Kufuwan means an example, similar thing, the one equal in rank and position. In marriage matters, kufuwan means matching boy and girl socially. In verse 112-4, it means that there is none similar to Him, none equal to Him and there is nothing at all like Him." (Tuhfat Al-Ahwadhi 9-299, At-Tabari 24-691, Tafsir Ibn Kathir, Vol-X, p.628)

This verse therefore explains that there is no one, nor there ever was or can ever be equal, similar, comparable, resembling or matching in any degree whatsoever, to Allah or His Attribute.

Allazii laisa ka mislihii shay-un: He is such that there is nothing like unto Him.

The Bible also emphatically repeats this at many places:

"And he said, that thou mayst know that there is none like unto the Lord, our God." (Exodus 8-16) "Ye shall not make with Me gods of silver, neither shall ye make unto you gods of gold." (Exodus 20-23) "Our Lord, there is none like Thee, neither is there any god beside Thee, according to all that we have heard with our ears." (Chronicle 17-20 & II, Samuel 7-22). "Who is like unto Thee, O Lord, among the gods who is like Thee Glorious in Holiness, fearful in praise, doing wonders?" (Exodus 15-11) "For who in the heavens can be compared unto the Lord? Who among the sons of the mighty can be likened unto the Lord." (Psalms 89-6) "To whom then will ye liken God? Or what likeness will ye compare unto Him?" (Isaiah 40-18)

There is continuity of argument, word after word, in Surah Ikhlaas. When one believes in the Transcendental Presence (Huwa), then concept of Necessary and contingent held by some scientists, discussed earlier, becomes easier to understand. This can perhaps be put simply into two terms: Presence (Necessary) and existence (contingent). While believing in existence of contingent, absence of Necessary is inconceivable. He has no beginning and no end. He is not subject to changing states of physical world from one to the other. He is Absolute-Perfect.

The Necessary is self-sustaining and sustains all contingent (creation). Scientific questions dealing with cause, effect, creation, development and sustaining megaverse, lead to believe that Necessary is neither derived nor composed. Necessary can not be part of contingent, and vice versa. Therefore Necessary is neither bred nor breeding - i.e., Necessary is Independent and contingent is dependent. Therefore they are not similar, in any respect.

Organization and arrangement in the universe show that there is perplexing Unique Intelligence above all and in everything. Nothing is, never was and never ever can be anything like unto Him in respect of His any Attribute, Omni-Presence, Transcendence, Absolute Perfection, and so on. He is Living Intelligent Eternal - He is Huwa, not 'It'

Abdul Maajid Daryabadi has given following notes in explanation of 'Wa lam yakun-llahuu kufuwan ahad' (112-4):

Nature, Person and Attributes: "Least of all He is an anthropomorphic God. 'In this uncompromising monotheism with its simple, enthusiastic faith in the supreme rule of a transcendent being, lies the chief strength of Islam as a religion.' (Hitti) 'The Vedic pantheon was peopled with gods that lived in the heavens or in the atmosphere or upon earth, their number was reckoned as thirty three, but those to whom the greatest number of humans were devoted were Indra, Agni, and Soma. Later Siva and Vishnu attained the predominant position and joined with Brahma formed the Trinity.' (Tara Chand) "

(Abdul Majid Daryabadi, Tafsirul Quran, Vol-IV, p.541)

He is undescribable and unpicturable. It is impossible to visualize His Reality in any form or being. Agha Muhammad Yaqoob says: The question of all questions for consideration is, where is the need for incarnation for Him particularly when He is attributively the Omnipresent?" (Agha Muhammad Yaqoob, Tafsir, Vol-V, p.645)

Anthropomorphism
He is not like any person or thing that we know or can imagine: His qualities and nature are Unique. Abdullah Yusuf Ali (Footnote 6300, Verse 112-4), precisely concludes, thus:

"This sums up the whole argument and warns us specially against anthropomorphism, the tendency to conceive of Allah after our own pattern, an insidious tendency that creeps in at all times and among all peoples."

While explaining mortal and physical aspects of creation of Jesus (Peace be upon him) and Marry (may Allah be pleased with her), the Quran tells in simple terms that they ate and drank like any other mortal humanbeing, therefore they could not be taken as ilaah. But Allah is the One Who is not created, he is not mortal, does not need feeding, is Self-Subsisting and sustains everything - He is Unique: Allah, Ahad and As-Samad.

Multiplicity Contrasted with the Oneness and Uniqueness

Muhammad Asad attempts some explanations with reference to 'even and odd', (89-3, Footnote 2, The Message of the Quran, p.950): "Lit., the even and the odd or the one; i.e., the multiplicity of creation as contrasted with the oneness and uniqueness of the Creator (Baghawi, on the authority of Said ibn al-Khudri, as well as Tabari in one of his alternative interpretations of the above phrase). The concept of the even number implies the existence of more than one of the same kind: in other words, it signifies everything that has a counterpart or counterparts and, hence, a definite relationship with other things (cf the term azwaaj in 36-36, referring to the polarity evident in all creation). As against this , the term al-watr - or, in the more common (Najdi) spelling, al-witr - primarily denotes 'that which is single' or one and is, hence, one of the designations given to God - since 'there is nothing that could be compared with Him.' (112-4) and 'nothing like unto Him'. 42-11).

European scientists have carried out first experiments on antimatter. Researchers in Geneva, have been able to trap and control anti-hydrogen atoms in a chamber at a sufficiently low temperature to begin studying their physics in detail. They say the development should help them get a better understanding of how antimatter differs from normal matter and why the latter has come to dominate the Universe around us. According to mainstream thinking, equal amounts of matter and anti-matter should have been created in the Big Bang at the beginning of time - and then annihilated each other in a flash of energy. Quite why one form won over the other has yet to be explained. (Researchers look inside antimatter, Dawn, November 9, 2002)

The Quran tells that every thing is created in pairs (azwaaj). Only the Creator is the Unique One (112-1 & 4). There are different scientific and non-scientific concepts about pairing of created things. Scientifically it is in the nature of physically created things in universe that everything has been created in pairs: they have twinning, pairing, logging, bonding, grafting, mixing or compounding quality and capability. There are different concepts about pairing of soul and body in different religions, e.g., fylgia is the term used in early Icelandic literature for a shape accompanying man through life. It is believed that it resembles an external soul, often in animal form, visible in dreams or to those with second sight, and capable of journey away from the body. Whereas Ahad is free of all such phenomena which effect integration or disintegration, alter or transform composition or change position, etc. He is changeless and matchless.

"And there is none comparable to Him" 112-4