Tawhid: The Oneness of God

Tawhid — the affirmation that God is absolutely one — is the central belief of Islam, the idea every other teaching in the religion rests on. It holds that there is one Creator, without partner, without offspring, and without equal, who alone deserves worship. Scholars traditionally describe tawhid in three connected parts. Tawhid al-Rububiyyah is the belief that God alone is the Creator and Sustainer of everything that exists. Tawhid al-Uluhiyyah is the belief that God alone deserves to be worshipped — that prayer, supplication, and devotion directed at anyone or anything else is a contradiction of faith. Tawhid al-Asma wa al-Sifat affirms God's names and attributes as described in the Quran and Sunnah, without distorting their meaning or comparing them to creation. The opposite of tawhid is shirk, associating partners with God, which the Quran describes as the one sin that will not be forgiven if a person dies upon it without repentance. This is why tawhid is treated not as one belief among many but as the lens through which every other act of worship is understood — a prayer, a fast, or an act of charity is only meaningful in Islam because it is offered to God alone.