The Oneness of Allah

"At-tawheed" simply means "the Oneness of Allah" and it is expressed by "Laa Ilaaha Illaa Allah", meaning, "there is no god worthy of worship except Allah".

And as noted by Professor Isma'il Al-Faruqi (1983; 10-11), "traditionally and simply expressed Tawhiid as the conviction and witnessing that "there is no god but Allah".

This seemingly negative statement, brief to the utmost limits of brevity, carries the greatest and richest meanings in the whole of Islam.

Sometimes, a whole culture, a whole civilisation or a whole history has been compressed in one sentence. This certainly is the case of the "Kalimah" (pronouncement ) or "Shahaadah" (witnessing) of Islam.

All the diversity, wealth and history, culture and learning, wisdom and civilisation of Islam are compressed in this shortest of sentences - "Laa Ilaaha Illaa Allah" (There is no god but Allah).

"Tawhiid" is a general view of reality, of truth, of the world of space and time, of human history and destiny".

Belief in Allah, his oneness and attributes

The issue of Allah's existence has to occupy the greatest attention of man. The justification for this assertion stems from the fact that man's existence is totally dependent on Him, the Almighty.

Belief in Allah, the Almighty, is a basic fact of life. This belief can simply be defined as an unflinching faith in Him which is further expressed in the reality that He is the sole creator of all things and that He, alone has to be worshipped.

Indeed, thinkers have approached His existence from different angles and postures. There are those who listen to the voice of nature and argue that belief in Allah's existence is ingrained in man.

The Qur'an states this thus: "Their messengers said, "can there be doubt about Allah, creator of humans and earth?... Quran 14:10

"So direct your face (i.e. self) toward the religion, inclining to truth. (Adhere to) the "fitra" of Allah upon which He has created (all) people. No change should there be in the creation of Allah. That is the correct religion, but most of the people do not know." Quran 30:30

The arabic word, "fitra", connotes the natural inborn inclination of man to worship his Creator, alone, prior to the corruption of his nature by external influences. There are others also who rely on the argument of cause and effect.

The crux of this philosophical reasoning is that everything should have a maker who developed it or caused its existence in one form or another.

Every incident in life must have a cause. Every movement must, of necessity, have a mover, that is the one who caused the movement. Every arrangement or system must have the one who organised it. That is a basic reality of life.

The import of this argument is that the universe, with its unique order and system did not happen by chance. But, it is the making of a Creator whose Knowledge, Wisdon and Omnipotence are not limited b time and space.

Blaise Pascal, the eminent French Philosopher, once indicated that people, in their attitude towards the Creator, have to make a choice between believing in Him or repudiating Him. He argues that a basic fact of life is that man will die at a time unknown to him and that man will not return here anymore. It is his contention that the one who believes in Allah, the Almighty, becomes a winner, while the one who repudiates His existence becomes a looser (Al-Qardawi, 1996; 6). The person becomes a looser because he will realise the existence of Allah, the almighty in his grave and that will happen at a time that he has no access to this physical world to make amends to his believe.

Dr Atamuddaah Abdul Ati 91999; 2-4) has rightly noted that "as we look around in our environment we see that every family has a head; every school has a principal; every city or town has a mayor; every province has a chief governor; and every nation has a head of state.

Moreover, we know beyond doubt that every product is the work of a certain producer, and that every beautiful act is the creation of some great creator. All this is obvious, yet, it does not satisfy the hunger for knowledge and the curiosity of man about the great things in the world. One often wonders at the beauties of natures with its scenic charms and marvels; the almost endless horizon in the sky and their far reaching expansion; the ceaseless succession of day and night in the most orderly manner; the cause of the sun, the moon and the great stars; the world of animate and inanimate objects; the continuous process of evolution of man generation after generation. One often wonders because one longs to know the maker and maintainer of all these things with which we live and which immensely enjoy.

Can we find an explanation of the great universe? Is there any convincing interpretation of the secret of existence? We know that no family can function properly without a responsible head, that no city can prosper without sound administration; and that no state can survive without a chief of some kind.

We also realise that nothing comes into being on its own. Moreover, we observe that the universe exist and function in the most orderly manner.Can we, then, say that all this is accidental and haphazard? Or can we attribute the existence of man and the whole world to mere chance.

The writer is a Theologian/Educationist (ishaakn25@yahoo.com)