وَاِلٰهُكُمۡ اِلٰهٌ وَّاحِدٌ ۚ لَآ اِلٰهَ اِلَّا هُوَ الرَّحۡمٰنُ الرَّحِيۡمُ
"Your God is One God, there is no god but He; the Most Merciful, the Most Compassionate." [Al Quran, Surah Al Baqarah 2:163]
There have been many a people in the bygone days, and even till date, who add many wordly deities and gods with Allah. Some even talk of God in Three and each one of these to be God. To counter such false faiths, the above verse makes it amply clear that there is only One God and there cannot be any associates that could dare His Godliness.
In verse 73 of Surah 22 Al Hajj, a parable has been cited to impress upon the idol worshipers that their deities are absolutely powerless, for even if they all collaborated to create an insignificant thing like a fly, they could not; nay, even if a fly snatched away anything from them they could not prevent it. This shows how weak they themselves are and how powerless are the idols they supplicate.
"O people, a parable is set forth: pay heed to it. Those who call upon aught other than Allah shall never be able to create even a fly, even if all of them were to come together to do that. And if the fly were to snatch away anything from them, they would not be able to recover that from it. Powerless is the supplicant; and powerless is he to whom he supplicates."The above quoted verse exhibits the manifestation of the Unity of Allah for there cannot be more than one deities to manage the affairs of the universe, for if there were more than one, there would have been a chaos rather than absolute harmony in the running of affairs of the universe as we witness today. And herein is a stern rebuke to those who talk of associates of God, who do not even have the power to create a small creature like a fly on their own.
From this attribute of Al Wāhid, the concept of "Tawhid" emanates. Tawhid means recognition of the Unity of the One Who alone manages the affairs of the entire Universe. None creates, nor sustains, nor grants, nor withholds, nor brings back to life, nor causes death, nor manages the affairs of the domain outwardly or inwardly, except Allah.
And what better explanation of the Attribute Al Wāhid could be, and in fact an eye opener for the followers of the concept of Trinity, as described in verse 171 of Surah 4. An-Nisaa:
"People of the Book! Do not exceed the limits in your religion, and attribute to Allah nothing except the truth. The Messiah, Jesus, son of Mary, was only a Messenger of Allah, and His command that He conveyed unto Mary, and a spirit from Him (which led to Mary's conception). So believe in Allah and in His Messengers, and do not say: (Allah is a) trinity :
ۚ وَلَا تَقُوۡلُوۡا ثَلٰثَةٌ ؕ اِنْتَهُوۡا خَيۡرًا لَّـكُمۡؕ اِنَّمَا اللّٰهُ اِلٰـهٌ وَّاحِدٌ ".
Give up this assertion; it would be better for you. Allah is indeed just one God. Far be it from His glory that He should have a son. To Him belongs all that is in the heavens and in the earth. Allah is sufficient for a guardian."In this verse, it is clearly stated that God endowed Jesus with a pure, impeccable soul. He was therefore an embodiment of truth, veracity, righteousness, and excellence. This is what the Christians had been told about Christ. But they exceeded the proper limits of veneration for Jesus. The 'spirit from God' became the 'spirit of God', and the 'spirit of holiness' was interpreted to mean God's own Spirit which became incarnate in Jesus. Thus, along with God and Jesus, there developed the third person of God - the Holy Ghost. It was this unjustified exaggeration which has led the Christians to a grave error.
On the Day of Judgment, when all humans ever created would be presented before Allah, they would then realize in shame that how utterly wrong were their their worldly beliefs for there sits high on the throne One True God they had been denying all along their lives:
يَوۡمَ تُبَدَّلُ الۡاَرۡضُ غَيۡرَ الۡاَرۡضِ وَالسَّمٰوٰتُ وَبَرَزُوۡا لِلّٰهِ الۡوَاحِدِ الۡقَهَّارِ
"(Do warn them of the) Day when the heavens and the earth shall be altogether changed;57 when all will appear fully exposed before Allah, the One, the Irresistible!" [Al quran Surah 14. Ibrahim, 48]
Even those wordly deities whom their followers have been worshipping will disassociated them from their followers, for they too knew that there was no god but He, the One True God.
The same theme is repeated in verse 16 of Surah 13. Ar-Ra'd:
"Ask them: "Who is the Lord of the heavens and the earth?" Say: "Allah." Tell them: "Have you taken beside Him as your patrons those who do not have the power to benefit or to hurt even themselves?" Say: "Can the blind and the seeing be deemed equals? Or can light and darkness be deemed equals?" If that is not so, then have those whom they associate with Allah in His Divinity ever created anything like what Allah did so that the question of creation has become dubious to them? Say: "Allah is the creator of everything. He is the One, the Irresistible."
In the verse above, the question is intended to impress on the disbelievers that there is absolutely no reason why they should practice shirk. When they themselves admit that their gods did not create even an iota in the universe and that they do not have even the smallest and most insignificant share in the creation, there remains no ground for them to cherish any doubts about it. Why should, then, their false gods and deities share the rights and powers of the Real Creator?
This fact that He is “the One, the Prevailing” follows naturally from the fact that “Allah is the Creator of all things” for this fact was also acknowledged by the mushriks and was never denied by them. This is so because the Creator of everything should logically be Unique, and every other thing or being must necessarily be His creation. Therefore nothing could be the equal of the Creator or partner in His Being, attributes, powers and rights. Likewise, the Creator must have complete power and control over His Creation.
"Ahad" is a closely related attribute of Allah with Wahid. Ahad is used to refer to the One, the sole One, the One who was not begotten and who has ever been alone, the One who has no second, the Indivisible. While Wāhid indicates the solitary Starting Point, the One Source, the First of the Many, from which all of creation has arisen as manifestations of Unity. From a human point of view, the manifestations may appear separate and diverse, but in reality they are One.
Al-Wahid cannot be counted. He Alone is Creator; the Only One Who creates from naught and all His creations are unique, poles apart from other creations, for it is Only He Who can create diversity in His creations. His existence has neither duration nor a limit, nor can anyone carry out a decision against Him, nor can His Essence ever suffer any decrease or increase whatever.
Prophet Muhammed (peace be upon him), the last Messenger of Allah, has been quoted as saying:
You may refer to our post "99 Attributes of Allah" for complete list of 99 attributes of Allah Almighty with meaning and explanation.
This fact that He is “the One, the Prevailing” follows naturally from the fact that “Allah is the Creator of all things” for this fact was also acknowledged by the mushriks and was never denied by them. This is so because the Creator of everything should logically be Unique, and every other thing or being must necessarily be His creation. Therefore nothing could be the equal of the Creator or partner in His Being, attributes, powers and rights. Likewise, the Creator must have complete power and control over His Creation.
"Ahad" is a closely related attribute of Allah with Wahid. Ahad is used to refer to the One, the sole One, the One who was not begotten and who has ever been alone, the One who has no second, the Indivisible. While Wāhid indicates the solitary Starting Point, the One Source, the First of the Many, from which all of creation has arisen as manifestations of Unity. From a human point of view, the manifestations may appear separate and diverse, but in reality they are One.
Al-Wahid cannot be counted. He Alone is Creator; the Only One Who creates from naught and all His creations are unique, poles apart from other creations, for it is Only He Who can create diversity in His creations. His existence has neither duration nor a limit, nor can anyone carry out a decision against Him, nor can His Essence ever suffer any decrease or increase whatever.
Prophet Muhammed (peace be upon him), the last Messenger of Allah, has been quoted as saying:
"Allah is One, and He loves oneness."That is Allah loves the heart that is solely dedicated to Him, Glory and Exaltation is His. Al-Wahid, the One and Only God, protects you, the individual that you are, against the group, a number of individuals, whereas the latter cannot protect you against Him.
You may refer to our post "99 Attributes of Allah" for complete list of 99 attributes of Allah Almighty with meaning and explanation.
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