Tawhid

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Jump to: navigation, search

This article or section has multiple issues:

  • It does not cite any references or sources. Please help improve this article by citing reliable sources. Tagged since March 2007.
  • It may need a complete rewrite to meet Wikipedia's quality standards.Tagged since December 2007.
  • It contains too many quotations for an encyclopedic entry. Tagged since November 2006.

Please help improve the article or discuss these issues on the talk page.

"Oneness of God" redirects here. For the concept of monotheism, see monotheism.

Part of a series on
 Islam

Image:Mosque02.svg

Beliefs

Allah · Oneness of God
Muhammad · Prophets of Islam

Practices

Profession of Faith · Prayer
Fasting · Charity · Pilgrimage

History & Leaders

Timeline of Muslim history
Ahl al-Bayt · Sahaba
Rashidun Caliphs · Shi'a Imams

Texts & Laws

Qur'an · Sunnah · Hadith
Fiqh · Sharia
Kalam · Tasawwuf (Sufism)

Major branches

Sunni · Shi'a

Culture & Society

Academics · Animals · Art
Calendar · Children · Demographics
Festivals · Mosques · Philosophy
Politics · Science · Women

Islam & other religions

Christianity · Jainism
Judaism · Sikhism

See also

Criticism of Islam · Islamophobia
Glossary of Islamic terms

Islam Portal  v • d • e 

Tawḥīd (Arabic: توحيد; also transliterated Tawheed and Tauheed; Turkish: Tevhid) is the Islamic conception of monotheism. Tawhid refers to the act of believing and affirming that God (Arabic: Allah) is one and unique (wāḥid). In Islam, recognition of this principle is achieved by the first of five pillars of Islam, the Shahadah (testification of faith). The opposite of Tawhīd is shirk, which means "associating partners" or "making something as comparable" (to God) in Arabic, referring to idolatry.[1]

Contents

[edit] Etymology

In the Arabic language, Tawhīd means 'unification' and is derived from the root word, ahad, which made of three Arabic letters. Al-Wahid, one of the 99 Names of Allah, is made of the root word and describes wihdat or the oneness of Allah. Tawhidullah means the literal assertion of Allah's oneness and monotheistic existence.

[edit] Definition

Muslims believe that Allah cannot be held equal in any way to other beings or concepts. This monotheism is absolute, not relative or pluralistic in any sense of the word. It is for this reason that Muslims reject the concept of the Trinity held by most Christians.

[edit] Verses from the Qur'ān

Many passages of the Qur'an refer to Tawhīd.

The Qur'an, chapter 112 (Al-Ikhlas), verse 1 to 4:
“

Say: [1] Say: He, Allah, is One. [2] Allah is He on Whom all depend. [3] He begets not, nor is He begotten. [4] And none is like Him. — translated by M. H. Shakir


”

This passage is commonly recited as part of the five daily prayers, known as salat.

Muslims agree that the most fundamental aspect of Islam revolves around the total acceptance of an "Absolute and Perfect Creator". The Muslim profession of faith, or Shahadah (Lā 'ilāha 'illā lāh -- There is no god but Allah" is an expression of Tawhīd.

[edit] Sunni View

Sunni Muslims regard Tawhīd as one of six major aspects of Aqidah.

[edit] Seeing God

Sunni Muslims believe that Allah cannot be seen, imagined or perceived in any way in the present life of this world. Rather, they believe that only the righteous believers will see Allah on Judgment Day (after they have died).[2] [3]

The Qur'an says:

"Some faces that Day shall be Nâdirah (shining and radiant). Looking at their Lord (God)."[4]
"Nay! Surely, they (evil-doers) will be veiled from seeing their Lord that Day."[5]

In a hadith, Abu Huraira reports:

The people said to the Messenger of Allah (may peace be upon him): Messenger of Allah, shall we see our Lord on the Day of Resurrection? Muhhamad said, "Do you feel any trouble in seeing the moon on the night when it is full?" They replied, "Messenger of Allah, no." Muhammad continued, 'Do you feel any trouble in seeing the sun, when there is no cloud over it?" They said, "Messenger of Allah. no." Muhammad said: Verily you would see Him like this (as you see the sun and the moon).[6]

[edit] Qur'an and Tawhid

Sunnis believe that the Qur'an is uncreated[clarify], and that this view is fully compatible with Tawhid. The Hanbalis hold the view that

"Not only were the words and sounds of the Quran eternal, so that even its recital was uncreated, but its parchment and binding shared the same qualities''[citation needed].

Abu Hanifa expressed:

We confess that the Quran is the speech of Allah, uncreated, His inspiration, and revelation, not He, yet not other than He, but His real quality, written in the copies, recited by the tongues. The ink, the paper, the writing are created, for they are the work of man."[7]

Following Qur'anic literalism, Ibn Taymiya taught that God does not have body parts, but also that he has features loosely corresponding to hands, eyes and a face. Sunnis believe that God is above the heavens and above his "throne".[8]

[edit] Shi'a view

The neutrality of this section is disputed.
Please see the discussion on the talk page.
This section has been tagged since December 2007.

Tawhīd is among the five Shia Roots of Religion. According to Ali, the first Shi'a Imam:

“ The foremost in religion is the acknowledgement of Him, the perfection of acknowledging Him is to testify Him, the perfection of testifying Him is to believe in His Oneness, the perfection of believing in His Oneness is to regard Him Pure, and the perfection of His purity is to deny Him attributes, because every attribute is a proof that it is different from that to which it is attributed and everything to which something is attributed is different from the attribute. Thus whoever attaches attributes to Allah recognises His like, and who recognises His like regards Him two; and who regards Him two recognises parts for Him; and who recognises parts for Him mistook Him; and who mistook Him pointed at Him; and who pointed at Him admitted limitations for Him; and who admitted limitations for Him numbered Him.

Whoever said in what is He, held that He is contained; and whoever said on what is He held He is not on something else. He is a Being but not through phenomenon of coming into being. He exists but not from non-existence. He is with everything but not in physical nearness. He is different from everything but not in physical separation. He acts but without connotation of movements and instruments. He sees even when there is none to be looked at from among His creation. He is only One, such that there is none with whom He may keep company or whom He may miss in his absence.[9]

”

[edit] Attaching attributes

Shi'a do not believe that God can or will ever be seen, and also reject the notion of him having body parts, or any parts whatsoever.

Some verses of the Qur'an that seem to ascribe God body parts, for example verse (28:88) of which says: "Every thing is mortal except His face", Shi'a interpret as meaning "except His person". Shi'a argue that the verse is not to be taken literally, arguing that it can't be said that only the face of God will remain, while his other so-called limbs (either physical or not) will die. Similarly, Shi'a argue that God has used the word 'hand' (Arabic: Yad) in several places in the Qur'an, where it means his power and his mercy, as in the verse (5:64): "But His hands are outspread". Shi'a quote in support of the verses being allegorical:

The Qur'an, chapter 3 (Aale Imran), verse 7:
“ He it is Who has revealed the Book to you; some of its verses are decisive, they are the basis of the Book, and others are allegorical; then as for those in whose hearts there is perversity they follow the part of it which is allegorical, seeking to mislead and seeking to give it (their own) interpretation. but none knows its interpretation except God, and those who are firmly rooted in knowledge say: We believe in it, it is all from our Lord; and none do mind except those having understanding.— translated by M. H. Shakir


”

Shi'a believe that "those who are firmly rooted" are the Ahl al-Bayt, meaning that they are the ones need to consulted for detailed information[10] One of the most respected Shi'a collection, the Nahj al-Balagha, contains a sermon where Ali is quoted as giving a long and detailed account of Tawhid, part of it being:[11]

“ Whoever attaches attributes to God recognises His like, and who recognises His like regards Him two; and who regards Him two recognises parts for Him; and who recognises parts for Him mistook Him; and who mistook Him pointed at Him; and who pointed at Him admitted limitations for Him; and who admitted limitations for Him numbered Him. ”

The sermon is one of the most complicated description of God, it maintains attributes should not be attached to God, since it would create a duality. However, Shi'a do not understand this as the notion that God lacks attributes. A modern similitude to energy would be that attributes can not be attached to energy, for example saying that energy has redness, creating a duality between energy and the color red; rather it should be said that energy can be red. In the same way, Shi'a maintain that it should not be said that God has strength or wisdom, creating a duality and nullifying Tawhid. Rather, it can be said that God is strong and wise. The thought of God having body parts is completely rejected and seen as shirk.

Shaykh Saduq, one of the most distinguished of Shi'a scholars expressed:[12]

“ Verily, God is One, Unique, nothing is like Him, He is Eternal; Hearing, Seeing, Omniscient, Living, Omnipotent, above every need. He cannot be described in terms of substance, nor body, nor form, nor accident, nor line, nor surface, nor heaviness, nor lightness, nor color, nor movement, nor rest, nor time, nor space. He is above all the descriptions which can be applied to His creatures. He is away from both extremes: Neither He is just a non-entity (as atheists and in a lesser degree Mutazilites implied), nor He is just like other things. He is Existent, not like other existing things. ”

[edit] List of attributes

Shi'a list some positive attributes to God:[13]

  1. Qadím: God is eternal, with neither a beginning nor an end.
  2. Qadir: God is omnipotent.
  3. 'Alim: God is omniscient.
  4. Hai: God is alive and will remain alive forever.
  5. Muríd: God has his own discretion in all affairs and does not act out of compulsion.
  6. Mudrik: God correctly perceives everything in the universe.
  7. Mutakalim: God is the "Lord of the Worlds". He can create speech in anything: the burning bush for Musa and the curtain of light for Muhammad.
  8. Sadiq: God is honest.
  9. Sharík: God has no partners.
  10. Murakab: God is neither made, nor composed, of any material.
  11. Makán: God is not confined to any place and has no body.
  12. Hulúl: God does not incarnate into anything or anybody.
  13. Mahale hawadith: God is immutable.
  14. Marí: God is not visible.
  15. Ihtiyaj: God is not dependent; he has no needs.
  16. Sifate zayed: God does not have added qualifications. The attributes of God are not separate from his being.

[edit] Non-eternal actions

Shi'a distinguish between eternal and non-eternal attributes of God: first those attributes which denote his person, and second, those attributes which denote his actions. Shaykh Saduq says:[14]

“ For example, we say that God was from ever Hearing, Seeing, Omniscient, Wise, Omnipotent, Having power, Living, Self-existent, One and Eternal. And these are His personal attributes. and we do not say that He was from ever Creating, Doing, Intending, pleased, displeased, Giving sustenance, Speaking; because these virtues describe His actions; and they are not eternal; it is not allowed to say that God was doing all these actions from eternity. The reason for this distinction is obvious. Actions need an object. For example, if we say that God was giving sustenance from ever, then we will have to admit the existence of sustained thing from ever. In other words, we will have to admit that the world was from ever. but it is against our belief that nothing except God is Eternal." ”

[edit] Qur'an and Tawhid

Shi'a further say that God creating and sending the Qur'an is of the non-eternal acts of God, hence Shi'a believe the Qur'an to be a creation, in contrast to Sunnis. Shi'a quote a Hadith where Muhammad is quoted as:

"(There was a time when) God existed, and there was nothing beside Him".

Even so, Shi'a believe the Qur'an to be perfect, in the same way that they believe God created other perfect objects, for example, the angels and the prophets.


[edit] See also

[edit] References

  1. ^ "Tawhid", Encyclopedia of Islam
  2. ^ http://www.islamtomorrow.com/why_we_donot_see_allah.asp
  3. ^ http://www.islamweb.net/ver2/Fatwa/ShowFatwa.php?lang=E&Id=2597&Option=FatwaId
  4. ^ Al-Qiyama 22-23
  5. ^ Al-Mutaffifin 15
  6. ^ Sahih Muslim, Book 1, Number 349
  7. ^ Revelation and Reason in Islam by A.J. Arberry
  8. ^ http://www.islamicinvitationcentre.com/FAQ/Allah/FAQ_Allah.html
  9. ^ Nahj al-Balagha [1]
  10. ^ [2]
  11. ^ Nahj al-Balagha sermon 1
  12. ^ Shi'ite Creed (al-Itqadat al-Imamiyyah), by Shaykh Saduq on Al-islam.org [3]
  13. ^ [4]
  14. ^ Shi'ite Creed (al-Itqadat al-Imamiyyah), by Shaykh Saduq [5]
  • Gimaret, D. "Tawhid". Encyclopaedia of Islam Online. Ed. P.J. Bearman, Th. Bianquis, C.E. Bosworth, E. van Donzel and W.P. Heinrichs. Brill Academic Publishers. ISSN 1573-3912. 

[edit] External links

Sunni links:

Shi'a links:

ar:توحيد

bs:Tewhid de:Tauhid dv:ތައުޙީދު es:Tawhid fa:توحید fr:Tawhid id:Tauhid it:Tawhid ml:തൌഹീദ് ms:Tauhid nl:Tawhid ja:タウヒード no:Tawhid pl:Tawhid pt:Tawhid fi:Tauhid tr:Tevhid (din) ur:توحید

Retrieved from "http://india.smashits.com/wikipedia/Tawhid"
Views
Personal tools

Toolbox