Lesson video

Hello, and welcome students to our learning today.

My name is Mr. Latif once again.

In today's learning, we'll be looking at the concept of Tawhid, which is found in Sunni six articles of faith, but also in the five rules of Usul ad-Din of the Shi'a tradition.

Now Tawhid is a really, really, really important part of understanding Islam.

And I would say, without understanding Tawhid, we can't really understand or grasp what the concept and teachings of Islam are.

So there's five things that we need.

As always, just a reminder, you will need your exercise book or some paper, a black or blue pen, a different coloured pen for any corrections, those attentive ears, and that curious brain as always.

So let's get into our learning for today.

Okay, and welcome to our learning for today.

Your title is Tawhid, and today's learning will be looking at the following.

So to understand why Tawhid is the most important belief within Islam, and also to consider the influence that Tawhid has on the life of a Muslim today.

So a really interesting and a very important lesson today.

So let's get into it.

So just a reminder of those things that you will need.

If you don't have them, this is a good opportunity for you to pause the video to ensure that you have these things ready.

Now, once you have the equipment, let's get started.

The where and when is the first two questions that I want us to consider when we look at the concept of Tawhid.

Now here, oh, I always get it wrong with this, this side, here we have in the Arabic, the term Allah.

Now, Allah is a term that Muslims use to refer to God.

So Muslims believe that Tawhid is something that has been revealed to humanity by the prophets, firstly, through the prophet, Adam, up until the final prophet, and messenger of humankind, which is the prophet Muhammad.

So all of these prophets and all of these individuals were given the message of Tawhid.

Now what's really important when we look at Tawhid, is that the revelations were given to a number of different prophets.

And this is something that we'll be looking at in our learning in the next few weeks when we look at the Holy Books.

So what is Tawhid, and how can Muslims understand what Tawhid is, as well? Well, in Islam, Allah has 99 names and characteristics, which help Muslims understand the very nature of God.

Now, as you can see from the image on the side, just here, once again, always this way, Muslims do not draw images of Allah.

And this has to do with a key thing that we'll be looking at today, which is a shirk.

And shirk is a major sin within Islam, which is associating God with anything else, with drawing, or depicting God as well.

So, Tawhid is a very important part of the Islamic tradition.

It has been revealed to humankind through the prophets.

And it starts with being revealed to the first of creation, according to Muslims which is that of Adam.

But what is Tawhid? Well Tawhid, in it's most simple explanation, is the oneness and the unity of God.

So a key thing here, the oneness and the unity of God.

God is not to be associated with anything else.

God is not to be worshipped beside anything else.

God is one.

God is eternal.

God is the creator.

God has no beginning nor end.

The oneness of God here is extremely important, and we can consider and look back at our previous learning, can't we? We can remember and remind ourselves of the corners of Tawhid, such as prophet Ibrahim, and such as prophet Muhammad.

During their lifetime, society had gone from having it's original message with prophet Adam of Tawhid to later on to polytheism.

And they were restorers of Tawhid during their lifetime.

So Muslims believe that Allah is one.

He's free from partners and association with other gods.

And these other gods are seen as false gods according to Muslims. They are not the true God.

The only true God is Allah and Allah alone.

So their belief in Tawhid is their belief that can be found in the Shahadah.

Now, when we look at Islam and practises, the Shahadah is one of the five pillars of Islam.

Now the Shahadah is the testimony of faith.

So this is something which is repeated in the ears of a newborn.

And also it is something that a Muslim should say during their lifetime.

And it should be the last thing they say before they pass away.

So the Shahadah in English is a declaration of faith, which when translated, states the following, "There is no deity but Allah, and Muhammad is his messenger." So in Arabic, So this is a really important thing that Muslims say.

And it's a declaration of faith.

Not just saying it makes you Muslim but it's having your intention and believing in it.

So this is a key thing, it's a key part of faith.

Tawhid is a key part of a Muslim's faith and a Muslim's belief.

So as mentioned before, Tawhid, it's one of the six articles of faith alongside Prophethood, Angels, Holy Scriptures, Day of Judgement , and Predestination.

And these six articles are something that we will be studying for the next few weeks.

So, so far we've looked at when Tawhid was revealed and what Tawhid is.

Tawhid and the Qur'an.

So as mentioned at the start of the lesson, Allah is known to have 99 names and attributes.

Now there's a really interesting idea that says actually Allah has a hundred, but the hundredth name is only known to the Camel, which is quite interesting.

But Allah has revealed 99 names and attributes and characteristics to mankind.

And many of these attributes and characteristics can be found within the Qur'an.

So, in the Qur'an and the verses in the Qur'an and then chapters of Qur'an, we can find the glorious names of God according to Muslims. So we have a verse here in Arabic.

Let's see if I get it right? Yes, there we go.

Yeah, I've gone the right way for once.

So this verse here, "In the name of Allah, the most Magnificent, the most Merciful." And we have two names under there, Al-Rahman and Al-Rahmeen.

So the most magnificent, and the most merciful.

Now what's really important and interesting here, if when we look at Tawhid, can we see before the characteristic or attribute, there is the title, "The".

Now that's really important for Muslims. It's this idea that God is the most merciful, the most magnificent, the judge, the just, the kind, the creator, the evolver.

These are some names that we can find within the 99 Names of Allah.

So, if humans, we can have some mercy, we can show some beneficence to other people, but we don't necessarily always show that.

So there's a really important thing here, that God is the, the all, which is really important.

God owns that title and that God is the most.

Now this is really important when Muslims respond to God, in terms of praise, because they may call upon God.

They may say, "Oh Allah, the most kind, "show me kindness in my life.

"Oh, Allah, the most merciful, have mercy upon me." So it's this idea that Muslims needs to call upon God and his characteristics because they need those things from God.

God is to provider.

Now at this point of the feature, in a moment I would like for you to pause just after my instructions.

So in a moment, you're going to open up this resource sheet, which is titled "What is Tawhid?".

Now within this resource sheet, there is a very important verse from the Qur'an, which can find at the end of the Qur'an.

Now this is a very significant and important verse because it really emphasises and shows evidence of what Tawhid is.

So your first task is the following.

On that resource sheet that you have, in the middle will be the verse from the Qur'an.

And on one side, you have four different statements.

I would like for you to either draw arrows and match them up with certain parts of the verse, or you can just write them again and put them at certain parts.

That's the first thing I would like for you to do.

And afterwards, there is a fill in the gaps task, which all you students already know how much I enjoy having as part of your learning to test what you already know.

So for this task, I would like to give you 10 minutes.

So at this part of the video, could I please ask for you to pause the video and to open up the resource sheet titled, "What is Tawhid?" and we will go over the answers in 10 minutes.

Okay, welcome back.

I really hope you enjoyed that.

Learning a bit of scriptural evidence can never go wrong.

We have a bit of that in our RE lessons.

So let's look at this verse, Surah 112, which is a very, very important verse that many Muslims will recite during their praise, will know it by heart.

So say he is Allah, the One; Allah the Eternal, the Absolute.

He begetteth not, nor is He begotten.

And there is none like unto Him.

So hopefully on your resource sheet, you are able to use as more guidance of these terms that you may have not heard before.

So you should have it matched up like the following.

Say, He is Allah, the One.

This really emphasises that he is without beginning or end.

The Eternal, that God is not limited by time or place, according to Muslims, and the Absolute.

He begetteth not.

So this really rejects the Christian idea of the Trinity.

That God is the father, Jesus as the son and the Holy spirit.

Muslims do not believe in the concept of the Trinity, which is really important.

They believe that Allah is one and Allah does not come in any different form, whether if that is of a human or whether that is of a spirit as found in the personhood of the Trinity.

And there is none like unto him.

So this tells Muslims that we cannot think of Allah in human terms. So there's this idea that Allah as a God cannot be comprehended.

Yeah, the human mind can not really necessarily comprehend how great God is, but God is able to describe himself to humanity so we can grasp of this small understanding.

But there's nothing like God.

Yeah, we cannot make a comparison of X to God, yeah, or Y to God.

So let's see how well you did with this task at the bottom of filling the gaps.

Now, if there's any corrections that you need to make, please ensure you make them now as we just go over them together.

So Muslims believe in Tawhid, which means the oneness and the unity of Allah.

Muslims believe that Allah has 99 attributes and characteristics, which can be found in the Holy Book known as the Qur'an.

A good example of this can be found in the Bismillah prayer, which tells Muslims that Allah is the most beneficent and the most merciful.

So two qualities that we have there of Allah.

So here we have a really important and interesting question.

What is Islamic art like if Muslims cannot show Allah? So as mentioned just a moment ago, Muslims do not have images of God.

I mean, kind of link this to the idea that there nothing onto like him.

So in Islam, we have shirk.

Now shirk is the major sin.

This is one sin that cannot be forgiven by Allah.

And this is the sin of associating Allah with partners and the sin of idolatry.

So this is depicting God through statues, images, and idols.

Now we know already this was occurred during the life of prophet Ibrahim, not by him, but by many people that lived in his society.

And we remember he destroyed the idols.

And he destroyed the idol to show to people that the idols are not the true God.

Now, as we mentioned before, from the verse Surah 112, God is beyond human understanding.

Therefore it's seen as sinful and disrespectful to contain God in images and idols.

Yeah, because you are then containing God to a certain limit and God is not a being who is limited.

So this will lead to people worshipping these images and idols rather than worshipping God.

However, some Muslim artists, such as Ahmed Mater, that we're going to look at in a second, they try to show Muslim beliefs of Allah through the use of art.

Now I always get asked this really interesting question.

Mr. Latif, if Muslims are praying towards the Kaaba and they're bowing down and prostrating, does that mean they're worshipping the Kaaba? Now according to Muslims, no, that is a wrong thing to say.

The Kaaba is the Qibla.

It's the direction in which Muslims have been told to pray.

And it's known as the House of God.

And the reason Muslims pray towards that place is the concept of uniformity and unity, that all Muslims are praying towards the same way and this idea of submission, rather than the idea that they are worshipping the Kaaba.

So that's a really important thing just to clarify there.

If you're thinking, oh, you know, the black, you may see it as a black cube, the House of God, the Kaaba, is not something that Muslims worship.

They worship Allah and Allah alone.

So now we have a second task.

And for this task, I'd like you to open up the resource sheet to title "Tawhid in Art" in just a moment.

And for this task, once again, another 10 minutes, please.

I would like for you to look at the two images.

So on your sheets, you will have two images and then some questions in the middle.

Now, what I'd like for you to do is to answer three questions on this sheet.

Now, just before you pause the video, just a reminder, if you are a bit stuck, I have this box just below me here, which will help you with some parts of your learning.

So remember, Muslims go and perform the Hajj pilgrimage.

Now the Hajj pilgrimage is one of the five pillars of Islam that we will be looking at later on in the course of Islam practises, in which they visit the Kaaba, which I just mentioned a moment ago, which is the House of God.

And we know already prophet Ibrahim was told to construct the Kaaba.

Now they go around the Kaaba many times as part of a ritual practise.

And it's also the direction when they pray, which is known as the Qibla.

So hopefully that information there will help you with this task, which says "Tawhid in Art".

So 10 minutes, and I'll see you back in 10 minutes with hopefully some fascinating and excellent answers, Feedback time.

How did you do? Hopefully you really enjoyed that task.

Now that image by Ahmed Mater is definitely one of my favourite images and it's an image that I have in my classroom and students always ask me about it.

So I think it's an absolutely amazing, fascinating image.

So how does the artist in the image on the right show the concept of Tawhid? So Ahmed Mater is trying to show Tawhid through the use of a magnetic cube.

Now this magnetic cube, as we can see from the image, is trying to attract all the small magnetic filings.

And these represent two things.

The small magnetic cube is meant to represent the Kaaba and the magnetic fillings are meant to represent the Muslims praying and also doing to love.

And as you can see from the image, it's all attracted.

So it's the idea that they're all attracted to the unity and the oneness of Allah and they're all submitting, as well.

So an absolutely fascinating image there of how the artist tries to portray the concept and the belief of Tawhid without drawing an image of Allah.

So what do you notice in terms of the similarity with the live photo of the Kaaba on the left hand side? So hopefully you should have had this answer.

And if there's anything that you need to add or make any corrections, now is the best time to do so as you're watching and listening to me.

So it's similar to the live photo of the Kaaba, as Muslim pilgrims, when performing the Hajj, have to do the Tawaf, which is circulating the Kaaba.

And this also shows obedience and submission to Allah.

So it's really interesting how the artist tries to ensure that he's showing the live representation of the pilgrimage of the Hajj in that image, as well.

So what do you think the artist is trying to portray? So hopefully you had an answer like this, which kind of links back to the first part of our learning.

He is trying to portray that Muslims submit to the oneness of Allah and Allah alone through that image.

So an absolutely fascinating way that the artist has tried to show Tawhid without committing shirk or without drawing images of God, which will be seen as disrespectful for those of the Muslim faith.

So how can Muslims know Allah? So if they can't see God, how can they know God? So Muslims can understand Allah through three different ways.

Now there's the Dhikr.

Now Dhikr is a form of a prayer, so Dhikr is remembering God.

And as you can see, here we go, I've got it right.

Yeah, I'm on a roll at the moment, this image here.

So prayer beads.

And prayer beads are something that we find in many different religions.

So prayer beads, known as Thasbih, and these prayer beads, what Muslims do is they recite the names of God.

So from a very young age, Muslims may use a Thasbih and do Dhikr, or they may use their hands as well, which is quite common to remember and to recite the names of God.

So from a very young age, they may be learning the names of Allah, whether it's in the Qur'an or whether it's at a Sunday school or Madrasa, or whether it's with their parents.

So it may be at Al-Rahman or Al-Rahmeen that we looked at already, or maybe Al-Bari or Al-Latif or Al-Malik.

So they recite these names so they can know what God is, what these qualities of God is, God the Evolver, God the Creator, God the Kind, God the Just, God the Merciful.

So Dhikr is a form that kind of links here to the 99 names and attributes of Allah.

And many Muslims during their lifetime may go and reflect upon these names and attributes.

What does this tell them about God, these descriptions? But it's also a really important part of Allah's nature, Allah being transcendent and Allah being immanent.

So these are two really key things that we learned in RE, especially when we look at the concept of God in many different religions.

So it may be something that you've learned already in your learning of Judaism and Christianity, or maybe something that you learned today for the first time and you come across it again in your GCSE or in your learning across school.

So let's look at what Allah's transcendence and Allah's immanence is.

At this point, you're probably thinking, "What? "Another resource sheet?" Yes, indeed.

So resource sheet three and four is something that you're going to open up in a moment titled, "Allah's Transcendent and Immanent Nature." Now this task I think is going to take you 20 minutes.

Yeah, so we're coming nearly to the end of our learning, but this is the big, big part.

So please ensure that you are focusing well, and you're going to finish off on a roll.

So you have 20 minutes for this task.

And now I'd like for you to look at the definitions of transcendent and a definition of immanent on resource sheet three.

Now on resource sheet three as well, what you will need to do is then to colour code the correct boxes and to match them up with the definitions.

So there's going to be a number of different boxes and they are either referring to Allah as transcendent or Allah as immanent.

So ensure that you're matching them up with the definition.

Now, after that, resource sheet four.

Well on that, there's a fine of fill in the gaps, which will hopefully consolidate your learning on the idea of God being immanent and God being transcendent.

And then there's a bit of a personal reflection, which is really important for you to do.

This question here, do you think you can ever know God? Now if you write a yes or no answer, that's not good enough.

I'd really like to know your reasoning.

So really, really important skill in RE is being able to justify your opinion, being able to give reasoning.

So write down whether you agree or disagree with the statement and assure you've given your reasoning there, as well.

So at this part of the video, could you please pause and I'll see you in 20 minutes.

Welcome back.

Hopefully you enjoyed that task and spent 20 minutes on it.

So let's go over this together.

So immanent, meaning close at hand, present in the universe, within the world or part of human life, and transcendent meaning beyond the universe, separate and outside of the world.

So I'm going to go over the transcendent ones first and then the immanent.

So if Allah is outside of time, this means that he's beyond the universe, separate and outside of the world.

If he's outside and beyond everything that he created, it means he's transcendent.

If Allah is beyond comparison of all other living things, it means he is transcendent.

If he's eternal and absolute, these qualities, God is transcendent 'cause the universe and the world are contingent.

No vision can grasp him, but his grasp is over all vision.

He is above all comprehension yet is acquainted with all things.

So this is a key thing here that his vision sees everything.

So he is transcendent.

He is the one and only eternal.

Once again, transcendent.

Rules and regulates all affairs, transcendent.

The power behind the universe, transcendent, and beyond human reasoning and understanding, transcendent.

Now from this, we also have some verses in the Qur'an, which shows that God is also immanent at the same time.

So for some Muslims, they may say I feel the presence Allah close to me as I live my life.

This would mean that Allah is immanent, Allah knows all of humankind, but he's within the world or close at hand.

Allah is closer to us than our jugular vein, which is in our neck.

This shows that he is close and present within the universe.

And we find this in the verse of the Qur'an which says we are closer to him than his jugular vein, which shows that God is very close to his creation.

When my servants ask you, oh Muhammad, about me, I am close.

I listen to every prayer.

So this is really important.

It tells us that God is immanent once again.

And Allah is closer to each human being than their the heart beats.

So hopefully you've got those right.

If there's any corrections that you need to make, this would be a good time for you to pause the video and just ensure that your colour coding is all correct.

Now let's look at your second task.

So you should have had the following key terms, which are bold and in green.

And I'll read them out as well.

Muslims believe that Allah is both immanent and transcendent.

Allah is outside the limits of this world, including the rules of nature or time.

For example, the Qur'an states in Surah 112, "He is Allah, the one and only Allah, "the Eternal, the Absolute." This passage explains how Allah was neither born, nor is he the father to any other creation.

Allah is beyond human comparison with any other living thing.

And at the same time, Muslims believe Allah is immanent, which is to say that Allah is close to human life and active in human affairs.

The Qur'an also states we are closer to him than his jugular vein.

Allah knows everything that is done and said.

Nothing is hidden from him.

So really interesting there in terms of how Muslims understand God.

So, although there's no images of God, they can still understand God through his very nature.

And that's really important, wasn't it? That final task, in terms of what God is to Muslims, how he is close, how he knows of what we do, which is a key thing I'd like for you to examine in this final task for today.

So we're now going to be looking at influencing.

And the key thing here is about behaviour.

So how would the influence of the belief of Tawhid have on Muslims today? So thinking about God's qualities, thinking about God being the merciful, the most compassionate, the kind, the just, the evolver, the creator, the punisher.

Thinking about these qualities that God has, what is it in terms of the actions that Muslims would perform, and what is it in terms of the actions that they would not perform? How is it that the belief of Tawhid would influence them in terms of their behaviour? So for this task, I would like for you to write down that question, what influence would the belief of Tawhid have on Muslims today? And we will come back together in five minutes, which is really where everyone, the final stretch now.

Let's finish it off.

So welcome back and let's go over these answers.

So you could have had any of the following answers.

You could have had how God is all knowing and all seeing.

This influences Muslims to do good actions.

So to pray to God more, to give to charity, to be respectful to the elders.

You could have had also had if God is all seeing and all hearing, that Muslims would restrain from doing bad things.

So they would restrain from stealing, from lying, from doing sinful actions, to be rude to people.

Yeah, because God is all knowing and God is all seeing.

God knows the actions that we do.

You could have also had how if God is eternal and the one, how God is all powerful and God has mercy, that Muslims would pray to God and they would ask for his mercy.

They'd ask for his mercy to be forgiven for their sins on the day of judgement.

So really interesting then in terms of the links that Tawhid has to behaviour of Muslims today.

And that summarises our learning today on Tawhid.

So just a quick summary as always.

Tawhid is one of the most important aspects of Islam.

Tawhid in its most simple explanation is the oneness and the unity of Allah and Allah alone.

Shirk is associating God with anything else, which is a major sin, which goes against Tawhid.

Muslims do not draw images of God 'cause drawing images and having idols of God is limiting God.

Muslims pray to God and God alone.

And Allah is known to have 99 characteristics and attributes, which can be found in the Qur'an, such as the Bismillah prayer and Surah 112 that we saw today.

So really, really appreciate your learning today.

As always, you can share your work with Oak National.

And if you'd like to, please ask a parent or a carer to share your work on Instagram, Facebook, or Twitter, tagging @OakNational and #LearnwithOak.

And as always, I would, Mr. Latif, would love to see your work on Tawhid.

And on that note, I will see you next week.

Take care.