Tawheed… the essence ofIslam

Tawheed )Islamic monotheism( isthe greatest foundation of Islamic
belief. In fact, a person is considered as Muslim if he/she accepts
that there is no god worthy of worship but Allaah andthat Muhammadis
His slave and His messenger to humankind.
Almighty Allaah Says in the Noble Quran )what means(:"Allaah- there is
no deity except Him, the Ever- Living, the Sustainer of ]all[
existence. Neither drowsiness overtakes Him nor sleep. To Him belongs
whatever is in the heavens and whatever is on the earth. Who is it
that can intercede with Him except by His permission? He knows what is
]presently[ before them and what will be after them, and theyencompass
not a thing of His knowledge except for what He wills. His Kursi
)literally, a footstool( extends over the heavens and the earth, and
their preservation tires Him not. And He is the Most High, the Most
Great."]Quran 2: 255[
In these marvelous verses, Allaah describes Himself as The Only One-
Most Powerful, Ever-Living Lord of us. Tawheed is the bedrock of Islam
and it states that it is Allaah Who has created the universe with
whatever is in it and administers it. What we deduce from the
operation of theuniverse and call 'natural laws' are, in fact,
Allaah's regular ways of creating things and events andadministering
the universe.
According to Islam, all religions revealed to the prophets, may Allaah
exalt their mention, have the same essence and knowledgeof Tawheed and
unity of Allaah, but, with the time, the message was misinterpreted,
mixed with superstition, and degenerated into magical practices and
some rituals. That was the same message with which Aadam was sent down
to earth, the same knowledge that Allaah revealed to Nooh )Noah(,
Ibraaheem )Abraham(, Moosaa )Moses( and 'Eesaa )Jesus(, may Allaah
exalt their mention, and the last Prophet sent to humanity, Muhammad.
Islam rejects characterizing Allaah in any human form or depicting Him
as favoring certain individuals or nations on the basis of wealth,
power, or race. However, our human minds are often in search of
understanding the concept of Allaah in materialistic ways, although we
are not capable to completely comprehend this concept. When Prophet
Muhammad'scontemporaries asked him about Allaah, Allaah revealed the
chapter of Ikhlaas )Quranic Chapter No. 112( which is considered as
the motto of Tawheed, Saying )what means(:"Say )O Muhammad(, "He is
Allaah, ]who is[ One. Allaah, the Eternal Refuge. He neither begets
nor was He begotten. Nor is thereto Him any equivalent."]Quran
112:1-4[
The Creator must be a different nature from the things created,
because if He is of the same nature as they are, He will be temporal
and will, therefore, need a maker. If the maker is not temporal, He
must be eternal. But if He is eternal, He cannot be caused. If nothing
apart from Him causes Him to continue to exist, He must be
Self-Sufficient and Self-Subsistent. If He does not depend upon
anything for the continuance of His own existence, this existence can
haveno end. The Creator is therefore Eternal and Everlasting Allaah
Says )what means(:"He is the First and the Last"]Quran 57:3[.
The Creator does not create only in the sense of bringing things into
being, in other words, He is not only a Starter, He also preserves
everything, takes them out of the existence, and is the ultimate cause
of whatever happens to them.
'Ali Ibn Abu Taalibthe fourth Muslim Caliph, is reported to havesaid:
"He is being but not through the phenomenon of coming into being. He
exists but not from non-existence. He is with everything but not
physical nearness. He is different from everything but not by physical
separation. He acts but without the accompaniment of movements and
instruments. He is the One, only such that there is none with whom He
keeps company or whom He misses in his absence."
In Islam, Allaah is known by His Names and Attributions and the
manifestation of these names in the universe.
Another aspect of Tawheed in Islam is that it implies the equity and
unity of all people in their relation with Allaah. Thus, peopleof
different social strata were notcreated by separate deities with
varying levels of power, since thiswould violate Tawheed by putting
barriers between them. Instead, social dimension of Tawheed states
that the same Allaah created everyone, and so all people have the same
fundamental essence. In fact, the noblest person in Allaah's Sight
isthe one who is most Allaah-conscious.
Prophet Muhammadsaid:"Your Lord is One. You are from Aadam and Aadam
was created from dust. An Arab is not superior to a non-Arab, nor a
white person over a black person,except for his/her piety and
righteousness."]Ahmad[