MONOTHEISM: ONENESS OF GOD — The Creator, Sustainer and Cherisher

MONOTHEISM: ONENESS OF GOD The Creator, Sustainer and Cherisher M ONOTHEISM or Tawheed is the essence of Islam. Tawheed is an Arabic term which means ‘oneness’ and ‘unity.’ In Islamic terminology it means the oneness of God. It is a fundamental doctrine of Islam referring to the oneness of God in all it meanings. Thus the declaration that ‘there is no God but only one God’ is called Tawheed. God has no partner (sharik), He exists by Himself. Nothing can rival Him as a source of power or love. There is no one worthy of worship other than God. He is not an abstract concept. He is always near us; He cares for us and we owe our existence to Him alone. Belief in one Creator gives a sense of oneness with all creation. Islam established a close and direct relationship between the Creator and His creation. In Islam no mediating power of any kind exists between the Creator and His creation. God’s absolute unity is reflected in the unity of His creation in which each individual part is in harmonious order with the remainder. There is nothing remotely like Him. The Quran thus enjoins us: Say: He is God, the one. God the Absolute. He begets not, nor is He begotten; And there is none like Him. THE QURAN 112: 1-4 Tawheed means that God alone is the Creator and Sustainer of the universe including human beings. He is the only possessor of all powers. Monotheism is to believe in the fact that all power lies in the hand of one God alone; that He alone deserves to be worshipped. No act in the nature of worship is lawful unless directed towards God. It is God alone who fulfils our needs. It is God alone who is behind the functioning of the entire universe. Here are further verses from the Quran which state very clearly the concept of God: Truly your God is but one; Lord of the heavens and of the earth. THE QURAN 37: 4-5