The Meaning of Kalimat at-Tawhid

The Meaning of Kalimat at-Tawhid
Question: What is the meaning of Kalimat at-Tawhid?

ANSWER

When one becomes a Muslim, first and foremost, it is obligatory for one  to know and believe in the meaning of the phrase La ilaha ill-Allah Muhammadun Rasul-Allah. This phrase is called Kalimat at-Tawhid. The brief meaning of it is as follows: There is no god except Allah and Muhammad 'alaihis-salam is His Messenger.  

Ahl as-Sunnah scholars explain the meaning of the Kalimat at-Tawhid as follows: 

Human beings were nonexistent. They were created later. They have one Creator. He is the One who has created everything. The Creator is one. He does not have a partner or a likeness. There is no second He. He has been ever-existent; His existence did not have a beginning. He will be ever-existent; there is no end to His existence. He will not cease to exist. His existence is always necessary. His nonexistence is impossible. His existence is of Himself; He does not need any means. There is nothing that will not need Him. He is the One who creates everything and makes them go on existing. He is not material or a thing. He is not at a place or in any substance. He does not have a shape and cannot be measured. It cannot be asked how He is; when we say "He," none of the things which occur to the mind or which we can imagine is He. He is unlike these. All of them are His creatures. He is not like His creatures. 

He is the Creator of everything that occurs to mind, every illusion, and every delusion. He is not above, below, or at one side. He does not have a place. Every being is below the 'Arsh. And the 'Arsh is under His Power, under His Omnipotence. He is above the 'Arsh. Yet this does not mean that the 'Arsh carries Him. The 'Arsh exists with His favor and in His Omnipotence. He is the same now as He was in eternity, in eternal past. He will always be the same in the everlasting future as He had been before creating the 'Arsh. No change occurs in Him. 

He has His own Attributes. His Attributes called As-Sifat ath-Thubutiyya are eight: Life, Omniscience, Hearing, Seeing, Omnipotence, Will, Speech, and Creativeness. No change ever occurs in these attributes of His. Change implies deficiency. He has no deficiency or defect. Though He does not resemble any of His creatures, it is possible to know Him in this world as much as He makes Himself known and to see Him in the Hereafter. Here He is known without realizing how He is, and there He will be seen in an incomprehensible way.

Allahu ta'ala sent prophets to His human creatures. Through these great people, He showed His human creatures the deeds that bring happiness and those which cause ruination. The most exalted prophet is Muhammad 'alaihis-salam, the Last Prophet. He was sent as the Prophet for every person, pious or irreligious, for every place, and for every nation on the earth. He is the Prophet for all human beings, angels, and genies. In every corner of the world, everybody has to follow him and adapt himself/herself to this exalted Prophet. (Kimya-i Sa'adat)

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