INTRODUCTION
Islam as we know is based on monotheism. tawhid,the oneness of Allah,is an essential belief for all muslims. islam teaches that Allah,the one true God,has 99 attributes. although we can understand these attributes His essence cannot be comprehended by our limited mental capacity "LIKE CAN ONLY COMPREHEND LIKE meaning-infinite knowledge is required to comprehend infinite knowledge" .Allah also created us(mankind) primarily so we may know Him "through his creations"

Realization of the supremacy of Allah,although necessary for success in the hereafter,has not been enforced on us-it is a test based on the fact that we have been endowed with free will. Understanding Allah's nature is essential as it has substantial effect on a muslim's duties to Him

CHAPTER 1
The oneness of Allah is the most important theological principle in islam."the first of the five pillars" the declaration of faith,which is the 1st act that one does to embark on islam,reiterate the necessity of the belief in God's oneness, it begins profoundly with the negation of any god other than Allah
"I bear witness that there is no god but Allah and muhammad is His messenger"-this statement emphasis strongly the importance of the oneness of Allah
Also the Quran is full of references to this fact
Say 'HE is Allah the ONe-112:1
Surely Allah alone is the creator of all things and He is the One,the Most supreme--13:17
Say 'I am only a warner,and there is no god but Allah,the one,the most supreme---23:66 et al
Also logic affirms the fact of God's oneness for if you ask a believer in god,whether he believes in one god or ten,you will find that somewhere in his definition of the term 'God' he rules out the possibily of god having any equal,being weak,inferior or compromising
Yet the fact that there is more than one god as you may find in some religions suggest two contradictory possibilities;that the Gods are equal in power and hence are compromising or they are of unequal power hence some being inferior to others..from this argument one can conclude that there can only be one God.as the saying goes "one cannot have more than one captain in a boat"
"IF there has been in them(the heaven and the earth) other gods besides Allah,then surely both would have gone to ruin"-21:23
Allah,however,is percieved differently in other religions.since mean would be limiting God by creating a physical image of Him "muslims avoid this"
Like the hypothesis in the christian religion which postulates that the cause looks like the effect (genesis1vs27-created in God's image) but I shoe maker(cause) doesn't look like the shoe(effect)

So islam does not in any way try to personify Allah,although it is true that two of his attributes are that HE "SEES" and HE "HEARS" this does not mean the kind of ears and eye we have

Also muslims do not agree with the judaeo-christian concept of God having to rest as they say he did after creating the world.we be belief that all He needs is say "be and it will be so" and that tiredness is a human attribute as is making mistake

We also believe that Allah has perfect knowledge "omniscient".He knows all that is tangible and that is manifest,He knows the past and the future and they are both equal for Him,hence we refute the christian belief of God not having a perfect knowledge-like God underestimating the intelligence of His creations-He did not THINK that man could build the tower of babel(gen11-5,7 &exodus32vs14)

Chapter 2
To be a muslim it is also essential to believe in the destiny,whether good or "bad",that Allah has set for us(known as Qadr).regading this the quran exclaims

"Say,nothing shall befall us save that which Allah has ordained for us-9:51"

This however does not negates man free-will,for if it does Allah's justice would be compromised "for you cannot judge a person if he does not have the freedom of choosing what he does".

Allah the "just has given man both destiny and free will,the action of human is interrelated with destiny and both are mutually necessary

"The predestined will of Allah and the action of human are like the spirit and the body,the spirit without the body has no physicality and the body without the soul is a picture without movement-Imam Ali(b)
Some things such as our deaths and disease are above human will,no matter what a person does his our for death cannot be exceeded

"And no soul can die except by Allah's leave-a decree with a fixed term"-3:145

"They say 'if we had any part in the government of affairs,we should not have been killed here. 'Say if you had remained in your homes,surely those destined to be slain would have set out toward the place where they were laid to rest-3vs154

This doesn't mean that when one fall sick one should do nothing and wait for destiny to take its course or one shouldn't earn a good living and wait for manner to fall from heaven

"Surely Allah will not change the condition of a people until they change themselves-13vs11

Hence there exists destiny like there exists free-will

Chapter 3
Through out the ages one may have encountered such questions as
Why did God create man?
If God is perfect what use would man be to him?to list but a few

Allah as not created man for His own benefit,he created man for the benefit of man

"O son of adam,I did not create you for my own benefit,but that you benefit from me as your God,alone,for I am your savior"-hadith qudsi

"And I have not created the jinn and man but that they worship ME"-51:57
Now the next thing to ask is 'how do we worship Him?
According to imam hussain ibn Ali(AS) the verse implies that "O people Allah did not create you but that you know Him,for if you know Him then you will worship Him "correctly" and if worship Him you will benefit from his grace"

In defining what is meant by a muslim's duty,we may generalize that a muslim's duty is to worship Allah,to elaborate muslims do not see the term worship in a vague sense of praying and fasting e.t.c-worship encompasses the whole aspect of a muslims life (depends on intention) for example even if a muslim gets an education,provided he intends to use it for good,it is seen as worship and will be rewarded

Each of Allah's attributes has practical implications in the life of a muslim.clear comprehension of the uniqueness of Allah's nature improves a person taqwa,or belief in God.having taqwa in the hearts throughout our daily life adds a feeling of contentment,glamour and peace with one's self
And thou,o soul at peace,return to they lord well pleased with Him and He will be pleased with you-89vs28-29