Modern forms of denial - atheism and agnosticism – all fall under the much broader Islamic doctrine of kufr. The Arabic word, usually translated as ‘unbeliever’ and sometimes as ‘infidel,’ is a term with a voluntary element, a corruption of will as well as intellect. ‘Kafir’ is a person ‘who denies the truth.’ Disbelief is more than a simple intellectual inability to accept a given proposition as clear, a ‘kafir’ is one who covers as a farmer covers (kafara) the seed he has sown with soil or as night ‘covers’ the visible world in darkness. The word has the connotation of “covering” something that exists or “denying” something that is true. The truths in question are embedded in human nature, but “forgotten” as the Quran asserts repeatedly. It is not a matter of being unable to accept something we are told, but rather of refusing to admit something we already know. Its demerit lies in refusing to remain as God made us. The practical distinction between a believer and a disbeliever is understandingly simplistic and marked by the utterance of the Shahada.
Tawheed is the Arabic word for saying that God is One. Tawheed is the bedrock on which the edifice of Islam stands. Tawheed is the affirmation that there is only One Creator who deserves our adoration and worship and His guidance needs to be followed for our personal and human welfare. Tawheed is what makes Islam a monotheistic religion. The Islamic concept of Tawheed is profound and has three main parts:
1. There is only One Creator, Sustainer, and Sovereign of the universe
2. Only One Creator deserves our worship, service, and obedience
3. Incomparable and unique, God and His Prophet have described Him
1. There is only One Creator, Sustainer, and Sovereign of the universe
The fundamental Islamic teaching is that God is the only Creator of all existence. He is the God of the whole humanity, not of a certain tribe, race, or religious group. All the people are His creation. He has no favored group based on bloodlines, genealogy, or family tree. To Him, people are only of two kinds: believers who are obedient to Him and disbelievers who are disobedient to Him. He is both their God.
Furthermore, God did not simply create and let it be like a ‘watchmaker’ builds a watch and let it unwind on its own. Rather, God sustains and maintains His creation. God not only started the process of creation, but is also actively watching over the operation of the universe, taking its care, decreeing it affairs, and ensuring its functionality exactly to His plan. The word used by the Quran to describe this quality is ‘Rabb’ (Lord, Sustainer, Cherisher). Nothing happens in the creation except the permission of the Rabb. The Quran states about this category of Tawheed:
“And no calamity strikes except by God’s permission.”
“God is the Creator of all things, and He is the Disposer of all things”
Good luck charms such as four-leaf clovers, wishbones, lucky numbers, or zodiacal signs do not bring ‘good’ or ‘bad’ luck.
2. Only One Creator deserves our worship, service, and obedience
It is not sufficient to simply ‘believe’ in God or to realize that I have to believe in God by recognizing some names and descriptions. The crux of Islamic Tawheed, in many ways, is to actually worship and serve God. This point is borne clearly by looking at a few passages form the Quran:
“Say: ‘Who is it that gives you sustenance from the sky and earth, governs sight and hearing, brings forth life from dead (matter) and death from the living, and plans the affairs of man?’ They will all say: ‘God.’”
“Most of them do not believe in God except while joining partners with Him.”
The pagans to whom the Quran was initially addressed, recognized God created them, provided for them, and granted life and death, but they did it did not stop them from worshipping other gods besides Him. Despite their belief in God, the Quran calls them pagans because they worshipped other gods with God.
“How do you worship besides God something which has no power either to harm or benefit you? But it is God Who is the All‑Hearer, All‑Knower.”
This, all forms of worship must be directed to God as He alone deserves worship and only He can reward a person in return. The simple formulation takes away the need for a middle-men to intercede between the sinful and the All-Forgiving God.
It is important to understand what is ‘worship.’ The Arabic word for worship, ‘ibada,’ is closely related to the word ‘abd, or slave, a derogatory word in English by any standards because of the negative connotations with racism and exploitation. Worship, in Islamic worldview, is ‘obedient submission to God’s will.’
Worship of God is the reason for our existence, the purpose of our being, the essence of the message brought by all the prophets, and the desire within a soul:
‘And I did not create the jinn and mankind except for My worship.’
‘We never sent a messenger except to reveal, ‘There is no true god but I, so worship Me.’
“None of those who call me ‘Lord’ will enter the kingdom of God, but only the one who does the will of my Father in heaven.” (Matthew 7:21)
Worship or service to God is the key to success in this life and the one to come. In this life it provides a person with structure to balance the needs of the spirit and the body, religious and the mundane, and God and His people. It ties choices made in this life with rewards and punishments of the life to come. Keeping God’s commandments is the way to Paradise according to Jesus who said, ‘if you want to enter life, keep the commandments.’ (Matthew 19:17)
He also said, ‘Whoever therefore breaks one of the least of these commandments, and teaches men so, shall be called least in the kingdom of heaven, but whoever does and teaches them, he shall be called great in the kingdom of heaven.’ (Matthew 5:19)
The Islamic concept of worship is quite liberating. It is not limited to rituals, singing hymns, performing ceremonies, or restricted in any other way. Worship in Islamic worldview is more than prayer, fasting, and charity. Emotions felt by the heart like love, trust, and fear are reserved for God. The Quran states,
“Put your trust in God if you are truly believers.”
With the power of intention and connecting to the prophetic teaching, any human act can be turned into an act of worship. First, in order for it to be acceptable to God and reach the level of worship, an act that has to be done sincerely for God and His pleasure, not praise and admiration of others. Second, the act has to be guided by the prophetic teaching. Since their teachings were truths revealed by God and it is only natural, in Islamic worldview, to accept and follow those truths in our lives.
Prophet Muhammad drew a line in the dust for them and said,
“This is God’s path.” He then drew several lines branching off to the right and to the left and said, “These are the paths (of misguidance) on each of which is a devil inviting people to follow it.” He then recited the verse: “Indeed, this is My path, leading straight, so follow it. Do not follow the other paths for they will take you away from God’s path. That is His command to you in order that you may be aware of God.’ (Quran 6:153)” (Nasai, Musnad, Darimi) This explain why developing new ways of worship and devising new methods of pleasing God is frowned upon in Islam. The Prophet Muhammad advised, ‘The person who innovates something in this matter of ours (in religion), that is not of it, will have it rejected.’
It is in this light that Muslims understand the words of Jesus are understood by Muslims, ‘I am the way, the truth, and the life, no man comes to the Father, but by me.’ (John 14:6)
Muslims accept that the purpose of life, in one way, is to attain a good death, one that opens the doors of heaven to the departed soul and closes the doors of Hell. Once worship is understood to be the purpose of creation, you can understand that defying that purpose would be the greatest sin. Thus, Shirk, the worship of others instead of God or along with God, is the most serious sin in the sight of God.
One of the most important acts of worship is prayer, as in asking God for one’s needs.
“When My servants ask you (O Muhammad) about Me (tell them), ‘Verily I am close (to them); I listen to the prayer of every one who calls on Me. So let them respond to Me and believe in Me in order that they may be guided aright.”
Prophet Muhammad said, ‘Prayer is (the essence of) worship.’
Influenced by Paul, many Christians pray to Jesus. Catholics pray to Mary and the saints as well. As a matter of fact, Catholics have a saint for different occasions to pray to. Catholics also confess their sins to a priest.
3. Incomparable and unique, God and His Prophet have described Him
While most people claim to believe in a God, there is little use of not knowing that God who cannot be known through sensory observation and perception. In Islamic worldview, God speaks about Himself in the Quran, God describes Himself with certain names and qualities that we can relate to and understand. Based on revelation, Prophet Muhammad also described God in specific ways. What this type of Tawheed means is that we can not refer to God by names and qualities (also called attributes) other than their obvious meaning.
“There is nothing like Him and He is the All-Hear, the All-Seer.”
“He is God, the Creator, the Inventor of all things, the Bestower of forms. To Him belong the Best Names”
God has revealed all His attributes that people need to know to have an accurate concept of Him and have sufficient knowledge needed for the right faith. The better we understand His attributes, we will be able to establish more appropriate relationship, and the more accurate our concept of His power, grandeur, and majesty will be.
Furthermore, new names cannot be given to God for the simple reason that God knows Himself best and did not described Himself with them. Therefore, false descriptions of God are just that - false.
Beyond names, God does not have human qualities as God is not human. For example, the Bible states that God created the universe in six days and rested on the seventh. That is one of the reasons why people take Saturday and/or Sunday as a day of rest. The main problem with this concept is that resting is a human need, not that of an infinitely powerful Creator. God tells us that He is All-Powerful who does not get tired by attending to the supplications of billions simultaneously or supervising the operations of the universe. He neither sleeps nor rests. Similarly, God does not call Himself a spirit and does not suffer to understand human suffering, therefore, it is incorrect to view God in such human terms. The similarity between human and divine qualities (for example ‘seeing’ and ‘hearing’) is in name only and not in degree. Like sight and hearing, all true attributes of God are absolute and free of any human deficiencies.
Lastly, just like God is not human and cannot be described in human attributes, human beings cannot be given God’s qualities as well. For example, Paul describes Melchizedek (Genesis 14:18-20), a Biblical king, and Jesus (Hebrews 5:5-6) as having no beginning or end, a quality reserved for God alone.
Manifestation of God through His names and qualities is one of the most beautiful aspects of Islam.
To develop the proper concept of God, each attribute must be understood correctly. Each divine attribute defines an appropriate aspect of our relationship with God. The awareness of God’s splendor and majesty instills in us an attitude of submissiveness towards Him. Knowing that God is a Judge who enforces His rule, drives us to prepare for being accountable to Him. Although He is the Lord of the Heavens and the Earth, He pays attention to each and every human being. He is close to us. When we talk, He listens. When we call He responds. When we ask, He helps. When we confide, He keeps our secrets. When we come, He welcomes us. When we talk to Him, He is not distracted by anything. No matter how often we talk to Him, He never gets bored. He hears every word. He knows every thought. He is always available, always knowing what we mean. In addition, for the freedom He has granted to human beings, He is watching their behavior and hold them fully accountable for the behavior and choices they make in this world.
Since His description of greatness and sublimity may make someone think that He is too abstract to have a personal relationship with, it is important to know about His nearness, loving caring, and forgiving qualities. Forgiveness, mercy, and kindness are divine qualities most fully reflected in His creation. Human beings, by nature, are created to be pure and whole despite being fraught with human frailties in the form of desires. At the same time, human beings have an awareness of right and wrong. God, in His unlimited wisdom and mercy, dictated His guidance to curb those desires in alignment with our inner moral compass of right and wrong. Thus, human beings are prone to seek forgiveness just as they have a propensity to disobey, thereby manifesting the divine attribute of forgiveness. In a profound declaration, the Prophet of Mercy, stated, ‘If you were not to commit sin and turn to God seeking His forgiveness, He would have replaced you with another people who would sin, seek God’s forgiveness, and He would forgive them.’ (Muslim) The beautiful solace of a forgiving God gives hope to the worst of us. No matter how great and how many the sins become, God is willing to forgive as long as we are willing to turn back to Him. Since an unconditional promise of forgiveness for all sins would make the most sincere of us negligent and encourage people to commit crime without impunity, God’s forgiveness is tempered with His justice, and Hell. God could have made human beings and placed them in Paradise and Hell based on His foreknowledge of their actions. He did not. While those in Paradise would have been happy with His decision, the dwellers of Hell would have complained of the unfairness. After all, they did not get a chance to deserve Hell by living their lives and given an equal opportunity to make it to Paradise. By living out their choices on earth, those who end up in Hell cannot complain and accept God’s infinite justice. Not questioning divine fairness does not mean they will not request a second chance to do better as the Quran captures it,
“If you could only see (the time) when the sinners will bow their heads before their Sustainer, saying, ‘Our Lord, we have now seen and heard, so send us back and we will do righteous deeds. Indeed, we now believe with surety.’”
Now, someone might say, a merciful God might consider giving them a second chance, but God explains their behavior on second attempt,
‘But if they were returned to this world, they would certainly go back to what was forbidden to them. Indeed, they are liars.’
Another example of God’s names and attributes manifesting themselves is through His love. In Islamic worldview, God loves those who do good (5:13), the righteous (9:4), the patient (3:146), who trust in Him (3:159), and who repent (2:222) among other qualities. God’s love is unconditional for the truly repentant. God’s love is shown in His manifold blessings that He drowns people, ‘spoiling’ them with blessings they do not deserve. Furthermore, accepting the repentance of the sinful is an act of His love. In a beautiful proclamation, speaking through His Prophet, God says,
“God, the Almighty, has said, ‘O Son of Adam, as long as you call on Me and ask Me, I will forgive what you have done and I do not mind. O son of Adam, if you came to Me with sins nearly as great as the earth and you met Me without associating partners with Me, I will meet you with a similar amount of forgiveness.’”
Tawheed is the basis of a Muslim’s worldview, establishing a direct link between God and His servants, freeing him from the manipulation of clergy and priests, without intermediaries and middle-men. Tawheed untangles a person from the worship of ancestors and deceased saints. Tawheed liberates human beings from the worship of false gods, even the god of one’s own ego, it liberates a person from the tyranny and oppression of fortune-tellers, horoscopes, sorcerers, and practitioners of the occult. Tawheed sets a person free from arrogance and self-conceit. Tawheed is genuine dignity for the self through submission to the True God.
God is One, Supreme, and without any partner or associate, without equal, and everything, from the angel to the stone, is created by Him and depends totally upon Him. This is the doctrine of Tawheed. The bedrock on which the entire structure of Islam is built is the concept of Tawhid. According to the Quran, it is the central tenet, not only of Islam, but of all religion:
‘We never sent a messenger except to reveal, ‘There is no true god but I, so worship Me.’