The Debate About Aspects of the Divine in the Sentence of Tauhid and its Relationship with the Plurality of Creation

Abstract

The term plurality is an English noun that refers to the state of being plural; it means a large and diverse amount of something; in politics, it means the greatest number of votes, short of a majority. The word has been absorbed into Indonesian, where it is likewise understood as “many,” “various,” and “large in number.” From this, it can be concluded that plurality is the condition and existence of something in large quantities, something multiple, something that is multifaceted or diverse. In the context of religion, it is defined as “diversity” or as “a diversity of ideologies, beliefs or understandings,” as well as of ideas and thoughts.

The word creature comes from three letters – kha, lam and qaf – which mean “to determine something;” we find kha in the word khalaqa, which means to create or make. Lafaz means to take the form of an object (item maf'ul), which means “created.” So creatures are any entities created (by the Creator) that exist in this universe. In the sense of reality, plurality is an ontological state of cosmic creation and its contents. It is part of God's grand design, which humans must accept, and challenges humans to transcend all differences. Humans are truly united by a single ontological reality, namely, God. The plurality of God's creation tells humans that God wants to explain that the diverse needs of human life have something to do with God's desire to introduce his oneness to everything humans like in living their lives. God also wants to convey that all diversity belongs to Him and will return to Him.