Tawhid and Risalah
The oneness of Allah is not one belief among many in Islam: it is the one everything else is built on. Plus prophethood, and the seven prophets the specification names.
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One belief holds up the rest ☝️
You have met **Tawhid** already, as one item in the Six Beliefs and one of the Five Roots. This module is about why it is not really one item among several. Tawhid is the belief in the **absolute oneness of Allah**, and almost everything else in Islamic belief and practice follows from it: what may be worshipped, what counts as the gravest sin, even what Islamic art does not show. Get Tawhid and a great deal of the rest stops needing to be memorised separately. The specification names **Surah 112** here.
How Muslims describe Allah 🗂️
These are the attributes the specification names. Each one is what Muslims believe about Allah, and the specification names **Surah 16:35-36** alongside them:
Match each attribute to what it means
- Transcendent
- Immanent
- Omnipotent
- Beneficent
- beyond creation, and not limited by space or time
- present within creation, and close to every person
- all-powerful, with nothing outside His power
- generous and giving towards creation
Beyond creation, and close to you ↔️
Learners often assume these two must contradict each other, and write about one as if the other were not also held. **Muslims hold both together**, and an answer that shows that is stronger than one that picks a side.
Two things that follow, and one thing to get right ⚠️
**Shirk** is associating anything or anyone with Allah, and in Islam it is the gravest sin. It is not a separate rule to memorise: it is Tawhid stated the other way round. The same belief is why Allah is **never depicted** in Islamic art, and why calligraphy and geometric pattern do work that figurative images do elsewhere. **And one thing candidates get wrong.** Divine justice, **'Adl** or **Adalat**, is one of the Five Roots in Shi'a Islam. That does **not** mean Sunni Muslims think Allah is unjust. **All Muslims hold that Allah is just.** The difference is in the framework: Shi'a Islam gives divine justice the status of a foundational root, where Sunni theology treats it as one attribute among many. Say it that way and you are both accurate and fair.
Why is Allah not depicted? ❓
Islamic art does not depict Allah. Which explanation would an examiner credit?
- Because of Tawhid: depicting Allah would risk associating Him with something created, which is shirk
- Because figurative art was not developed in those regions
- Because geometric patterns were simply preferred by artists
- Because Islam forbids all art of any kind
Which sentence is written the right way? ✍️
An interactive activity.
Which sentence would be marked wrong? ✂️
An interactive activity.
Risalah: the prophets 📜
**Risalah** is prophethood: Muslims believe Allah has sent prophets throughout history to guide people. The specification names **Surah 2:136**, in which believers affirm the prophets without distinguishing between them, and it names these seven:
Order the prophets 🪜
An interactive activity.
Which are true of Risalah? ✅
Select the TWO statements that accurately describe what Muslims believe about prophethood.
- Prophets have been sent throughout history to guide people back to the worship of Allah
- Muhammad is the last of the prophets, the Seal of the Prophets
- Muhammad is the only prophet Muslims believe in
- Isa is believed to be the son of God
Three decisions 🧭
An interactive activity.
The summary 📝
_____ is the belief in the absolute oneness of Allah, and it is the foundation the rest is built on. Associating anything with Allah is called _____, the gravest sin in Islam. Muslims believe Allah is both transcendent and _____, and hold the two together rather than choosing between them. _____ means prophethood, and Muslims believe prophets were sent throughout history, with Muhammad the _____ of them.
Your turn 📄
An interactive activity.