Islam

=== God ===
[[File:Istanbul,_Hagia_Sophia,_Allah.jpg|thumb|Calligraphy showing the word [[Allah]] in Arabic in [[Hagia Sophia]], [[Istanbul]] [[Turkey]]]]
{{Main|God in Islam}}
The central concept of Islam is ''[[Tawhid|tawḥīd]]'' ({{lang-ar|توحيد|link=no}}), the oneness of God. It is usually thought of as a ''precise [[monotheism]]'', but is also [[panentheism|panentheistic]] in Islamic mystical teachings.<ref>{{cite encyclopedia |url=https://www.britannica.com/topic/tawhid |title=Tawhid |encyclopedia=[[Encyclopædia Britannica]] |access-date=17 September 2021 |url-access=subscription |archive-date=7 November 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211107041300/https://www.britannica.com/topic/tawhid |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{harvc |last=Gimaret|first=D.|year=2012|c=Tawḥīd |in=Encyclopaedia of Islam (2nd ed.)}} {{doi|10.1163/1573-3912_islam_SIM_7454}}</ref> God is seen as incomparable and without partners such as in the [[Christian Trinity]], and associating partners to God or attributing God's attributes to others is seen as [[idolatory]], called [[Shirk (Islam)|''shirk'']]. God is seen as transcendent of creation and so is beyond comprehension. Thus, Muslims are not [[iconodule]]s and do not attribute forms to God. God is instead described and referred to by several [[Names of God in Islam|names or attributes]], the most common being ''Ar-Rahmān'' ({{lang|ar|الرحمان}}) meaning "The Entirely Merciful," and ''Ar-Rahīm'' ({{lang|ar|الرحيم}}) meaning "The Especially Merciful" which are invoked at the beginning of most chapters of the Quran.<ref>{{Cite book |last1=Ali |first1=Kecia |title=Islam : the key concepts |date=2008 |publisher=[[Routledge]] |last2=Leaman |first2=Oliver |isbn=978-0-415-39638-7 |location=London |oclc=123136939}}</ref>{{sfnp|Campo|2009|p=34|loc="Allah"}}

Islam teaches that the creation of everything in the [[universe]] was brought into being by God's command as expressed by the wording, "[[Be, and it is]],"<ref group="lower-roman">{{qref|2|117|b=yl}}</ref><ref name=":5">{{cite encyclopedia |last=Schimmel |first=Annemarie |author-link=Annemarie Schimmel |title=Islam |url=https://www.britannica.com/topic/Islam |encyclopedia=[[Encyclopædia Britannica]] |access-date=17 September 2021 |url-access=subscription |archive-date=4 May 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150504201633/http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/295507/Islam |url-status=live }}</ref> and that the [[Purpose of life|purpose of existence]] is to worship God.<ref>Leeming, David. 2005. ''The Oxford Companion to World Mythology''. Oxford: [[Oxford University Press]]. {{ISBN|978-0-195-15669-0}}. p. 209.</ref> He is viewed as a personal god<ref name=":5" /> and there are no intermediaries, such as [[clergy]], to contact God. Consciousness and awareness of God is referred to as [[Taqwa]]. ''[[Allāh]]'' is a term with no [[plural]] or [[gender]] being ascribed to it and is also used by Muslims and Arabic-speaking Christians and Jews in reference to God, whereas ''{{transliteration|ar|ISO|[[ʾilāh]]}}'' ({{lang|ar|إله}}) is a term used for a deity or a god in general.<ref>{{cite web |title=God |url=https://www.pbs.org/empires/islam/faithgod.html |access-date=18 December 2010 |website=Islam: Empire of Faith |publisher=[[PBS]] |archive-date=27 March 2014 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140327034958/http://www.pbs.org/empires/islam/faithgod.html |url-status=live }}</ref>