He is described by the attributes that are His due. Exalted is He—eternal together with His eternal attributes—and an eternal attribute need not resemble the eternal One it describes, nor does it thereby become a deity, just as a created human attribute need not resemble the created human it characterizes, nor does it become a human being; likewise, an attribute of a prophet does not itself become a prophet.
In the same way, when someone claims that whoever affirms the attributes has thereby posited two Necessary Beings, and that multiplicity with respect to what is Necessary is impossible, the statement misleadingly suggests that those who affirm the attributes have affirmed two gods, each necessary in and of itself. In truth they have affirmed only one God, necessary in Himself, possessing inherent attributes that are necessary because His being is necessary; these attributes neither lapse nor disappear. The only multiplicity that is impossible in what is Necessary is a multiplicity of deities, just as the only multiplicity that is impossible with regard to what is eternal is a multiplicity of self-subsisting gods—for it is that alone which constitutes plurality.
The Muslims declare, as Allah the Exalted has said:
“Your God is one God; there is no deity except Him—the Most Compassionate, the Most Merciful.”
(Qur’an 2:163)
The tawḥīd brought by the messengers and revealed in the scriptures is the tawḥīd of divinity: that Allah alone is to be worshiped, without partner. It comprises two elements. The first is doctrinal affirmation: establishing for Him every attribute of perfection, declaring Him transcendent above all deficiency, and exalting Him above any peer in any of His attributes—so He is never described with imperfection in any sense, nor does anyone share with Him in any perfection. Allah, Exalted is He, says:
“Say: He is Allah, One; Allah, the Ever-Besought. He has not begotten, nor was He begotten, and there is none comparable to Him.”
(Qur’an 112)
The title al-Ṣamad affirms for Him every perfection, while al-Aḥad negates any likeness to Him therein, as we have explained in detail elsewhere.
The practical, volitional dimension of tawḥīd is that none is worshiped but Him; none is invoked but Him.