and never a part of Him. He is above it, and with it by His knowledge and power. This matters because only God (﷾) can say how He is to be described. So the real question is which book carries His own words.
Full explanation
Nirgun and sargun in the Guru Granth Sahib
Sikhism (Sikhs also say Sikhi) began with Guru Nanak (Sikhs say Guru Nanak Dev Ji). Its scripture is the Guru Granth Sahib, which Sikhs honour as their living Guru. Two words in it describe God (﷾). Nirgun means "without qualities". Sargun means "with qualities". Guru Arjan, the fifth Guru, uses both together. In Macauliffe's English translation of 1909, Guru Arjan says the one God (﷾) is "without qualities and yet possesseth all qualities". In another hymn he says, "Both descriptions together apply to the one God." The Sukhmani, a long hymn by Guru Arjan that many Sikhs recite, says the same. So the Guru Granth Sahib does not choose one word over the other. It holds both, and it means one God (﷾), not two.
“The one God is without form and yet with form; He is without qualities and yet possesseth all qualities. Define the one God as one, Nanak, and the one God as manifold.”
“God is Himself the tree, and its extended branches. He watcheth His own field. Wherever I look there is the one God; He is in every heart. He Himself is the sun and the expansion of its rays. He is at once concealed and manifest. He is described as possessing all qualities and no qualities. Both descriptions together apply to the one God. Saith Nanak, the Guru hath dispelled my doubts and fears, And I behold the Blissful One everywhere.”
“The Formless One who possesseth all qualities, and yet is devoid of them is in profound contemplation; Nanak, what He hath made He again absorbeth in Himself.”
What Sikh scholars mean by the two words
The Encyclopaedia of Sikhism, from Punjabi University in Patiala, sets the teaching out. God (﷾) in Himself is nirgun: beyond attributes, formless, and never fully known. As sargun He is the same God with attributes, who shows Himself in creation and is present in all of it. The Encyclopaedia says that when it pleases God (﷾) He becomes sargun. It also says the two are not stages, one after the other. They are two sides of the one God (﷾). It adds that God (﷾) is named and known only through the second side, so almost all His names describe attributes. The Mul Mantar, the creed that opens the Guru Granth Sahib, uses such names: the Creator, "devoid of fear and enmity". The hymns speak the same way. The Sukhmani says God (﷾) is "without the three qualities, and yet possesseth all qualities". The three qualities are an old Indian name for the qualities that run through the made world. Another hymn says of creation, "God now appeareth possessing all attributes". The hymn on Ang 387 (page 387 of the scripture) pictures Him as "the tree, and its extended branches", and "the sun and the expansion of its rays". Macauliffe heads that hymn as metaphors for God's (﷾) presence everywhere. Sikh scholars do not say that everything is God. The Encyclopaedia says God (﷾) is not the same as the universe, and Guru Arjan calls Him "unsullied by the whole creation". Nor does sargun mean that God (﷾) is born as a man. The Mul Mantar calls Him "unborn".
The Encyclopaedia of Sikhism says God in Sikhism is seen in three ways: in Himself, in relation to creation, and in relation to man. In Himself He is the one transcendent reality, nirgun (without attributes), formless, and even unknowable in His entirety. When it pleases Him He becomes sargun (with attributes) and shows Himself in creation; He is present in the universe, which the entry calls His own emanation and an aspect of Himself, made not from any earlier matter but from His own Self. The entry adds that God is not identical with the universe: it is contained in Him and does not contain Him. Being both does not mean two phases, one following the other; they are two aspects of the one God. He is named and known only through His immanent nature, so almost all His names are attributive. The entry says the Mul Mantar's word ajuni rejects the idea that God takes birth. It also says knowledge of God is not a matter for reason, and comes by His grace and by inner experience.
“There is but one God whose name is true, the Creator, devoid of fear and enmity, immortal, unborn, self-existent”
“He whose power fascinateth the whole world, Is without the three qualities, and yet possesseth all qualities.”
“The one God, the great Guru, created all things; He hath strung them all on one string. The three qualities are separately diffused. Instead of possessing no attributes God now appeareth possessing all attributes.”
“God is Himself the tree, and its extended branches. He watcheth His own field. Wherever I look there is the one God; He is in every heart. He Himself is the sun and the expansion of its rays. He is at once concealed and manifest. He is described as possessing all qualities and no qualities. Both descriptions together apply to the one God. Saith Nanak, the Guru hath dispelled my doubts and fears, And I behold the Blissful One everywhere.”
“Thou alone art my spiritual and temporal Lord; Thou art unsullied by the whole creation.”
| Word | Meaning | How Sikh scholars explain it |
|---|---|---|
| Nirgun | Without qualities: "without the three qualities" | God (﷾) in Himself, beyond attributes and never fully known |
| Sargun | With qualities: "possesseth all qualities" | The same God (﷾) with attributes, showing Himself in creation |
| Both | "Both descriptions together apply to the one God." | Two sides of one God (﷾), not two stages, and never born |
Hindu readers know these words too
Hindu teachers speak in similar words of nirguna and saguna Brahman, the ultimate reality without and with qualities; the Svetasvatara Upanishad calls the one God (﷾) "free from qualities". That is a separate teaching with its own debates, and the page "Do the Hindu scriptures teach that God is one?" takes it up.
“He is the one God, hidden in all beings, all-pervading, the self within all beings, watching over all works, dwelling in all beings, the witness, the perceiver, the only one, free from qualities.”
Nothing is like Him: Islam agrees
Islam agrees with part of what nirgun says. God (﷾) is beyond every likeness, and no mind takes Him in fully. The Qur'an says "there is nothing whatever like unto Him". It says "there is none like unto Him". It says "No vision can grasp Him", and "He is above all comprehension". It forbids inventing likenesses for Him: "Invent not similitudes for Allah: for Allah knoweth, and ye know not." So when a Sikh says God (﷾) is beyond the qualities of the made world and beyond our full grasp, a Muslim can agree. This matters because it is real common ground. A Sikh reader who weighs Islam need not give this up.
“(He is) the Creator of the heavens and the earth: He has made for you pairs from among yourselves, and pairs among cattle: by this means does He multiply you: there is nothing whatever like unto Him, and He is the One that hears and sees (all things).”
“Say: He is Allah, the One and Only; Allah, the Eternal, Absolute; He begetteth not, nor is He begotten; And there is none like unto Him.”
“No vision can grasp Him, but His grasp is over all vision: He is above all comprehension, yet is acquainted with all things.”
“Invent not similitudes for Allah: for Allah knoweth, and ye know not.”
But never without attributes
Islam never describes God (﷾) as lacking attributes. The same verse that says nothing is like Him goes on: "He is the One that hears and sees". The Qur'an names Him the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful, the Holy One, the Creator, the Wise. "The most beautiful names belong to Allah: so call on him by them". So Islam holds two things at once: His names and attributes are real, and none of them is like ours. Ibn Kathir follows the early scholars, among them Malik, al-Shafi'i and Ahmad. They accepted what God (﷾) says of Himself as it came, without asking how. They did not liken it to anything created, and they did not change or deny it. He quotes Nu'aym ibn Hammad, a teacher of al-Bukhari, who names the two errors: likening God (﷾) to His creation, and denying what He has said of Himself. This matters because it keeps His greatness without emptying Him of the names He gave Himself.
“(He is) the Creator of the heavens and the earth: He has made for you pairs from among yourselves, and pairs among cattle: by this means does He multiply you: there is nothing whatever like unto Him, and He is the One that hears and sees (all things).”
“Allah is He, than Whom there is no other god;- Who knows (all things) both secret and open; He, Most Gracious, Most Merciful. Allah is He, than Whom there is no other god;- the Sovereign, the Holy One, the Source of Peace (and Perfection), the Guardian of Faith, the Preserver of Safety, the Exalted in Might, the Irresistible, the Supreme: Glory to Allah! (High is He) above the partners they attribute to Him. He is Allah, the Creator, the Evolver, the Bestower of Forms (or Colours). To Him belong the Most Beautiful Names: whatever is in the heavens and on earth, doth declare His Praises and Glory: and He is the Exalted in Might, the Wise.”
“The most beautiful names belong to Allah: so call on him by them; but shun such men as use profanity in his names: for what they do, they will soon be requited.”
On "then He rose over (istawa) the Throne", Ibn Kathir says people held conflicting opinions, and that he follows the way of the early scholars, such as Malik, al-Awza'i, al-Thawri, al-Layth ibn Sa'd, al-Shafi'i, Ahmad and Ishaq ibn Rahwayh: to accept the words as they came, without discussing how, without likening them to the attributes of creation, and without changing or denying them, for nothing is like Allah (42:11). He quotes Nu'aym ibn Hammad, a teacher of al-Bukhari: whoever likens Allah to His creation has disbelieved, and whoever denies what Allah has described Himself with has disbelieved; there is no likeness to creation in what Allah and His Messenger (ﷺ) have described Him with.
Accept it as it came
Ask how
Liken it to anything created
Change or deny it
His names are His own, from eternity
Here the two teachings part. The Encyclopaedia of Sikhism says God (﷾) is named and known only through His presence in creation. In Islam His names do not wait on the world. Abu Ja'far al-Tahawi, an Egyptian scholar who died in 933, wrote a short creed that Muslim scholars have studied and taught for over a thousand years. It says Allah (﷾) has always had His attributes, before He created anything. Making the world added nothing to them. He did not gain the name "Creator" only after He created. This matters because His names are then true of Him always, with or without a world. A Muslim who calls on the Most Merciful is calling on God (﷾) as He has always been. The Qur'an calls Him "the Living, the Self-subsisting, Eternal".
The Encyclopaedia of Sikhism says God in Sikhism is seen in three ways: in Himself, in relation to creation, and in relation to man. In Himself He is the one transcendent reality, nirgun (without attributes), formless, and even unknowable in His entirety. When it pleases Him He becomes sargun (with attributes) and shows Himself in creation; He is present in the universe, which the entry calls His own emanation and an aspect of Himself, made not from any earlier matter but from His own Self. The entry adds that God is not identical with the universe: it is contained in Him and does not contain Him. Being both does not mean two phases, one following the other; they are two aspects of the one God. He is named and known only through His immanent nature, so almost all His names are attributive. The entry says the Mul Mantar's word ajuni rejects the idea that God takes birth. It also says knowledge of God is not a matter for reason, and comes by His grace and by inner experience.
Al-Tahawi, the Egyptian scholar whose short creed states the belief of Abu Hanifa and his two leading students, writes that imaginations do not reach Allah, understanding does not grasp Him, and He does not resemble people. He says Allah has always had His attributes, before He created anything; the coming into being of creation added nothing to His attributes that He did not have before. As He had them from eternity, He keeps them for ever. He did not gain the name "Creator" only after He created, and He had the meaning of Lord when there was nothing yet to be lord over.
“Allah! There is no god but He,-the Living, the Self-subsisting, Eternal. No slumber can seize Him nor sleep. His are all things in the heavens and on earth. Who is there can intercede in His presence except as He permitteth? He knoweth what (appeareth to His creatures as) before or after or behind them. Nor shall they compass aught of His knowledge except as He willeth. His Throne doth extend over the heavens and the earth, and He feeleth no fatigue in guarding and preserving them for He is the Most High, the Supreme (in glory).”
The Evident and the Hidden
The Qur'an has its own words for God's (﷾) nearness. "He is the First and the Last, the Evident and the Immanent". A Sikh reader may hear sargun in the word "Immanent". The Arabic word is al-Batin, the Hidden. The Prophet (ﷺ) explained these names himself, in a prayer he taught for bedtime. Allah (﷾) is the First, with nothing before Him, and the Last, with nothing after Him. He is the Evident, with nothing above Him, and the Hidden, with nothing beyond Him. Ibn Kathir adds an early reading that al-Bukhari records: the Evident knows all things, and the Hidden knows all things. The verse itself ends, "He has full knowledge of all things". So these names speak of His greatness and His knowledge. They do not place Him inside the things He made. The Qur'an says He is "firmly established on the Throne", and "He is with you wheresoever ye may be". Ibn Kathir reads "with you" as His knowing, hearing and seeing. The page "Do Sikhs and Muslims believe in the same God?" sets out those verses in full.
“He is the First and the Last, the Evident and the Immanent: and He has full knowledge of all things.”
Abu Hurayra reports a prayer the Prophet (ﷺ) taught for lying down to sleep. In it the believer says to Allah that He is the First, with nothing before Him, and the Last, with nothing after Him; the Evident, with nothing above Him, and the Hidden, with nothing beyond Him.
On "the Evident and the Immanent" (al-Zahir and al-Batin), Ibn Kathir says the scholars of tafsir gave more than ten explanations. He quotes al-Bukhari, who records from Yahya: the Evident knows all things, and the Hidden knows all things. He then gives the supplication the Prophet (ﷺ) said on going to bed, from Abu Hurayrah, in the collections of Ahmad and Muslim: You are the First, nothing is before You; the Last, nothing is after You; al-Zahir, nothing is above You; al-Batin, nothing is beyond You.
“(Allah) Most Gracious is firmly established on the throne (of authority).”
“He it is Who created the heavens and the earth in Six Days, and is moreover firmly established on the Throne (of Authority). He knows what enters within the earth and what comes forth out of it, what comes down from heaven and what mounts up to it. And He is with you wheresoever ye may be. And Allah sees well all that ye do.”
Ibn Kathir begins by recalling that Allah created the heavens and the earth in six days and then rose over the Throne. On "He is with you wherever you are" he says it means that Allah watches over you and is witness to your deeds wherever you are, on land or sea, by night or day. Everything lies equally within His knowledge, His sight and His hearing: He hears your words, sees your place and knows your secrets.
| Allah (﷾) is | Meaning |
|---|---|
| The First | Nothing before Him |
| The Last | Nothing after Him |
| The Evident | Nothing above Him |
| The Hidden | Nothing beyond Him |
Creation is His work, not a part of Him
The Encyclopaedia of Sikhism says the universe came forth from God's (﷾) own Self and is an aspect of Him, though He is more than the universe and is not the same as it. The hymn on Ang 387 puts this in pictures: He is "the sun and the expansion of its rays". The Qur'an speaks differently. It says God (﷾) "created all things". When He decrees a thing, He says to it "Be", and it is. What He makes is His work, and no part of Him. The sun is one of His signs: "Among His Signs are the Night and the Day, and the Sun and the Moon. Do not prostrate to the sun and the moon, but prostrate to Allah, Who created them". Sikhs do not worship the sun, and this is no charge against Sikh practice. The difference is where the line between God (﷾) and the world is drawn. Islam keeps the Maker and the made fully apart. This matters for worship. If nothing made is any part of God, then nothing made can share in what is due to Him.
The Encyclopaedia of Sikhism says God in Sikhism is seen in three ways: in Himself, in relation to creation, and in relation to man. In Himself He is the one transcendent reality, nirgun (without attributes), formless, and even unknowable in His entirety. When it pleases Him He becomes sargun (with attributes) and shows Himself in creation; He is present in the universe, which the entry calls His own emanation and an aspect of Himself, made not from any earlier matter but from His own Self. The entry adds that God is not identical with the universe: it is contained in Him and does not contain Him. Being both does not mean two phases, one following the other; they are two aspects of the one God. He is named and known only through His immanent nature, so almost all His names are attributive. The entry says the Mul Mantar's word ajuni rejects the idea that God takes birth. It also says knowledge of God is not a matter for reason, and comes by His grace and by inner experience.
“God is Himself the tree, and its extended branches. He watcheth His own field. Wherever I look there is the one God; He is in every heart. He Himself is the sun and the expansion of its rays. He is at once concealed and manifest. He is described as possessing all qualities and no qualities. Both descriptions together apply to the one God. Saith Nanak, the Guru hath dispelled my doubts and fears, And I behold the Blissful One everywhere.”
“To Him is due the primal origin of the heavens and the earth: How can He have a son when He hath no consort? He created all things, and He hath full knowledge of all things.”
“To Him is due the primal origin of the heavens and the earth: When He decreeth a matter, He saith to it: "Be," and it is.”
“Among His Signs are the Night and the Day, and the Sun and the Moon. Do not prostrate to the sun and the moon, but prostrate to Allah, Who created them, if it is Him ye wish to serve.”
| God (﷾) | Sikh teaching | Islam |
|---|---|---|
| Is beyond the qualities of the made world | ||
| Has names and attributes | ||
| Is born as a man | ||
| Is named only through His presence in creation | ||
| Has the universe as an aspect of Himself |
- Yes
- No
Why it matters: only God (﷾) can describe God (﷾)
Sikh scholars and Muslims agree on one thing here: reason alone cannot tell us how to describe God (﷾). The Encyclopaedia of Sikhism says knowledge of Him is not a matter for reason. It comes, it says, by His grace and by inner experience. Islam agrees that reason has a limit. Reason can show that there is one Maker. It cannot tell us His names, or whether the world is a part of Him. But inner experience cannot settle that either. It is real to the person who has it, yet it differs from one person to the next, and no one else can check it. The Qur'an says "Allah knoweth, and ye know not". So the sure way to know Him is for Him to describe Himself, in words that everyone can read. Sikhs hold that the Guru Granth Sahib carries such words, and Muslims hold it of the Qur'an. The two differ on whether creation is an aspect of God (﷾). So the question "nirgun or sargun?" turns into another one: which book carries God's (﷾) own words? The Qur'an asks to be tested on exactly that. It says that if it came from anyone but Allah (﷾), people "would surely have found therein Much discrepancy". It also challenges anyone in doubt to "produce a Sura like thereunto". The pages "How can we tell if a holy book really comes from God?" and "Did God speak through the Sikh Gurus?" take up that test.
The Encyclopaedia of Sikhism says God in Sikhism is seen in three ways: in Himself, in relation to creation, and in relation to man. In Himself He is the one transcendent reality, nirgun (without attributes), formless, and even unknowable in His entirety. When it pleases Him He becomes sargun (with attributes) and shows Himself in creation; He is present in the universe, which the entry calls His own emanation and an aspect of Himself, made not from any earlier matter but from His own Self. The entry adds that God is not identical with the universe: it is contained in Him and does not contain Him. Being both does not mean two phases, one following the other; they are two aspects of the one God. He is named and known only through His immanent nature, so almost all His names are attributive. The entry says the Mul Mantar's word ajuni rejects the idea that God takes birth. It also says knowledge of God is not a matter for reason, and comes by His grace and by inner experience.
“If there were, in the heavens and the earth, other gods besides Allah, there would have been confusion in both! but glory to Allah, the Lord of the Throne: (High is He) above what they attribute to Him!”
“Invent not similitudes for Allah: for Allah knoweth, and ye know not.”
“Do they not consider the Qur'an (with care)? Had it been from other Than Allah, they would surely have found therein Much discrepancy.”
“And if ye are in doubt as to what We have revealed from time to time to Our servant, then produce a Sura like thereunto; and call your witnesses or helpers (If there are any) besides Allah, if your (doubts) are true.”
Reason can show that there is one Maker.
Can reason tell us His names, or whether the world is a part of Him?
No. Allah (﷾) knows, and we do not.
Can inner experience settle it?
No. It differs from one person to the next, and no one else can check it.
Then who can say how He is to be described?
Only He can, in words that everyone can read.
Which book carries His words?
Test the claim. The Qur'an asks to be tested.
Islam's answer: know Him as He describes Himself
Keep what is true in nirgun: God (﷾) is beyond every likeness and beyond our full grasp. Keep what is true in sargun: He is near, He acts, He hears. Islam gives both in God's (﷾) own words, without making the world a part of Him. Read how He describes Himself. Surat al-Ikhlas (112) does it in four short verses. The Verse of the Throne (2:255) calls Him "the Living, the Self-subsisting, Eternal". The end of Surat al-Hashr (59:22-24) lists His names. Then call on Him by them, as He asks. He sent those words through the last Prophet (ﷺ), and they are open to anyone who wants to test them.
“Say: He is Allah, the One and Only; Allah, the Eternal, Absolute; He begetteth not, nor is He begotten; And there is none like unto Him.”
“Allah! There is no god but He,-the Living, the Self-subsisting, Eternal. No slumber can seize Him nor sleep. His are all things in the heavens and on earth. Who is there can intercede in His presence except as He permitteth? He knoweth what (appeareth to His creatures as) before or after or behind them. Nor shall they compass aught of His knowledge except as He willeth. His Throne doth extend over the heavens and the earth, and He feeleth no fatigue in guarding and preserving them for He is the Most High, the Supreme (in glory).”
“Allah is He, than Whom there is no other god;- Who knows (all things) both secret and open; He, Most Gracious, Most Merciful. Allah is He, than Whom there is no other god;- the Sovereign, the Holy One, the Source of Peace (and Perfection), the Guardian of Faith, the Preserver of Safety, the Exalted in Might, the Irresistible, the Supreme: Glory to Allah! (High is He) above the partners they attribute to Him. He is Allah, the Creator, the Evolver, the Bestower of Forms (or Colours). To Him belong the Most Beautiful Names: whatever is in the heavens and on earth, doth declare His Praises and Glory: and He is the Exalted in Might, the Wise.”
“The most beautiful names belong to Allah: so call on him by them; but shun such men as use profanity in his names: for what they do, they will soon be requited.”
Six replies answered
Guru Granth Sahib, Ang 250 — Raga Gauri, Bawan Akhri, Guru Arjan
“The one God is without form and yet with form; He is without qualities and yet possesseth all qualities. Define the one God as one, Nanak, and the one God as manifold.”
Cited for
Islam gives God a throne and hands. That makes Him a person with qualities like a man. Nirgun keeps Him beyond all that.
The response
The Qur'an does speak of His Throne and His hands. It also says "there is nothing whatever like unto Him". Ibn Kathir says the early scholars accepted such words as they came, without asking how. They did not liken them to anything created, and they did not change or deny them. So a Muslim believes the words and makes no picture of God (﷾). The page "Does Allah have hands like ours?" gives the full answer.
Where it lands — Islam affirms what God (﷾) says of Himself, likens none of it to creation and denies none of it (42:11).
Guru Granth Sahib, Ang 387 — Raga Asa, Guru Arjan
“God is Himself the tree, and its extended branches. He watcheth His own field. Wherever I look there is the one God; He is in every heart. He Himself is the sun and the expansion of its rays. He is at once concealed and manifest. He is described as possessing all qualities and no qualities. Both descriptions together apply to the one God. Saith Nanak, the Guru hath dispelled my doubts and fears, And I behold the Blissful One everywhere.”
Cited for
A God apart from His creation is far away. Sargun means He is right here, in every heart.
The response
Islam does not make Him far. He says, "I am indeed close", and "He is with you wheresoever ye may be". Ibn Kathir explains that He hears your words, sees where you are and knows your secrets. The Qur'an asks, "Should He not know,- He that created?" The One who made a thing knows it fully, and He does not need to be inside it to do so.
Where it lands — In Islam God (﷾) is near by His knowledge, hearing and sight, and He answers the one who calls on Him (57:4; 2:186).
Qur'an 57:3 — Surat al-Hadid (The Iron), verse 3
“He is the First and the Last, the Evident and the Immanent: and He has full knowledge of all things.”
Cited for
The Qur'an itself calls God "the Immanent". That is sargun by another name.
The response
The word in Arabic is al-Batin, the Hidden. The Prophet (ﷺ) explained it: the Hidden, with nothing beyond Him. It is set beside al-Zahir, the Evident, with nothing above Him. Ibn Kathir gives the early reading that al-Bukhari records: both names mean that He knows all things. Neither says the world is an aspect of Him.
Where it lands — The Prophet (ﷺ) explained 57:3 himself (Muslim 2713), and his explanation does not place God (﷾) in creation.
Qur'an 24:35 — Surat al-Nur (The Light), verse 35
“Allah is the Light of the heavens and the earth. The Parable of His Light is as if there were a Niche and within it a Lamp: the Lamp enclosed in Glass: the glass as it were a brilliant star: Lit from a blessed Tree, an Olive, neither of the east nor of the west, whose oil is well-nigh luminous, though fire scarce touched it: Light upon Light! Allah doth guide whom He will to His Light: Allah doth set forth Parables for men: and Allah doth know all things.”
Cited for
The Qur'an says "Allah is the Light of the heavens and the earth", and "Whithersoever ye turn, there is the presence of Allah". That is the Light in all things, in the Qur'an's own words.
The response
Read each verse to its end. The Light verse goes on, "The Parable of His Light is as if there were a Niche and within it a Lamp", and it says, "Allah doth set forth Parables for men". Ibn Kathir gives Ibn Abbas's reading: He is the Guide of those in the heavens and the earth. The other verse opens, "To Allah belong the east and the West". Ibn Kathir explains that it is about the direction of prayer, and quotes Ibn Abbas: Allah's (﷾) direction is wherever you face, east or west. Its last words are explained by al-Tabari, whom Ibn Kathir quotes: His bounty reaches all His creatures, and He knows what they do. Neither verse says the world is an aspect of God (﷾).
Where it lands — The Light verse is a parable of His guidance, and 2:115 is about the direction of prayer (Ibn Kathir on both).
Qur'an 50:16 — Surat Qaf (The letter Qaaf), verse 16
“It was We Who created man, and We know what dark suggestions his soul makes to him: for We are nearer to him than (his) jugular vein.”
Cited for
Some Muslim Sufis also spoke of God in all things. So Islam has its own sargun.
The response
Some Muslim writers did speak in such words, and Muslims read them in different ways. But Islam's measure is the Qur'an and the Prophet's (ﷺ) teaching, not any later writer. On "We are nearer to him than (his) jugular vein", Ibn Kathir says the scholars agree in rejecting any claim that God (﷾) dwells in His creation or is united with it. So a Muslim who says God (﷾) is in all things, in that sense, is corrected by his own scholars.
Where it lands — Muslim scholars agree in rejecting the claim that God (﷾) dwells in His creation or is one with it (Ibn Kathir on 50:16).
Guru Granth Sahib, Ang 387 — Raga Asa, Guru Arjan
“God is Himself the tree, and its extended branches. He watcheth His own field. Wherever I look there is the one God; He is in every heart. He Himself is the sun and the expansion of its rays. He is at once concealed and manifest. He is described as possessing all qualities and no qualities. Both descriptions together apply to the one God. Saith Nanak, the Guru hath dispelled my doubts and fears, And I behold the Blissful One everywhere.”
Cited for
God cannot be put into words. Nirgun and sargun are both only ways of speaking. He is known by grace and inner experience, not settled by a book.
The response
Islam agrees that no mind takes Him in: "No vision can grasp Him". That is the very reason His own words are needed. Sikhs hold that the Gurus' hymns came from God (﷾), and Muslims hold that the Qur'an is His speech. The two differ on whether the world is an aspect of Him, so both cannot be His words on this point. Inner experience cannot decide between them, because people on each side have it. A test that anyone can apply can decide, and the Qur'an offers one.
Where it lands — Where two scriptures differ about God (﷾), only a test open to everyone can decide, and the Qur'an asks to be tested (2:23; 4:82).
Perspectives
Sikh teaching
The one God is both nirgun, in Himself beyond all attributes, and sargun, with attributes and shown in His creation. These are two sides of one God, who is never born.
Guru Arjan says the one God is "without qualities and yet possesseth all qualities", and that both descriptions apply to the one God (Ang 250; Ang 387).
Rebuttal
Islam also holds two truths together: nothing is like Him, and He hears and sees (42:11). The difference is in what "with qualities" means. In Islam it means His own names and attributes, which He has always had. It does not mean His showing Himself in creation.
Nirgun means God is beyond the three qualities of the made world (Ang 287), and beyond our full knowing.
Rebuttal
Granted in part. There is nothing whatever like unto Him, and no vision can grasp Him. But Islam does not say He is without attributes: the same verse says He hears and sees.
Sargun means God is seen in His creation: the hymn pictures Him as the tree and its branches, the sun and its rays (Ang 387).
Rebuttal
The Qur'an calls the sun and moon His signs, and says to bow to Allah (﷾), who created them (41:37). They point to Him and are no part of Him. His nearness is His knowing all, with nothing beyond Him (57:3; Muslim 2713).
God is named and known only through His presence in creation, and the universe came forth from His own Self.
Rebuttal
In Islam His names are His own from eternity. Al-Tahawi's creed says He always had His attributes, and did not gain the name "Creator" only after He created. And creation is His work, made by His command, not a part of Him (2:117; 6:101).
The Islamic perspective
God (﷾) has real names and attributes that He made known Himself, and nothing is like Him. They are His own from eternity. Creation is His work and no part of Him. He is above it and with it by His knowledge and power. Only He can say how He is to be described, so the question is which book is His word.
Nothing is like Him, and He hears and sees.
The most beautiful names belong to Allah (﷾), and He tells us to call on Him by them.
The early scholars accepted what He says of Himself as it came, without asking how, without likening it to creation, and without changing or denying it.
He has always had His attributes; creating added nothing to them.
He created all things by His command. What He made is His sign and His work, and no part of Him.
The Prophet (ﷺ) explained "the Evident and the Hidden": nothing above Him, nothing beyond Him.
Only He can say how He is to be described; the Qur'an asks to be tested as His word.