Tawhid: the Islamic teaching of the oneness of God. ‘Tawhid’ can be translated as ‘oneness’ and sometimes as ‘unity’. The teaching expresses that God is one, has no partners or equals. God alone is God. This is the basis of Muslim faith and the opposite of tawhid is ‘shirk’ (associating partners or equals with God) which is the only unforgivable sin. Tawhid is “uncompromising monotheism” (Turner) and “the defining doctrine of Islam” (Esposito). It is contained within the first pillar of Islam (the shahadah) ‘the declaration of faith’ and is what makes a Muslim (one who submits) a Muslim. Language must be used to express God’s attributes but are merely symbols and metaphors and cannot do justice to the essence of God. Ultimately, God is beyond words and all descriptions. The best depiction of the characteristics of Allah as they run through the Qur’an can be seen in Sura 112: “Say, ‘He is One God: God the Eternal, the Uncaused Cause of all being. He Begets not, and neither is He begotten; and there is nothing that could be compared with Him.” This, in essence, is tawhid. Anything that casts doubt upon Tawhid is considered ‘shirk’. Whilst ‘shirk’ is usually associated as the only unforgivable sin, there is a recognition in Islam of the distinction between lesser or minor shirk and greater or major shirk. The latter is a deliberate, distinct and clear denial of the unity of Allah. The former can be the unintentional hero ‘worship’ of an individual or the ‘worship’ of materialism. In short, any one thing that is placed on a par with Allah, whether by virtue of neglect or lack of perspective, is considered shirk. Tawhid is very much a practical tool for idbadah (worship) throughout the whole of life in and through a Muslim’s daily actions. (301 words)