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P4-OnenessOfGod-Sp18b.pptxIntroduction to Islam
Oneness of God
Course: REL 233
NOVA Community College
Professor: Dr. Daoud Nassimi
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Oneness of God (Tawheed)
Tawheed means belief in Allah as …
The Only God of all human beings and the entire universe
The Only One worthy of worship, servitude, and unconditional obedience
The only one to whom prayers can be offered to
The only one on whom one can fully depend on
The only one who can forgive sins
The only source of all favors and worthy of all praises
The only master of every aspect of human life
The only primary source of knowledge about life/world
A very unique entity in every respect
The God who has no equals, no similar, no opposites, no partners or no children
"Intro to Islam" at NOVA - Dr. Nassimi
In Christianity, the opening statement of the Nicene Creed says: “I believe in one God, the Almighty, Maker of Heaven and earth, of all things visible and invisible…”
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Tawheed in Testimony of Faith
Tawheed forms the first part of the testimony of faith in Islam (Shahadah)
Testimony of Faith (Creed of Faith) has two parts:
I bear witness that there is no ILAAH (other god) except Allah (Ash hadu an laa ilaaha illal laah)
Rejecting all other deities and gods as worthy of worship except The One God (Allah)
2. And I bear witness that Muhammad is the messenger of Allah (Wa ash hadu anna Muhammadan rasoolul laah)
Believing in the final messenger of Allah (this leads to believe in all previous messengers and their messages)
"Intro to Islam" at NOVA - Dr. Nassimi
Significance of Oneness of God
Tawheed is stated and emphasized extensively in Islam
All messengers of God gave this witness and taught it
“Not a single messenger did We send before you without this inspiration sent by Us to him: that there is no god but I; therefore worship and serve Me.” (21:25)
A frequent pledge by Muslims in the first chapter of Qur’an:
“You are the only one we worship and serve, and you are the only one we seek help from” 1:4
Focus of a very short and very popular chapter in Qur’an
Say: “He is Allah, the One and Unique. Allah is eternally independent on Whom everyone depends. He has not fathered (begotten) anyone nor was He born, nor is there any equivalent to Him.” (Chapter 112)
Any violation of “Oneness of God” is called “Shirk” - viewed as a grave injustice in Islam
"Intro to Islam" at NOVA - Dr. Nassimi
Analysis of Testimony of Faith
Analyzing the statement of Tawheed in the first part of Testimony of Faith: I bear witness that there is no ILAAH (other god) except Allah
Ash hadu an laa ilaaha illal laah
Significance of bearing witness (Ash-hadu) demonstrates the high degree of certainty that a person testifies it
Why start with negation ?
(Laa ilaaha illaa: There is NO other god but …)
To exclude all other possibilities (Exclusion rule)
- More logical emphasis
To avoid historical mistakes in identifying The True God
To confirm the direct correlation of unity and order of universe with oneness of God
Qur’an confirms “the rejection, first”
“Whoever rejects the false gods and believes in Allah, he has grasped the most trustworthy hand-hold that never breaks” (2:256)
"Intro to Islam" at NOVA - Dr. Nassimi
Analysis of Testimony of Faith
3. In the creed statement of “There is no ILAAH except Allah”, what does “ILAAH” mean?
God
Deity
Object of worship
Master
Anything so important that becomes the center of a person’s existence, and one’s life revolves around it
Anything that is viewed as the only source of help and a person becomes fully dependent on it
Anyone that is obeyed unconditionally
Based on the above descriptions of ILAAH, every human being takes someone or something as “ILAAH”
In Islam, when it is said “there is no ILAAH except Allah”:
All of above relationships and loyalties become limited only to Allah
"Intro to Islam" at NOVA - Dr. Nassimi
Analysis of Testimony of Faith Typical deities negated (various kinds of Shirk)
Typical deities or gods (ILAAHs) that are negated by first part of Islamic Creed, but people associate them with God or worship them instead of God, are:
Statues/ Idols
Forces of nature, such as sun, moon, stars, etc.
Other beings, such as Satan, magic, animals, etc.
Polytheism (belief in multiple gods)
Dualism (belief in 2 gods)
Other people, such as prophets, forefathers, saints, celebrities, etc.
Oneself (one’s low desires, lusts, and whims)
Human’s knowledge, science, and other tools
Wealth and other worldly gains
"Intro to Islam" at NOVA - Dr. Nassimi
Worship of Idols / Statues
Why would human beings worship statues?
To be able to see or touch something tangible
Islam emphasizes that human beings are expected to go beyond physical evidences, and to believe based on intellectual and rational evidences
To use as means and symbols
Qur’an mentions it, but emphasizes that God is directly accessible to everyone and there is no need for any means
“But those who take for protectors other than Allah (say): "We only serve them in order that they may bring us nearer to Allah " (39:2)
To revere initially “Statues of some religious leaders were initially made to revere and remember them, but eventually reverence was changed to worship.” (Ibn Abas, a companion of the prophet)
To follow parents/society
Behold, Abraham said to his father and his people: "What do you worship?" (70) They said: "We worship idols, and we remain constantly in attendance on them." (71) He said: "Do they listen to you when you call (on them) (72) "Or do they do good or harm?" (73) They said: "Nay, but we found our fathers doing thus (what we do)." (26:70-74), See also 19:41-42
"Intro to Islam" at NOVA - Dr. Nassimi
Worship of Forces of Nature
Forces of nature: such as sun, moon, stars, fire, “mother-nature”, etc.
Some people get so overwhelmed by the power and importance of forces of nature that they start worshipping them, but Qur’an says:
“Among His (God’s) signs are the night and the day and the sun and moon. Prostrate/worship not the sun and the moon, but worship Allah Who created them if it is Him you wish to worship/serve.” (41:37)
"Intro to Islam" at NOVA - Dr. Nassimi
Worship of Other Beings
Other beings could include angels, Satan, animals, magic, etc.
But Qur’an asserts that …
Angels themselves worship God all the time
Satan is the human enemy
"Did I not enjoin on you, O you children of Adam, that you should not worship Satan; for that he is an enemy avowed to you?” (36:60)
Animals are created by God to be at the service of human beings
Magic is based on illusion, and God is much more powerful than magic
"Intro to Islam" at NOVA - Dr. Nassimi
Polytheism (belief in multiple gods)
Types of polytheism:
Believing that power of creating the universe or managing its affairs is shared between two or more beings
Believing that more than one being is eternal without beginning, or shares any other such attributes of God
Believing that more than one being is worthy of worship and prayer
Logical rejection in Qur’an
“If there were other gods in the heavens and the earth besides Allah, there would have been ruin in both! But glory to Allah the Lord of the Throne: (High is He) above what they attribute to Him”! (21:22)
“Neither God has taken a son nor there is any god along with Him: (if there were many gods) behold, each god would have taken away what he had created, and some would have overcome others. Glory to Allah who is free from what (such things) they attribute to Him!” (23:91)
"Intro to Islam" at NOVA - Dr. Nassimi
There are many examples of polytheism:
In certain traditions, there are different deists that guard different aspects of nature.
In Greek mythology, there are gods that have imperfect human attributes (such as competition, jealousy, etc) that live on the Olympia.
In other religions, associating partners to God (angels, son, children, etc.)
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Belief in Two gods (Dualism)
Dualism between two gods, one representing good and the other representing evil
For some, the Devil (Satan) is considered separate from God as an independent deity
“Allah has said: Do not take two gods; He is the One and Only God; hence, stand in awe of Me alone ! ” (16:51)
Allah has full control of both bringing good and preventing/removing bad:
“What Allah out of His Mercy bestows on mankind there is none who can withhold: what He withholds there is none who can grant apart from Him: and He is the Exalted in Power, Full of Wisdom”. (35:2)
“If Allah touches you with hurt, there is none who can remove it but He: if He wants some benefit for you, there is none who can keep back His favor: He causes it to reach whomsoever of His servants He pleases. And He is the Oft-Forgiving, Most Merciful”. (10:107)
"Intro to Islam" at NOVA - Dr. Nassimi
Worship of Other People Other gods – Cont’d
Worship of other people could include worship of prophets, forefathers, saints, religious scholars, philosophers, secular leaders, dead people, celebrities, rich and powerful individuals,, etc.
Example of prophets: When God chose some individuals as prophets to bring His guidance to people, sometimes people started worshiping the prophet (after his departure) instead of God
“No person to whom God has given the revelation, wisdom, and prophethood would ever say to the people, “Be worshipers to me instead of God.” Rather (they said) “Be people of the Lord, according to the revelation you teach, and the teachings you learn.” (3:79)
Example of forefathers:
When it is said to them: "Follow what Allah has revealed" they say: "Nay! we shall follow the ways of our fathers." What! even though their fathers were not using their intellect and they were not in the right path?” (2:170)
These days, a lot of youth become obsessed and infatuated with their favorite pop star, or singer, or TV show character, or athletes, or actors to such an extent that these characters become the center of their lives
"Intro to Islam" at NOVA - Dr. Nassimi
Adoring other people, in a form of worship, is becoming more common, especially with the use of social media. Celebrities and many other people are seen as glorified humans with abnormally thick, thin, or fit bodies. A common obsession that’s been around for several years now is the Kardashian family. Young girls all over the world worship them for their abnormally thick bodies and wealth. So many women all over the world change their bodies to resemble them more and recently with the rise of Kylie Jenner and her make up line, girls are getting lip injections. Social media has allowed people to constantly stalk celebrities through all forms of apps on the smart phones and TV shows.
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Worship of Oneself Worship of Oneself
A common and main form of self-worship happens by many people when they follow and obey their impulses, low desires, yearnings, lusts, passions, whims, opinions, and any feelings unconditionally
“Have you noticed a person who takes his own desires as his god? Can you take responsibility for guiding him to the right way?” (25:43)
Another form is when some rich or powerful individuals or leaders behave as if they are gods of people, e.g. by demanding unthinkable obedience from others
An extreme form of it is to claim being a lord or god explicitly
As Pharaoh (Fir’oun) told his people:
"I am your Lord, Most High" (79:23)
But the main form is the first type
"Intro to Islam" at NOVA - Dr. Nassimi
The worship of oneself is getting more and more common these days because many people are often obeying their low desires and urges whether it is food, sex, drugs or appearance. People buy different types of contraception for sex. There are millions of women who are on birth control for sex. There’s high demand for drugs all around the world and people dying to reach these drugs. There’s also the obsessions of how people should look and getting plastic surgeries. Girls spending so much money on makeup.
There are so many people who think so highly of themselves and their opinions even if their opinions are irrational or against the clear teachings of God in all religions. Having arrogant personalities become more and more common.
Many other people follow their desires excessively by watching movies, watching sports and games, listening to music, etc..
Allah has created human psyche with a strong tendency to seek fulfillment of its desires. This provides the impetus for the establishment and advancement of human society. However, if this tendency is left unchecked, human beings transgress all limits in fulfilling their desires which causes all problems in the world. So to balance that tendency, Allah has also built into human psyche the concept of right and wrong or good and bad and has given it capability to watch itself and evaluate if it is doing right or wrong. If it feels it is doing right, it feels good. If it feels it is doing wrong, it feels a pinch of guilt. This aspect of human psyche is called conscience -- the critical quality that distinguishes human beings from animals. At the end of the life in this world, if a person has been living according to the dictates of his conscience, he feels inner contentment, otherwise he feels like an awful loser.
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Human’s Knowledge and Science
While science is a great tool and Islam encourages scientific approach to many aspects of life and nature, one should not forget many limitations of science, such as the following:
Since science is based on the knowledge of human beings, who have many limitations, science would also have its associated limitations
Science cannot explain the metaphysical, but it can only address the physical world and the objects that are finite and have material/tangible existence. So, it can not explain many other realities in the world, such as human soul, angels, next life, God, etc.
Science cannot explain any miracles that have happened. For example, the birth of Jesus without a father, healing of some terminating diseases without medicine, etc.
Science cannot answer the basic questions of life, such as what is the purpose of human life, what will happen after death, what is “good” and what is “bad”, what is the comprehensive success criteria for human?
Science mostly focuses on the processes (how things work) and their tangible/apparent causes. It ignores the role of the creator of those processes and their original/real cause
Every aspect of science is not a proven fact. Science includes two parts: theories* and proven facts. Many theories often change. Any part of science that has been used to question God and other unseen realities is based on theories, hypothesis and conjectural guesses (not proven facts). Even with facts, continuous discovery of new facts make some of the existing facts relative
"Intro to Islam" at NOVA - Dr. Nassimi
*: Although some theories of science have been established in such a degree that are accepted as facts by the scientific community, this does not apply to all theories.
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Limitations of Science
The Qur’an explains some of the limitations of human knowledge:
“They only know an apparent aspect of this world’s life, whereas of the hereafter (and all other realities) they are utterly unaware” (30:7)
They say: "There is no life other than our present worldly life: herein we live and we die, and it is only (the passage of) time that destroys us”. Yet, the fact is that they know nothing about it and they are only conjecturing. (45:24)
The Day will come when We gather from every community a crowd of those who disbelieved in Our signs and they will be led in separate groups. Until they arrive there, when He will say to them: Did you deny My Revelations and signs without even having a proper knowledge about them? If that is not so, what did you do? The verdict will be given against them because of their wrongdoing: they will become speechless
"Intro to Islam" at NOVA - Dr. Nassimi
Worship of Science
According to Muslim understanding of Tawheed, science can be considered a potential object of worship if any of the following happens:
If science is believed to be the only way for finding all realities of the universe while rejecting all of God’s revelations about those realities
If science is believed to be the only source of answers to all of human’s questions
If unseen realities (such as human soul, angels, next life, and God) are rejected only because science can not prove them
If some scientific theories about the creation are embraced in such a way to reject the role of God in creation
"Intro to Islam" at NOVA - Dr. Nassimi
Allah has equipped human beings with intellect, the power to think and analyze, the ability to discover and make use of materials in nature that He has created. Some people are led by the mirage of their limited scientific and intellectual progress and abilities, and as a result, they don’t feel need for worshipping God. Instead they think all things are done naturally through laws of science and knowledge. Islam values knowledge, thinking analyzing and discoveries. It always guides human mind to appreciate Allah’s limitless knowledge, power and vast creation. In fact, it is expected that through knowledge and science, one becomes even a better worshipper of Allah.
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Advances in Science: A sign and evidence of God
In many areas of human life or nature, some people jump to reject the role of God only because they have discovered the mechanism, configuration or operation of those areas
However, a Muslim’s response is that the existence of a mechanism or process in any natural phenomena by itself is a sign and evidence of God. How could an organized and perfect process exist without someone creating it?
Not only God is the one who has created the processes for operation of everything, but in order to make life challenging and stimulating for human beings, God is the one who has allowed them, enabled them, and wanted them to reflect on nature, to study it, and to discover those processes
“And He (God) has subjected to you whatever is in the heavens and whatever is on the earth (to serve you and you can study them) – totally from Himself; indeed in that are signs for people who reflect.” (45:13)
Yet, not only some people do not appreciate the role of God, but they deny Him because they think they do not need God
“Nay, surely human transgresses whenever he sees himself self-sufficient (free from need of Allah)” (96:6-7)
"Intro to Islam" at NOVA - Dr. Nassimi
Advances in Science: A Test of Faith
God allows many advances in science and in the development of other resources in order to test the faith of people
“When human is touched with a hardship, he cries out to Us, but when We favor him with Our blessing (to relieve his hardship), he then says, ‘All this has been given to me because of knowledge’. Nay, but it is only a test, though most of them do not know it”. (39:49)
“It is He who made you successors upon the earth and raised some of you in ranks over others so that He test you through what He has given you (in resources and knowledge). Surely, your Lord is swift in punishing, and surely He is Most-Forgiving, Very-Merciful.” (6:165)
"Intro to Islam" at NOVA - Dr. Nassimi
Worship of Wealth
While wealth is one of the means and needs of life, it has its own limitations and issues, such as:
It can not resolve every problem
It can not ensure human peace and it cannot buy happiness
Wealth is an alluring test of life for human (in which many people fail)
God is the one wo gives it, increases it, decreases it, or takes it back
God can make the wealth useful or useless (because wealth is only a means, the success of any means depends on the source)
The test of wealth is to mark out people’s reactions towards it and how they use it
Whenever gaining wealth becomes the main goal of life and it is viewed as the only source of all happiness and success, it is taken potentially as an object of worship (materialism)
Some sayings of the Prophet about it:
“Human becomes slave of money (‘Abd Dirham wa Dinar)”
“If a man is given a valley of gold, he would want a second one (greed of human for wealth never stops unless regulated by faith)”
“Wealth is not in having vast riches, it is in contentment” (Bukhari, Muslim)
Similar to wealth, people worship other worldly gains:, such as Status, Reputation, Power, etc.
"Intro to Islam" at NOVA - Dr. Nassimi
Today, wealth is glorified in our society through television and all sorts of social media, and therefore, it dominates many peoples’ thoughts, perceptions, and actions. Oftentimes, many individuals may see money and material items as the only portal to success and happiness.
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Who can be God?
A Muslim theologian would typically argue in answering this question along the following lines:
In order for human beings to fully depend on any entity like a God, that entity should meet the following few criteria, as a minimum:
Should not have been created
Should not be finite with any limitations and shortcomings
Should not be dependent on anything or anyone else
Should not die and should be alive at all times
Should be available and directly accessible at any time and place
Should be able to respond to the call of its worshippers and help them at any time
Should be one and unique, different from the rest of the creation
Should have unlimited knowledge and power
REL 233 Course in NOVA - Dr. Nassimi
Conclusions
Muslims believe that …
Tawheed (oneness of God) is not just a theory of theology, but it is a very deep and practical concept that should be understood, remembered, and practiced in every aspect of a believer’s life
Tawheed is about realization of God as the only source of life, as the only one to worship and obey unconditionally, and as the only source of power and all kinds of help
Tawheed serves as the primary source of knowledge and as the basis for the entire structure of morality and social behavior
Tawheed does not stop people from appreciating family, friends, science, wealth, and every other genuine need and want of human, but it emphasizes that appreciation for each of them should have a limit and they should not be adored to such a degree as if they are being worshipped
Tawheed is about rejecting all other deities and gods and believing in God of the whole universe (Allah) as the only God, by declaring:
I bear witness that there is no other god except Allah (Ash hadu an laa ilaaha illal laah)
"Intro to Islam" at NOVA - Dr. Nassimi
The concept of Tawĥeed represents an Islamic faith in Allah as the One and Only Creator, Owner, God, Deity, Sovereign and Ruler: Who has absolutely no partner in Divinity, equal to Him in any respect or similar to Him any way; Whose commands, guidance or instructions must govern every aspect of believers’ individual and collective life so that no aspect of life or lifestyle is out of the purview of His guidance or commands; Who must be obeyed unconditionally and without any reservations whatsoever; Who must be accepted as the Ultimate Authority obedience to Whom is first and foremost so that obedience to anyone else is secondary to the obedience to Him and is subject to the limits imposed by Him; and Whose pleasure is sought as the sole goal of life even if it requires displeasing others.
We can certainly admire and adore all earthly things and people, so long as we recognize that the creator deserves the ultimate praise and that none of these worldly existences hold any value above God, nor do they hold any value without God. So when we venerate our resources and deify ourselves or others and forget who provided them; we are committing shirk and sin against God and we are denying the Tawheed.
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