Shaikh Ibrāhīm Inyās, may God be pleased with him, on the Levels of Monotheism:

Regarding the Quranic statement, “And warn them that there is no god so be conscious of Me,” Shaikh Ibrāhīm Inyās, may God be pleased with him stated in Riyadh al Tafsir, Vol.3, commenting on Surah al-Nahl, ppg. 271-272, the following:

Monotheism is of three levels:

1) The monotheism of the Common Folk, ‘There is no god but He.’

2) The monotheism of the Elite, ‘There is no god but You.’

3) The monotheism of the Elite of the Elite, ‘There is no god but I.”

(This third level) is not achieved through the monotheist, himself. Rather, its monotheism from the Truth (Himself) be He blessed and exalted, there is no god but I. It is not peculiar that God should cause His slave to be annihilated in His Self (fi Nafsihi) …”

Translated by Imam Muhammad Abdul Latif Finch

Imam Muhammad Abdul Latif Finch converted to Islam at the age of 20 and has earned ijazas in Islamic Sciences including Quranic Sciences, Hadith, Maliki and Shafi’i Jurisprudence, Usul al-Fiqh, Seerah, Logic, and Arabic Grammar and Morphology under the tutelage of numerous scholars, including Shaykh Hamza Yusuf, Shaykh Salik bin Siddina, Imam Zaid Shakir, Shaykh Abdur Rahman Taahir, Qari Umar Bellahi, Shaykh Abdullah Ali, and Shaykh Yahya Rhodus.

Imam Muhammad Abdul Latif Finch co-founded the Lighthouse Mosque in Oakland, California where he served as the Imam for 3 years until he resigned in 2012 to focus on his graduate studies. In addition, he was a teacher and a program developer for Deen Intensive Foundation, Seekers Guidance and had assisted Zaytuna College’s Summer Arabic Intensive program for three years in a row.

Imam Muhammad Abdul Latif Finch  has recently attained a Master’s degree in Philosophy from the Dominican School of Philosophy and Theology, a member of the Graduate Theological Union in Berkeley.

Many thanks to Imam Muhammad Abdul Latif Finch for contributing to this blog.

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