2:163 Al-Baqara (The Cow)

وإلهكم -أيها الناس- إله واحد متفرد في ذاته وأسمائه وصفاته وأفعاله وعبودية خلقه له، لا معبود بحق إلا هو، الرحمن المتصف بالرحمة في ذاته وأفعاله لجميع الخلق، الرحيم بالمؤمنين.

يخبر تعالى - وهو أصدق القائلين - أنه { إِلَهٌ وَاحِدٌ } أي: متوحد منفرد في ذاته, وأسمائه, وصفاته, وأفعاله، فليس له شريك في ذاته, ولا سمي له ولا كفو له, ولا مثل, ولا نظير, ولا خالق, ولا مدبر غيره، فإذا كان كذلك, فهو المستحق لأن يؤله ويعبد بجميع أنواع العبادة, ولا يشرك به أحد من خلقه, لأنه { الرَّحْمَنِ الرَّحِيمِ } المتصف بالرحمة العظيمة, التي لا يماثلها رحمة أحد, فقد وسعت كل شيء وعمت كل حي، فبرحمته وجدت المخلوقات, وبرحمته حصلت لها أنواع الكمالات، وبرحمته اندفع عنها كل نقمة، وبرحمته عرّف عباده نفسه بصفاته وآلائه, وبيَّن لهم كل ما يحتاجون إليه من مصالح دينهم ودنياهم, بإرسال الرسل, وإنزال الكتب. فإذا علم أن ما بالعباد من نعمة, فمن الله, وأن أحدا من المخلوقين, لا ينفع أحدا، علم أن الله هو المستحق لجميع أنواع العبادة, وأن يفرد بالمحبة والخوف, والرجاء, والتعظيم, والتوكل, وغير ذلك من أنواع الطاعات. وأن من أظلم الظلم, وأقبح القبيح, أن يعدل عن عبادته إلى عبادة العبيد, وأن يشرك المخلوق من تراب, برب الأرباب, أو يعبد المخلوق المدبر العاجز من جميع الوجوه, مع الخالق المدبر القادر القوي، الذي قد قهر كل شيء ودان له كل شيء. ففي هذه الآية, إثبات وحدانية الباري وإلهيته، وتقريرها بنفيها عن غيره من المخلوقين وبيان أصل الدليل على ذلك وهو إثبات رحمته التي من آثارها وجود جميع النعم, واندفاع [جميع] النقم، فهذا دليل إجمالي على وحدانيته تعالى.

يخبر تعالى عن تفرده بالإلهية وإنه لا شريك له ولا عديل له بل هو الله الواحد الأحد الفرد الصمد الذي لا إله إلا هو الرحمن الرحيم. وقد تقدم تفسير هذين الاسمين في أول الفاتحة وفي الحديث عن شهر بن حوشب عن أسماء بنت يزيد السكن عن رسول الله صلى الله عليه وسلم أنه قال اسم الله الأعظم في هذين الآيتين"وإلهكم إله واحد لا إله إلا هو الرحمن الرحيم" و"الم الله لا إله إلا هو الحي القيوم" ثم ذكر الدليل على تفرده بالإلهية بخلق السموات والأرض وما فيها وما بين ذلك مما ذرأ وبرأ من المخلوقات الدالة على وحدانيته.

When they asked him Muhammad (s) to describe his Lord the following was revealed Your God the One deserving of your worship is One God without any equal in either essence or attribute; there is no god except Him He is the Compassionate the Merciful.

When the mushrikin مشرکین ، (the associators) of Arabia heard the verse وَإِلَـٰهُكُمْ إِلَـٰهٌ وَاحِدٌ 'And your god is one God', all against their own belief, they were puzzled thinking how could there be just one single object of worship for the whole wide world. If this was a serious claim, there has to be some proof in support. That proof has been tersely encased in the present two verses.

Understanding Tauhid, the Oneness of Allah, in the wider sense:

Tauhid توحید ، the cardinal principle of Muslim faith as stated in Verse 163 has been proved repeatedly and variously, therefore, we limit ourselves at this point to a summary view of the principle as follows:

1. He is One in the state of His being, that is, there exists in the universe of His creation no entity like Him. He is without any duplicate or replica and without any equal or parallel. Such unshared and pristine is His station that He alone is deserving of being called the Wahid واحد ، the One.

2. He is One in claiming the right of being worshipped, that is, in view of the nature of His Being, the comprehensiveness of His most perfect attributes and the great charisma of His creation and its nurture, all human obedience, all ` ibadah عبادہ ، all worship has to be for Him alone.

3. He is One in being free of any conceivable composition, that is, He is free of segments and fragments, units and organs, substances and elements, atoms and particles. There is just no way He can be analyzed or divided or resolved.

4. He is One in being the anterior and the posterior, that is, He existed when nothing did and He will remain existing when nothing will. Who then, if not Him, shall be called the Wahid, the only One? (Jassas)

And your God is one God. There is no god but He, the All-Merciful, the Ever-Merciful. This is the description of the one Lord, the one Lord God and King. He is one in magnanimity and governance, one in forbearance and beautiful doing, one in generosity and peerlessness, one in loving kindness and servant-caressing. Every magnificence is the mantle of His majesty, and in that He is one. Every tremendousness and all-compellingness is the shawl of His lordhood, and in that He is one. He is one in Essence, one in attributes, one in deed and mark, one in loyalty and compact, one in gentleness and caressing, one in love and friendship. On the day of apportioning, who was there but He, the One? Before the day of apportioning who was there? That same One. After the day of apportioning, who handed over those portions? That same One. Who shows? That same One. Who adorns? That same One. He is more apparent than everything in the world of apparentness, and in this apparentness He is one. He is more hidden than anything in the world of hiddenness, and in this hiddenness He is one. O You who are more face-to-face than anything in the world! You are more hidden than the world's most hidden thing! O You who are more distant than all that the servants suppose! You are closer to the servants than the spirit's vein. How disloyal the Adamite who does not know the worth of this declaration and the exaltedness of this ascription! God says, “And your God is one God.” The wonder is not that He ascribed the servants to Himself, joined them to Himself, and said, “Surely My servants” [15:42]. The wonder is that He ascribed Himself to the servants and joined His name to their name, saying, “Your God.” This is not because His lordhood must be joined to the servant's servanthood, or that the servants are deserving of that. Rather, in generosity and loving kindness He Himself is unique and one. In magnanimity He is worthy of every generous bestowal and every gift. In the place of our Heart-taker's beauty and loveliness, we are not suited for Him-He is suited for us. And your God is one God. There was no world and no Adam. There were no tracks and no traces, there was no one in the house.