THE BELIEF IN THE

[Happiness]

THE BELIEF IN THE
UNITY OF GOD
This seems to be a rather simple and elementary concept. It should not
be difficult for anybody to understand the oneness of God, and there
the matter seems to rest. But in fact there is far more to this than
meets the eye. When one examines the concept of Unity in depth, the
entire world of religion seems to revolve around this pivotal point.
This belief influences man's life in all its aspects. It also implies
the negation of all else but God. So belief in the oneness of God is
not the end-all of belief, but all other beliefs spring from this
fountain-head of eternal truth. This also delivers a message of
liberation from all other yokes and releases man from all obligations
except such as are born out of his submission to God.

This article has been further elucidated from different angles, both
in the Holy Quran and the traditions of the Holy Prophet of Islam. For
instance, the declaration 'La houl wala quat illa Billah' (There is no
all-encompassing power except Allah) opens up new windows for a deeper
and wider understanding of Unity. It negates all fears other than the
fear of God. The second part of the same brings to the focus of
attention another very important aspect of Unity. i.e. that the power
to achieve good is solely dependent on God, and that He is Master of
all sources of strength and energy. Hence while the first part relates
to the negative aspects of power, the second part relates to the
positive.

In application to human actions, intentions and motivations etc.,
these two forces are all-encompassing. Man's intentions and his
subsequent actions are always guided and controlled either by fear or
hope, and there is no exception to this rule. Those who do good deeds
do so out of fear and hope, and those who indulge in vices are
motivated by the same. The fears of non-believers belong to the
negative ungodly category, and they shape their lives in accordance
with these worldly fears. Sometimes they are afraid of earning the
displeasure of monarchs and authorities, sometimes they are afraid of
society in general or of despots and bullies. Again, sometimes they
act evilly out of a fear of poverty and loss etc. So, in a world full
of vices, a large part of human actions can be explained with
reference to these fears.

The belief in Unity dispels these fears altogether and brings to one's
mind the importance of the fear of God, which means that one must not
be afraid of the displeasure of the ungodly, but should always
endeavour to avoid displeasing God, and shape one's life according to
that fear alone. In the positive sense, the same applies to all human
motivations and consequent actions. Man always lives by some motive to
please someone, himself being no exception. In fact, more often than
not, he works to please himself even at the cost of those who are
otherwise dear to him.

A more exaggerated form of this attitude renders man a worshipper of
his own ego. To achieve his purpose, man has to please those on whom
his pleasures depend. As such, again he has to constantly strive to
win the favours of monarchs, authorities etc. What we are describing
is the worst form of slavery. The hopes and fears of a slave are
completely dependent on the whims. pleasures and displeasures of his
master. But a godless man has not one master alone. Every other human
being in relation to his personal interests can play as God to him. If
you analyse the ultimate cause of social, moral or political evils, it
is such human worship which destroys the peace of man's mind, and
society as a whole begins to deteriorate endlessly.

From this point of view, when you cast another glance at the
fundamental declaration, that 'there is no God but Allah, the One and
Only', all these fears and hopes relating to objects other than God
are dispelled, as if by the waving of a magic wand. In other words, by
choosing one master alone, you are liberated from slavery to all
others. To be a slave of such others as are themselves slaves to
numberless gods is a poor bargain indeed. But that is not all. The
gods that such people worship are many a time products of their own
imagination, which can do them neither good nor harm. Most men, on the
other hand, worship nothing but mortals like themselves, their own
egos being supreme among them all. Hence each of them bows to
numberless egotistic gods, their interests being at clash with each
other, creating a situation which is the ultimate of chaos.

The Islamic concept of Unity also inculcates in man the realisation of
the oneness of the human species, and does away with all such barriers
as divide man into racial, ethnic and colour denominations. This gives
birth to the universal concept of equality in Islam, which is its
distinctive feature. Hence from the vantage point of God, all human
beings, wherever and in whichever age they were born, stand equal in
His sight. As will be demonstrated shortly, it is this fundamental
which gives rise to all other fundamental beliefs and doctrines in
Islam. As briefly mentioned before, Islam's doctrine of Unity is
absolute and unsplittable; it has no room for adding to the Godhead in
any form. He has neither a father nor a mother, nor has He a spouse.
For Him to give birth to sons and daughters is inconceivable.

Another important aspect of Unity of God as presented by the Quran
relates to absolute harmony in His creation. It is this harmony
concept which appealed so strongly to Einstein. He was compelled to
pay tribute to the perfect symmetry in nature, which according to him
required the oneness of creator. He was a scientist, and his
perception of that harmony was limited to the material universe. But
the Holy Quran speaks of the harmony in creation in all its possible
applications. The Holy Quran claims that within nature, as created by
God, and within the divine books revealed by God, there is no
disharmony; that there is complete concurrence between one area of
God's creation and another, and between one book and the other.

It goes further to declare that there is perfect consistency between
the Word of God and the Act of God, and that there can be no
contradiction between nature and the divine word as revealed to His
prophets. This subject is beautifully expressed in the first five
verses of Surah Al-Mulk, and is also taken up in many other verses of
the Quran from various angles.

Coming to individuals, the belief in Unity plays a very important role
in the education and upbringing of humans. It requires a consistency
between man's views and actions, a consistency between his
relationship with God and his fellow beings, thus binding creation in
a single chain of unbreakable unity. This can be better understood by
bringing to focus the practices of some so-called religious people,
who preach hatred for one section of human society against another in
the name of the one and only God. The principle of Unity of God is at
variance with this practice, and as such does not permit people to
create divisions between God and His creation and within the creation
of God.