18. God’s Oneness & Uniqueness (TAUHID) concluded.

God says:

GOD IS HE save whom there is no deity; the One who knows all that is beyond a created being’s perception, as well as all that can be witnessed by a creature’s senses or mind: He, the Most Graceful, the Most Gracious. God is He save whom there is no deity: the Sovereign Supreme, the Holy, the One with whom all salvation rests, the Giver of Faith, the One who determines what is true and false, the Almighty, the One to whom all greatness belongs!Utterly remote is God, in His limitless glory, from anything to which men may ascribe a share in His Divinity!He is God, the Creator, the Maker who shapes all forms and appearances! His [alone] are the attributes of perfection. All that is in the heavens and on earth extols His limitless glory: for He alone is almighty, truly wise! -- Q.59: 22 ; 24
From God’s attributes of perfection no where else in the Quran so many are mentioned together at one place as are mentioned in chapter 59 above. All these stand for God’s oneness as well as His Uniqueness.

Say: ”He is the One God:“God the Eternal, the Uncaused Cause of All Being. *“He begets not, and neither is He begotten;“and there is nothing that could be compared with Him.” -- Q.112
This rendering gives no more than approximate meaning of the Arabic term as-samad, which occurs in the Qur’an only once, and is applied to God alone. It comprises the concepts of Primary Cause and eternal, independent Being, combined with the idea that everything existing or conceivable goes back to Him as its source and is, therefore dependent on Him for its beginning as well as for its continued existence.


Prophet said:

1. “ The best rememberance is ‘la ilaha illallah’ (There is no deity but Allah); and the best invocation is ‘alhamdo lillah’ (All praise is for Allah) – H: Tirmizi. N: Jaber.

2. “ ‘Subhanallahi (glory be to God), Walhamdu lil lahi (all praise is for God), wala ilaha illallahu (there is no deity except God), wallaahu akbar (God is the greatest).’ is dearer to me than everything on which the sun rises.” – H: Muslim. N: Abu Hurairah.

Formulas of GLORIFYING AND PRAISING GOD have naturally great merit if recited with concentration upon meanings and their significance. Do it on a regular basis. God prefers good act that is regular though it may be small. You will get enlightened, insha-Allah.. More formulas in topic 2.

18. God’s Oneness & Uniqueness (TAUHID) ...continued

God says:

And God alone comprehends the hidden reality [al-ghayb] of the heavens and the earth: for, all that exists goes back to Him [as its source]. Worship Him, then, and place thy trust in Him alone: -- Q.11: 123

And God has said: “Do not take to worshipping two [or more] deities. He is the One and Only God: hence, of Me, of Me alone stand in awe!” -- Q.16: 51

... never call upon any other deity side by side with God. There is no other deity save Him. Everything is bound to perish, save His [eternal] Self. With Him rests all judgment; and unto Him shall you all be brought back. -- Q.28: 88

And so, set thy face steadfastly towards the (one ever-true) faith, turning away from all that is false, in accordance with the natural disposition which God has installed into man: * (for) not to allow any change to corrupt what God has thus created -- Q.30: 30
”Natural Disposition”, connotes in this context man’s inborn, intuitive ability to discern between right and wrong, true and false, and, thus, to sense God’s existence and oneness.

Thus it is, because God alone is the Ultimate Truth, so that all that men invoke instead of Him is sheer falsehood; and because God alone is exalted, truly great! -- Q31: 30




Prophet said:

1. “ God will not permit to send to hell anyone who (truly) testifies: ‘There is no deity except God’ seeking nothing but His countenance.” – H: Bukhari & Muslim. N: Itban.
Because in that case a Muslim will obey God, with the belief that he, or she, will be accountable to Him for his or her deeds on the Day of Resurrection. In the Qur’an, therefore, belief in God is always mentioned together with the doing of righteous deeds that will lead to Paradise. Righteous deeds without belief will be rewarded, but only in this world.

2 . “…As for (son of Adam) reviling Me, it is his saying: God has taken to Himself a son, while I am the One (and only), the Everlasting Refuge. I begot not nor was I begotten, and there is none comparable to Me” –Part of Hadis Qudsi: Bukhari.N: Abu Hurairah. (Also Nisai)
The fact that God is one and unique in every respect without beginning and without end, has its logical correlate in the statement that “there is nothing that could be compared with Him”- thus precluding every possibility of describing or defining Him. Consequently, the Quality of His being is beyond the range of Human comprehension: which also explains why any attempt at “depicting” God by means of figurative representations or even abstract symbols must be qualified as a blasphemous denial of the truth.

18. God’s Oneness & Uniqueness (TAUHID)

God says;

And your God is the One God: there is no (other) god except Him, the Most Graceful, the Most Gracious. Q.2: 163
God’s Oneness (Tauhid) must be understood as “(1) Oneness of the Lordship of God; (2) Oneness of the worship of God; (3) Oneness of the Names and Qualities of God”-- The Nobel Quran

God -- there is no deity save Him, the Ever-Living, the Self-Subsistent Fount of All Being. Neither slumber overtakes Him, nor sleep. His is all that is in heavens and all that is on earth. Who is there that could intercede with Him, unless it is by His leave?He knows all that lies open before men and all that is hidden from them, whereas they cannot attain to aught of His Knowledge save that which He wills [them to attain].His eternal power over-spreads the heavens and the earth, and their upholding wearies him not. And He alone is truly exalted, tremendous. -- Q.2: 255

… and do not say, “[God is] a trinity”. Desist (from the assertion) for your own good. God is but One God; utterly remote is He, in His glory, from having a son: unto Him belongs all that is in the heavens and all that is on earth; and none is as worthy of trust as God. -- Q.4: 171

.… His is all creation and all command. Hallowed is God, the Sustainer of all the worlds! -- Q.7: 54



Prophet said:

1. “ Whoever says a hundred times: ‘La ilaha illal lahu wahdahu la sharika lahu, lahul-mulku wa lahul-hamdu wa Huwa ‘ala kulli shai in Qadeer’ {None has the right to be worshipped but Allah (Alone) Who has no partner ; to Him belongs the kingdom (of the universe), and for Him are all praises, and He has the power to do everything} will get (the reward of emancipating) ten slaves; one hundred merits will be written for him and his one hundred sins will be effaced; and there will be a guard for him that day until dusk; and nobody brings better (rewards) except a man who has done more than him.” – Bukhari and Muslim. N: Abu Hurairah.

2. “ God will not permit to send to hell anyone who (truly) testifies: ‘There is no deity except God’ seeking nothing but His countenance.” – H: Bukhari & Muslim. N: Itban.
Because in that case a Muslim will obey God, with the belief that he, or she, will be accountable to Him for his or her deeds on the Day of Resurrection. In the Qur’an, therefore, belief in God is always mentioned together with the doing of righteous deeds that will lead to Paradise. Righteous deeds without belief will be rewarded, but only in this world.

TAUHID being the fundamental issue needs to be continued. Thus the next two Friday Posts will be devoted to it. The false gods, the subtle ones, are very dangerous. As mentioned earlier in topic 16, the false gods may be idols, superstition, self, or even great and glorious (person or) things like poetry, art and science… pride of race, birth, wealth or position, power, learning, or even spiritual pride.

17. The Apostle and Polytheists

God says:

But wouldst thou [O Muhammad], perhaps, torment thyself to death with grief over them if they are not willing to believe in this message (Qur’an). -- Q.18: 6

Remember how the unbelievers plotted against thee, in order to restrain you [from preaching], or to slay thee, or to drive thee away; -- Q8: 30

And if any of those who ascribe divinity to aught beside God seeks thy protection, grant him protection, so that he might [be able to] hear the word of God [from thee]; and thereupon convey him to a place where he can feel secure: this because they [may be] people who [sin only because they] do not know [the truth]. -- Q.9: 6
(A further reaffirmation of the Quranic injunction in 2:256 that ”there shall be no coercion in matters of faith”.)

Say: Is it, then, something other than God that you bid me to worship, O you who are unaware [of right and wrong]” ? -Q.39: 64



Prophet said:

1. They asked the Apostle to invoke against the polytheists. He replied, ”Indeed I have not been sent as a great curser. I have been sent as mercy” -- H: Muslim. N: Abu Hurairah.

2. “For every prophet there was an acceptable invocation, and every prophet hastened to make it. I have kept mine reserved for the Resurrection Day to be used as an intercession for my people. If God wills, it will be accepted for every follower who died without setting up anything with God.” – H: Muslim. N: Abu Hurairah.

16. POLYTHEISM (SHIRK)

God says:

O Mankind! Worship your Sustainer, who has created you and those who lived before you, so that you might remain conscious of Him who has made the earth a resting place for you and the sky a canopy, and has sent down water from the sky and thereby brought fruit for sustenance: do not, then, claim that there is any power * that could rival God, when you know [that He is One]. Q.2: 22
* Lit. “do not give God any compeers” (andad, plural of nidd ). There is full agreement among all commentators that this term implies any object of adoration to which some or all of Gods qualities are ascribed…(Muhammad Asad)
* The false gods may be idols, superstition, self, or even great and glorious (person or) things like poetry, art and science… pride of race, birth, wealth or position, power, learning, or even spiritual pride. (Abdullah Yusuf Ali)

Do not marry women who ascribe divinity to aught beside God before they attain to (true) belief:... [Such as] these invite unto the fire, whereas God invites unto paradise, Q.2: 221
Verily, God does not forgive the ascribing of divinity to ought beside Him, although He forgives any lesser sin unto whomever He wills: for he who ascribes divinity to aught beside God has indeed contrived an awesome sin. * Q.4: 48
* The continuous stress, in the Qur’an, on God’s transcendental oneness and uniqueness aims at freeing man from all sense of dependence on other influences and powers, and thus elevating him spiritually and bringing about the “purification” alluded to in the next verse. Since this objective is vitiated by the sin of shirk (“the ascribing of divine qualities to aught beside God”), the Qur’an describes it as “unforgivable” so long as it is persisted in, i.e., unless and until the sinner repents.

N.B. Polytheism (shirk), is one of the 3 worst sins. The other two are: Disbelief (Kufr) and Arrogation (Tughyan)


Prophet said:

1. “You should worship God associating nothing with Him“ -- H: Tirmizi. N: Muaz b Jabal.

2. “(The Almighty revealed:) whoever acts setting up partner with Me…I desert him and his partnership.”-- Hadis Qudsi: Muslim. N: Abu Hurairah.(Hadis Qudsi, meaning sacred Hadis, is one in which the Prophet reports what has been revealed to him by God, though not necessarily in His actual words. Therefore in no way it is regarded as a part of the Quran.)

3. “God, glorified and exalted be He, said: I am so self-sufficient that I am in no need of having an associate. Thus he who acts for someone else’s sake as well as Mine, will have that action renounced by Me to him whom he associated with Me.” – Hadis Qudsi: Muslim and Ibn Majah. N: Abu Hurairah.

4. “The exaggerators have perished” (repeated 3 times) – H. Muslim. N: Ibn Masud.