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Shiavault - a Vault of Shia Islamic Books Discursive Theology Volume 1 Lesson 8: The Unity of God’s Essence and Attributes Tawḥīd or the Oneness of God is one of the most important dimensions of the propagation and teaching of the prophets of God ( ‘a ).

Whenever the Holy Qur’an gives the account of the propagation activity of such prophets as Nūḥ (Noah), Hūd, Ṣāliḥ and Shu‘ayb (Jethro) ( ‘a ), it mentions that the first message they conveyed to their respective communities is this: ﴿ اعْبُدُوا اللَّهَ مَا لَكُمْ مِنْ إِلَهٍ غَيْرُهُ ﴾ “Worship Allah!

You have no other god besides Him.” [^1] It also regards the call to monotheism as one of the objectives of the mission ( bi‘thah ) of the prophets ( ‘a ): ﴿ وَلَقَدْ بَعَثْنَا فِي كُلِّ أُمَّةٍ رَّسُولاً أَنِ اعْبُدُواْ اللّهَ وَاجْتَنِبُواْ الطَّاغُوتَ ﴾ “Certainly We raised an apostle in every nation [to preach:] ‘Worship Allah, and keep away from the Rebel’.” [^2] The special importance of this issue has prompted the scholastic theologians ( mutakallimūn ) to occasionally deal with the subject separate from other Attributes of God.

For this reason, before embarking on the discussion about the Positive and Negative Attributes of God, we shall touch on the question of tawḥīd after the discussion on the Essence and Existence of God. Since the Unity of the Divine Essence ( dhāt ) is so closely related to the Unity of the Divine Attributes ( ṣifāt ), we shall examine the two subjects together. The Unity of the Divine Essence The Unity of the Divine Essence ( tawḥīd-e dhātī ) means that the Essence of God is One or Unique.

The Oneness or Unity of the Divine Essence has two meanings: The Essence which in Itself is not in need of any cause is only God. Therefore, all essences ( dhawāt ) and existents ( mawjūdāt ) – whether they are physical or non-physical, essential ( jawharī ) or accidental ( ‘arḍī ), animate or inanimate – are possible beings, needy and effects [of a prior cause].

Hence, the Essence of God is not in need of any cause [for Itself to exist] and has utter absence of necessity for any partner or similarity. The Essence of God is not constituted by parts, and there is no sort of multiplicity and plurality in the Divine Essence.

Types of Compositeness Rational compositeness ( tarkīb ) by parts, such as the composition of quiddity ( māhiyyah ) by genus ( jins ) and differentia ( faṣl ), and the composition of possible being ( mawjūd-e mumkin ) by existence ( wujūd ) and quiddity ( māhiyyah ).

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