Your god is one God — a formula with a changing consequence
إِلَٰهُكُمْ إِلَٰهٌ وَٰحِدٌ
ilāhukum ilāhun wāḥidun — your god is one God
In the four verses given, the nominal clause 'your god is one God' recurs with the same grammar but is fitted each time into a different setting and followed by a different consequence, so the formula functions as a premise from which the verse then draws its own particular demand or statement.
The clause ilāhukum ilāhun wāḥidun appears four times in the verses given, and in each case the grammar is identical: a masculine singular noun in the nominative with a second-person masculine plural pronoun (ilāhukum), followed by an indefinite masculine singular noun (ilāhun) and an indefinite masculine singular adjective (wāḥidun) in apposition. What changes is everything around it. In (2:163) the clause stands at the head of the verse, prefixed by wa-, and is followed by a denial and exception: 'there is no god except Him, the All-Merciful, the Ever-Merciful.' In (22:34) it is prefixed by fa- and followed by an imperative of surrender: 'therefore, yield yourselves to Him.' In (41:6) it is embedded in a revelation formula — 'it is being revealed to me that your god is a single God' — and followed by two imperatives, 'keep straight toward Him and seek His covering (of your faults),' plus a warning against 'those who join (others) as partners.' In (18:110) the same revelation formula appears, and the clause is followed by a conditional: 'whoever hopes for the meeting with his Lord, let him do a sound, wholesome deed, and let him not join anyone with his Lord in the devotion to Him.' Read together, the verses show the clause operating as a fixed premise: each context supplies its own conclusion, whether a description of who God is (2:163), a command to yield (22:34), commands to keep straight and seek forgiveness (41:6), or a conditional demand of undivided devotion (18:110).
Where it occurs
- 2:163 Opens the verse with wa- and is followed by the denial-and-exception 'there is no god except Him' and two divine names.
- 22:34 Stands after the statement about appointed mansak, prefixed by fa-, and grounds the command 'yield yourselves to Him.'
- 41:6 Is the content of what is revealed to the speaker, followed by the commands 'keep straight toward Him and seek His covering (of your faults).'
- 18:110 Is the content of what is revealed to the speaker, followed by the conditional about hoping for the meeting with one's Lord and doing a sound, wholesome deed without joining anyone in devotion.
All Qur'anic expressions