RENAISSANCE MAY 2021

33 Monthly Renaissance May 2021 Faith & Beliefs Essence of Monotheism Am ī n A ḥ san I ṣ l āḥī Preamble Prior to deliberating upon the arguments for taw ḥī d , it is important to keep some matters before us as preamble. First Addressees of the Qur’ ā n As mentioned in the “Essence of Polytheism”, no group among the initial addressees of the Qur’ ā n was in denial of God. There were the Ishmaelites, who not only believed in God, but also accepted many of His high attributes. Their denial was not on the basis of denying His existence but it was due to believing or not believing certain things which either called for refuting the attributes (or their requirements) of God, or demanded the association of others in these attributes or their requirements. Then there were the Israelites, who were believers in God and all of His attributes, their requirements and consequences, but had become involved in such distortions of belief and practice that were totally contradictory to their basic beliefs and that called for either denial or polytheism. Thus, the Qur’ ā n has addressed them not as deniers of God, but having accepted their basic beliefs, has merely refuted those things which opposed these beliefs and which they had accumulated within themselves. This was the situation not only with the initial addressees of the Qur’ ā n but also with ancient nations of the world, as discussed in “Essence of Polytheism.” Among nations of the past, the concept of a creator is found in some form or the other. This concept, however, is surrounded by so many superstitions, that it has neither provided any light to resolve the riddle of the universe nor has it strengthened the foundations of faith and practice. It is true that denial of God, which is denial of that