The First Thirteen Years

The first period, which is thirteen years, is called the Meccan period. During the Meccan period, the dominant themes within the Qurʾān are primarily what in Arabic is called tawḥīd. Now tawḥīd is sometimes translated as monotheism, which is an unsatisfactory translation. The actual word in Arabic means to make one; translated quite literally, it would be the making of one. But the word means, from a Qurʾānic perspective, worshipping Allah (swt) with absolutely no association in that worship. Nothing is associated in that worship with God — nothing whatsoever.

And this is the word that, if one wants a single word that will give the theme of the Qurʾān, is that word. This is why the Muslims have, in the Western comparative religious tradition, been called radical monotheists — more so than the Jewish tradition, and more so than the Christian tradition. The Muslims are considered radical monotheists. For one thing, there is absolutely no anthropomorphism in Islam. There is no association of God with creation. And probably one of the most definitive verses in the Qurʾān about the nature of tawḥīd is this one, that there is no thing like God:

The early community said: whatever occurs to your intellect, God is other than that. The companion of the Prophet (peace be upon him) Abū Bakr al-Ṣiddīq, the first caliph after the Messenger, said: your inability to comprehend God is your comprehension of God. Your inability to comprehend God is your comprehension of God. That is the essence of tawḥīd.