There’s only one God, but why Al-qur’an uses the words “we”?

Islam is a strictly monotheistic religion. It believes in and adheres to uncompromising monotheism. It believes that God is one, and unique in His attributes. It is common to recognize that Islam only worship one God, which is Allah. The glorious Qur’an says in the following verse:

Say (Muhammad): ‘O People of the scripture (jews and christians): come to a word that is just between me and you, that we worship none but Allah, and that we associate no partners with him, and that none of us shall take others as God besides Allah’ Then, if they turn back, say: ’bear witness that we (at least) are moslem (bowing to Allah’s will). Al-qur’an 3:64

The most concise definition and confession of God in Islam is given in four verses of Surah Al-Ikhlas which is chapter 112 of the Qur’an.
[112.1] Say: He is Allah the One and Only
[112.2] Allah is He on Whom all depend.
[112.3] He begets not, nor is He begotten.
[112.4] And there is none like unto Him.

The word “Asshamad” which is on the second verse is difficult to translate. It means “absolute existence” which can be attributed only to Allah. Allah is not dependent on any single thing and everything dependent to Him.

The most disturbing question is: why Al-qur’an use the word “we” when it told the words of Allah? Doesn’t “we” is plural form of person? In the Qur’an, God often refers to Himself using the word ‘We’. But this does not mean that Islam believes in the existence of more than one God. Let’s check it out.

Two types of plural
In several languages, there are two types of plurals, one is a plural of numbers to refer to something that occurs in a quantity of more than one. The other plural is a plural of respect.

a. In the English language, the Queen of England refers to herself as ‘We’ instead of ‘I’. This is known as the ‘royal plural’.

b. Rajiv Gandhi, the ex-Prime Minister of India used to say in Hindi "Hum dekhna chahte hain". "We want to see." ‘Hum’ means ‘We’ which is again a royal plural in Hindi.

c. Similarly in Arabic, when Allah refers to Himself in the Qur’an, He often uses Arabic word 'Nahnu' meaning ‘We’. It does not indicate plural of number but plural of respect. In arabic languange, the word “ ana” mean I or we. In Arabic literature branch called Nahwu, the word “ana” is called dhamir nahnu which mean I, we, us, etc.

I must confess that many moslem doesn’t understand arabic literature very well. This question is often asked by non-moslems who doesn’t understand arabic languange to confuse them. they try convince moslems that God (Allah) it’s not the only God. They try to say that God divide into three, just like Christian.

Tawheed or monotheism is one of the pillars of Islam. The existence and uniqueness of one and only one God is mentioned several times in the Qur’an. For instance in Surah Ikhlas, it says:
"Say He is Allah the One and Only."
[Al-Qur’an 112: 1]