The Concept of "Tauheed" (Oneness)

Source: Excerpt from a Book of Iqbal Kilani

Those who are unfamiliar with the word " ALLAH " and think there is a difference between " Allah and God ", please click here

The internal matter for Tauheed is the word " Wahdah ", which means " Oneness ", and is used for someone who is alone and distinguished in his entity and quality. This is the belief that holds true for " The One and The Only God ". There is no one like Him and neither is there anyone that shares with Him, anything, from His entity and qualities.

Classification of Tauheed

• Tauheed about God’s entity

• Tauheed in praying and obeying God

• Tauheed about qualities of God

Tauheed about God’s Entity

This means that God should be considered alone in His entity and no one is to be associated with Him. He has no wife, no children, no father, no mother, He is not part of anything nor is anything a part of His entity.

The Jews used to consider Uzair (Ezra) (p.b.u.h) as the son of God, the Christians used to consider Isa (Jesus / Messiah) (p.b.u.h) as the son of God. Allah in Quran, disapproves their belief and says:

Surah Tawbah verse 30: " And the Jews say, Ezra is the son of Allah; and the Christians say, the Messiah is the son of Allah. These are the words of their mouths. They imitate the saying of those who disbelieved before. Allah’s curse be on them! How they are turned away! "

The polytheists of Makkah used to consider the Angels, as the daughters of God. Their belief is also disapproved by Allah in Quran.

Surah al-An’aam verse 100: " And they regard the jinn to be partners with Allah, and He created them, and they falsely attribute to Him sons and daughters without knowledge. Glory be to Him, and highly exalted is He above what they ascribe! (to Him) "

Some polytheists believe that God is part of some of His creations like Angels, Jinn and People while others think that God is everywhere in this world and is a part of it. Beliefs of these sort are also disapproved by Allah in the Quran.

Surah Zukhruf verse 15: " And they assign to Him a part of His servants. Man, to be sure, is clearly ungrateful "

All of these verses show that God has no family. He does not have children, wife, father or a mother. Neither is He part of anything in this world nor is anything a part of Him. Nothing came out of Him and neither did He come out of anything.

When Allah’s Apostle presented this faith of Tauheed before the polytheists, they started questioning him about Allah like e.g. What is He made up of ? What does He eat? What does He drink ? Who is going to inherit after Him and from whom did He inherit? etc.

To answer these questions, Allah revealed the verses of Surah Ikhlas in His book:

Surah Ikhlas: " Say, He, Allah, is One. Allah is He on Whom all depend. He begets not, nor is He begotten. And none is like Him "

So we come to the conclusion that it is Shirk (polytheism), to consider some one as a son of God or a daughter of God or even considering that some one is a part of God. While learning Tauheed about Allah’s entity, it is to be kept in mind that He is not present everywhere. His Throne of Power is high above this world. It is only by His Knowledge and His Power that he is everywhere. His knowledge and His Power encircles everything in this world.

Surah Sajdah verse 4: " Allah is He Who created the heavens and the earth and what is between them in six periods, and He is established on the Throne of Power. You have not besides Him a guardian or an intercessor. Will you not then mind? "

Evidence from a hadeeth is given below:

" Abu Hurairah (may Allah be pleased with him) reported: Allah's Messenger (may peace be upon him) said, Our Lord, The Blessed and the Exalted, descends every night to the lowest heaven when one third of the latter part of the night is left, and says, " Who supplicates Me so that I may answer him? Who asks Me so that I may give to him? Who asks Me forgiveness so that I may forgive him? " [Sahih Bukhari]

Tauheed in Praying and Obeying God

This would mean that all sorts of prayers and obedience should be due to Allah alone and no one else should be associated with Him. In Quran, the word used for these two acts i.e. Praying and Obeying is "Ibaadat".

The word "Ibaadat" in Quran and " Praying ",

Surah Ha Meem verse 37: " And of His signs are the night and the day and the sun and the moon. Adore not the sun nor the moon, but Adore Allah Who created them, if He it is that you serve "

The word "Ibaadat" in Quran and " Obeying ",

Surah Ya sin verse 60: " Did I not charge you, O children of Adam,
that you serve not the devil? Surely he is your open enemy "

So Tauheed in Praying would mean that all sorts of praying forms like Salah, Qayam (standing straight without motion), bowing, prostrating, sacrificing of animals, supplication, calling for help, seeking refuge, hoping for good and fear etc is only and purely for Allah alone. If we in our prayers associate anyone with Allah then it will be Shirk (polytheism) in praying.

On the other hand Tauheed in Obedience would be that in all aspects of life, one has to obey the laws and orders of Allah only. If some one obeys the laws and orders of anyone other than Allah, whether it be religious leaders or political leaders, Satin or Taghoot (anyone who is not on the right path and wants other to obey him), it will be called as Shirk in obedience.

Surah Furqan verse 43: " Have you seen him who takes his low
desires for his god? Will you be a guardian over him? "

This verse shows how broad is the idea of Shirk or polytheism according to the Holy Quran. It is not simply worshiping of idols that is condemned, but blindly following one's desires is equally condemned. Many men who consider themselves the servant of the One God really bow in submission before the greatest of their idols, i.e. their desire. The monotheistic doctrine has here been brought to a perfection not to be met with elsewhere. (However if because of human limitations someone is threatened or forced to do against his will, then this will be different).

Surah al-An'aam verse 121: ... And certainly the devils inspire their friends to contend with you, and if you obey them, you will surely be polytheists

Thus obeying the devil is like becoming a polytheist.

Surah Maidah verses 44, 45 & 47:

".. And whoever judges not by what Allah has revealed,
those are the Disbelievers"

".. And whoever judges not by what Allah has revealed,
those are the Wrongdoers"

".. And whoever judges not by what Allah has revealed,
those are the Transgressors"

Thus whoever follows the laws and orders of anyone other than Allah, then according to the Quran he is a mushrik (polytheist), zaalim (wrongdoer), fasiq (transgressor), kaafir (disbeliever). May Allah protect all of us from being amongst any of these (Aameen).

Tauheed about God's Qualities

This type of Tauheed means that all the qualities of God, as mentioned in the Quran and the hadeeth, should be designated to God alone and no one else should be associated with Him in His qualities. His qualities are in such a number that we cannot imagine them (what to talk about counting them).

Surah al-Kahf verse 109: " Say, If the sea were ink for the words of my Lord, the sea would surely be exhausted before the words of my Lord were exhausted, though We brought the like of it to add (thereto) "

Surah Luqman verse 27: " And if all the trees in the earth were pens, and the sea with seven more seas added to it (were ink), the words of Allah would not be exhausted. Surely Allah is Mighty, Wise "

In the above two verses the words of Allah means His qualities. So just to have an idea, we take here for example just one quality of Allah.

A quality of Allah is that He is called "Samee" meaning "Ever Listening". Just imagine, that Allah is listening not just for some days or weeks or years, but its been thousands and thousands of years and He is listening to prayers, supplications, secrets and speeches of not only some but millions and billions of people at the same time! Allah never gets tired of listening to His slaves (their supplications and requests) and neither does He face any hardships while deciding for them.

Think of the time when about one to two million pilgrims gather together in "Arafat" during Haj (Pilgrimage). Allah is listening to them all at the same time, He knows what each one of them needs, He knows what is inside their hearts and then according to His Knowledge and Wisdom He decides for each of them. He does not make a mistake or do injustice of any sort. He does not need time to decide nor does he face any difficulty in doing what he wants. And its not only these pilgrims that He is only listening to, He is also listening to the rest of the world at the same time.

And then this all is just a fraction for humans. But in this world there are His other creations like Jinns who pray to the same God i.e. Allah and He listens to them too. God knows how many Jinns would there be, calling Allah. Allah is listening to them and supplying them with whatever they need. Apart from Humans and the Jinns, Allah has also created the Angels. They also praise Allah all the time, and Allah listens to them too!

And apart from these three groups there are others, which only Allah knows, as He says in the Quran:

" ... And none knows the forces of your Lord but He ... " [74:31]

Thus there are His creations on the land, in water, in air and everywhere. Each one of them is praising Allah and Allah is listening to them all, at the same time. Apart from the living things, there are non-living things like the sun, moon, stones, trees, stars, skies and mountains etc. Even these non-living things are busy in praising Allah and He is listening to them.

Surah Bani Israel verse 44: " The seven heavens and the earth and those in them declare His glory. And there is not a single thing but glorifies Him with His praise, but you do not understand their glorification. Surely He is Forbearing, Forgiving "

Now we can have some sort of an idea about the listening quality of God. Before we close the topic lets compare human listening with God's listening. Regarding listening capabilities of humans, we see that no one is capable of listening to two different sources at the same time. There are some people who take the dead pious people as intercessors to God and claim that they listen to people and convey their prayers and requests to God. To them the only question would be that; how can a dead person listen to millions of people calling him, while he could not even listen to just two of them, when he was alive ???

So there are innumerable qualities of God and if we associate any of these with anyone other than Him then this will be Shirk (Polytheism) in His qualities.

Surah al-Hashr verses 22, 23, 24: "He is Allah besides Whom there is no God; Knower of the unseen and the seen; He is The Beneficent, The Merciful. He is Allah, besides Whom there is no God; the King, The Holy, The Author of peace, the Granter of Security, Guardian over all, the Mighty, the Supreme, the Possessor of greatness. Glory be to Allah from that which they set up (with Him)! He is Allah, The Creator, The Maker, The Fashioner: His are the most beautiful names. Whatever is in the heavens and the earth declares His glory; and He is The Mighty, The Wise"