The Essence of Islam – Volume I — Page 469
The Holy Qur'an 469. There is a great part of matters Divine that finds no mention in the Torah; for instance, it does not mention the finer stages of the Unity of God. The Qur'ān discloses that the Unity of God does not mean merely that we should not worship idols, or human beings, or animals, or the elements, or heavenly bodies or satans, but that the. Unity of God has three stages. . The first stage of the Unity of God is for the common people who desire to be delivered from the wrath of God. Almighty. . The second stage is for those who desire to be closer to. God than the common people. . The third stage is for those special ones who desire to achieve closeness to perfection. . The first stage is that no one should be worshipped except God, and that one should refrain from the worship of everything that is limited and created, whether it is on the earth or in heaven. . The second stage of the Unity of God is that in one's own affairs and in the affairs of others, God Almighty should be regarded as the true force and that means should not be so emphasised as to become associates of God. For instance, to say that had it not been for X one would have suffered a certain loss, or that if it had not been for Y, one would have been ruined, would amount to shirk, if by such pronouncements it is meant that X and Y truly possess some power. . The third stage of the Unity of God is to exclude the desires of one's ego from one's love of God Almighty and to devote oneself entirely to His Greatness. . Such Unity of God is not to be found in the Torah. Also