Tawheed - An Islamic Perspective on the Unity of God
INTRODUCTION Tawheed is the central concept of the Islamic faith. Everything in Islam revolves around the Oneness of Allah. In this article we will shed some light on the various aspects of Tawheed as taught to us by the prophet (saw) and his Ahl-ul-bait (a.s). First and foremost we must define the kinds, or levels of Tawheed. Quoting shaheed Mutahhari [1]: “Beginning with tawhid, it has various kinds and levels: al-tawhid al-dhati (Unity of the essence), al-tawhid al-sifati (Unity of the attributes, i.e., with the essence), al-tawhid al-'af'ali (Unity of the acts), al-tawhid al-'ibadi (monotheism in worship). Al-Tawhid Al-Dhati: It means that the divine essence is one and unique; it does not have a like or match. All other beings are God's creations and inferior to Him in station and in degree of perfection. In fact, they cannot be compared with Him. AI-Tawhid Al-Sifati: It means that the divine attributes such as knowledge, power, life, will, perc