The concept of tawhid is the very essence of Islam. It refers to
the affirmation of the Oneness of God. It is the most important
metaphysical concept and answers the ancient riddle of the
cosmos: how did it all come into being? Indeed, the Islamic
declaration, la ilaha illa Allah - There is none worthy of
worship but God - must be understood and asserted before one can
become a Muslim. The Koran teaches that the prophets were sent
by God to remind all nations of this truth and to urge them to
avoid the grave sin of shirk, the association of partners with
God. It is no coincidence that Moses and Jesus taught that
observing the shema, the Hebrew equivalent of tawhid, was the
most important commandment of all (Deuteronomy 6:4, Mark 12:29).
In the Islamic world view, all beliefs contrary to tawhid
represent a falling away from that original monotheism. All
creation is thus properly regarded as standing on this side of
the line dividing the natural from the transcendent. Islam's
insistence on the absolute transcen