Allah is the only One attributed to Eternity. That is, Allah has no beginning and likewise, His Attributes are eternal, without a beginning. The attributes of other than Allah are created; they change from one state to another. Allah is clear of change. He is the One Who creates changes in His creations, but He does not change. He is the One Who creates development in His creations, but He does not develop. Allah says:
ادْعُوا رَبَّكُمْ تَضَرُّعًا وَخُفْيَةً إِنَّهُ لَا يُحِبُّ الْمُعْتَدِينَ
“Call upon your Lord humbly and privately. Indeed, He (does) not love the transgressors.” (Surah Al-A’raf 7:55)
Allah is the Creator of the world and what is in it. He is the Creator of good and evil. He is the Creator of the actions of the slaves, and He is their Sustainer. The creations do not create good or evil. They do not create any of their actions. The one who cuts an apple is not able to put it back together as it was. Allah has clarified that He is the only Creator and that it is impossible that there be another Creator with Him. Allah says:
مَا اتَّخَذَ اللَّهُ مِن وَلَدٍ وَمَا كَانَ مَعَهُ مِنْ إِلَٰهٍ ۚ إِذًا لَّذَهَبَ كُلُّ إِلَٰهٍ بِمَا خَلَقَ وَلَعَلَا بَعْضُهُمْ عَلَىٰ بَعْضٍ ۚ سُبْحَانَ اللَّهِ عَمَّا يَصِفُونَ
“Allah has not taken any son, nor has there ever been with Him any deity. [If there had been], then each deity would have taken what it created, and some of them would have sought to overcome others. Exalted is Allah above what they describe [concerning Him].” (Surah Al-Mu’minun 23:91)
Allah is the Creator of the world and what is in it. He is the Creator of good and evil. He is the Creator of the actions of the slaves, and He is their Sustainer. The creations do not create good or evil. They do not create any of their actions. The one who cuts an apple is not able to put it back together as it was. One should not rely upon anyone besides Him, nor should a person supplicate to anyone besides Him. Allah says:
وَمَا أَرْسَلْنَا مِن قَبْلِكَ مِن رَّسُولٍ إِلَّا نُوحِي إِلَيْهِ أَنَّهُ لَا إِلَٰهَ إِلَّا أَنَا فَاعْبُدُونِ
And We sent not before you any messenger except that We revealed to him that, “There is no deity except Me, so worship Me.” (Surah Al-Anbya 21:25)
One must attest that Allah exists and that He is the Creator of this Universe, its Owner and its Proprietor and the One Who disposes of all its affairs. He is the One Who causes all things in existence to occur, nothing comes into existence except if He wills it.
Belief in the oneness of Allah entails that Allah is One and Unique in the following aspects:
- Allah sent His Messengers (PBUH) to guide all of mankind
- Allah is One and Unique in His Names and Attributes
- Allah is One and Unique in His Right to Worship
- Allah promises who obey Him to enter Paradise
- Allah is capable of granting life to anything
- Allah is the One God, Who has no partner
- Allah is One and Unique in His Lordship
- Allah is All-Powerful, absolutely Just
- Allah knows what is in our hearts
- Allah is near and he responds
- Allah is First, Last, and Everlasting
- Allah is the Supreme and Sovereign
- Allah is the All-Knowing, and All-Merciful
- Allah is very Gracious and Kind to His slaves
- Allah warned who disobey Him against the Hell
- Allah knows what we conceal and what we reveal
- Allah is with those who fear Him and the good-doers
- Allah is the Creator, not created, nor a part of His creation
- Allah not only warned us against Satan but also his footsteps
Allah is One with no partners to Him. He is One in His Self, Attributes, and Actions. The creations are of many different shapes and colours. Even the same kind of fruit can be either sweet or sour. Yet the creations still resemble each other in many aspects. One must believe in the uniqueness of Allah’s Names and Attributes, and that He is only attributed with the only the best and the loftiest of the Names and Attributes, and that He is far removed from every imperfection. Allah says:
وَلِلَّهِ الْأَسْمَاءُ الْحُسْنَىٰ فَادْعُوهُ بِهَا ۖ وَذَرُوا الَّذِينَ يُلْحِدُونَ فِي أَسْمَائِهِ ۚ سَيُجْزَوْنَ مَا كَانُوا يَعْمَلُونَ
“And to Allah belong the best names, so invoke Him by them. And leave [the company of] those who practice deviation concerning His names. They will be recompensed for what they have been doing.” (Surah Al-A’raf 7:180)
Allah is not a body; He does not have a size and does not occupy space. The creations have sizes and places in which they reside. Allah does not need creation. The creations need their Creator; they need Allah. Allah says:
فَاطِرُ السَّمَاوَاتِ وَالْأَرْضِ جَعَلَ لَكُم مِّنْ أَنفُسِكُمْ أَزْوَاجًا وَمِنَ الْأَنْعَامِ أَزْوَاجًا يَذْرَؤُكُمْ فِيهِ لَيْسَ كَمِثْلِهِ شَيْءٌ وَهُوَ السَّمِيعُ الْبَصِيرُ
“(The) Creator (of) the heavens and the earth. He made for you from yourselves, mates, and among the cattle mates; He multiplies you thereby. (There) is not like Him anything, and (is) the All-Hearer, the All-Seer.” (Surah Ash-Shuraa 42:11)
Definition of Tawheed: The creed of Tawheed is the profound base of Islam, yet it is the core of all the Divine messages: “(And We did not send any Messenger before you (O Muhammad) but We inspired him (saying): La ilaha illa Ana [none has the right to be worshipped but I (Allah)], so worship Me (Alone and none else).” (Surat Al Anbya’a, 21:25)
The oneness of God is the Basic of Islam. The concept of God in Islam has a monotheistic basis. It says, there is only and only one God who has all the power, The One God is the Creator, He is the Sustainer and there is none worthy of Worship than Him. Allah says:
اللَّهُ لَا إِلَٰهَ إِلَّا هُوَ لَيَجْمَعَنَّكُمْ إِلَىٰ يَوْمِ الْقِيَامَةِ لَا رَيْبَ فِيهِ وَمَنْ أَصْدَقُ مِنَ اللَّهِ حَدِيثًا
“Allah – (there is) no god except Him, surely He will gather you to (the) Day (of) Resurrection – no doubt about it. And who (is) more truthful than Allah (in a) statement.” (Surah An-Nisa,4: 87)
Islam rejects associating partners with God like depicting Him like humans or considering that humans can help us like God. All the concepts like God can incarnate in any idol or human being are completely rejected by Islam. Considering human beings as partners in matters and decisions of Allah is blasphemous in Islam. Allah says:
رَبَّنَا وَابْعَثْ فِيهِمْ رَسُولًا مِّنْهُمْ يَتْلُو عَلَيْهِمْ آيَاتِكَ وَيُعَلِّمُهُمُ الْكِتَابَ وَالْحِكْمَةَ وَيُزَكِّيهِمْ إِنَّكَ أَنتَ الْعَزِيزُ الْحَكِيمُ
“Our Lord! [And] raise in them a Messenger from (who) will recite to them Your Verses and will teach the Book and the wisdom and purify them. Indeed You! You (are) the All-Mighty the All-Wise.” (Surah Al-Baqarah 2:129)
Tawheed’s necessities:
1. One should neither worship nor do glorify anyone other than Allah. If one assumed that an entity other than Allah can give or prevent, abase or exalt, and honour or humiliate, then he is considered as Mushrik (polytheist)
2. One shouldn’t take anyone as an ally to be loved the same as loving Allah.
3. One shouldn’t take anyone as a ruler (or a judge ) to be obeyed the same as obeying Allah.
The benefits of Tawheed:
- Liberating mankind
- It builds a balanced character
- It fills the soul with tranquillity and serenity
- Tawheed is the source of power to the soul
- It is the profound base of human brotherhood and equality
Allah Almighty says in The Holy Quran:
- “Allah. There is no god but He,-the Living, the Self-Subsisting, Eternal.” (Surah Al-Imran, 2)
- “If Allah helps you, none can overcome you: If He forsakes you, who is there, after that, that can help you? in Allah, then, Let believers put their trust.” (Al-Imran 160)
- “And to Allah belongs the east and the west. So wherever you [might] turn, there is the Face of Allah. Indeed, Allah is all-Encompassing and Knowing.” (Quran 2:115)
- “That is Allah, your Lord! there is no god but He, the Creator of all things: then worship ye Him: and He hath power to dispose of all affairs.” (Surah Al-Anam, 102)
- “(Allah) sufficeth me: there is no god but He: On Him is my trust,- He the Lord of the Throne (of Glory) Supreme!” (Surah At-Tawba, 129)
- “Nothing will happen to us except what Allah has decreed for us: He is our protector”: and on Allah let the Believers put their trust.” (Surah At-Tawba, 51)
Allah is the only One Who deserves to be worshipped. No one is God but He. The creations do not deserve to be worshipped, because they are weak and need their Creator. To believe in the oneness of Allah, one ought to have an open and reasonable heart. In Surah Al-Hajj, Allah(s.w.t) says:
أَفَلَمْ يَسِيرُوا فِي الْأَرْضِ فَتَكُونَ لَهُمْ قُلُوبٌ يَعْقِلُونَ بِهَا أَوْ آذَانٌ يَسْمَعُونَ بِهَا فَإِنَّهَا لَا تَعْمَى الْأَبْصَارُ وَلَٰكِن تَعْمَى الْقُلُوبُ الَّتِي فِي الصُّدُورِ
“So have not they travelled in the land and is for the hearts (to) reason with it or ears (to) hear with it? For indeed, [it] not (are) blinded the eyes but (are) blinded the hearts which (are) in the breasts.” (Surah l-Hajj 22:46)
We believe and affirm with what Allah has described Himself in addition to what His Messenger (ﷺ) attributed to Him, all without drawing similarity or parallels between the attributes of Allah and those of His creatures, and without suspending, distorting, or denying the meaning of His Names and Attribute
