The history of the First Commandment is very old but well known to those who claim them Jews, Christians and Muslims while it is unfortunate that many of us cannot reflect upon it as it should be reflected to worship God without associating partner(s) with Him, even if it nullifies all righteous deeds of His worshipers. The First Commandment is the first of the Ten commandments given to Moses through tablets at Mount Sinai: “Thou shall not worship except One God” given to him to preach to his people (7:145), and asked him to worship God and establish the Salat prayer for His remembrance (20:14), which is also preached by all prophets and messengers came after him being a physical proof for them and all the people of later generations while the Tenth Commandment: “You shall keep the Sabbath holy” given to him was relinquished with the revelation of the Quran (16:124):
[7:145] And we prescribed for him (Moses) in the tablets – an instruction of everything and an explanation of everything. So you shall take them with firmness, and shall order your people, they can take with best of them. I will show you the abode of the defiant.
[20:14] “Indeed Me, I am God; there is no god except I. So you (Moses) shall worship Me, and shall observe the Contact Prayer for My remembrance.”
[16:124] The Sabbath had only been decreed for those who disputed in it, and indeed, your Lord will judge between them on a Day of the Judgment in which they had done in it they dispute.
The First Commandment in the Quran
The commandment found in all scripture including the Quran, which is very precise in the Quran: “There is no god except God” [لا إِلٰهَ إِلَّا اللَّهُ] with a couple of its derived forms:
[3:18] God has borne witness that there is no god except He, laa-ilaaha illaa huwa [لا إِلٰهَ إِلّا هُو] and (so has done) the angels and possessors of the knowledge established with the justice: there is no god except He, [laa-ilaaha illaa huwa [لا إِلٰهَ إِلّا هُو] the Almighty, the Wise.
Note: God Himself has assured us twice in this verse: “There is no other god except He”, and we know He is the One who has prescribed for us what we need to believe as well as what we need todo to lead a righteous life. The ending phrase teaches us the exact pattern of the statement of “First Commandment” if we want to extend the statement. Thus, appending Muhammad name as a messenger of God is a direct violation of this commandment/pattern.
[20:14] “Indeed Me, I am God; there is no god except I [laa-ilaaha illaa anaa [لا إِلٰهَ إِلّا أَنا]. So you (Moses) shall worship Me, and shall observe the Contact Prayer (al-salata) for My remembrance.”
Note: God Himself has confirmed us stating in the first person singular pronoun: “There is no other god besides Me” and He wants us to dedicate our all praise, prayers and appreciation to Him.
[37:35] When it was said to them: there is no god except God, [laa-ilaaha illaa allah [لا إِلٰهَ إِلّا أَنا] they were arrogant.
Note: The reference has come in respect with the contemporary idol worshipers but the same behavior can also be noticed when this statement is shared with the traditional Muslims.
[38:65] Say, “I (Muhammad) am but a warner; and there is no god except God [wa-maa min ilaahin illaa allah [وَما مِن إِلٰهٍ إِلَّا اللَّهُ], the One, the Supreme.”
Note: Muhammad was told to warn the people saying: “There is no god except God, the One, the Supreme”.
[47:19] Therefore, you (Muhammad) shall know that there is no god except God, [laa-ilaaha illaa allah [ لا إِلٰهَ إِلَّا اللَّهُ] and ask forgiveness of your sins and of the believing men as well as the believing women. And God is aware of your endeavor and attainment.
Note: The commandment what was taught Muhammad: “There is no god except God”, which is very clear in the verse to be aware of his endeavor and attainment. Thus, there is no reason to put Muhammad’s name in the commandment next to God by the followers of the Quran, even if he uttered his name next to God, it would not be just silly for him but he would also go against God and the Quran.
There is no god except He
The reflection of the First Commandment in the Quran is “There is no god except God”, which has a couple of derived forms, and the derived form found in the Quran in higher frequency is “There is no god except He” detailed out below to eliminate any misconception around the First Commandment as well as to make a clear difference between the two Arabic words, Elah meaning “god” or “deity” and Allah meaning “God” to eliminate any doubt in the uses of these two words while the capitalized indicating the supreme being and the un-capitalized one indicating the nature of the supreme being:
[2:163] And your god (ilaahukum) is one god (ilaahun waahidun); there is no god except He, the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful.
[2:255] God: there is no god except He, the Living, the Eternal. No slumber or sleep overtakes Him; to Him belong whatever is in the heavens and whatever in the earth. Who will intercede with Him except by His leave? He knows their past and their future, and they do not encompass any of His knowledge except of what He wills. His throne extends the heavens and the earth, and taking care of them does not tire Him, and He is the Most High, the Great.
[3:2] God: there is no god except He, the Living, the Eternal.
[3:6] He is the One who shapes you in the wombs as He wills. There is no god except He, the Almighty, the Most Wise.
[3:18] God has borne witness that there is no god except He, and so has done the angels and the knowledgeable established with the justice: there is no god except He, the Almighty, the Wise.
[4:87] God: there is no god except He. Surely, He will gather you to a Day of the Resurrection; there is no doubt in it, and who is more truthful in word than God?
[6:102] That is God, your Lord: there is no god except He, the Creator of all things. So you shall worship Him. And He is a Guardian over all things.
[6:106] You (Muhammad) shall follow what has been inspired to you from your Lord: there is no god except He, and shall turn away from the idol worshipers.
[7:158] Say: “O people, indeed, I (Muhammad) am a messenger of God to you all, the One to whom is sovereignty of the heavens and the earth. There is no god except He, He gives life and causes death.” So you shall believe in God and His messenger, the gentile prophet who believes in God and His words, and you shall follow him that you may guide.
[9:31] They have taken their rabbis and their monks as lords other than God, and the Messiah, son of Mary, while they have not been commanded except to worship one god: there is no god except He. Glory to Him from what they associate.
[11:14] So if they do not respond to you, then you shall know that it has been revealed with God’s knowledge, and that there is no god except He. Then will you be Submitters?
[13:30] Thus that we have sent you to a nation certainly, has passed away nations its before, that you may recite to them which we have revealed to you while they disbelieve in the Gracious. Say: “He is my Lord, there is no god except He. Upon Him I put trust and to Him is my return.”
[20:8] God: there is no god except He. To Him belong the most beautiful names.
[20:98] Your only god is God whom: there is no god except He. He has encompassed all things with knowledge.
[23:116] Most Exalted is God, the King, the Truth: there is no god except He, Lord of the Honorable Throne.
[27:26] God: there is no god except He, Lord of the Great Throne.
[28:70] And He is God: there is no god except He. Praise be to Him in the first and in the last, and all decision is with Him, and to Him you will be returned.
[28:88] And do not call any god with God: there is no god except He. Everything will perish except His presence. With Him is all decision and to Him you will be returned.
[35:3] O people, remember God’s favor upon you. Is there any creator other than God who provides for you from the heaven and the earth? There is no god except He, then how do you deviate?
[39:6] He created you from one soul, then He made from it its mate. And He sent down to you eight pairs of the livestock. He creates you in your mothers’ wombs, creation after creation in trimesters of darkness. That is God your Lord, to Him belong the Kingdom. There is no god except He. Then how do you turn away?
[40:3] Forgiver of sins, and Acceptor of repentance, severe in retribution, Possessor of bounty; there is no god except He. To Him is the final return.
[40:62] That is God, your Lord, Creator of all things; there is no god except He. Then how do you deviate?
[40:65] He is the Living; there is no god except He. So, you shall worship Him being sincere, devoted the religion to Him. Praise to God, Lord of the universe.
[44:8] There is no god except He. He gives life and causes death; your Lord and Lord of your forefathers.
[59:22] He who is God; there is no god except He. Knower of all secrets and declarations. He is the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful.
[59:23] He who is God; there is no god except He; the Sovereign, the Sacred, the Peace, the Trustworthy, the Supreme, the Almighty, the Powerful, the Dignified. Glory be to God, above what they associate (with Him).
[64:13] God: there is no god except He. And upon God let the believers put trust.
[73:9] Lord of the east and the west; there is no god except He. So you should take Him as your advocate.
Mathematical confirmations
There are 3 instances of “There is no god except God” in 3 verses across 3 suras and 29 instances of “There is no god except He” in 28 verses across 19 suras in the Quran and there is a two-fold mathematical confirmation from these instances to confirm the First Commandment given to Moses, which is our Shahadah given in the Quran:
(a) There are 29 instances of “There is no god except He” in 28 verses across 19 suras in the Quran. If the relevant sura, frequency and verse numbers are added, the total is a multiple of 19 => 2128 = 19×112 (see details in the table below):
Note: This mathematical confirmation is an explicit proof to avoid the corrupt form of Shahadah appending Muhammad’s name as a messenger of God found around us advocated by the so called Muslim scholars.
(b) There are 19 instances including 3 instances of “There is no god except God” and 16 instances of “There is no god except He” preceded by referring to God or God’s attributes by name found in 18 verses across 15 suras in the Quran. If the relevant sura and verse numbers are added, the total is a multiple of 19 => 1482 = 19x78 (see details in the table below):
Note: This mathematical confirmation is an explicit proof of The First Commandment in the Quran “There is no god except God” and its derived form, “There is no god except He” to have no doubt that our Shahadah has been corrupted by adding Muhammad’s name as a messenger of God while “I am God; there is no other god besides Me” indicates importance of Salat.
Conclusion
The First Commandment: “Thou shall not worship except One God” given to Moses is exactly coded in the Quran: “There is no god except God” (in Arabic, Laa Ilaaha Illaa Allah) including mentioning its derivative repeatedly:” There is no god except He” (in Arabic, Laa Ilaaha Illaa Huwa). However, the First Commandment known as Shahadah among Muslims, is a profession of faith that every Muslim bears witness to worship God alone by reciting the creed establishing in his heart, which has even been aligned to the first pillar of Islam by the old Muslim scholars. But Muhammad’s name is appended to it as a messenger of God to corrupt the Shahadah given by God found in the Quran. The corrupt form of Shahadah came down to us from the past while we all can be sure from the Quran that Muhammad was taught the correct form of Shahadah including all of us as the Quran is a reminder for all the people of the world.
From the historical perspective, the First Commandment came down to us is the first of the Ten commandments given to Moses through tablets at Mount Sinai. Moreover, the Quran has precisely stated the Shahadah repeating it in a number of verses to avoid any corrupt form of it by adding the name of any God’s messenger at any of His guidance periods to prevent us from falling into idol worship to nullify our all works because of such conviction. Hence, it is an opportunity for the true believers given by God to confirm the God given Shahadah considering the historical fact as well as reviewing the relevant verses in the Quran even concentrating to the many-fold mathematical confirmation being explicit proofs of it to avoid the obvious idolatry that nullifies all our works.
Peaceful Friday, salaam and God bless.
Tafazzal (4/27/2018).