Foreword

Reward for the Monotheists and Gnostics

Divine Unity and‬‬ Negation of Anthropomorphism

The Definition of One, Divine Unity, and the Believer in Divine Unity

The Commentary of Chapter 112 the Unity [al-Tawhid]

The Meaning of Divine Unity and Divine Justice

The Mighty and High is Devoid of both Body and Image

The Blessed and Exalted is a Thing

What is Related Regarding the Vision

Omnipotence

Knowledge

Attributes of Essence and Attributes of Actions

The Commentary of verse 88 of Chapter 28 the Narrative [al-Qasas] Everything is perishable but He.

The Commentary of Verse 75 of Chapter 38 Sad O Iblis! What prevented you that you should do obeisance to him whom I created with My Two Hands?

The Commentary of Verse 42 of Chapter 68 Qalam - On the Day when there shall be a severe affliction, and they shall be called upon to make obeisance

The Commentary of Verse 35 of Chapter 24 the Light [al-Nur]

The Commentary of Verse 67 of Chapter 9 the Repentance [al-Tawbah] They have forsaken Allah, so He has forsaken them.

The Commentary of Verse 67 of Chapter 39 the Companies [al-Zumar] And the whole Earth shall be in His Grip on the Day of Resurrection and the Heavens rolled up in his Right Hand.

The Commentary of Verse 15 of Chapter 83 the Defrauders [al-Mutaffifin] Nay! Most surely they shall on that day be debarred from their Lord.

The Commentary of Verse 22 of Chapter 89 the Daybreak [al-Fajr] And your Lord comes and (also) the angels in ranks.

The Commentary of Verse 210 of Chapter 2 the Cow [al-Baqarah] They do not wait aught but that Allah should come to them in the shadow of clouds along with the angels.

Meaning of Scoffing, Mockery, Planning and Deception of Allah

The Meaning of Allah’s Side

The Meaning of the Waistband

Meaning of the Eye, the Ear, and the Tongue of Allah

The Meaning of Allah’s Hand is Tied Up

The Meaning of His Pleasure and His Anger

The Meaning of Allah’s Breathing of Spirit And I breathed into him of My Sprit.

Negation of Space, Time, Stillness, Motion, Descending, Ascending, and Transference from Allah

The Names of Allah, the Exalted,‬‬ and the Difference between their Meanings and the Meaning of the‬‬ Names of Creation

What is the Qur’an?

The Meaning of “In the Name of Allah, the Most Compassionate, the Most Merciful”

The Explanation of‬‬ the Letters of the Alphabet.

The Explanation of the Letters of the Alphabet According to Their Numerical Value

The Explanation of the Words of the Calls to Prayer

The Commentary of Guidance, Misguidance, Direction, and Forsaking is from Allah, the Exalted

The Refutation of the Dualists & the Atheists

There is no‬‬ god but the One God

The‬‬ Remembrance of Allah’s Greatness, Mighty be His Glory

The Subtlety of Allah, the Blessed, the Exalted

The Least Required for Recognizing Diving Unity

He, the Mighty and High, in not Recognized, Except by Himself.

The Assertion of the Emergence of the Universe

The Tradition of Dhi`lib.

The Tradition of Subakht, the Jewish Man

The Meaning of “Glory be to Allah” [Subhan Allah]

The Meaning of Allah is the Greatest [Allahu Akbar]

The Meaning of the First and the Last

the Most Compassionate is Firm on the Empyrean.

His Empyrean was on the Water

The Empyrean and Its‬‬ Description

The Empyrean was Created in Quarters

The Meaning of `His Knowledge Extend over the Heavens and the Earth’

Allah made the Nature of the Creation upon Divine Unity

The Appearance [Al-Bada’]

The Will and the Intent

Capability

The Trial and the Test

Privilege and Adversity

The Negation of Determinism and Relinquishment

Predestination, Divine Decree, Trials, Means of Sustenance Rates, and Restricted Powers

Children and Allah’s Justice Concerning Them

Allah only does what is best for His servants

Command, Prohibition, Promise and Threat

Recognition, Explanation, Evidence, and Guidance

A Session of al-Ridha (AS‬‬) with Theologians from Among the Rhetoricians and Various‬‬ Religions about Unity in the presence of al-Ma`mun

A Session of al-Ridha (AS) with Sulayman al-Marwazi, the Theologian of Khurasan, in‬‬ the Presece of al-Ma`mun concerning the Subject of Divine Unity.

The Prohibition of Discussing, Debating, and Arguing about Allah

1 - حدثنا علي بن عبد الله الوراق، ومحمد بن أحمد السناني، وعلي بن أحمد بن محمد بن عمران الدقاق رحمهم الله، قالوا: حدثنا أبو العباس أحمد بن يحيى بن زكريا القطان، قال: حدثنا بكر بن عبد الله بن حبيب، قال: حدثنا تميم بن بهلول، عن أبيه، عن جعفر بن سليمان البصري، عن عبد الله بن الفضل الهاشمي قال: سألت أبا عبد الله جعفر بن محمد عليهما السلام، عن قول الله عز وجل: ﴿من يهد الله فهو المهتد ومن يضلل فلن تجد له وليا مرشدا﴾  فقال: إن الله تبارك وتعالى يضل الظالمين يوم القيامة عن دار كرامته، ويهدي أهل الإيمان والعمل الصالح إلى جنته كما قال عز وجل: (ويضل الله الضالمين ويفعل الله ما يشاء)  وقال عز وجل (إن الذين آمنوا وعملوا الصالحات يهديهم ربهم بإيمانهم تجري من تحتهم الأنهار في جنات النعيم) (١) قال: فقلت: قوله عز وجل: (وما توفيقي إلا بالله) (٢) وقوله عز وجل: ﴿إن ينصركم الله فلا غالب لكم وإن يخذلكم فمن ذا الذي ينصركم من بعده﴾  فقال: إذا فعل العبد ما أمره الله عز وجل به من الطاعة كان فعله وفقا لأمر الله عز وجل وسمي العبد به موفقا، وإذا أراد العبد أن يدخل في شئ من معاصي الله فحال الله تبارك وتعالى بينه وبين تلك المعصية فتركها كان تركه لها بتوفيق الله تعالى ذكره، ومتى خلى بينه وبين تلك المعصية فلم يحل بينه وبينها حتى يرتكبها فقد خذله ولم ينصره ولم يوفقه . 

1. `Ali ibn `Abd Allah al-Warraq; Muhammad ibn Ahmad al-Sinani; and `Ali ibn Ahmad ibn Muhammad ibn `Imran al-Daqqaq (may Allah have mercy on them) all said: Abu al-`Abbas Ahmad ibn Yahya ibn Zakariyya al-Qittan said: Bakr ibn `Abd Allah ibn Hubayb said: Tamim ibn Bahlul said, on the authority of his father, on the authority of Ja`far ibn Sulayman al-Basri, on the authority of `Abd Allah ibn al-Fadl al-Hashimi that I asked Abu `Abd Allah Ja`far ibn Muhammad (AS) about the Word of Allah, the Mighty and High: Whomsoever Allah guides, he is the rightly guided one and whomsoever He causes to err, you shall not find for him any friend to lead (him) aright. Therefore, he (AS) explained: Verily, Allah, the Blessed and Exalted, leads astray the oppressors on the Day of Judgment from the abode of His Kindness, and guides the Faithful ones and the ones with good deeds, to paradise, as He, the Mighty and High, says: And Allah causes the unjust to go astray, and Allah does what He pleases. The Mighty and High says: Surely (as for) those who believe and do good, their Lord will guide them by their faith; there shall flow from beneath them rivers in gardens of bliss. He says: I asked, “What about the Word of Mighty and High: And with none but Allah is the direction of my affair to a right issue, and His Word, the Mighty and High: If Allah assist you, then there is none that can overcome you, and if He forsakes you, who is there then that can assist you after Him? Thus, he (AS) replied: If a servant carried out what Allah, the Mighty and High, commands him to do in terms of obedience, then his action would be in accordance with the Command of Allah, the Mighty and High, and the servants will be directed. However, if a servant intends to disobey Allah, then Allah, the Blessed and Exalted, obstructs him from that disobedience, refraining him from it. If the servant was refrained from disobedience it was due to Allah’s guidance, Exalted be His Remembrance. Whenever He leaves him to disobedience, and does not present him from disobedience, then Allah has forsaken him, and decided not to guide him and assist him.

2 - حدثنا محمد بن الحسن بن أحمد بن الوليد رضي الله عنه، قال: حدثنا الحسين ابن الحسن بن أبان، عن الحسين بن سعيد، عن محمد بن أبي عمير، عن أبي عبد الله الفراء، عن محمد بن مسلم ومحمد بن مروان، عن أبي عبد الله عليه السلام، قال: ما علم رسول الله صلى الله عليه وآله وسلم أن جبرئيل من قبل الله عز وجل إلا بالتوفيق. 

2. Muhammad ibn al-Hasan ibn Ahmad ibn al-Walid (may Allah be pleased with him) said: alHusayn ibn al-Hasan ibn Aban said, on the authority of al-Husayn ibn Sa`id, on the authority of Muhammad ibn Abu `Umayr, on the authority of Abu `Abd Allah al-Fana’, on the authority of Muhammad ibn Muslim and Muhammad ibn Marwan that Abu `Abd Allah al-Sadiq (AS) said: “The Messenger of Allah (SA) only knew that Jibra’il was from Allah, the Mighty and High, through (divine) direction [tawfiq].”

3 - حدثنا أحمد بن الحسن القطان، قال: حدثنا الحسن بن علي السكري قال حدثنا أبو عبد الله محمد بن زكريا البصري، قال: حدثنا جعفر بن محمد بن عمارة عن أبيه، عن جابر بن يزيد الجعفي، عن أبي جعفر محمد بن علي الباقر عليهما السلام، قال سألته عن معنى (لا حول ولا قوة إلا بالله) فقال: معناه لا حول لنا عن معصية الله إلا بعون الله، ولا قوة لنا على طاعة الله إلا بتوفيق الله عز وجل. 

3. Ahmad ibn al-Hasan al-Qittan said: al-Hasan ibn `Ali al-Sukkari said: Abu `Abd Allah Muhammad ibn Zakariyya al-Basari said: Ja`far ibn Muhammad ibn `Umarah said, on the authority of his father, on the authority of Jabir ibn Yazid al-Ju`fi that I asked Abu Ja`far Muhammad ibn `Ali al-Baqir (AS) about the meaning of “there is no power and no strength save in Allah” [la hawla waw la quwwata illa bi Allah]. Therefore, he (AS) answered: “It means that we have no power to disobey Allah except by the help of Allah, and we have no strength to obey Allah except by the direction of Allah, the Mighty and High.”

4 - حدثنا عبد الواحد بن محمد بن عبدوس العطار رضي الله عنه بنيسابور سنة اثنتين وخمسين وثلاثمائة، قال: حدثنا علي بن محمد بن قتيبة، عن حمدان بن سليمان النيسابوري، قال: سألت أبا الحسن علي بن موسى الرضا عليهما السلام، (بنيسابور) (١) عن قول الله عز وجل: ﴿فمن يرد الله أن يهديه يشرح صدره للإسلام﴾  قال: من يرد الله أن يهديه بإيمانه في الدنيا إلى جنته ودار كرامته في الآخرة يشرح صدره للتسليم لله والثقة به والسكون إلى ما وعده من ثوابه حتى يطمئن إليه، ومن يرد أن يضله عن جنته ودار كرامته في الآخرة لكفره به وعصيانه في الدنيا يجعل صدره ضيقا حرجا حتى يشك في كفره، ويضطرب من اعتقاده قلبه حتى يصير كأنما يصعد في السماء كذلك يجعل الله الرجس على الذين لا يؤمنون .  باب الرد على الثنوية والزنادقة 

4. `Abd al-Wahid ibn Muhammad ibn `Abdus al-`Attar (may Allah be pleased with him) said in Naysabur year 352 AH that `Ali ibn Muhammad ibn Qutaybah said, on the authority of Hamdan ibn Sulayman al-Naysaburi that I asked Abu al-Hasan `Ali ibn Musa al-Rida (AS) in Naysabur about the Word of Allah, the Mighty and High: Therefore, (for) whomsoever Allah intends that He would guide him aright, He expands his breast for Islam. He clarified, Whoever Allah intends to guide with faith in Him in this world, and to His Paradise and abode of Kindness in the Hereafter, He expands his breast in submission to Allah, trust in Him, and satisfaction with His Promises and Rewards until He is tranquil And whosoever He intends that He should cause him to err from His Paradise and abode of His Kindness in the Hereafter for his disbelief and disobedience of Allah in this world, He makes his breast strait and narrow so that he doubts due to his disbelief, and his heart is confused concerning his faith until he becomes as though he were ascending upwards; thus, does Allah lay uncleanness on those who do not believe.

Al-Tawḥīd

Book 2, Chapter 35