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Is believing in Allah as multiple entities a form of shirk?

plz help me.I’m feeling very distressed when I heard that “Allah” may not be a single entity.He can be “More than one God existing & working as One”.the word “Tauhid” comes from the root “Wahhad” which means “to unite as one”.Is that really so?Isn’t believing ALLAH as a number of Gods/Powers acting as “One” a kind of “Shirk”?I also heard that “Qul hu Allahu Ahadun” in Sura Ikhlas means “Say, He Allah is one of” which leaves a chance of his being the combination of several Gods acting as a single One who is self-sufficient.Or is it that the “99 Gods” call them “Allah” a a whole?plz help me.I’m feeling very confused.
Answer
Bismillah

Al-jawab billahi at-taufeeq (the answer with Allah’s guidance)

Meaning of Tawheed:

Literally, Tawhid (divine one-ness) means to declare something to be one and to know it is one.

Technically, it means to rid the divine essence (Al Dhat al Ilahiyah) of all that is concieved by the intellect and all delusional imaginations and fancies of the mind.

The meaning of “Allah being one” is to negate the divisibility of His essence and to negate any similarity or partner in His essence and attributes.
(Imam Abu Hanifa’s Al Fiqh Al Akbar Explained Pg.63)

Some people translate Tawheed of Allah as “unity of Allah”, this is a dangerously erroneous translation, which may lead to blasphemy. Tawheed entails knowing The Creator, by His attributes of Perfection indicating His absolute uniqueness and Oneness.

Allah Ta’ala says,

Say,”The truth is that Allah is one. Allah is Besought of all, needing none. He neither begot anyone, nor was he begotten. And equal to Him has never been anyone.” (112:1-4, The meanings of the noble Quran, By Mufti Taqi Uthmani)

“Allah is One, not in a numerical sense, but in the sense that He has no partner – “Say: He is God The One; God the Samad (The One who is not in need of anything for anything, yet everything is in need of Him for everything); He begets not, nor was He begotten; and there is nothing comparable to Him.”

(Fiqhul Akbar, Chapter: The basics of Monotheism (Tawheed))

“One” is used sometimes to indicate half of two, this is the first (counting) number of the numerical system. That is the meaning of “one” in terms of the number one. Sometimes “one” is used to mean that an entity has no partner, no equal, and no peer in its essence or attributes (and that it is unique). (According to this meaning), Allah is “one” in that He has no partner, no equal, and no peer in His essence or attributes.
(Imam Abu Hanifa’s Al Fiqh Al Akbar Explained Pg.72)

And Only Allah Ta’ala Knows Best.

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Moulana Qamruz Zaman
London, UK

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This answer was collected from MuftiSays.com, based in London (UK). It is one of the fruits of Darul Uloom London. Many ‘ulama are involved in answering the Q&A on the site, including: Shaikul Hadeeth Mufti Umar Farooq Sahib, Mufti Saifur Rahman Sahib, Mufti Abdullah Patel Sahib, Maulana Qamruz Zaman Sahib, Mufti Abu Bakr Karolia Sahib.

Tags: fiqh, Imam Abu Hanifa, Quran, shirk

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