Oneness of Allah (tawhid) is the basic pillar of Islam. For a common Muslim it is quite simple and easy but Fakirs and Mystics find great depth and profoundity in its meanings. For the masses first part of shahada is merely the proclamation of Oneness of Allah, ‘There is no God but Allah.’ He has no partners and is Alone. He deserves all the praise and adoration. He is the Creator and the Master.
On the other hand the interpretation of Sufis, Fakirs and Mystics consists of so many implications and graveness which at times overwhelm the scholars and theologians with admiration while at times they simply pass religious verdicts of paganism and heresy.
‘There is no God but Allah’ is negation as well as affirmation. Sufis interpret it as ‘Only Allah is manifest in the entire cosmos.’ It is quite true that He is One but if He is the only One then what is the need to negate any other? In the presence of only One there cannot be another. If there is no one like Him or He has no partner, He is incomparable and unprecedented then the very concept of any other god is only meaningless. ‘There is no God but Allah’ actually means ‘There is no one but Allah’. If there is only He then what is all that we see around?
There are two school of thought famous in Sufism WAHDAH AL-WUJUD and WAHDAH ASH-SHUHUD.
Read Chapter no 11 of the book Sufism the Soul of Islam for better understanding the concept of tawhid
Sultan-ul-Ashiqeen quotes about Oneness of Allah
- Allah is the ultimate force behind everything. There is no helpe besides Him, no one fulfils needs except Him and no one provides sustenance but Him. Health, honour and power come solely from Allah.
- Oneness of Allah means that only Allah exists in the inward and the outward.
- To reach the station of Oneness of Allah, it is important to detach from the love, desire and fear of everyone and everything other than Allah. Being indifferent to everything besides Allah is Oneness. For the believer, Divine Oneness entails annihilation, followed by immortality with Allah and ultimately complete oneness with Him.
- The Divine confidant is tested until and unless he reaches the level of oneness with Allah.