Lesson video

Hi, my name is Miss Speakman, and I'm going to be teaching you today about Tawhid within Islamic believes and teachings.

This is lesson four of 14, and I really hope you enjoy learning to say about the most important belief within Islam Tawhid the oneness of God.

So in today's lesson, we're going to learn a couple of things that actually there's quite a lot within those couple of things, sort of learn about the beliefs contained within Tawhid.

So first, whole and greatest.

We're going to learn about the influence this will have on the life of a muslim.

And then also complete an examination style question on Tawhid to bring that all together.

And as I said, this is perhaps one of the most important beliefs within Islam, and this will have a lot of effects on what muslims say and do during their lives.

That's all also considered about the influence this has, but it also makes sense then for a lot of other beliefs and practises within Islam, if we can link it back to this idea of Tawhid.

So as I said, it links back into these three ideas contained within Tawhid I'm going to give you the detail on what those are, and also what we mean and what we can say about Allah's nature from these three ideas.

Firstly, I'm going to need to do please, is that we're set up ready for the lesson.

So you got a pen or a pencil, got a piece of paper, or an exercise book and different coloured pen for corrections that we've also cleared our desk space of any distractions.

So TV music off, phone to one side, if we're not using for the lesson, and our desks nice and clear set up ready for learning.

If you need to get any of those things from you, please, can you please pause the video now, then un pause when you're ready to move on.

Okay.

All set up and ready to go.

Brilliant.

So excited to get started on this because I love teaching about Tawhid it's one of my favourite topics to teach when we talk about Islam.

So definition for you just to make sure we've got this really clear in our minds before we go into the detail, Tawhid means the oneness of Allah, It's the most important belief within Islam, essentially underpins every other belief and practise that we can see within Islam.

We can link it back and say, well, it comes back to the idea of oneness of God.

So let's just break down some words.

First of all, what does it mean to use the term monotheism? Can you remember? Can you say it out loud or thinking in your head? Yes.

It's the belief in one God.

So we say that Muslims are mono-theist.

When we talk about monotheism, of course it's belief in one God, but there are lots of different ideas contained within this.

We have many monotheistic religions in our world, Christianity, Judaism, Islam.

Some of the most common ones, but they will have very different ideas about who God is and what God does.

So we're going to unpack exactly what muslims believe when they use this term Tawhid talk about one it's of God.

And we're talking about what's contained within Tawhid.

These are the things which are perhaps would be self-evident.

What could be explained about Allah's nature from just saying this phrase, "Allah is one." We're going to break it down.

What it means to say Allah is one.

Some of these things can be a little bit tricky, but I really do think if we break it down, if we keep going, keep persevering, it become a lot easier.

So let's do that together.

Let's make sure we're really, really clear on these things, but let's first of all, write down our definition.

So we've got that basic thing to come back to all of the time, you're to pause the video now please, and to write down this definition then un pause when you're ready to move on.

Okay.

Ready? So let's break it down Tawhid oneness of God.

Let's start with the belief that Allah is first.

So you can see here, we've got the idea Allah is first.

This essentially for muslims means that Allah was not created.

Allah is eternal, no beginning, no end.

He doesn't depend on anything else to exist.

He is though the creator of everything, time, space, universe, everything in it.

And so muslims would say Allah himself was not created, but he's responsible for the creation of all things.

In order to be the creator he needs to be transcendent.

Transcendent means outside of space and time outside of the universe, outside of the concept of space and the concept of time.

So in order to be the creator, he has to be transcendent.

Muslims will then say, well, hang on a minute.

If he's transcendent and we're imminent, which means inside the world then we can't experience him in the same way that I can experience my phone or my pens, because I can touch these, I can see them.

I can describe them.

I can say, this is quite heavy.

This is lighter.

This one's red, this one's black.

This has got a nice case on it.

I can experience those things and I can describe them to you because they're in my hands because I'm experiencing them.

Muslims would say you can't experience Allah in the same way if he's transcendent, if he's transcendent outside of space and time, you can't have these same experiences.

And therefore he must be indefinable, by that we mean we cannot fully describe him.

That's not to say that muslims, weren't trying to describe Allah.

They give what we call the 99 names to Allah, which talk about characteristics, the all merciful, the all powerful, et cetera.

And so muslims say we can have a go at describing Allah through what he's revealed about himself through the Qur'an, but he is ultimately indefinable.

There's no way of fully understanding what Allah is like.

So let's break that down very quickly.

Just go over that explanation again.

Allah is first.

He's a eternal.

He himself has not been created.

He's the creator of all things.

Space, time, everything within the universe, in order to create, he must be transcendent outside of space and time.

Humans cannot experience things that are transcendent that are outside of space and time.

Therefore he must be indefinable.

There's no way of fully describing what Allah is like.

That's a really interesting concept to start off with this idea that he cannot be fully explained or described.

The Qur'an says within it, Allah creates what he wills.

Indeed Allah's over all things competent.

By competent it means you're able to do something powerful.

Since you're saying here Allah creates what he wants and over everything, is he powerful.

So it's essentially reinforcing this idea that Allah is the creator of all things and therefore in charge of them.

And if he has to create these things, he must be transcended.

Therefore he must be indefinable, which again, reinforces that idea of Allah being first, which that first part of what's contained within Tawhid.

Okay.

Should we see how we feel about all of this now? Let's see if we can just do some recap questions.

Now, if you've seen any of my other lessons, which may be you have, if you haven't that's okay.

What I essentially do, is I do what I call quickfire questions.

So I guess some questions that have two possible answers, whether it's true or false or two words.

I ask you the question, I give you a countdown of three seconds.

Then you either say it out loud or point to your screen.

That is a really good way of reinforcing some of those ideas that we've come up with so far that we've discussed so far.

And it's okay if you get them wrong too.

'Cause it's supposed to be like quick-fire, it's supposed to be getting you used to the answers and getting you a bit more familiar with the content.

So are you ready for that? Yes.

Is the answer.

Most Muslims believe Allah can be fully described.

Is it true or false? Three, two, one, false.

Most Muslims believe you can describe Allah in some way, but not have a full description of him because of his transcendence.

Most Muslims believe Allah has not been created is it true or false? Three, two, one.

True.

Most Muslims believe that Allah is eternal therefore it has no beginning and no end.

Well done if you got both of those correct.

So the second part contained within Tawhid is the idea that Allah is whole what we mean by this is that there are no parts to God.

He's literally one whole thing.

This comes from the idea of Allah being eternal.

If Allah has no beginning, no end, he can't have any parts.

'Cause any parts would then mean he would need someone or something to put him together.

Sort of like how I might be buying myself a new desk and when that desk arrives, it comes up in lots of different parts.

Isn't it? That I have to spend hours and hours putting it all together.

I'm needed ain't I, before that desk come into existence as a nice desk that I can use.

So this idea here with Allah is whole, he has to have no parts, 'cause if he had parts, he would have been made by something.

Therefore if he's one whole, he must be indivisible, which means we cannot break him down into parts.

So we can't essentially take him apart.

We can't say, "Oh, I'll take my arm off "and therefore I can have like a separate part, "like one arm over there and a body here." That can't happen with Allah.

He's not made up of parts.

He's indivisible.

You can't divide him down.

And this means that Allah is completely omnipotent.

Think of that desk example for, you know, a way of showing that these things with parts have weaknesses.

I could put that desk together and I could perhaps maybe in a rage one day, not sure why be angry, but in a rage, I start smashing up the desk and it will be weak on certain parts where it's joined together, it will be easily broken.

Whereas Allah, without any parts to him is completely omnipotent.

There are no weak spots to him.

So let's bring that together again.

Very short explanation.

Allah was one whole.

It's no parts to him.

It's because he's eternal.

Eternal things obviously don't have a beginning, don't have an end.

He would need to have had a beginning.

If you need to be put together with parts, therefore he must be indivisible.

He cannot be broken down into parts.

And since he has no parts that need to be put together, he is omnipotent, there are no weaknesses.

He's all powerful.

And again, this is something we can find in the Qur'an as well as sort of a reference to Allah being whole.

And this says, say He is Allah who is one.

It's briefly clear Isn't it? Saying there's Allah, and He is one He's one God, one whole.

So you can see there that there's definitely evidence in the Qur'an Allah is whole.

So again, let's do some quick fire questions.

With this I'll give you two more questions each one with two possible answers.

When to say out loud or point to your screen after I count down from three and hopefully we'll get them all correct.

Shall we give it a go? Allah is whole He cannot be broken down into parts.

Is it true or false? Three, two, one.

True.

Yes.

If Allah is whole, then it means that he's one complete whole has no parts and therefore can't be broken down into any parts.

If Allah is whole, He's not omnipotent.

Is that true or false? Three, two, one, false.

Muslims believe that if Allah is whole that if He's not made up of any parts, then He can't be broken down into any parts.

Meaning has no weaknesses, because no weaknesses, then He's completely omnipotent.

Well done if you got both of those, correct.

Okay.

So the next part is that Allah is greatest.

This is the third idea contained within Tawhid.

This is the idea that there is no other God.

Allah is the only God.

And therefore there's no one in competition with Him, no one who is even near equal to Allah.

So there's no other God, He's the absolute greatest.

He's therefore unique.

There is nothing else at all like him.

And if He's unique and if He's the greatest then He's the only one worthy of worship and His will so what He wants must be supreme, what he wants, he must be able to get, because he's got no competition with anybody.

It's not like he has to fight anybody for what he wants, everything he wants, He should be able to get.

Therefore Muslims would say, Allah is the greatest.

You may even have heard of the phrase, Allahu Akbar, which means God is great, which is something that said almost daily or even daily by Muslim, during prayer, which is acknowledging He's the only one worthy of worship.

There is nothing else like Him.

So the idea He's the greatest.

There is no other God, therefore, no other thing He's in competition with.

He's therefore unique and therefore what He wants He's supreme what he wants He gets, because he is the greatest, the only thing worthy of worship.

Again, this is something we can find that is supported in the Qur'an.

So it says he neither begets nor is born, nor is that to Him any equivalent.

begets means give birth or anything, or to have children.

So essentially saying Allah does not have children.

He's not been born.

So he's not been created.

There is no equivalent to Him.

There's nothing else like Him at all.

I must say it would even go as far to say that acknowledging that something is the same as Allah or putting something on a similar level to Allah or saying that Allah has had children or that there's a son of God, is what they call shirk, which essentially associating something other than Allah as being worthy of worship, et cetera.

So worshipping idols would be an example of shirk.

That's when you're doing something which is not following the idea of Tawhid and believing in one God.

Believing that God had a son would also be committing shirk, which is one of the biggest sins within Islam, because it goes against it's key belief in Tawhid.

Shall we have a go at some more quick fire questions? I think you're more than ready to do this now.

And I think of getting this perfectly.

And even if you're finding this a little bit tricky still, You going to keep on practising.

Keep going over these ideas.

So two quick five questions.

Are you ready? Muslims would believe there is no equal to Allah, is that true or false? Three, two, one, good it's true.

They would believe there's no equal nothing to compare Him to.

Allah's will is supreme true or false? Three, two, one.

True, muslims will believe the Allah's will, is completely supreme that his word is final.

What He wants is what He'll get.

So what I would like you to do is let me pop up just for a second, let's see, never mind.

Okay.

What I'd like you to do now for me please, is use, look, cover, write, check, repeat to write these beliefs first indefinable, whole, indivisible, greatest, unique, 10 times each to help you remember them please.

Look, cover, write, check, repeat only really works if you do it properly.

So looking at it, covering over, writing it down, then uncovering and checking it is it correct? If it's not, that's fine.

Make a correction, then repeat that until you've written each of them out 10 times, it's really, really good way of making sure you understand.

And you've got those things stuck in your brain.

So I want you to pause the video, write, check, repeat to write those things out 10 times, please.

Each to help you remember them.

Okay.

What I'd like you to do is to pull the video on the next slide, to complete your task.

I'm going to give you instructions of what I'd like you to do.

Please follow this really carefully before having go at the questions.

So you can see here we've got a table which has four headings.

The belief about Tawhid, which key word can we use to describe Allah because of this belief? What does that word mean in column two? And how has this belief about Tawhid linked to transcendence, omnipotence or Allah's will? So what he wants being supreme your task is to fill in those blank boxes and including then filling out on the last column, how it shows transcendence, omnipotence or Allah's will being supreme.

if you feel any need to go back to the video, re watching a thing or to make sure that you're really clear on something, feel free.

We will also go through corrections after you had a go.

So even if you're not quite sure, please put something down, please have good go.

'Cause it's really good way of bringing all ideas of Tawhid together.

So, pause the video on this slide please, give it your best go.

If you want to draw out the table, then you can, if you'd rather write down some notes and that's absolutely fine, too.

Okay if you can see this slide that I'm assuming that you're ready to move on for corrections, if you're not quite finished, then please go back by rewinding the video and then keep continuing with your table.

If you are ready, then please have a different coloured pen out ready for your corrections.

So you can see the table here is all filled in.

It doesn't have to be word for word like mine, but of course, these are some of the key points.

Please make sure that you've got these in your table.

So for the row that says first the belief about Tawhid the key word that we used to describe Allah because of this belief in definable, what indefinable means is that Allah can't be defined or completely understood.

And it's linked to transcendence because Allah had to be outside of space and time to create the universe.

And because we cannot go outside of space and time, He must be indefinable.

So well done if you've got those.

For Whole, the word we're looking for is indivisible, where Allah cannot be broken down into parts.

This links to his omnipotence 'cause as one whole, He has no weak parts so He's therefore all powerful.

And then for greatest, we've got unique and this means that nothing compares to Allah.

Therefore, when we talk about Allah's will, what He wants being supreme, if Allah is unique, there's no competition for Him and therefore what He wants, He gets.

So, as I said it doesn't have to be word for word like mine, but if you've got those ideas down, then well done.

If you need to make any corrections, please pause the video then make those corrections.

If you don't, then we'll be ready to move on to the next part of our lesson.

Okay so the next part is us considering, how does this belief in Tawhid influence a muslim and how does the muslim show belief in Tawhid throughout their life? And you can see here, I've got an image of the Shahada.

Now the Shahada is the statement of faith.

There is no God but Allah and Muhammad is his messenger, The Shahada is said at really important times in life, which we'll discuss a little bit more detail in a moment, Essentially acknowledged as right at the beginning.

There is no God, but Allah, the belief in Tawhid is so clear there that in a declaration of faith.

So all muslims will follow the Shahada.

Believe that this is a clear representation of what faith is, but shia muslims will add to their Shahada.

And Ali is the friend of God to acknowledge that they also believe that Ali was the rightful successor to Mohammed.

You might see the Shahada on flags and buildings.

So for example, the flag of Saudi Arabia has the Shahada on it.

As it's an Islamic state.

It's a country that's built on the teachings of Islam.

You might see on buildings, you might see mosques, for example, as a way of publicly declaring faith.

You might also have said the Shahada or muslims might show the Shahada important times in life and also at death.

So let's go into that a little bit more then.

So for example, Muslims are taught that they should, try and say the Shahada to a baby once it's born whisper into a baby's ear.

So that the first thing they hear is the Shahada.

They know that they're going to be brought up as a Muslim.

You should also try and be the last thing that you say or hear before you die.

So Muslims would believe that saying the Shahada or hearing the Shahada before you die is what should be done and let's say someone in later life wants to become a muslim.

Now Islam teaches that people are born muslim.

And therefore, if someone decides to become a muslim later on in life, they would say that they are reverting rather than converting to Islam.

And so when you become a muslim, you say the Shahada three times in front of witnesses, you should do this sincerely.

So for example, if I said the Shahada three times now, I wouldn't become a muslim because you'd also have to genuinely believe and accept the Shahada.

So it is important that a muslim throughout their life centres, it all on this idea of belief in one God, that Muhammad is his messenger.

Because of the belief in Tawhid.

This idea of indefinable muslims will also not draw Allah.

They believe that there's nothing that could really depict Allah and therefore, anything that they try and do would be essentially a disrespectful thing to do.

Imagine it this way, you may as a child have drawn a picture of your parents or of your carer and said, "Look at this picture it's of you." And then you look at the picture and your parents and carer they say, "Yeah, it's lovely." And all it is, it's just like a round blob.

like stick arms and two stick legs.

That's not a true depiction of your parent or your carer or whoever you're drawing.

Similar idea to any painting, which could be amazing.

Still doesn't fully capture that person and what they look like.

So muslims would say that drawing Allah is disrespectful.

As you could never fully describe Him.

What we're going to do now is answer some questions on this, just to see how we did and how much we know.

Okay, so what we're going to look at now is answering some questions that test us and what we just talked about in terms of how does the belief in Tawhid influence a muslim's life.

So what I'm going to ask you to do, is to pause on the next slide for me, please, to have a go at answering the questions.

So, the questions here are.

One, what is the name of the declaration of faith in Islam? Two, muslims will draw Allah, true or false? Three, every muslim will say exactly the same words, when reciting the Shahada true or false? Four, what does someone have to do to become a muslim? Five, what is done at birth? Six, what should be done at death if possible? To answer these quiz in full sentences.

So write out the question, then write out the answer.

Pause the video, to do that please, un-pause when you're ready to look for the corrections.

Okay, if you can see this slide that I'm guessing that you're already for corrections.

If you are then please have another coloured pen out ready to correct.

If you are not ready, then just rewind the video, then pause to carry on, answer those questions.

It's always important to make sure that we are correcting so that we are addressing anything we got incorrect and that helps us to learn.

So the name of the declaration of faith in Islam is the Shahada.

It is false that Muslims will draw Allah.

This is as a mark of respect, if he's indefinable, then no picture's ever going to really be able to describe Him properly.

Every Muslim will say exactly the same words from reciting.

the Shahada is false.

As we know that Shia Muslims will add and Ali is the friend of God to their Shahada.

What does someone have to do to become a muslim? Well they will be reciting the Shahada in front of witnesses, this should be done sincerely.

When someone is really ready to commit to becoming a muslim.

And of course we know in Islam, they would say it's more of what we call reverting than converting this idea that most muslims believe that every person was born muslim.

And therefore, if they decide to follow Islam later on in life, they have reverted to the faith.

At birth the Shahada will be whispered into the baby's ear and at death, if it's possible, the Shahada should be the last thing said or heard.

And if you need to make any corrections, please pause the video now and then make those corrections.

And if you are all correct, that absolutely well done.

That is amazing.

If you have got some incorrect, that's absolutely fine.

We all make mistakes, but it's also important that we write corrections just to make sure we've got it there in our books or on our piece of paper.

So well done for doing those questions.

And now what we're going to do is move on and start looking at how we can build this into the idea of an exam question.

So what we're going to do now is do an exam question to bring all of that together.

And you might say no, Miss Speakman I don't want to do an exam question, they're hard, or don't like doing them.

I'm telling you now you might not like doing them.

I'm afraid you're doing your GCSE so they are important, but also they are a really good way to make sure we understand things and then we'll practise.

We do have them the better for making sure our knowledge is really secure.

And I'm also going to make sure that I sort of walk you through this too.

I'm not going to say here's an exam question go do it.

I'm going to give you some help, give you some guidance, give you some things like sentence starters to help you out.

It is important that we get the context of this correct, before we start moving on.

So the question is explain two beliefs about Tawhid.

Referring to scripture or sacred writings in your answer.

The explain questions will be slightly different for each exam board.

So it's so important that you check with your teacher, which exam board you are sitting before you sort of go on and do this question.

Or perhaps maybe you'd go along with what I'm doing, but then double check with your teacher, okay.

It fits more with this.

Does this fit with what we're doing? So the question above best fits with AQA and Edexcel in terms of structure and what's expected, you could be expected to write longer answers for explain questions for Eduqas and WJEC.

And the question style might look different for OCR.

So it is important to check before you have a go at this question, or even after the question you completed, just say to your teacher, I've done this is this correct? Does this fit with our exam board? Okay.

So for this question, you need to make sure you've included a couple of things, which is briefly naming a belief within Tawhid.

So first, whole, greatest.

An inclusion of a scripture verse, such as what we've mentioned earlier, and an explanation of how this verse shows that belief.

Now it's really important as well that we bear in mind that for these questions that say refer to scripture or sacred writings in AQA that's the wording they would use.

That it doesn't actually always have to be a direct quotation from the Qur'an it could be a teaching, it could be a quotation from the Hadith or Sunna.

It could be a paraphrasing of a story or teaching.

So it is important that we realise that evidence isn't always going to be a direct quotation.

I would say when I start off with some really clear sentence start is to really focus your answer.

So making sure you've written something like one belief about Tawhid is, then your second paragraph, another belief about Tawhid is, so it's nice and straightforward, nice and simple, but it allows you that structured to say, okay, I'm talking about a belief here, first, whole or greatest.

And now I'm talking about second one.

So actually what I quite like about this question is awesome for two beliefs about Tawhid, but we know that within Tawhid, there are three main ideas.

So we've got essentially loads of material to be working with there haven't we? I would say, and this is the best tip for AQA, that for one of these paragraphs include a reference to a scripture, just one reference to scripture.

Then explain further about this belief about Tawhid and for paragraph with the verse need to explain how that shows belief in Tawhid.

Again so we'll take a bit of time to get used to the structural, to get used to how to write it, but starting off now and having a go is a really good starting point.

So disappear.

So for this I'm going to ask you to pause the video on the next slide, to complete your task.

I'm going to give you even more guidance if you think, Oh, I'm still unsure.

Don't worry.

There'll be more guidance in a moment.

So, as I said, I want you to explain two beliefs, about Tawhid referring to scripture or sacred writing in your answer.

You need to include briefly name two beliefs in Tawhid, a quotation in one of the paragraphs explaining how that verse shows belief in Tawhid.

Explaining second belief about Tawhid, which can include another quotation if you wish.

So I would use this structure that I've got there, starting off with one belief about Tawhid is? The Qur'an says, and then using one of those verses, this shows, explaining then another belief about Tawhid is, and this means which doesn't need inclusion of scripture verse, which is absolutely fine.

So I want you to pause the video now for me, please, and to have a go at answering this question, using those sentence starters, then when you're ready to move on on pause and we'll go through corrections, give it your best go.

I know this could be a little bit tricky, but it's a really good way of making sure we understand the material.

If you need to go back in the video at all, then please do that to help you answer the question.

Okay if you can see the screen, I'm assuming that you are ready for corrections.

So please have another coloured pen out ready for corrections so that we can get started on a model answer.

You can see here.

What I've done is I've given you a model answer for believing the Allah is first and that Allah is whole.

This whole answer would get full marks with this question.

So one belief about Tawhid is that Allah is first.

The Qur'an says rates what he wills indeed, Allah over all things competent.

This shows us Allah is the creator of all things.

He must be transcendent, and if he's transcendent, he must be indefinable as no human can experience him.

Another belief about Tawhid is that Allah is whole.

This means that Allah cannot be broken down into parts.

He's one whole and is therefore omnipotent as he has no weak parts.

Of course, here, this is just my way of explaining it.

You may have explained these in a slightly different way, which is absolutely fine.

It can be in your own words, but of course you need to make sure that you include them as key things, the beliefs in Tawdid, two of them, a script verse and explanations.

So it could be that you've written about Allah being greatest.

And that's also absolutely fine.

I just chose as my model answer to use these two.

If you need to please pause the video now and make any corrections that you feel are appropriate for your answer.

If perhaps maybe you'd like to get your teacher to check it and see what they think, then actually feel free to do that too.

It would be really, really good way of communicating with your teacher, what you have done in the lesson today.

Okay, so it's just going to appear quickly let's see how long it takes.

Okay, I want to say a huge thank you for taking part in the lesson today.

I think Tawhid is a super interesting concept, but it also can be quite tricky to get your head around.

I would understand at this point, if you're still a little bit unsure with it, but it's something that you will go over quite a few times when you look at Islamic beliefs and teachings, whether it's with these lessons or whether it's when your lessons at school.

So again I want to say a huge, huge, well done for working so hard, you've tackled some really cool and tricky things today.

You've looked at Tawhid.

What it contains is three main ideas contained within it.

You've looked at how it influences muslim's life.

And you've completed an exam question, which is so cool.

So pretty, really impressed.

And I hope to see you again soon, but anyway, either way, whether I see you or don't see you again for lesson, see you later,.