Al-Tawḥīd
Shaykh al-Ṣadūq (d. 381/991) wrote this as an argument, not a survey. It gathers narrations on God's oneness, His names and attributes, His knowledge, will and justice, and the refusal to liken Him to anything created — assembled against two positions he regarded as errors: an anthropomorphism that read reports of God's hand or face literally, and a determinism that made human action meaningless and divine justice empty. The arrangement follows that polemic, and several chapters carry recorded debates with dualists, materialists and Muslim opponents in which the case is argued rather than asserted. The standard early Imāmī statement on the subject.
Chapters
- 1. Reward for the Monotheists and Gnostics 35 hadith
- 2. Knowledge 16 hadith
- 3. Attributes of Essence and Attributes of Actions 19 hadith
- 4. The Commentary of verse 88 of Chapter 28 the Narrative [al-Qasas] Everything is perishable but He. 11 hadith
- 5. 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? 2 hadith
- 6. 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 3 hadith
- 7. The Commentary of Verse 35 of Chapter 24 the Light [al-Nur] 5 hadith
- 8. The Commentary of Verse 67 of Chapter 9 the Repentance [al-Tawbah] They have forsaken Allah, so He has forsaken them. 1 hadith
- 9. 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. 2 hadith
- 10. 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. 1 hadith
- 11. The Commentary of Verse 22 of Chapter 89 the Daybreak [al-Fajr] And your Lord comes and (also) the angels in ranks. 1 hadith
- 12. Divine Unity and Negation of Anthropomorphism 36 hadith
- 13. 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. 1 hadith
- 14. Meaning of Scoffing, Mockery, Planning and Deception of Allah 1 hadith
- 15. The Meaning of Allah’s Side 2 hadith
- 16. The Meaning of the Waistband 4 hadith
- 17. Meaning of the Eye, the Ear, and the Tongue of Allah 1 hadith
- 18. The Meaning of Allah’s Hand is Tied Up 2 hadith
- 19. The Meaning of His Pleasure and His Anger 4 hadith
- 20. The Meaning of Allah’s Breathing of Spirit And I breathed into him of My Sprit. 6 hadith
- 21. Negation of Space, Time, Stillness, Motion, Descending, Ascending, and Transference from Allah 22 hadith
- 22. The Names of Allah, the Exalted, and the Difference between their Meanings and the Meaning of the Names of Creation 13 hadith
- 23. The Definition of One, Divine Unity, and the Believer in Divine Unity 3 hadith
- 24. What is the Qur’an? 7 hadith
- 25. The Meaning of “In the Name of Allah, the Most Compassionate, the Most Merciful” 5 hadith
- 26. The Explanation of the Letters of the Alphabet. 2 hadith
- 27. The Explanation of the Letters of the Alphabet According to Their Numerical Value 2 hadith
- 28. The Explanation of the Words of the Calls to Prayer 2 hadith
- 29. The Commentary of Guidance, Misguidance, Direction, and Forsaking is from Allah, the Exalted 4 hadith
- 30. The Refutation of the Dualists & the Atheists 5 hadith
- 31. There is no god but the One God 1 hadith
- 32. The Remembrance of Allah’s Greatness, Mighty be His Glory 10 hadith
- 33. The Subtlety of Allah, the Blessed, the Exalted 1 hadith
- 34. The Commentary of Chapter 112 the Unity [al-Tawhid] 15 hadith
- 35. The Least Required for Recognizing Diving Unity 5 hadith
- 36. He, the Mighty and High, in not Recognized, Except by Himself. 10 hadith
- 37. The Assertion of the Emergence of the Universe 7 hadith
- 38. The Tradition of Dhi`lib. 2 hadith
- 39. The Tradition of Subakht, the Jewish Man 2 hadith
- 40. The Meaning of “Glory be to Allah” [Subhan Allah] 3 hadith
- 41. The Meaning of Allah is the Greatest [Allahu Akbar] 2 hadith
- 42. The Meaning of the First and the Last 2 hadith
- 43. the Most Compassionate is Firm on the Empyrean. 9 hadith
- 44. His Empyrean was on the Water 2 hadith
- 45. The Meaning of Divine Unity and Divine Justice 3 hadith
- 46. The Empyrean and Its Description 1 hadith
- 47. The Empyrean was Created in Quarters 1 hadith
- 48. The Meaning of `His Knowledge Extend over the Heavens and the Earth’ 5 hadith
- 49. Allah made the Nature of the Creation upon Divine Unity 10 hadith
- 50. The Appearance [Al-Bada’] 11 hadith
- 51. The Will and the Intent 13 hadith
- 52. Capability 25 hadith
- 53. The Trial and the Test 3 hadith
- 54. Privilege and Adversity 6 hadith
- 55. The Negation of Determinism and Relinquishment 12 hadith
- 56. The Mighty and High is Devoid of both Body and Image 20 hadith
- 57. Predestination, Divine Decree, Trials, Means of Sustenance Rates, and Restricted Powers 36 hadith
- 58. Children and Allah’s Justice Concerning Them 13 hadith
- 59. Allah only does what is best for His servants 13 hadith
- 60. Command, Prohibition, Promise and Threat 10 hadith
- 61. Recognition, Explanation, Evidence, and Guidance 17 hadith
- 62. A Session of al-Ridha (AS) with Theologians from Among the Rhetoricians and Various Religions about Unity in the presence of al-Ma`mun 1 hadith
- 63. 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. 1 hadith
- 64. The Prohibition of Discussing, Debating, and Arguing about Allah 35 hadith
- 65. The Blessed and Exalted is a Thing 8 hadith
- 66. What is Related Regarding the Vision 23 hadith
- 67. Omnipotence 17 hadith
- 68. Foreword 1 hadith
About this collection
Kitāb al-Tawhīd
Kitāb al-Tawhīd (lit. The Book of Divine Unity) is one of the earliest and most significant Shī‘ī theological sources which is compiled by the reputable muhaddith (Hadith scholar) of fourth/tenth century, Abū Ja‘far Muhammad b. Ali b. al-Husayn b. Mūsā al-Qummī known as Ibn Babawayh or al-Shaykh al-Sadūq (d. 381/991). Up to 300 scholarly works have been attributed to him, most of which are not extant today. He has compiled the Man lā yahduruh al-faqīh, one of the Four Canonical Books of the Shī‘ah Muslims.
This book is about Tawhīd in its general sense (knowing about Allah) and comprises narrations about the unity of the Divine essence, affirmation and negation attitudes in understanding Divine attributes, attributes of essence and attributes of action and their relation to the Divine essence, eternity and temporality, predestination and divine providence, determinism and absolute free will and the related topics.
Al-Shaykh al-Sadūq’s motive for compiling such a book was to respond to the accusations which were made against Shī‘ī Islamic beliefs by the enemies of this faith. This book has always been at the centre of Shī‘ī learning and considered as most authentic Hadith sources whose content would be cited for various theological discussions.
Kitāb al-Tawhīd has been translated into English twice: (i) by Sayyid Ali Raza Rizvi and published by Markaz-e-Ahlul Bayt (a) in 2009 and (ii) by Ali Adam and published by Al-Mahdi Institute in 2013.
References: al-islam.org; en.wikishia.net