but some scholars such as Carl Ernst cast doubt
upon the veracity of tariqa missionary activities.
Although Sufism was originally an antinomi-
nal response to the power held by Islamic reli-
gious leaders who had systematized Islam in ways
that Sufis considered to be dogmatic and devoid
of spiritualism, the tariqa system ultimately cre-
ated and maintained an alternate religious vision
and system of transmitting knowledge. This, in
turn, maintained tradition and served in part as a
conservative force.
See also baga and fana; dhikr; murid; munshid;
reneWal and reForm movements; saint; ziyara.
Sophia PandyaFurther reading: Carl W. Ernst, Sufism (Boston: Shamb-
hala, 1997); Michael Gilsenan, Saint and Sufi in Modern
Egypt (Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1973); Annemarie
Schimmel, Mystical Dimensions of Islam (Chapel Hill:
University of North Carolina Press, 1975); J. Spencer
Trimingham, The Sufi Orders in Islam (Oxford: Claren-
don Press, 1971).
tasawwuf See sufism.
tashbih See anthropomorphism.
tasliyya See pbuh.
tawaf See hajj; umra.
tawil See tafsir.
tawhid (Arabic: to proclaim God as one;
monotheism)
Monotheism is the belief in one god, or in a god’s
essential oneness. It is an English term that was
first coined in the 17th century to distinguish
Christian, Jewish, and later Islamic beliefs about
God from the beliefs of those belonging to other
religions, especially those described as being poly-
theistic (believing in more than one god). Scholars
of the comparative history of religions have recog-
nized that monotheistic belief has taken different
forms in human history, and they have proposed
a variety of technical terms to describe these dif-
ferent forms: monolatry (worshipping one god),
monism (belief that a single being unites all beings
in the universe), deism (belief in a single god who
does not intervene in his creation), unitarianism
(belief that god is absolutely one), trinitarianism
(belief that god has three aspects or “persons,”
as in Christianity), and pantheism (belief that
god and the universe are identical). Tawhid is the
Arabic word that Muslims today most commonly
equate with the English term “monotheism,” but
the historical range of connotations and meanings
tawhid has taken in Islamic theological, philosoph-
ical, and mystical discourses is greater than this
simple translation would otherwise suggest.
The idea of the oneness of God (allah) is clearly
expressed in the first part of the Islamic testimony
of faith, the shahada—“There is no god but God”
which is repeated by Muslims throughout their lives
and in the daily calls to prayer. It is also one of the
Quran’s most fundamental messages. Q 112 states
that he is one (ahad), he does not beget, and he has
no equal. Other verses declare, “your God is one
God” (Q 18:110; 21:108; 39:4), while others stress
that he has no partner (sharik; Q 6:163; 17:111)
and condemn polytheists (mushrikin)—those who
claim that God does indeed have partners. Although
the Quran attributes this message to all of God’s
prophets, it is especially associated with abraham,
who is the figurehead of the hanif religion, a kind of
primordial monotheism that preceded that of Jews
and Christians. The importance of acknowledging
belief in one God is reiterated in the hadith.
Tawhid served as a starting point for Muslim
theology (known as kalam), which was con-
cerned with the issue of God’s oneness, espe-
cially as it pertained to his attributes. The most
prominent theological school to articulate IslamicK 664 tasawwuf