Oneness of God means believing in the non-existence of any god except Allah; reciting the statement “La ilaha illallah-There is no god other than Allah.”

Oneness immediately reminds us of the statement “la ilaha illallah.” This is called the ‘statement of oneness’ and means that there is no real god to worship except Allah.

Various comparisons have been made for this world of creation. One of them is “the palace of Universe.” Therefore, oneness is to know the sultan of this palace as only one and not attributing any partners to Him.

The roof and floor of the palace of the Universe cannot belong to different entities. The rugs, lamps, and other furniture of this palace cannot have been brought from another world and then assembled here. Everything in the palace, and most importantly every guest are born in this palace. Let us look at a flower: From earth to sun, everything has a share in it. And let us examine the human body: Elements, which are the basic stones of this palace, are present in it, too.

Mountains are established over plains like armchairs, not brought from anther place, but rising within the plain. Fruits are holding to branches, not imported from another land, but coming out of the tree.

The offspring is on the lap of its mother, not brought from another land, but growing up in her womb. The sun is a lamp to this palace, not purchased from another place, but created together with the heavens.

In this world, innumerable entities are united and between them bounds are set and this world of creatures is given the shape of a palace. People reflecting this way recite the word of oneness and know this palace solely as the property and creature of God.

While the statement of oneness means there is no real god to worship except Allah, as the name ‘Allah’ encompasses all of the divine names, it also bears such meanings as “There is no Giver of life except Allah; there is no Creator except Allah; there is no Possessor except Allah.” Thus in this oneness are hidden onenesses as many as divine names.

Some of our knowledgeable people divide oneness into two parts. According to this classification, it is oneness in knowledge to know God as one and to know that each oneness in the Universe shows Him. On the other hand, oneness in practice is the domination of the faith of oneness in the practices of man with a complete domination.

The verse in the Surah Al-Fatiha-the Opening: “You do we worship, and Your aid we seek.” gives the lesson of practical oneness. We only turn to the direction You show us, and only before You do we prostrate. We only deal with the things You are pleased with and cherish only the loves you are pleased with.

Just like the one worshipping, only one God avoids the misfortune of worshipping false gods, the slave who seeks help only from Him also avoids pursuing causes and being the slave of phenomena, and takes refuge in his Lord with complete confidence. This is both a sacred pleasure and a supreme power.

As a matter of fact, it is through attaining maturity in both oneness in knowledge and oneness in practice that we can be a mature believer.

Oneness is not limited to these meanings. There is also oneness in His attributes, names and deeds. These can be summarized in the following way ‘The oneness of deeds’: To know that causes have no effect in the creation of commodity and its management, to believe that the sole creator is God alone.

The oneness of attributes: to know that such qualities as knowledge, power, will that are attached to the creatures are also the creatures of God and not to attribute them independent entity. The oneness of Being: To know all the creatures as non-existent in comparison to His Being and Presence.

Giving life and death, bestowing cure, leading to the right path, providing food are each separate deeds. These nearly infinite deeds depend on the same attributes. These attributes are ‘life, knowledge, power, hearing, sight, will, speech, creation.’ So it is oneness of deeds to know that all the eternal deeds that function in the world of creation come from these divine attributes. And to ascribe these attributes to just one Entity is the oneness of being.