The Head of Knowledge One of the companions of the Prophet...

The Head of Knowledge One of the companions of the Prophet of Islam (saww) asked him what was the head of knowledge? The Prophet replied: “ Knowing God as you are supposed to know Him. That to know Him with none similar to Him; that He is One God; the Creator, Omnipotent, the First and the Last, the Evident and the Hidden, none is comparable to Him or like unto Him.

This is knowing God as He deserved to be known.” [^1] Teaching Monotheism during the war During the battle of Camel (…) a man from the army of Imam Ali (a.s) asked him about the meaning of ‘Unity of God’. The army protesting him said: “You fool! Don't you see his striking situation, couldn't you ask him a better time?!” To their surprise, Imam Ali (a.s) said to the army: “Let him talk! What the man is asking is what we want from these people.

” and then he explained to him the true meaning of monotheism.[^2] Aspects of Monotheism Monotheism can be understood in four aspects: Unity of God in His Essence Unity of God in His Divine Attributes Unity of God in His Action Unity of God in worshipping Him 1) Unity of God in His Essence Unity of God in his Essence means knowing Him as One and a Unique God. The first thing we need to know about God is the true concept of his Unity. When we say God is One, what do we really means by that?

Is it that God is One as the Sun in the solar system is one? Does it means that He is the first as in natural number ‘1' in mathematics? Or the unity of God has much more profound meaning. Numeral Unity or Unique Unity (Al-wahdatul-Adadiya or Al-wahdataul-Ahadiya) Having lived in the world of numbers many people may image the unity of God in a numerical unity which means God is number 1. Numerical unity means something is ‘one' although it is logically possible to imagine the second for it.

For instance, moon is the one and only satellite of planet Earth, however it is possible to imagine more than one satellite for it, as Mars has two satellites. If a being is in such a way that we cannot even possibly imagine another one like unto it, this is called ‘Unique Unity (Al-wahdatul-Ahadiya). As discussed in the previous chapter, God is infinite and as such there is no room even to imagine any other god in it.

(Pay attention) For instance, astronomers up until now disagree about the limits of universe whether it is infinite or finite. Some astrophysicists suggest that the universe is infinite while others propose its limitation.