65 - الْوَاحِدُ

[Bint e Aisha]

الْوَاحِدُ

 

 

Translation

الْوَاحِدُ is similar to الْاَحَدُ, both translated as “The One” but there is a difference. Here it is also translated as The All-Inclusive, The Indivisible and the manifestation of Unity. It is also translated as The Unique. 

 

Definition

It is that Being Who is One and Alone and always has been so and no one can be another with Him. He is One in all His perfections and no one can be with Him in His perfections. He cannot be duplicated nor divided. Allah ta’ala is The One and everything stems from Him. 

 

One commentator says it is Waajib on us as His creation to believe He is Unique in all His perfection. Therefore the way we speak and act we have to regard Allah ta’ala as One and we have acknowledged it and all our worship is for Him. 

 

If we look at it mathematically, the Asl – core, of all math and number is one and it is by adding 1 and 1 that we get 2. An example mentioned in the commentary is that for the world, the sun is one and the source of light is white. However we see it in different forms and colours i.e. prisms or glass emits different colours. So Allah ta’ala is One and the way people regard / perceive / view Him is different. 

 

In the Qur’an

It is mentioned 27 times in the Qur’an, at times as وَاحِد and other times as وَاحِدًا but never as الْوَاحِدُ. 

 

وَإِلَٰهُكُمْ إِلَٰهٌ وَاحِدٌ ۖ لَا إِلَٰهَ إِلَّا هُوَ الرَّحْمَٰنُ الرَّحِيمُ
 

Your God is One God; there is no God save Him, the Beneficent, the Merciful. [Surah Baqarah: 163]

 

يَا صَاحِبَيِ السِّجْنِ أَأَرْبَابٌ مُتَفَرِّقُونَ خَيْرٌ أَمِ اللَّهُ الْوَاحِدُ الْقَهَّارُ

 O my fellow-prisoners! Which is far better, many different lords or Allah—the One, the Supreme?
[Surah Yusuf:39]

This was when Yusuf AS was speaking to his fellow prisoners giving them Da’wah on the concept of Tawheed.

 

Tawheed

Tawheed is the foundation of our Deen and extremely important. No ‘Ibaadat is accepted without it and Allah ta’ala forgives everything except Shirk which is denial or negation of Tawheed. The mission of all the Ambiyaa was to teach Tawheed.

 

The Prophet sallallaahu ‘alayhi wasallam sent Mu’adh ibn Jabal RA to Yemen in order to call the people to Islam and teach them the practices of the religion. Ibn Abbas RA reported that when the Prophet sallallaahu ‘alayhi wasallam sent Mu’adh RA to Yemen, he said to him:

 

“Verily, you are coming to a people among the people of the Book, so call them to testify there is no God but Allah and I am the Messenger of Allah. If they accept that, then teach them that Allah has obligated five prayers in each day and night. If they accept that, then teach them that Allah has obligated charity to be taken from the rich and given to the poor. If they accept that, beware not to take from the best of their wealth. Be on guard from the supplication of the oppressed, for there is no barrier between it and Allah.”
[Muslim]

 

So he was sent to teach Tawheed even to the Ahle-Kitaab. Though they are regarded as monotheistic their religions are mixed in with other beliefs. Tawheed is included in any work of Da’wah. Even in the five pillars of Islam the first thing is Imaan and the Kalimah, the meaning of which is the concept of Tawheed.

 

Wahdaaniyat of Allah ta’ala

The Wahdaaniyat of Allah ta’ala is mentioned in the Qur’an in different ways. The Prophet sallallaahu ‘alayhi wasallam is told to say to the people, 

 

 قُلْ إِنَّ صَلَاتِي وَنُسُكِي وَمَحْيَايَ وَمَمَاتِي لِلَّهِ رَبِّ الْعَالَمِينَ

Say: Lo! my worship and, my sacrifice and my living and my dying are for Allah, Lord of the Worlds. [Surah An’aam: 162]

 

In a Hadith Qudsi Allah ta’ala says, 
“The son of Adam denied Me and he had no right to do so. And he reviled Me and he had no right to do so. As for his denying Me, it is his saying: He will not remake me as He made me at first (1) - and the initial creation [of him] is no easier for Me than remaking him. As for his reviling Me, it is his saying: Allah has taken to Himself a son, while I am the One, the Everlasting Refuge. I begot not nor was I begotten, and there is none comparable to Me.(1) i.e., bring me back to life after death.” [Bukhari] 

 

Allah ta’ala calls it “reviling Him” and therefore every type of Shirk is vehemently forbidden. It is not permissible to compoare Allah ta’ala to any creation. Our minds are limited to creation and Allah ta’ala is beyond that and that is part of Allah ta’ala being الْوَاحِدُ – that He is diffenert to anything in the universe. Allah ta’ala says in the Qur’an,

 

لَيْسَ كَمِثْلِهِ شَيْءٌ

“There is nothing like Him [Surah Shura:11]

This is also a concept of الْوَاحِدُ, that there is nothing like Him. He is alone in His uniqueness. 

 

In another place in the Qur’an Allah ta’ala says, 

 

وَقَالَ اللَّهُ لَا تَتَّخِذُوا إِلَٰهَيْنِ اثْنَيْنِ ۖ إِنَّمَا هُوَ إِلَٰهٌ وَاحِدٌ ۖ فَإِيَّايَ فَارْهَبُونِ
 

Allah has commanded: "You shall not worship two gods: there exists only One God, I am the One Whom you should fear. [Surah Nahl:51]

 

And in Surah Ambiyaa (verse 22),  

 لَوْ كَانَ فِيهِمَا آلِهَةٌ إِلَّا اللَّهُ لَفَسَدَتَا

If there were other gods in the heavens or in the earth besides Allah, both the heavens and earth would have been in a state of disorder.

 

Allah ta’ala is talking about the skies and the earth saying that if there was in them another God besides Allah ta’ala they would have been corrupted. Having more than one person in charge can wreak havoc in the universe. Even in human sociology in group dynamics when you have more than one leader, it causes problems. 

 

A lot of these verses are from Madani Surahs trying to convince the Ahle Kitaab of Tawheed by giving rational and emotional proofs. 

 

In Surah Aali ‘Imraan (verse 8) Allah ta’ala Himself testifies to His Oneness;

 

شَهِدَ اللَّهُ أَنَّهُ لَا إِلَٰهَ إِلَّا هُوَ وَالْمَلَائِكَةُ وَأُولُو الْعِلْمِ قَائِمًا بِالْقِسْطِ ۚ لَا إِلَٰهَ إِلَّا هُوَ الْعَزِيزُ الْحَكِيمُ

Allah (Himself) is witness that there is no God save Him. And the angels and the men of learning (too are witness). Maintaining His creation in justice, there is no God save Him, the Almighty, the Wise.

 

In Surah Saaffaat Allah ta’ala takes three oaths to emphasise the attribute of His Oneness;

إِنَّ إِلَٰهَكُمْ لَوَاحِدٌ - Lo! thy Lord is surely One.

 

We should testify to His Oneness in our beliefs, actions and lives and in the way we interact with creation. When a person has Yaqeen in the Oneness of Allah ta’ala and knows He is One and only He has perfect power, then it is only Him the person will turn to and fear only Him and not any person or system.

 

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