Oneness of Allah

ONENESS OF ALLAH (THE GOD ALMIGHTY)
Introduction
1. In the Name of Allah, the Most Beneficent, the Most Merciful
All praise is due to Allah (G). I bear witness that there is no true god worthy of being worshipped except Allah (G) alone, without a partner or associate. I further bear witness that Muhammad (N) is Allah’s true slave and Messenger. May the peace, blessings and mercy of Allah be upon Muhammad, his good and pure family, and upon his noble companions and those who follow their path.

2. Respected small group leader and my dear small group mates, let me welcome you with the Islamic greeting “Assalamu alikum wa rahmtullahi wa barakatuhu” meaning may the peace, mercy and blessings of Allah (the God Almighty be on all of you) which was also the greeting of Jesus (PBUH) [Luke 24:36].

3. I am Maj Aslam Uddin, from Bangladesh Army. Next about 13 minutes or so, I shall give you a short brief on “Oneness of Allah”. The subject is unclassified and open to all. The purpose of this brief is to highlight the oneness and uniqueness of Allah from the authentic religious scriptures such as Qur’an, authentic hadith of Muhammad (PBUH) as well as from the Bible as most of our audience are Bible scholars. Inshallah, this brief will benefit us by knowing the nature of our creator from authentic sources thus will enable us to worship him in a better and more effective way. The outline of the brief is as follows:

a. Explanation of few words.
b. Broader Islamic concept and “Oneness of Allah”.
c. Main discussion on “Oneness of Allah”.
d. Closing note.
Explanation of Few Words
4. Before going into the subject, I would like to explain few words:
a. Allah: Al Ilah. This word cannot be played with.
b. Islam: Surrender, submission, obedience, sincerity and peace.
c. Muslim: The one who does islam.
d. Quran: The one what is recited. Few facts about Quran.
e. Surah: Every chapter of the Qur’an is called a surah and it has a name.
Broader Islamic Concept and Oneness of Allah
5. Islam is raised on five pillars. It is mentioned in Sahih Muslim Volume 1, Hadith No 111. “Islam is raised on five (pillars): To establish His Tawheed [and in other narration
“The Shahadah (testimony) that La ilaaha illal laah (none has the right to be worshipped but Allah) and that Muhammad is Allah’s slave and Messenger], establishment of prayers, payment of Zakaat, the fast of Ramadaan, and Pilgrimage
(to Makkah). A person said (to the narrator) (which of the two precedes the other) -
Pilgrimage or the fasts of Ramadaan? Upon this he (the narrator) replied: No (it is not the Pilgrimage first) but the fasts of Ramadaan precede the Pilgrimage, this is how I have heard it from Allah’s Messenger (N).” Saheeh Muslim
6. The Foundations of the Islamic Creed ro Faith: There are six foundations of Islamic Creed or Faith. The are:
The Belief in Allah (G), His Angels, His Books, His Messengers, the Last Day, and Al-
Qadar, its good and bad. These basis are verified by evidences from the Book of Allah (G) [i.e. The Qur’aan] and from the Sunnah of Allah’s Messenger (N). In His Book, Allah (G) says:

“It is not Al-Birr (piety, righteousness, and each and every act of obedience to Allah, etc.) that you turn your faces towards east and (or) west (in prayers); but Al-Birr is (the quality of) the one who believes in Allah, the Last Day, the Angels, the Book, the Prophets.” Soorah Al-Baqarah 2:177

He (G) says about Al-Qadar: “Verily, We have created all things with Qadar, and Our Commandment is but one, as the twinkling of an eye.” Soorah Qamar 54:49-50
Thus,
“Emaan or Faith is to believe in Allah, His Angels, His Books, His Messengers, and the Last Day, and to believe in Al-Qadar, its good and its bad.” Sahih Muslim Volume 1, Hadith No;93
Oneness of Allah
7. The time will not permit us to discuss all six foundation of faith. Thus, we shall restrict our discussion to the first foundation that is to believe in Allah. And that is our subject “The oneness of Allah.”
Believe in Allah: Believe in Allah consists of three things-
a. Believe in his Rububiah meaning he alone creates, sustains and maintains every creation that exists.
b. Believe in his uluhyah that he alone deserve all the worship without associating any partner with him.
c. Believe in his names and attributes that have been mentioned by him through his revelation and messengers.
8. Now, who is Allah or what is the concept of Allah (the God almighty) in Islam. If you ask this question to any Muslim, the best answer he can give you is to quote chapter al ikhlas, chapte 112 verses 1-4 to you. In this chapter Allah says,
1. Say he is Allah, the one and only.
2. He is absolute and internal.
3. He begets not, nor is he begotten.
4. There is nothing like him.
Now a little reflection from the existing Bible about the oneness and concept God: All the references are from King James Version.
“Hear, O Israel: The LORD our God [is] one LORD” (Deuteronomy 6:4).
And one of the scribes came, and having heard them reasoning together, and perceiving that he had answered them well, asked him, which is the first commandment of all? And Jesus answered him, the first of all the commandments [is,] Hear, O Israel; The Lord our God is one Lord. (Mark 12:28-29).
9. Allah alone deserves to be worshiped without any partners. Because, associating partner with Allah (God almighty) is the biggest sin:
Verily, Allah forgives not that partners should be set up with Him (in worship), but He forgives except that (anything else) to whom He wills. (4:48)
Verily, Allah forgives not (the sin of) setting up partners (in worship) with Him, but He forgives whom He wills, sins other than that, and whoever sets up partners in worship with Allah, has indeed strayed far away. (4:116)
I [am] the LORD thy God, which have brought thee out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of bondage. Thou shall have no other gods before me. Thou shall not make unto thee any graven image, or any likeness [of anything] that [is] in heaven above, or that [is] in the earth beneath, or that [is] in the water under the earth. Thou shall not bow down thyself to them, nor serve them: for I the LORD thy God [am] a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children unto the third and fourth [generation] of them that hate me (Exodus 20:2-5).

Thou shall have none other gods before me. Thou shall not make thee [any] graven image, [or] any likeness [of anything] that [is] in heaven above, or that [is] in the earth beneath, or that [is] in the waters beneath the earth. Thou shall not bow down thyself unto them, nor serve them: for I the LORD thy God [am] a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children unto the third and fourth [generation] of them that hate me (Deuteronomy 5:7-9)

10. Names and Attributes of Allah: If we look into Qur’an and authentic Hadith of Muhammad PBUH), we will get as many as 99 beautiful attributes of Allah. For example, Ar Rahman, Al Khalik, Ar Razzak so on and so forth. It is mentioned in the glorious Qur’an:

Say: "Invoke Allah or invoke Ar-Rahman (the Most Gracious), by whatever name you invoke
Him (it is the same), for to Him belong the Best Names. (Qur’an 17:110)
The same message is repeated in 59:24:
To Him belong the Best Names. All that is in the heavens and the earth glorify Him. (Qur’an 59:24)

If we look into the Bible, we will find the similar statement:
And at the ninth hour Jesus cried with a loud voice, saying, Eloi, Eloi, lama sabachthani? which is, being interpreted, My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me? (Mark 15:34) Also see Mathew 27:46.

Closing Note
11. Before closing down the session, I would like to take few quick questions, if you have any.
12. So far, we have learned few words like Allah, Islam, Muslim, Qur’an and Surah. We have also covered five pillars of Islam that is Faith or testimony, daily five times obligatory prayers, Zakah or obligatory charity, fasting in the month of Ramadan and pilgrimage to Makkah. Then we learned the six foundation of faith namely believe in Allah, his angles, his books, his messengers, the last day and predestination, its good and bad. Thereafter, we discussed about the description and oneness of Allah where we found that Allah is one and only without any partner, he is absolute and eternal, he begets not nor is he begotten and there is nothing like him. He deserve to be worshiped alone without any partner or associate. May Allah give us true knowledge about him and his oneness and enable us to worship him alone without any partner according to his term. Ameen. With this I leave you in the mercy and blessings of Allah. Assalamu alikum wa rahmatullahi wa barakatuhu.