TAWHEED

54. Tawheed ~ 166 ~ and the earth, and the preservation of both does not weary Him. He is the Exalted, the Immense One.” (2:255) While tawheed means the oneness of God, it must be stressed that this concept differs radically from pantheistic or animist notions that all the forms of existence are diverse manifestations of one and the same reality. On the contrary, the oneness of God as defined in Islam means that there is only one Being of the nature of God. All other things of the universe, they physical or non-physical, are the creations of this One God: they are in no respect constituents of, or partners in the divine godhead. However, in Islamic theology, tawheed does have two aspects to it: tawheed fi az-Zat and tawheed fi asSifat, that is, oneness of being and oneness of attributes. This means that in addition to the fact of there being only one Being who enjoys the status of divinity and possesses divine powers, there is also the fact that no-one else can have a share in, or lay claim to God’s attributes. These include the power of creating and sustaining the universe with all its countless bodies in motion, of sustaining and