The Sufi Ways in Getting Tauhid

William chittick asserts that Sufism is an attempt to reach individual salvation trough attaining the true tauhid. Tauhid means an acknowledgment of oneness of god as expressed in the word “there is no deity but Allah.” Making tauhid as center means that Sufism refer to the very basic and fundamental in islam. There is no Sufism without believes in tauhid, if in Islamic religious doctrine God is object of devotion, in Sufism God reflected as object of love.
The goal of Sufism as reflected in tauhid is to be unite with god in pre-existential condition. Tauhid means one, god is one, and human come from the one. Return to god means return to god when god create human for first time. Cittick clearly says : “The goal of mystic is ‘to return’ to experience of the “Day of alastu”, when only god existed, before he led creatures out of the abyss of not being and endowed them with life, love and understanding, so that they might face him again at the and of time.”
The word alastu can be found in the Quranic verses sura 7:17. “Am I not your lord? (alastu birabikum), and they answered: “yes, we witness it” (bala sahidna). Al-juneid as cittick quotes say: “..when god was alone and what is created in time was not yet existence. Only than can men realize perfect tauhid; only then can he witness that god is one from eternity.
The understanding toward word alastu, has influence muslim consciousness, especially Sufism. It described that human, all human being that now different in ethnicities, religions, and culture, have made an acknowledgement that he/she believe and devote to the “one” God. God of all creatures, god who examines people to proof his/her promise to believe to one god in the life.
In other hand, what Sufism used to support the idea of Sufism by referring tauhid concept and quranic verses indicates that God, Qur’an, and Muhammad as prophet are very central in Sufism. Muhammad is the key figure between god and human relationship, while Qur’an believed as representation of the God in the world. Muhammad, like Isa, is saint human which incorporated from human matter. Muhammad was ummi, illiterate, before he got God speaks, in the other side Isa begotten from virgin girls, Maria. God will close or be part of human life when he/she uncontaminated from worldly matter.
The concept of “return” to God also was influenced by the human capacity as “khalifa fil ardh.” For that mission human have a free will and predestination. In the context of alastu it will be understood that there is no return if someone did not go out from inside God. In mystical Christian human is God’s emanation. In Islamic teaching, as the world alastu, God create human being for several reasons. Human should acknowledge that God is creator, and human creature. As creature, human have a creator. Relationship between creature and creature was tied by primordial covenant. Because of his/her free will human can avoid the pre-existential covenant to be one of the people who return to acknowledgement to the “tauhid” to god.