1. Tawhīd: Monotheism
Thecorner-stoneofIslamicbeliefsistawhīd,thebeliefinUnityorOne-
nessofGodwhichisalsoknownasmonotheism.Tawhīdisthefirstpart
of the kalimah—the formula of faith in Islam. It says:
Lā ilāha il-lal lāh
There is no god but Allāh.
“Allāh”isthepropernameofGodinIslam.Theword“Allāh”means
“Onewhodeservestobeloved”and“inWhomeveryoneseeksrefuge.”
Thisword, grammatically speakingis unique. It has no pluraland no
feminine.SothisnameitselfreflectslightuponthefactthatGodisone
andonlyone;Hehasneitheranypartnernoranyequal.Thenamecan-
not be adequately translated by the word “God” becauseGod can be
transformed into “gods” and “goddess”.
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The Message ofTawhīd:The first part of thekalimahconsists of two statements: A negative
statement (“There is no god”) and a positive (“but Allāh”).
ThenegativestatementleadsaMuslimthroughouthislifenotonlyin
religious matters but alsoin social affairs. “Thereis no god” shows a
Muslimthatnothingintheuniverseissuperiortohim.Itisobservedin
theQur'ānthatHeistheOnewhocreatedforyouallthatisintheearth.
So a Muslim knows that nothing in this world is to be worshipped.
Neither stonenor trees,neitheranimalsnor humanbeings, neitherthe
Sun,the Moon,nor thestarscan beworshipped,becauseeverythingis
created for his benefit.
WhenaMuslimthusrejectseveryfalsehoodandeveryideaofnature-
worship,idol-worshipandhuman-worship,heisreadytobelieveinthe
positive truth oftawhīd.Believing in a SupremeBeing gives an aim to
ourlifeandprovidesapurposeforouractions.Hadmanbeenleftwith
thewrongimpressionthat therewasnoGodatall,hislifewould have
beenaimless,andanaimlesslifeisdangerous.Soitisaddedthatthereis
no god “but Allāh”.