The Path to the Doctrine of Monotheism

The path to the doctrine of monotheism comes through the following avenues:

The best beginning for knowing God, the Almighty, is the Throne Verse (Ayat al-Kursi): "Allah - there is no deity except Him, the Ever-Living, the Sustainer of [all] existence. Neither drowsiness overtakes Him nor sleep. To Him belongs whatever is in the heavens and whatever is on the earth. Who is it that can intercede with Him except by His permission? He knows what is [presently] before them and what will be after them, and they encompass not a thing of His knowledge except for what He wills. His Kursi extends over the heavens and the earth, and their preservation tires Him not. And He is the Most High, the Most Great." [Surah Al-Baqarah 255].

God, the Almighty, has mandated knowing Him and obligated obedience to Him in four aspects, through which the foundation of monotheism stands: knowing His existence through power and perfection, declaring Him transcendent above all sayings and actions, His uniqueness in the rank of greatness and majesty, and acknowledging inability to reach full knowledge of Him in any state. Therefore, He is:

"Say, 'He is Allah, [who is] One, Allah, the Eternal Refuge. He neither begets nor is born, Nor is there to Him any equivalent.'" [Surah Al-Ikhlas 1-4]

He also said: "Do not take for yourselves two deities. He is but one God, so fear only Me." [Surah An-Nahl 51].

"[He is] Creator of the heavens and the earth. He has made for you from yourselves, mates, and among the cattle, mates; He multiplies you thereby. There is nothing like unto Him, and He is the Hearing, the Seeing." [Surah Ash-Shura 11].

"This is the creation of Allah. So show Me what those other than Him have created. Rather, the wrongdoers are in clear error." [Surah Ash-Shura 11].

"Say, 'I am only a man like you, to whom has been revealed that your god is one God. So whoever would hope for the meeting with his Lord - let him do righteous work and not associate in the worship of his Lord anyone.'" [Surah Al-Kahf 110].

The Almighty said: "O you who have believed, obey Allah and obey the Messenger and those in authority among you." [Surah An-Nisa 59].

When God, the Blessed and Exalted, created creation and imposed knowledge upon them and commanded them to obey, He knew they were incapable of that, and there is no way for them to attain it except through a supported messenger who guides them to the paths of knowledge, leads them to the ranks of obedience, defines for them the truth and urges them towards it, and defines for them falsehood and warns them against it. Thus, He provided them with the truthful messenger in delivering the message and offering advice, and with correct parables. He imposed upon the creation the knowledge of him after the knowledge of His Essence, and the testimony of the Messengership after the testimony of the Oneness for the sake of the eternal goal, as He said: "The Day the Caller will call to a terrible thing." [Surah Al-Qamar 6]. He also said: "And it was not for a messenger to bring a sign [i.e., miracle] except by permission of Allah." [Surah Ghafir 78].

The Almighty said: "And Allah has revealed to you the Book and wisdom and has taught you that which you did not know. And ever has the favor of Allah upon you been great." [Surah An-Nisa 113].

When God, the Almighty, imposed upon the creation the knowledge of Him and His messenger, He knew that there is no path for them except through widespread knowledge. Thus, God, the Almighty, revealed clear knowledge upon the tongues of His truthful messengers, clarified its meaning through what the sent prophets overflowed with, the close angels elucidated, and the righteous saints taught. For by knowing knowledge, deeds become sound. A servant has no dispensability from knowledge he acquires, and a scholar who guides and leads him. It is said that people are two types: a scholar or a student of knowledge. If you are not a scholar, be a student of knowledge; if you are not a student of knowledge, be one who desires to seek it; and if you are not one who desires to seek it, then be a lover of scholars, students, and those who desire knowledge. This is the weakest level of knowledge, yet it is a rank above the one who denies the merit of knowledge and the honor of its people. The Almighty said: "And you have not been given of knowledge except a little." [Surah Al-Isra 85]. He also said: "And if whatever trees upon the earth were pens and the sea [was ink], replenished thereafter by seven [more] seas, the words of Allah would not be exhausted. Indeed, Allah is Exalted in Might and Wise." [Surah Luqman 27].

God, the Almighty, has set limits through His sciences, some of which are under human control and others which are not. The Almighty said: "And these are the limits [set by] Allah. And whoever transgresses the limits of Allah has certainly wronged himself." [Surah At-Talaq 1]. Our children must pay attention to the importance of this duality linked to the divine gift and the task placed upon the human shoulder. For the human, whether male or female, is capable of free self-giving, and at the same time is called by the act of grace to enter into a covenant with the Creator that no other creature can provide as a substitute.

God, the Almighty, knew that the servant is incapable of knowing what was mentioned above except through the intellect and its assistance, so He created it and decreed its knowledge. The intellect is the helper in grasping all knowledge; it is, in reality, the head of the soul and its manager. By knowing the intellect and following it, the human is saved from ignorance, and whoever is saved from ignorance has known what God, the Almighty, has obligated upon him. The intellect is the king, while the soul and the body are its subjects. Desires that fall outside the system of the intellect are its enemies, just as the soul, when deprived of the guidance of the intellect, leads its actions and endeavors to corruption. The Almighty said: "And they will say, 'If only we had been listening or reasoning, we would not be among the companions of the Blaze.'" [Surah Al-Mulk 10].[1]

The Almighty said: "Then every soul will be compensated [in full for] what it earned, and they will not be wronged." [Surah Al-Baqarah 281].

A human must know himself and his movements, because no one can truly know anything until they know themselves. This means knowing that it is the elite of all creations, that it is from the world of permanence, that it is a living, essential, transparent, knowing, and reasoning entity, bound by the ropes of the intellect. Then, one must know that it is prone to evil, incapable, ignorant, threatened by the snares of Iblis, and that it is in constant motion, never resting. Within it are the powers of good and evil, and it is capable of both states. If a person knows this, it becomes their duty to struggle against it and hold it to account, never letting it escape the care of the intellect and the sermons of refinement.

The Almighty said: "On the Day every soul will find what it has done of good present [before it]." [Surah Ali 'Imran 30].

The best thing to open a discussion about religion is the Fatiha (The Opening Chapter).

"In the name of Allah, the Entirely Merciful, the Especially Merciful. [All] praise is [due] to Allah, Lord of the worlds. The Entirely Merciful, the Especially Merciful. Sovereign of the Day of Recompense. It is You we worship and You we ask for help. Guide us to the straight path - The path of those upon whom You have bestowed favor, not of those who have evoked [Your] anger or of those who are astray." [Surah Al-Fatiha 1-7].

The doctrine of monotheism is a branch of the religion of Islam. Islam is the door to faith, and faith is the door to monotheism. Islam is built upon five: the testimony that there is no god but God and that Muhammad is the Messenger of God, establishing prayer, giving charity (Zakat), fasting the month of Ramadan, and pilgrimage to the Sacred House of God for those who can afford the way. As for its commands and prohibitions, they are too numerous to count.

Religion is a name for everything by which God, the Almighty, is truly worshipped. The seeker must know that it is the truth from his Lord, and that God, the Blessed and Exalted, intended it as his foundation. The obedience of the obedient does not add to God's kingdom, nor does the disobedience of the disobedient diminish it; rather, they are "deeds from you that come and return to you," as the Almighty said: "Whoever does righteousness - it is for his [own] soul; and whoever does evil [does so] against it." [Surah Fussilat 46].

It is a duty for a human to distinguish between the lawful and the prohibited. The lawful is a command, and the prohibited is a prohibition. The lawful is good, and the prohibited is evil. The lawful is a benefit, and the prohibited is a harm. The lawful is obedience, and the prohibited is disobedience. The lawful is clear, and the prohibited is clear. The good is known, and the evil is exposed. All actions fall between these two states; if there is any ambiguity between them, it is the duty of every rational person to stop at the ambiguous and avoid it.

The Almighty said: "Say, 'Have you seen what Allah has sent down to you of provision, making some of it unlawful and [some] lawful?' Say, 'Has Allah permitted you [to do so], or do you invent [something] about Allah?'" [Surah Yunus 59].

God, the Almighty, created the world for the human complete and perfect, including all its genres, species, plants, and animals, and He imposed upon him the knowledge of its state and the distinction between its prohibited and lawful parts. God created it with a perfect system and intended it for a purpose of His, which is the human. He made it beloved and sought-after, gifted and taken away. He placed in it ascents and descents, paths and perils, and made for it various ways, some of which are praiseworthy and others blameworthy. Let the human know that it is called a "dwelling" (dar) because it is a place of passage, not a place of stay; it does not remain in one state and is quick to fade; it is a house of perishability and departure. Whoever knows it as it is and follows the paths of men within it, seeks that whose end is praiseworthy and whose departure is good, taking the words of the Almighty: "But you prefer the worldly life, while the Hereafter is better and more enduring." [Surah Al-A'la 16-17].

Every human must know that there must be a day in which he is held to account, rewarded for good and evil deeds, and asked about the small and the great. About his life, how he spent it; his body, how he wore it out; his knowledge, what he did with it; and his wealth, how he spent it. Every human is responsible for himself; wealth and children will not avail him, but only a word of truth he spoke, a small amount of good he performed, or a kindness he offered. The Almighty said: "The Day when there will not benefit [anyone] wealth or children, But only one who comes to Allah with a sound heart." [Surah Ash-Shu'ara 88-89]. It is the Day of Resurrection of Truth to destroy falsehood, a day when every nursing mother will be distracted from that which she was nursing, and every soul will find what it has done of good and evil. It is said it is called the "Hereafter" (Akhirah) due to the delaying of the reward and punishment within it. May God make us and you among the winners and among those who heard the word and followed the best of it. The Almighty said: "Alif, Lam, Mim. These are verses of the wise Book, As guidance and mercy for the doers of good - Who establish prayer and give Zakat, and they, of the Hereafter, are certain [in faith]." [Surah Luqman 1-4].

When God, the Almighty, created the human, prepared him for the knowledge of speech, and imposed upon him what was mentioned above, He obligated—along with knowledge and science—actions that lead to it and point to it. Deeds do not achieve the hoped-for result except with sincerity and detachment, which is the best thing a person can follow. Faith is not complete without safeguarding brothers. The beginning of preservation is knowledge, then affection, then familiarity, then love, then companionship. These things are not complete except with sincerity, frankness, and purity, as the Almighty said: "[They will be] brothers, on thrones facing each other." [Surah Al-Hijr 47]. If companionship fulfills its conditions, it becomes brotherhood. Its conditions are that it does not tolerate enmity, mockery, competition, backbiting, slander, disparagement, provocation, accusation, or ugly blame. Rather, one should be like a son to an older companion, like a brother to a peer, and like a father to a younger one. The greatest of brothers and companions is the most knowledgeable among them; if they are equal, then the most active; if they are equal, then the oldest; if they are equal, then the one who has been a companion the longest.

The greatest of brothers is the best in character, the most polite, the most faithful to his vows, the least resentful, the most generous, the most patient, the most truthful in his promises, the closest in heart, the most honest in speech, and the most perfect in intellect.

Know that the best gatherings are the gatherings of scholars. Your companions are three: a companion you benefit from, a companion who benefits from you, and a companion you neither benefit from nor who benefits from you. As for the companion you benefit from, stick with him; the companion who benefits from you, honor him; and as for the companion who neither benefits you nor you benefit him, flee from him. Stick to noble character, as the poet rightly said:

"Nations are but their character, as long as they remain; if their character goes, they go too."

It is through good character that those who prevailed among all servants prevailed, for it is the offspring of the intellect; by it, it stands, from it it appears, and from it it emerges. So be a seeker of it and desire it, so that you may reach through it what adorns you in your life and whose reward returns to you in your death.

In conclusion, the following noble verse completes the meaning of faith, as the Almighty said: "Righteousness is not that you turn your faces toward the east or the west, but [true] righteousness is [in] one who believes in Allah, the Last Day, the angels, the Book, and the prophets and gives wealth, in spite of love for it, to relatives, orphans, the needy, the traveler, those who ask [for help], and for freeing slaves; [and who] establishes prayer and gives Zakat; [and they who] fulfill their promise when they promise; and [those who] are patient in poverty and hardship and during battle. Those are the ones who have been true, and it is those who are the righteous." [Surah Al-Baqarah 177].

Monotheistic Knowledge

A definition issued by the Office of the Sheikh of the Aql of the Unitarian Druze Sect - Beirut

[1] "Al-Sa'ir" means the Fire. This verse clearly indicates that whoever neglects his intellect, does not reflect with it, and does not judge what he hears and sees is responsible before God and deserving of punishment when he meets Him. And what sin is more criminal than neglecting the most sublime feature one possesses compared to all other creatures.

[2] Meaning: in freeing slaves from bondage.

[3] Poverty.

[4] Illness and other hardships.

[5] Time of jihad.