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Khutba #18

Comparative Study about Tawhid

Let us all practice Taq’wa (piety and righteousness), and revere Allah as He should be and obey His divine commands.  Let us be heedful of our choices in this life and their likely consequences in the hereafter.  Let us be aware of our final destination, our eventuality and departure into the everlasting life.

Jesus the Messiah said nothing about there being Three Divine Persons in Godhead.  The Messiah’s concept of God was in no way different from that of earlier Israelite Prophets, who had always preached the Oneness (Unity) of God and never the Trinity.  It is a fact that the Messiah himself never mentioned the trinity.  Jesus merely echoed the earlier Prophets when he said, quoting the Gospel according to Mark 12:29,30:

“The first of all the commandments is, Hear Israel, the Lord, our God is one Lord; and that Thou shall love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind, and with all thy strength.”

Islam preaches the Oneness of God, plain and simple. The Holy Quran in a very forceful language discards and rejects the dogma that Jesus was Son of God whether in a literal or unique sense.  The Holy Quran says in Surah 2 (al-Baqarah), Ayah 116:

وَقَالُواْ اتَّخَذَ اللّهُ وَلَدًا سُبْحَانَهُ بَل لَّهُ مَا فِي السَّمَاوَاتِ وَالأَرْضِ كُلٌّ لَّهُ قَانِتُونَ

“And some people assert, “God has begotten a son!”

Limitless is God in His Glory!  Nay, but God is all that is in the Heavens and Earth: All are subservient unto Him”

The Holy Quran also says in Surah 19 (Maryam), Ayah 35:

مَا كَانَ لِلَّهِ أَن يَتَّخِذَ مِن وَلَدٍ سُبْحَانَهُ إِذَا قَضَى أَمْرًا فَإِنَّمَا يَقُولُ لَهُ كُن فَيَكُونُ

“It befits not the Majesty of God to take a son unto Himself. Limitless is He in His Glory!

When He decrees a thing to be, He but says unto it: Be! and it becomes.”

Reason and common sense are again on the side of Islam.  Philosophy, Irfan, and theology tell us that no Being from whom another Being can come out and for such Being to enlist as a separate individual, yet become his equal and partner, and can be regarded as perfect.

Islam presents a concept of God free from anthropomorphic or mythological fantasies.  Islam affirms the uniqueness of God.  Islam says Allah (God) has no partner in His Godhead.  God is One in Person and One in Substance:  the two being indistinguishable.  God is Self-sufficient, on whom all depend yet He depends not on anyone.  God is the Creator:

▪    God Creates and Nourishes all,

▪    God is the All-Good, the Almighty, the All-knowing,

▪    God is the All-Loving, the All-Merciful,

▪    God is the Eternal and the Infinite.

▪    God neither begets (gives birth to any), nor is begotten (was given birth to).

▪    Nothing can come out of God while becoming His equal and partner in Godhead.

▪    In this world every imaginable reality is a limited reality, and has a boundary beyond which it cannot extend its existence.  Only God is such that He has no limit or boundary, for His reality is absolute and He exists in His Infinity.  This means that God’s Being does not depend upon and is not in need of any causes or conditions.

Once a person asked Imam Ali if he asserted that God was One.  In answer, Imam Ali said: [1] 

     ان القول فی ان الله  واحد علی اربعة اقسام

 فوجهان منها  لا یجوزان  علی الله عزّ و جلّ

  ووجهان یثبتان فیه

فامّا اللذان لا یجوزان علیه فقول القائل: واحد یقصد به باب الاعداد، فهذا ما لا یجوز؛ لانّ ما لا ثانی له لا یدخل فی باب الاعداد، اما تری انه کفر من قال: ثالث ثلاثة

 وقول القائل هو واحد من الناس ویرید به النوع من الجنس فهذا ما لا یجوز علیه؛ لأنه تشبیه وجلّ ربنا عن ذلک وتعالی.

وامّا الوجهان اللذان یثبتان فیه، فقول القائل:

هو واحد،   لیس له فی الاشیاء شبه،   کذلک ربّنا

وقول القائل انه عز و جل احدی المعنی؛ یعنی به انه لا ینقسم فی وجود ولا عقل ولا وهم؛

کذلک ربّنا عز و جل.

“To say that God is One has four meanings: Two of those meanings are incorrect and two are correct.  The incorrect meanings are: 

1. The first incorrect meaning is that when a person says: “God is One” he thinks in terms of numbers.  He is therefore at error, because the Being of God has no second, thus it cannot enter into the category of numbers.  Don’t you see that those who say God is the third of a Trinity [i.e., the Christians] fell into infidelity? 

2. The second incorrect meaning is to say that an entity belongs to a species or a member of a species. This does not apply to God, for it implies something is similar to God: But God is above all similarities, for He is unique.

As to the two meanings which are correct when applied to God:

1. The first correct meaning is to say that God is One in the sense that there is no likeness unto Him, since only God possesses such uniqueness.

2. The second correct meaning is to say that God is One in the sense that there is no multiplicity or division conceivable in Him, neither outwardly nor in the mind nor in the imagination.  Only God possesses such a Oneness (unity)."

Ali has also said, [2] 

This means that to prove that the Being of God is unlimited and infinite suffices it to prove His One­ness, for to conceive a second for the Infinite is impossible.  There is therefore no need for any other proofs.  The Holy Quran says in Surah 112 (Ikhlas), Ayah 1-4:

“Say: He is God the One:  God the eternally besought of all.  He begets not, neither is He begotten.  And there is none that can be compared with Him”

The theological science of the Holy Quran is the oneness of  God.  It simply declares by saying:  “There is no divinity except Allah”  This motto has been repeated in the Quran more than sixty times in different words and expressions.  Most of the monotheistic verses of the Quran rest on the concept of “the Oneness (Unity) of God, meaning: Tawhid be it in Commandment and Direction” or “Tawhid in Worship and Obedience” to one God.

The earliest revelations of the Quran were often about “Tawhid”, which began with reference to “God’s creations and commandments”.  The Quran says in  Surah 96 (Alaq), Ayah 1-5:

“Proclaim!  In the name of Thy Lord who has created,

He created man out of germ-cell [a mere clot].

Proclaim! For Thy Lord is Most Bountiful!

Who has taught the use of Pen, taught man what he knew not.”

The Quran addresses the disbelievers over the weakness of their “man–made” gods and encourages them to reflect and think over this point so they may comprehend this obvious fact.  The Holy Quran relates in Surah 13 (al-Ra’ad), Ayah 16:

قُلْ مَن رَّبُّ السَّمَاوَاتِ وَالأَرْضِ قُلِ اللّهُ قُلْ أَفَاتَّخَذْتُم مِّن دُونِهِ أَوْلِيَاء لاَ يَمْلِكُونَ لأَنفُسِهِمْ نَفْعًا وَلاَ ضَرًّا

قُلْ هَلْ يَسْتَوِي الأَعْمَى وَالْبَصِيرُ أَمْ هَلْ تَسْتَوِي الظُّلُمَاتُ وَالنُّورُ أَمْ جَعَلُواْ لِلّهِ شُرَكَاء خَلَقُواْ كَخَلْقِهِ فَتَشَابَهَ الْخَلْقُ عَلَيْهِمْ قُلِ اللّهُ خَالِقُ كُلِّ شَيْءٍ وَهُوَ الْوَاحِدُ الْقَهَّارُ

“Say: who is the Lord of the heavens and the earth?

Say: [It is] Allah.

Say: [Why then] do you take for your protection, instead of Him, guardians who neither can benefit nor avert harm, even to themselves?

Say: Can the blind and the seeing be deemed equal? —Or can the depth of darkness and the light be deemed equal?

Or do they [really] believe that there are other divine powers beside Allah, who create the likes of what Allah creates, so creation seemed to them all alike?

Answer: “Allah is the Creator of all things, and He is the One, the All Dominant Almighty.”

The Verses of Quran (Surah 30 (al-Room): 40, Surah 25 (al-Furqan): Ayahs 1-4, Surah 35 (Faatir): Ayah 3, Surah 39 (al-Zumar): Ayah 43) all emphasize the point about Creations and Commandments, that is the creation of the universe and its governance.  If we think correctly and logically we will come to the conclusion that all our supplications and worship belong exclusively to God and none else (glory be to Him!).

According to the Quran the unique and consistent order that governs the universe is an obvious proof of uniqueness and Oneness of the Creator and the Controller of the universe.  And we are asked to consider such marvelous design and coherent system to realize the unity in creation.  Verses of Quran like Surah 2 (al-Baqarah): Ayahs 164-163, and Surah 6 (al-An’aam): Ayahs 94-99, and Surah 10 (Yunus): Ayahs 3-6 and a number of other verses draw the attention of man towards the evident signs in the orderly system of the universe which indicate the Oneness of the Creator.

The Holy Quran refutes the doctrine of polytheism (Surah 23 (al-Mu’minoon): Ayahs 91-92) that if there were many creators, then their relation with the universe would be such as to lead to anarchy because of conflicts in their commands. 

God alone, the Omnipotent and Omniscient, knows every thing and is able to do every thing by His Will.  God created the world according to a special design and within its system He assigned tasks to certain things, thus creating certain phenomena. But all such created things are subordinate to God’s Will and Purpose; and they act as God’s agents.  These may be regarded as the Laws of Nature.

These agents perform their duties obediently. They operate under their Lord’s Command and do not deviate a bit from His path and are completely under the Divine control.  The Holy Quran says in Surah 7 (al-A’raaf), Ayah 54:

إِنَّ رَبَّكُمُ اللّهُ الَّذِي خَلَقَ السَّمَاوَاتِ وَالأَرْضَ فِي سِتَّةِ أَيَّامٍ ثُمَّ اسْتَوَى عَلَى الْعَرْشِ يُغْشِي اللَّيْلَ النَّهَارَ يَطْلُبُهُ حَثِيثًا وَالشَّمْسَ وَالْقَمَرَ وَالنُّجُومَ مُسَخَّرَاتٍ بِأَمْرِهِ أَلاَ لَهُ الْخَلْقُ وَالأَمْرُ تَبَارَكَ اللّهُ رَبُّ الْعَالَمِينَ

“And (He created) the sun and the moon and the stars:  All governed by Laws under His command”  God’s Will and Command are at work behind all affairs, e.g. creation, administration, and sovereignty; everybody acts in the way God intends to it. 

Imam Ali has once said:[3] 

Allah (swt) asks us to obey His Directives and Commands, and to seriously pay attention to the fate of our Islamic Ummah.

In the end, we ask Allah to help us in doing these orders and forgive us our sins and stamp out our bad deeds and take our souls in the company of the righteous.

For the end of the 1^st part of the Khutba, read Surah Al-Asr, take a short intermission, then start the 2^nd part of the Khutba with a short Du’aa.

The Muslim community is founded on a number of basic principles. One of the most important of these is Tawhid (Unity). This unity is not an association of people on the basis of color, race or tribal affiliation, but a voluntary association of faith.  Every person who believes in Allah, the hereafter, the angels and the chain of Prophets are in the Ummah of Islam, no matter the place they come from, their color, status, nationality, or other things.  The fundamental criteria are: a) faith and b) doing good deeds.

Prophet Muhammad (pbuh) in a Hadith says: 

The question is: How can we unite the Muslim’s Ummah nowadays.  As you know one of the outstanding achievements our Prophet accomplished upon entering Medina was to establish the virtual brotherhood between “Ansaar” of Medina and the Immigrants of Mecca who preceded him “Muhajiroon”.  This made the Muslim Ummah a tightly knit community more or less like committed brothers to the welfare of the Ummah at large.  Thus they became successful in helping the Prophet (pbuh) reach his goals.  In Islam’s point of view, Mu’mins (the faithful Muslims) are like brothers to each other.  Quran says in Surah 49 (al-Hujuraat), Ayah 10:

إِنَّمَا الْمُؤْمِنُونَ إِخْوَةٌ َ

 “The believers are but a single brotherhood”

At the advent of Islam the entire Arabia presented a scene of battle fields and was literally in a quagmire of mischief of the utmost degree.  People of that peninsula had always been at loggerheads with one another and their hearts were filled with rancor.  However, Islam taught them the value of mutual love as a part of its basic program.  The Holy Prophet quoted the Quran Surah 48 (al-Hujuraat, Ayah 10.)

إِنَّمَا الْمُؤْمِنُونَ إِخْوَةٌ فَأَصْلِحُوا بَيْنَ أَخَوَيْكُمْ وَاتَّقُوا اللَّهَ لَعَلَّكُمْ تُرْحَمُونَ

"The believers are but a single brotherhood,

so make reconciliation and peace between your contending brothers and fear Allah,

that you may receive Mercy."

At the time of his death Imam Ali advised his children as follows:[4] 

We ask Allah (swt) to help us apply these orders and we ask Allah to grant us that which He has promised us by His messengers and save us from any disgrace on the Day of Judgment, verily Allah never fails His promise.

Finally, let us read Surah Al-Nasr with a short Du’aa to close the Khutba.