The Semantics of “Ahad” in Surah Tawhid from the Perspective of the Narrations of the Two Major Islamic Sects

Tawhid is the most important surah of the Holy Quran in explaining the unity of Divine Essence and the word “ahad” which is mentioned only once in the Quran and is carried in the essential attributing of Almighty God in this surah. Considering that monotheism/ unity is the most fundamental and initial belief in Islam and the basis of all the teachings of the religion, and the word “ahad” implies this basic belief, and on the other hand, the meaning and interpretation of this word is a subject of conflict between Shiite and Sunni commentators, the necessity of dealing with the semantics of ahad in Surah Tawhid becomes clear from the perspective of the two major Islamic sects. The most important meanings obtained from the perspective of these two sects for this word in the present study are the synonymity “ahad” and “wahid”, the non-synonymity of “ahad” and “wahid”, the non-numerical unity of “ahad”, the numerical unity of “ahad”, indivisibility, lack of composition and the simplicity of essence and not having a partner and likeness for Almighty God, which was clarified by analyzing the word ahad and the denotation of the narrations of the Ahl al-Bayt (A.S), ahad indicates the simplicity of essence and non-numerical monotheism of God. The research method of this article is analytical, descriptive, and critical.