The Oneness of God has always been the basic essential element in every divine faith, ever since God sent His first messenger to mankind. Nothing has changed in that. God, the Creator who must be worshipped is One, without partners. The truth of Godhead and Lordship over the universe is a single issue that cannot be separated. God has no partners, whether in the sphere of Godhead or in that of worship. This fact ranks alongside the basic essential laws of the universe and is classified with them. Like them, its truth is unassailable.
In fact, the message sent to mankind through apostles of God has been the same. As has been mentioned in Surah Al Anbiya, while God addressing the Prophet Muhammad صلى الله عليه وسلم: “Before your time We never sent a messenger without having revealed to him that there is no deity other than Me. Therefore, you shall worship Me alone.”
This has been mentioned in the 25th ayat / verse of Surah 21. Al Anbiya (“The Prophets”) given herein under:
The Verse
وَمَا أَرْسَلْنَا مِن قَبْلِكَ مِن رَّسُولٍ إِلَّا نُوحِي إِلَيْهِ أَنَّهُ لَا إِلَٰهَ إِلَّا أَنَا فَاعْبُدُونِ
"And We did not send any Messenger before you except that We revealed to him: 'There is no deity except Me, so worship Me alone.'" (21:25)
Context in Surah Al-Anbiya
Surah Al-Anbiya emphasizes:
- The unity of the message across all prophets.
- The falsehood of associating partners with Allah.
- The accountability of humankind to the one true God.
Here, Allah is directly telling the Prophet ﷺ that his mission is not new or unique in essence — all prophets before him, whether to the Israelites, Arabs, or other nations, brought the exact same core message: Tawheed (pure monotheism).
This was also a rebuttal to the Quraysh’s claim that Muhammad ﷺ had brought something strange or unprecedented (cf. 38:4–7).
Reference to Other Qur’anic Verses
This theme repeats throughout the Qur’an:
- Surah An-Nahl (16:36):
- “We certainly sent into every nation a messenger, [proclaiming]: ‘Worship Allah and avoid Taghut (false gods).’”
- Shows the universality of the core message — no nation was left without a prophet teaching monotheism.
- Surah Al-A’raf (7:59–65, 7:73, 7:85)
- Every prophet — Nuh, Hud, Salih, Shu‘ayb — began their message with:
- "O my people, worship Allah; you have no god other than Him."
- Surah Az-Zukhruf (43:45): “And ask those We sent before you of Our messengers: Did We ever appoint gods to be worshipped besides the Most Merciful?”
- Surah Al-Ikhlas (112:1–4) Summarizes the essence of all prophetic messages: Allah is One, unique, eternal, without partners.
Reference from Hadith
- Hadith Qudsi (Sahih Muslim 2577) — Allah says:
- “I created My servants upon the natural disposition (fitrah), but the devils came to them and deviated them from their religion, and forbade them what I had permitted for them, and commanded them to associate partners with Me…”
- Confirms that Tawheed is the original and universal religion of humanity.
- Sahih al-Bukhari 4497 — The Prophet ﷺ said:
- “The Prophets are paternal brothers; their mothers are different, but their religion is one.”
- Meaning: details of Shari‘ah differed, but the essence — Tawheed — was always the same.
Core Lessons
- Unity of Prophetic Message — All prophets taught one creed: “La ilaha illa Allah.” Differences were only in laws suited for their people.
- Tawheed is the foundation — Without it, other acts of worship are meaningless (cf. 39:65).
- Shirk is the common enemy — Whether in ancient idolatry or modern-day false authorities (Taghut), it always destroys the essence of faith.
- Continuity, not novelty — Islam is not a new invention; it is a restoration of the original faith of all prophets.
- Basis for interfaith understanding — This verse is a reminder that true guidance in all revealed religions originally came from the same divine source.
You may now refer to some of the Selected verses from Sūrah 21 Al-Anbiyā (The Prophets) already published.
May Allāh (سبحانه و تعالى) help us understand Qur'ān and follow the Sunnah of Prophet Muhammad ﷺ, which is embodiment of commandments of Allah contained in the Qur'ān. May Allah help us to be like the ones He loves and let our lives be lived helping others and not making others' lives miserable or unlivable. May all our wrong doings, whether intentional or unintentional, be forgiven before the angel of death knocks on our door.
وَمَا عَلَيۡنَاۤ اِلَّا الۡبَلٰغُ الۡمُبِيۡنُ
(36:17) and our duty is no more than to clearly convey the Message.”
That is Our duty is only to convey to you the message that Allah has entrusted us with. Then it is for you to accept it or reject it. We have not been made responsible for making you accept it forcibly, and if you do not accept it, we shall not be seized in consequence of your disbelief, you will yourselves be answerable for your actions on Day of Resurrection.
May Allah forgive me if my posts ever imply a piety far greater than I possess. I am most in need of guidance.
Reading the Qur'ān should be a daily obligation of a Muslim - Reading it with translation will make it meaningful. But reading its Exegesis / Tafsir will make you understand it fully. It will also help the Muslims to have grasp over social issues and their answers discussed in the Qur'an and other matter related to inter faith so that they are able to discuss issues with non-Muslims with authority based on refences from Qur'an.
Note: When we mention God in our posts, we mean One True God, we call Allah in Islam, with no associates. Allah is the Sole Creator of all things, and that Allah is all-powerful and all-knowing. Allah has no offspring, no race, no gender, no body, and is unaffected by the characteristics of human life.
You may also refer to our exclusive reference page: Selected verses from selected Surahs of Al-Qurʾān for compiled verses from other surahs.
For more Selected Subjects, please refer to our reference page: Selected Verses from Al Qur'an about a Specific Subject (Reference Page) to know more about what Qur'an says about specific subjects and our reference page: Selected Verses from the Qur'an. .
An effort has been made to gather explanation / exegesis of the surahs and selected verses of Al-Qurʾān from authentic sources and then present a least possible condensed explanation of the surah. In that the exegesis of the chapters of the Quran is mainly based on the "Tafhim al-Qur'an - The Meaning of the Qur'an" by one of the most enlightened scholars of the Muslim World Sayyid Abul Ala Maududi.
In addition, other sources which have been explored and views of other scholars have been incorporated while explaining meaning of a verse. Those desirous of detailed explanations and tafsir (exegesis), may refer to these sites. For expansion of meaning and themes / contextual background help from ChatGPT is also taken.
Disclaimer: The material for this post has been collected from the references given above. If anyone differs with the material contained in this post, one may consult the references and their authors. If someone has more material about the subject, he/she is most welcome to share in the comments box to make the post all encompassing.
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