Tawhid Lesson Objective To understand the concept of Tawhid and the role of Allah as creator, judge and guide

Keywords Tawhid – unity or oneness Polytheism – belief in different gods Monotheism – belief in one God Shirk – associating other beings with God Jahannam – hell Yawmuddin – judgement day Get these written in your glossary

Introduction In the two previous sessions we have looked at the life and message of Muhammad and how Muslims understand these to have been revealed and preserved We saw how the cornerstone of Muhammad’s message was the Oneness and Uniqueness of God We also saw how the Quran and Prophetic Traditions attempt to relate this core teaching to the vast range of human life and experience In this session, we will flesh out this account by exploring what Islam says about the nature of God and His activity in the world In other words, we will explore the Islamic understanding of God as it is found in these primary scriptural resources Or, you might say, we will explore how Islam views the origins, history and ultimate destiny of the world [1] Esposito (1998), 17 Esposito (1998), 17

Tawhid: God in the singular Perhaps the most essential feature of the Islamic picture of God is that of God’s Oneness In Arabic, this is known as tawhid (which literally means ‘Oneness’) Tawhid has come to be synonymous with Islam itself Communicating and promulgating tawhid are thus the entire purpose of Islam: ‘Allah witnesses that there is no Deity except Him, and [so do] the angels and those of knowledge – [that He is] maintaining [creation] in justice. There is no Deity except Him, the Exalted in Might, the Wise’ (3:18) ‘Indeed I am Allah. There is no Deity except Me, so worship Me and establish prayer for My remembrance’ (20:14) The entire purpose of life, according to Islam, is thus to recognise Allah and to worship Him: ‘And I did not create the Jinn and Humankind except that they should worship Me’ (51:56) Abdel Haleem (1999), 8-10 Esposito, 1999, 17 Robinson, 1996, 9

‘There is no God but God, and Muhammad is the messenger of God”. The Shahadah What are Muslims saying about Allah when they recite this? You have 2 minutes to write down your answers.

God has always been in existence and always will be Say, He is God, One God eternal He does not give birth, nor was He born, And there is none like unto Him Surah 112 God has always been in existence and always will be

Understanding Tawhid This can be broken down into 5 points The denial of polytheism The denial of absolute loyalty to anything other than Allah The internal unity of Allah The denial of the permanent reality of the self The declaration of the uniqueness of Allah The denial of other gods or other beings associated with God Including money, possessions and power. No other gods exist outside of Allah and no multiplicity exists within Allah e.g. The Christian idea of the Trinity . Surah 112 was later expanded to include a rejection of this concept Only Allah is real and so we (in the sense of self) are not – we only exist in connection with Allah and his power to create us. Nothing else is similar to Allah – you can com[are likenesses, e.g. Human mercy is like God’s mercy but this is not a true comparison - Allah is Godly, we are worldly – no match

How is Tawhid directed against the people of Mecca? Think... How is Tawhid directed against the people of Mecca? Discuss as a class the idea that Arabian Polytheism is condemned as being sinful because it goes against Tawhid.

Implications of Tawhid in a Muslim’s life The importance of the belief in Tawhid for Muslims can be seen in the fact that the worst sin a Muslim can commit is Shirk Anyone who commits shirk is no longer considered a Muslim and because it is an unforgivable sin that person will automatically go to Jahannam on Yawmuddin

Sura 4:116 “God does not forgive associating anything with Him; anything else He forgives according as He wills”.

Implications of Tawhid in a Muslim’s life There are no pictures in a mosque and in Sunni homes there are no pictures of the prophet (pbuh) because of the risk of shirk. How is there a risk of shirk? How is this linked in to the Ka’ba in Muhammad’s (pbuh) early life? The risk of idolatry or comparing something else to God is shirk and so no pictures are used to minimise this risk. This goes back to the time when the Kaba was being used as a ‘temple’ and was full of statues and icons which distracted people from the real purpose of the Kaba – worship of God

Implications of Tawhid in a Muslim’s life For some Muslims the concept of shirk is so strong that they oppose western capitalism as it leads to Muslims worshipping their material possessions rather than putting God first which is against the concept of tawhid. ‘When a believer surrenders himself to Allah alone, he can go forward without fear. But if he does not obey Allah he has to obey false gods like the fear of losing his job, fear of danger, fear of hunger and the like”. Ghulam Sarwar

Discuss... What ‘false gods’ do you think people in modern Britain obey because of their lack of faith in Allah? Discuss the effects of material possessions etc and what effect this has on a person’s behaviour and feelings.

The Creativity of God If Allah is one and with no helpers, then Muslims must believe that the world we live in his creation. This means – if you believe in the oneness of Allah then you believe that he is creator of all things You will see some verses from the Quran. We will work out what each verse tells us about Allah. Write these points down on your sheet

Allah is Creator “It is He who created for you all things that are on earth”. Surah 2:29 “To Him is due the primal origin of the heavens and the earth: when He decreeth a matter, He saith to it, ‘be’, and it is”. Surah 2:117 “Behold! In the creation of the heavens and the earth, and the alteration of the night and day, these are indeed signs for men of understanding”. Surah 3:190 Discuss what we think each verse says and get students to write this on their sheet Allah is creator of heaven and earth Allah has total creative power – what he commands is done Allah has complete creativity and power (links with the teleological argument). This structure and organisation in his creation shows his love and care for the world The creation stories in the quran are very similar to the Jewish/Christian scriptures.

99 Names of Allah Try to list 20 words that you would use to describe God. If you don’t believe in God, try to think of words that other people might use. Start your list like this…’ Words that I might use to describe God are…’

Exam Objectives What do the 99 Names of Allah tell Muslims about the Nature of God? Is it possible for humans to fully understand God? Are there any names that highlight contradictions in God’s nature?

99 Names Of Allah Pick out 10 names of Allah. Write a paragraph explaining what these names tell you about what God is like.

No vision can grasp Him, but His grasp is over all vision: He is above all comprehension, yet is acquainted with all things. Surah 6:103

Early Muslims scholars did debate about how literally Muslims should treat the 99 Names of Allah. Are they to be used simply as Metaphors?

99 Names of Allah Pick 10 of the names and explain them in your own words Choose the 10 names that you like the most and create a poster. Your poster should have the title ‘Some of the 99 Names for God’. You should include the English and the Arabic translations and your own explanations

“Recite in the name of thy Lord who created...’ Surah 96:1 “Recite in the name of thy Lord who created...’ To sum up, The first revelation to Muhammad explained Allah as creator so His role was clear from the beginning of Islam

Plenary When does a Muslim first hear about Tawhid? When is the last time a Muslim will speak of their belief in Tawhid? Give two ways that Tawhid affects the life of a Muslim How do we know of Allah’s role creator? Give two examples