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THE PERSPECTIVE OF AT-TAWHlD
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2 MUHAMMAD 'ABDUL HAQ
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at-tawhid 3
cularized and restricted in character. Because Judaism ha
restricted the universal message of monotheism by havin
nationalized monotheism and monopolised prophecy, while
Christianity has particularized the absolute and transcendent
mission of monotheism by making Jesus Divine at the cost o
humanizing God.6 It has, thus, confiscated the worship o
God by an exclusive worship of a particular Divine manifestatio
and has placed Trinity at the level of Divine Unity. In fact,
Trinitarianism, whatever may be its argument, is not pure m
notheism.7 Islam finally stands for pure and unalloyed mono
theism, first by putting absolute emphasis on Divine Unity and,
secondly, by avoiding any particularization. In any case, any
attribution of Divinity to a historical personage or event is repu
gnant to Islam, because Divine Unity is absolute and transc
nds all relativity.
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4 MUHAMMAD 'ABDUL HAQ
"They measure not God with His True measure. The ear
altogether shall be His handful on the day of Judgement an
the heavens shall be rolled up in His right hand." 12 Th
means that Judaism and Christianity have failed to evalua
the true worth of Divine Unity, the incommensurable natur
of which signifies that there is no common measure betwe
the finite and the Infinite. In Islam, even history is importan
only in so far as it refers back to the orgin or in so far as it flow
on towards the Last Day. For God is the 'First and the Last'
13 JjVl>b
It is now clear that by placing absolute emphasis on
Divine Unity, Islam seeks to realise pure monotheism with a
its essential characteristics. But the case of monotheistic trad
tion in Judaism and Christianity is quite different. For Ju
aism having emigrated and been dispersed, and Christianity
having been Romanized, Hellenized, and Germanized
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AT-TAWHID 5
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6 MUHAMMAD 'ABDUL HAQ
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AT-TAWHID 7
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8 MUHAMMAD 'ABDUL HAQ
" So set thy face to the religion of pure faith ? God's original,
upon which He originated mankind. There is no changing in
God's creation, that is the right religion ; but most men know
it not. "25
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AT-TAWHID 9
It means that the only Din or religion acceptable to Allah is
Islam. Thus every previous message from Adam down to Jesus
is nothing but submission (al-Islam) to the Unity of Allah,
although it assumed a particular form or name in a particular
place and time due to the particularist tendency inherent in diffe
rent peoples. That is why al-Qur'an invariably refers to al-Din,
i.e., religion, in a singular form. In this sense, the entire sweep
of the religious history of mankind is in reality the history of
al-Islam or a prolonged monologue of at-Tawhid.
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10 MUHAMMAD 'ABDUL HAQ
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AT-TAWHID 11
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12 MUHAMMAD 'ABDUL HAQ
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AT-TAWHID 13
al-Qur'an as the seal of the prophets Gy^1 ^~u> ). The
Qur'an is, therefore, the last and the totality of all revelations.
The most characteristic evidence for the finality of Prophet
Muhammad, (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him), is
that he appeared as a mere mortal. Never did he claim any
glory and greatness for himself or try to appear as a superman.
Because in Islam all greatness and glory exclusively belong to
Divine Unity, al-Tawhid of which the full realization is his sole
aim. Consequently the Prophet appeared as a human Prophet.
As the Qur'an says : ^ 1^ c^T Ja
"Am I aught but a mortal Messenger." 4*
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14 MUHAMMAD ABDUL HAQ
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AT-TAWHID 15
" He is the First and the Last, the Outward and the
Inward, He has knowledge of everything."47
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16 MUHAMMAD 'ABDUL HAQ
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at-tawhid 17
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18 MUHAl/MAD ABDUL HAQ
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AT-TAWHID 19
(29) F. Schuon, Dimensions of Islam, PP. 86, 69.
(30) Muhammad Asam, Islam at the Crossroads, Ashraf Publication, Lahore, 1969,
P. 27,
(31) F. Schuoh, Islam and the Perennial Philosophy, P. 24.
(32) Arberry, A.T. The Koran Interpreted, (5 : 3).
(33) Yusuf Ali, Abdullah, The Holy Quran, Ashraf Pub. Lahore, 1937, (48 : 28)
(34) Arberry. A.J. The Koran Interpreted, (8 :39).
(35) F. Schuon, The Transcendent Unity of Religion, P. 122.
(36) Siddiqui, Mazheruddin, The Quranic concept of History, Central Institute of Islamic
Research, Karachi, Pakistan, 1965, P. 182.
(37) F. Schuon, The Transcendent Unity of Religion, P. 121.
(38) Ibid,* 124.
(39) F. Schuon, Gnosis, P. 15.
(40) Arberry, A.J. The Koran Interpreted, (50 : 16).
(41) Smith, W.C. Islam in Modern History, Princeton University Press, 1957, pp. 15,16,17
; (42) Arberry, A.J., The Koran Interpreted, (17 : 93)
(43) F. Schuon, Islam and the Perennial Philosophy, P. 28.
(44) Badi '-UZ-Zaman, FurOj Anfer, Ahadith Matlmawi, Tehran University, Pub. (1347
Solar) P. 39.
(45) F. Schuon, Light on the Ancient worlds Trans, by Lord Northbourne, (London 1965),
P. 141.
(46) Arberry, A.J The Koran Interpreted, (31 : 28).
(47) Arberry, A.J. The Koran Interpreted, (57 : 3).
(48) F. Schuon, The Transcendent Unity of Religions, pp. 129, 130.
(49) Arberry, A.J., The Koran Interpreted, (3: 83).
(50) Nasr,S.H., An Introduction to Islamic cosmological Doctrines, (Cambridge, 1964)
pp. 4, 5.
And Islamic Science, And Illustrated Study, World of Islam Festival Pub. Company
Ltd. London, 1976, pp. 4, 5, 6.
(51) Titus Burckhardt, Perennial Values in Islamic Act. Studies in Comparative religion,
(Summer 1967) pp. 139, 141.
(52) T. Burckhardt, Arab or Islamic Art. Studies in Comparat Religion, (Winter 1971)
P. 23.
(53) F. Schuon, Gnosis, PP. 17,18. And Cf. Ernst Haeckel The Riddle of the Universe,
Trans, by Joseph Mecabe Walts & Co., London, Thinker's Library, 4th Impression,
1937, PP. 223, 34.
(54) F. Schuon, Understanding Islam PP. 106, 107.
(55) Arberry, A.J. The Koran Interpreted, (10 : 61).
(56) F. Schuon, Understanding Islam, P. 154.
(57) Badi'-UZ-Zaman, Furuj Anfer, Ahadith Mathnawi, P. 26.
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