TAWHID

THE QUINTENSSE OF ISLAM

1. The Importance of Tawhid
As we know that Tawhid is the Quintessence of Islam. Its
the important thing what we have found in Islam. As general
way, Tawhid means was an unization of God or Affirmation that
Allah to be the One. No God but only Allah, He is The Absolute
and So a Trandscender Creator. However, We concluse that Allah
is The Lord and The Master of All.
No Doubt in a statement that Tawhid was the essence or
the quintessence of Islam and Islam was the essence in Islamic
civilization. That the civilization of Islamic world was based on
Tawhid. This argument we ought to believe that Islamic culture
and civilization do have a knowledge essence namely Tawhid.
Moslem has keep this argument, but many enemies of Islam such
us Missionaries, Orientalist and other the haters of Islam was
subjecting them to doubt this argument.
Tawhid as the quintessence of Islam had given many
functions in Islamic system. This function had an important role
in the values and morality of Islamic foundation. As like, that
Tawhid gives Islamic civilization the identity. Tawhid constituent
together for many elements and makes them an integral, organic
body and we call them civilization. So, that Islamic civilization
was spreading by the indentation that based on Tawhid. Even
that these elements constituent by Tawhid and based on it, but
Tawhid didnt change their nature but only giving these element
new characters. Without changing the natures of the elements,
Tawhid were directing these elements by harmonize and support
other element. These element based only on Tawhid, because

Tawhid impresses them by its own mound. So that, these

element has one foundation. Tawhid didnt change their natures
but it transform the element that making up civilization. The
transformation had two degree, First its Slight and second its
radical. It was slight when the affect only in their form and it was
radical when the effect of transformation in their function.
Because these transformation, So Moslem had developed about
the science of ilm al-tawhid. And subsumed under it many
disciplines of logic, epistemology, metaphysic and ethic.
Actually, Tawhid was indicating that it purpose of mans
creation. Allah create human only for worshiping him through
Islamic law by the one purpose, it was Tawhid. However, all of
human desire and human action ought to be end in Tawhid. No
other purpose except Allah.

56. I have only created Jinns and men, that they may serve
Me.
If we think deep about the message of our Prophet
Muhammad, we could concluse that the essence of the message
was only Tawhid. The deep essence from the great message from
Allah SWT. As like in Holy Qoran was explained that Allah would
forgive all of sins except the violation of Tawhid. In fact of many
sins except the Tawhid violation, he would pardon it. It was
enough to describe the great power of Tawhid. It was given
meaning that Tawhid was the highest and most important
commandment of God.
Remembering about the violation of Tawhid it has same
meaning with to doubt that Allah is the only one and the only

God (?). The similarity conclusion with believing double Gods or

more. As what we know, Holy Qoran said in Al-Anbiya 22 :

22. if there Were, In the heavens and the earth, other gods
besides Allah, there would have been confusion In both! but glory
to Allah, the Lord of the Throne: (High is He) above what They
attribute to Him!
It was very impossible to have double Gods. If there were
double or more Gods, this earth would be dissolved. And the fact,
the earth was round systematically. We could conclude that there
is only one God for managing this world. Why? Because the
nature cannot obey two masters. If there were two, it would be
cannot operate in orderly manner.
Without or violation of Tawhid , therefore there can be no
Tawhid. Not only are no Tawhid but there no Islam too. And the
message of our Prophet would fall to the ground. It was means no
message and Sunnah was the subject to be doubt. The great
impact would be because of the violation of the Tawhid.

2. The divine transcendence in Judaism and

Christianity
There were many misconceiving in the divine transcendence
in Judaism and Christianity. These religions were changed by
many factors in every element. If we study it religion deeply, we
would find the misconceiving in their historical form, so was in
the text they accepted as scripture and in their expression of
their faith for the instruction of men.

A. Islams criticism of Judaism

That Judaism was speaking of God in the plural Elohim. They

claimed that Elohim married with the daughters of men. Elohim
is God which a ghost whom Jacob was beheld face to face and
he had wrestled and nearly defeated. That God was the father of
Jewish king and God which are the father of their nation in real
sense. This God was granting the Jews favors despite their
immorality. However, the bound God was not the transcendence
God of Semitic consciousness.

B. The offense of Christianity

Against

of

divine

transcendence

was

even

greater

in

Christianity. They were extending the non-transcendence concept

of the Jews God as fatherhood of Jewish king to Jesus and giving
it. They claimed that God must be suffered, if did not suffered it
would not a God. The suffering God, who saves by dying and
returning to life.
Christian has mistaken to understanding the mean of I and
my Father (God) are one actually its mean was a sense of total
compliance with Gods will. But however, they took this to mean
that Jesus claimed his divine status. According to them, Jesus was
both man and God. They spoke of him as a real man who walked
on earth and did all things men can do. Its the evidence for three
persons in the deity.

3. Divine transcendence in Islam

That Islam was saying about the transcendence of God it was
everybody business. That God has created all human capable of
knowing him in his transcendence, fitrah.

172. when Thy Lord drew forth from the Children of Adam from their loins - their descendants, and made them testify
concerning themselves, (Saying): "Am I not your Lord (Who
cherishes and sustains you)?"- They said: "Yea! we do testify!"
(This), Lest ye should say on the Day of Judgment: "Of This we
were never mindful"
The great word of There is no God but Allah which
understand as denial of any associates to God in His rulership
and judgeship of the universe. Muslims have been all too
carefully. Muslim never to associate in any manner possible. Its
also as a denial of the possibility for any creature to personify or
in any way express the divine being. Because the transcendence
aberration of norm to nurture and history was caused by many
reason as like the forgetfulness, the mental laziness, passion and
also the vested interest.

A. Transcendence in art
The association of things and sensory images with God was
maliciously avoided by Muslim at all times and places. Never has
any Muslim a mosque contained any object associated with the
divinity. Mosque has always been an empty building. The wall
and the ceiling would be decorated either with the verses from
the Holy Quran or the abstract arabesques.
The abstract arabesques was like a stalk, leaf, flower and
expansive by nature. These were deliberately denaturalized and

symmetrically repeated. This was dispelling any suggestion of

the creaturely natural s vehicle of expression for the divine.
However, the art of Islam was developed by many factors.
That the art of Islam was fulfillment of divine transcendence,
which as a supreme principle of esthetic. And we ought to
remember

that

all

Islamic

arts

developed

stylization

as

denaturalization.

B. Transcendence in language.
Transcendence in language was equally well maintained. It
transcendence was fulfillment of divine transcendence. Muslim
treated only the Arabic original as the Quran and regarded the
translation as mere aids to understanding it, not as text.
Moreover the Quran gradually molded the consciousness of the
non-arabic speaking converts and famished the categories under
which religious matter could be thought out and religious feeling
could be expressed.

2. We have sent it down As an Arabic Qur'an, In order that ye

may learn wisdom.
Al-quran gave 99 names of God, expressing His Lordship of
the world but it emphasized that Nothing is like unto him. In
time there were some muslims speaking non-arabic and they
have not studied about it. Finally the fell into the error of
Anthropomorphisms or Tasybih. Mutazilah rose to the defence
of transcendence. They claimed that divine attributes had to be
taken Allegorically or Tatil.
Ashari, one of Mutazilah member began to rebel against
mutazilah. He said that the divine attributes neither God, nor not

God. Tasbih was false and so is Tatil. His reason for it, that
Mutazilah

was

contradictory

to

transcendence

and

also

contradictory to the fact of the Quran predication of the

attributes to God. Which understanding as denying the revelation
itself.

C. The preservation of Arabic

The preservation was eliminated most of the hermeneutical
problem confronting the modern reader of the fourteen centuries
old revelation. The meaning of terms of revelation which those
meaning are to be understood, are certainly realizable today
exactly as they were for the prophet. The capacity of any Muslim
to understand the revelation today exactly as it was understood
on the day it was revealed is indeed a miracle of the history of
ideas. It cannot expresses and explained by language.
The Arabic has not changed. The heraclitean claim that
everything changes and is never the same is fallacy, because
there must be something permanent if change is to be changing
at all and not skeptics stream of the manifold.

D.Islams special contribution to world cultures

Tawhid was strikes at Jewish, Christian, and pre-Islamic Arab.
The God according Christ, there were three persons in the deity.
And the personification of God had become human. As we know
that the Trinity, was removing the Greatness of God. Because as
we study before that the double Gods or more was made the
dissolved of world. And the defeated God was not a God.
Because it was disappearing the majesty of The Almighty.



73. They do blaspheme who say: Allah is one of three In a
Trinity: for there is no god except one Allah. If They desist not
from their word (of blasphemy), Verily a grievous penalty will
befall the blasphemers among them.
According of Arabia, The God as was stone and wood. It was
Gods relegation. Thus violating both the divine unity and the
transcendence, or absolute otherness, of God.

35. remember Abraham said: "O My Lord! make This City one
of peace and security: and preserve me and My sons from
worshipping idols.
Judaism

claimed

God

was

in

numerical

plural.

They

intercourse with the daughter of men. These was compounded

the transcendence of divine. Through Tawhid, therefore, Islam
sought to purge religion absolutely clean of all doubt regarding
the transcendence and unity of the Godhead. It accomplished a
double purpose that of acknowledging God as sole universes
creator and that of equalizing all men as creatures of humanity.
By its brief statement, la ilaha illa Allah, Tawhid express the
three news meaning. The first that creation is the material and
divine will is the abslolute. The second was man stands in no
predicament out of which he cannot pull himself, and the man
must to do was to apply himself to his cosmic duty and measure
his worth n direct proportion to his achievement. And the third

was the divine will because of it creatorliness-same for all

creatures-No discrimination between places or men and objects
of moral action.
Islam constituted a genuine breakthrough from the fixation.
That was in past the world had fallen, divided as it was Indian
religiosity and Hellenic religiosity. The Indian was said that the
creation was regarded as evil the absolute (Nirvana) was praised
as bless. As like the mobilization, food production, education and
other life improvement which understanding as evil because they
spread or prolong the objectification. So The combining elements
of egypitian and greek religion had doctrine of the incarnation
which made God became ma or man enable to associate himself
with divinity. And Tawhid was a refreshing clarification that Islam
achieved. It was put aside both claims of India and Egypt.