Tawheed, the Islamic concept of the absolute oneness of God, and its three traditional categories.
Tawheed (توحيد) is the Islamic concept of the absolute oneness of God. It is the single most important idea in Islamic belief — everything else rests on it.
Scholars have traditionally discussed Tawheed under three related headings:
- Tawheed ar-Rububiyyah (Oneness of Lordship) — belief that Allah alone is the Creator and Sustainer of everything that exists.
- Tawheed al-Uluhiyyah (Oneness of Worship) — belief that Allah alone deserves to be worshipped, without any intermediary.
- Tawheed al-Asma wa-s-Sifat (Oneness of Names and Attributes) — belief that Allah’s names and attributes belong to Him alone, without being compared to His creation.
The clearest single statement of Tawheed in the Qur’an is Surah Al-Ikhlas, quoted in full below. The opposite of Tawheed — associating partners with God — is called shirk, which the Qur’an describes as the one thing God does not forgive without repentance.
Key points
- Tawheed is the belief in the absolute oneness of Allah, the foundation of Islamic belief.
- Scholars traditionally discuss it under three headings: Lordship (Rububiyyah), Worship (Uluhiyyah), and Names & Attributes (Asma wa-Sifat).
- Surah Al-Ikhlas (Qur'an 112) is the clearest single Qur'anic statement of Tawheed.
- Shirk (associating partners with God) is the opposite of Tawheed.
Qur’an
“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 (112) — 112:1-4
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