The Former (Al Musawir)

To shape or to form something means to make a definite and known shape, and this verb refers to a person who makes a formed statue, or draw it on paper or to take a photograph by a camera, and the noun is (Former or Shaper). And (Al Musawir or The Former) by adding the definite article it will be one of God’s attributes. And when we say that God, the Great and Almighty, has formed things, means that He made a definite and known shape for each one of these things, and if you meditate the world around you, you will find that God, the Great & Almighty, has made for each kind of the creatures a special shape which distinguish each one from other kinds, that man is differ from camel and monkey.


Also He -the Great & Almighty- has given each person in the same type a different shape, for example if you look at one man you will know and recognize him by looking at his face, and this is a miracle of God’s shaping; that although the structure of the face is the same for all people, that it is shaped from eyes, nose, ears and mouth, but God -the Great & Almighty- has shaped form this structure an endless number of faces. I mean that each face has its own shape and appearance that make it different from other faces. And although the man’s hand is shaped form five fingers that have the same structure but each person’s hand is different in shaping from others’ hand, that The Right God –the Great & Almighty- is forming an endless number of shapes from one structure. And one of God’s benefactions to human being that He distinguished him by the perfection and elegant shape and He made him the most beautiful creatures in the shape, that He made him a straight (up) stature with a perfection organs and in this He –the Great & Almighty- said: “And has given you shape – and made your shapes beautiful, and has provided for you sustenance, of things pure and good” (Ghaafir – verse 64)
And He said: “It is we who created you and gave you shape; then we bade the angels prostrate to Adam” (Al-Aaraaf – verse 11)
And shaping starts from the womb that He said: “He it is who shapes you in the wombs as He pleases. There is no god but He, the Exalted in Might, the Wise” (Aali-Imran – verse 6)
And it was mentioned that the prophet Mohammed -Peace be on him- said: “If a forty two nights passed for the sperm, then God will send an angel then He shapes it and creates its hearing, vision, skin, flesh and its bones, then will say: O, God, male or female, then God will impose what He wants and the angel will write”
And in the field of talking about God’s shaping, I want to indicate to matter that is very serious, which is some beliefs allege that God –the Great & Almighty- has created man like His shape and form; that man was created like the shape of God. And it is a false belief and a clear falsity, because man, even he was created on the perfect shape, but still he is created only (creature), and the will of God wanted to find a certain shortage will be removed from him if it is predetermine for him to win and achieve the paradise, and this shortages -even if some don’t think that it is a shortages if it refer to human being-, then it is certainly shortages it will be refer to God –the Great & Almighty-. God, the lord, -be He blessed-, has created a mouth for the man for chewing food, so if we said that man’s shape like God, then it means that God also has a mouth, and here we ask: What is the function of this mouth for God -be He blessed-? And if we say that He is eating by this mouth, then it means that we refer a shortage for him which doesn’t suit with His absolute completeness because He –Be He blessed- does not need food and drink, that how He will eat and drink and He is “The Eternal” who is on absolute self-existent and the builder for other creatures which He created? But how He will eat and He –be He blessed- was existent from the beginning and there was no world or food and drink. Food and drink were created by Him -His creatures- so, is it proper that The Creator needs His creatures to stay alive?? And if we said that God -be He blessed- doesn’t eat with this mouth, then, is He formed from organ, which is not using, and says the same for other organs of human being’s organs. On the other hand and as we said before, if the man’s shape is like God’s, then it means that -be He blessed is made up of parts, and parts are made up of material, and here we ask: How come that God -be He blessed- is made up of the material and He was eternal existent and before there was no material before creating the world, but how come that He was made up of material and it was created by Him, so is it suit that The Creator to be a composition (composed) in a creature, and this composition needs some one who must be existent before it to build its parts, while The Right God -be He blessed- is eternal without beginning and no one was existent before Him.
Then the belief of that God -be He blessed- has created the man like His shape, is a false belief, and all texts about this matter is clear and direct and it can’t be interpreted to bring another meanings, and these texts are false in all fields and faces of interpretation and explanation, because there is no similarity at all between God -be He blessed- and man in any way.
Even that the common between God -be He blessed- and man in some characters (attributes) like the hearing, the seeing (vision) and the ability is a verbal or a figurative common only, because the attributes for the man is only an indication from of The Right God -be He blessed- for example the ability of man is only a grant and a gift from God’s -be He blessed- ability. And this verbal or figurative similarity doesn’t make the man raise -in any case- to be like God.
And about the Prophetic Hadeeth of Adam’s creating which was said by prophet Mohammed -peace be upon him- in Saheeh Muslim, that he said: god -to whom belongs might and majesty- has created Adam to his shape, his height is sixty cubits, then when He created him He said: go to this group, and they were a group of Angels who were sitting, and listen to what they will greet you with, it is your greeting and your offspring greeting, he said: “Al Salamu Alaikum”, -peace be on you- they replied: “Al Salamu Alaika warahmatu Allah” -peace be on you and God’s mercy- they added wa rahmatu Allah. He said: All who enter the paradise like Adam’s shape and his height is sixty cubits, and still the creatures decrease after him until now”
And here we said: the pronoun ‘his’ (to his shape) refers to Adam, and the clause sixty cubits was an explanation for this shape, which is Adam’s shape. Add to this what was known about the Islamic law (Islamic Shria) that it was distinguished from all other heavenly laws and not heavenly laws that it deems God -be He blessed- far above to have a similar of parallel or counterpart or a peer, in this we mention His -The Right God, be He blessed- saying: “there is nothing whatever like unto Him, and He is the One that hears and sees” (Al Shoora – verse 11).
Add to this the prophetic Hadeeth about Adam’s creating was mentioned in Saheeh Al Bukhari without the clause (to his shape) that means God has created Adam with a height of sixty cubits… to the end of the Hadeeth.
Be He, The Right, raised far above, who forms us in a perfect shape with out rising to be like Him or to be similar to Him.