Al-Aḥad
{{Short description|One of the names of God in Islam}}
al-Aḥad or Aḥad (Arabic: الأحد) is one of the names of God (Arabic: Allah) according to Islam, meaning "The One".{{cite book |last=aṣ-Saʿdī |first=Abū ʿAbdu-r-Raḥmān Nāṣir |year=2008 |chapter=Al-Aḥad (The One) |title=Explanation to the Beautiful and Perfect Names of Allāh: Extracted from the Taysīr al-Raḥmān |pages=39–40 |publisher=Daar Us-Sunnah |location=Birmingham |url=https://www.muslim-library.com/dl/books/English_Explanation_to_the_Beautiful_and_Perfect_Names_of_Allah.pdf |translator=Abu Rumaysah}} This name means that God, in Islam, is the one who is singled out in all aspects of perfection and that nothing else shares perfectness with him. Moreover, the name is seen by the Muslims to be a direction for them to worship him alone and associate with no partners, as he is seen as the only one who has all the perfect attributes.{{cite book |chapter=Interfaith Dialogue and Comparative Theology |title=The Names of God in Judaism, Christianity, and Islam : A Basis for Interfaith Dialogue |date=2001 |publisher=Continuum |doi=10.5040/9781472549464.ch-001 |isbn=978-1-4411-4198-9}}
Bilal ibn Rabah and Al-Aḥad
Bilal ibn Rabah was a companion of the prophet of Islam, Muhammad; he was an enslaved black man and was persecuted in Mecca before it was under Islamic rule by his slave owner. The slave owner tortured him because he converted to Islam.{{cite book |last=Sodiq |first=Yushau |title=Insider's Guide to Islam |location=Bloomington, IN |publisher=Trafford |year=2011 |isbn=978-1-4669-2416-1 |page=23}} Bilal's slave owner asked him to leave his religion and that he would stop touting him as soon as he did so. Instead of leaving Islam, Bilal kept on calling on God and saying: "Ahad, Ahad" while being tortured.{{CiteHadith|ibnmajah|150|b=y}} This story of Bilal shows the significance of God's name, al-Aḥad, since the beginning of Islam for the Muslim creed.
Mention in the Quran
God's name, Al-Aḥad, was mentioned only once in the Quran in the first verse of chapter 112.{{Cite book |last=Assami |first=Emily |title=Sahih International |publisher=Dar Makkah International Publishing |year=2020 |isbn=978-2-9874608-2-4 |location=Birmingham, UK |publication-date=January 2020}}
{{Quran verse|english=Say, "He is Allāh, [who is] One,|arabic=﴿قُلْ هُوَ اللَّهُ أَحَدٌ ﴾|reference=Quran (Saheeh International)}}
See also
- Abd al-Ahad, an arabic muslim theophoric name which means "servant of the only One".
- Bilal ibn Rabah
- Names of God in Islam