Here, we naturally assume the principle of the existence of...

Here, we naturally assume the principle of the existence of God and His Attributes to be axiomatic, and base our argument on this principle. Those who reject the existence of God and do not believe in some of His Attributes have to refer to scholastic theology [ ‘ilm al-kalam ] because our present discussion is not scholastic. It is related to political philosophy and, therefore, we cannot engage in scholastic discussions here.

Divine sovereignty and legislative Lordship The political system of the Islamic government stands on the edifice of God’s sovereignty which necessitates the legislative Lordship [ rububiyyat-e tashri‘i ] of God. In explaining this point, we have to note that undoubtedly, monotheism [ tawhid ] is the slogan of not only Islam but all the religions with heavenly origins.

The formulae “There is no god but Allah” [ La ilaha illallah ] which has been the prime slogan of the Prophet ( s ) also exists in all other religions, albeit distortions have taken place. The question now raised is: What does “ La ilaha illallah ” mean? Some think that tawhid means that a person should believe that the Creator and Sustainer of this universe is the One and Only Allah. But does tawhid only mean that there is no creator except Allah?

Is the Oneness of Allah in creation and nourishment the only basis of monotheism in Islam? In a series of talks I had some years ago at this same venue under the theme “Monotheism in the Ideological and Value Systems of Islam”, I stated that tawhid does not only mean that a person has to believe in the Oneness of the Creator of the universe. The monotheism accepted by Islam is not only confined to this meaning. The polytheists of Mecca also believed in ‘monotheism in creation’.