Tawheed

Introduction

Asalaam Alaikum Wa Rahmatulahi Wa Barakhatu

What is to follow is from my own understanding of what I have learnt about the concept of Tawheed. I will try to provide evidence as much as I am able.

My main source of learning was from a book called:
Fundamentals Of Tawheed  by Abu Ameena  Bilal  Phillips.

In order to gain a deeper and more accurate understanding it is good practice to try and read directly from the source. However I hope that you are able to benefit from this Insha Allah

The first thing that Islam teaches is not Halal(allowed) and Haram (forbidden) the first thing we learn is about Allah.

Islam was revealed over a period of 23 years. At the beginning such practices as drinking alcohol, gambling etc had not yet been forbidden. The people were not expected to just become righteous people overnight these were some of the worst of people. robbers killers hustlers men and women with several different sexual partners absent fathers sound familiar? The early Muslims lived in a state just like we do today! They had to give up their beliefs and ways of living so there is no use learning what you can and can not do unless you are first taught about the one who sets the limits for you, it is only then that your Iman(faith) is built and you are able to give up things you should not do and do the things you should do.

So we shall first start from the root of the tree and inshallah(God Willing) the fruit will blossom. The root of Islam is known as Tawheed(oneness of Allah) In the early days of Islam Tawheed was not taught because it was something very basic that the early reverts did not need to learn. But after the prophet Muhammed (peace be upon him) died and then the next generation that grew and lived around him died ,the newer Muslims began bringing their own beliefs and innovations into the religion. Therefore the scholars had to re teach the Muslims.

''Once people accept unknowingly the pagan philosophies about God they become susceptible to a multitude of other deviant ideas all of which eventually lead those who accept them to worship created things under the guise of the true worship of God'' (Bilal Phillips)

The Prophet (pbuh) was once with his companions and he drew a straight line in the dirt with other branches coming off it. The companions asked him what he meant and he pointed to the lines on either side of the straight one and said these are the paths of misguidance each path has a devil sitting at its head then he pointed to  the straight line and said this is the straight path that leads to Allah.

Tawheed has 3 categories.

• Tawheed al Rububia = confirming the Lordship of Allah that he is one without any partners 
• Tawheed al asma was sifat = names and attributes of Allah are incomparable and unique
• Tawheed al Ibadah = worship of Allah praying and worshipping ONLY Allah

now just from looking at those things you think ''yeah I do that already'' but when we go deeper we will see that many of the above mentioned things we actually do not, do and unknowingly we are worshipping and looking to the creation of Allah for help in our everyday lives.





Now their is a thing called Shirk (placing partners next to Allah) and this is a very grave sin in Islam  the only sin that Allah will not forgive if you don't turn away from it. This is why it is very important we are aware of the ways in which we can fall into committing this sin. we commit this sin all the time not realising it.

Shirk in Tawheed al Rububiyah – Oneness of lordhip

Now the Lordship of God is knowing that it is God that created all things, that it is only by the will of God that good or bad falls upon you.
 ''Allah created all things he is the agent by which all things depend'' (Quran 39:62)
''Allah created you all and whatever you do'' (Quran 37:96)
 now we know this but sometimes including myself sometimes say things like ''I always have bad luck'' or ''she's so lucky she always wins at things'' but things that happen to us are only part of Gods Qadar (pre destination) The prophet (pbuh) said;
''Be aware that if the whole of mankind gathered together in order to do something to help you they would only be able to do something for you which Allah had already written for you likewise if the whole of mankind gathered together to harm you they would only be able to do something to harm you which Allah had already written to happen to you''
 The things that happen to us good or bad are merely tests of this life which i'm sure we all know. It has nothing to do with good or bad luck.
 surely we will test you with fear hunger and loss of wealth (Quran 2:155)
It is possible you dislike something that is good for you and like something that is bad for you but Allah knows (what is best for you) and you do not(Quran 2:26)
There are also some religions that go against this thought like Buddhist who do not believe in God but believe man has the power to create peace within himself through meditation and doing good. Hindus believe there are 3 Gods one for good one for evil I cant remember what the other is for but their called Brahma Vishnu and Shiva. The same with Christians who believe in the trinity believe in the father son and holy spirit .


Shirk in al asma was sifaat – oneness of names and attributes
Now with this category we are dealing with names attributes of Allah. It is not appropriate for us to:

1. Give Allah names and attributes he has not given himself
2. to compare God to his creation giving him human attributes.
3. give his creation qualities that are only befitting for Allah

for example many religions humanise God by making idols of him in their likeness I.e. Hindus make Indian looking idols of their God or Christians who claim Jesus(pbuh) is God in human form and we all know the images of the blonde haired blued eyed Jesus in the pictures which when we do our history we learn who made these images how they were used and slavery days and we know that Jesus(pbuh) image is far from what they shown us. There are even some deviant Muslims who claim Ali(ra) who was a companion of the prophet is God incarnate like what the Christians believe about Jesus. But God is nothing like what he has created he is far greater.
In Genesis of the bible it says God created the world in 6 days and rested on the 7^th. Helllllo!! imagine a God that needs to take a rest? Does that even sound right. God who knows everything sees everything listens to every prayer of every person someone who is that great surely does not need to take a rest.
''He feels no fatigue neither sleep nor slumber overtakes him''(Quran 2:255) The Quran straightens that up in one line!


Also within our families we see how these things are violated for example. When our children are born we give them God mothers and God fathers. Why do we do this? Because its what our parents done and what their parents done before and before that, but who actually came up with these concepts or the history behind it. Yet we follow it because that is what has been done for years. They say if anything happens to the parents they will be taken care of by the Godparents but really how often does that happen. By name alone we are placing ourselves alongside Allah by giving ourselves the title God which is a name befitting only Allah. This also happens in many other ways like saying the Almighty dollar. In a surah(chapter) in the Quran called sincerity it says Allah is not born nor does he give birth so how can we call ourselves 'God' mothers and 'God fathers'

Tawheed Al Ibadah – worship

This aspect is worshipping Allah alone which we often all say we do but don't realise we are worshipping his creation along with God.
''Surah al Fathia is a chapter in the Quran that every muslim is required to recite in their 5 prayers everyday has a verse that states: you alone we worship and you alone we ask for help this is a clear statement that all forms of worship should only be directed to the one who can respond''(Bilal Phillips)
The prophet said: if you ask him in prayer ask only Allah and if you seek help seek it only from Allah.
..verily I am close to them I listen to the prayer of every one who calls on me in order that they may be guided aright(Quran 50:16)
Here are some ways we violate it:

• Some people worship their preachers or the imam or Jesus who is a prophet or people whom are pious. Or they worship idols. The Quran says of the excuses people use for this: ''we only worship them so that they may bring us closer to God''(Q 39:31) But these people are no closer to Allah than you or I God deals with us directly there's no need to go to a priest and confess your sins or pray to Mary as the Catholics do. Allah says in the Quran: Those who you worship besides Allah are only slaves like yourselves''(Q 7:194) about people who worship idols the Quran says do you worship besides Allah that which does not help you at all or harm you. (Q 21:66) worshipping idols never made sense to me because how can you create a statue or idol and then worship the thing you created!!
• Today we see pop stars and rappers becoming the new modern day idols. We've got shows like American idol and x factor looking for the new talent that our kids are going to watch and imitate. The way they dress speak and aspire to get the money the cars and the hoes. Instead of the Ten commandments the kids are following Biggie Smalls ten crack commandments. Or Tupacs code of the streets. These 'idols' are rapping about half the things they probably don't even do but the youth and many adults are thinking their gaining something from this.
  Allah says in surah 26:224-226: As for the poets the erring ones don't follow them see you not that they speak about every subject in their poetry that they do not do''
• Taghut in Islam is anything that is worshipped along with Allah or instead of Allah.

''If man allows the love of anything or anyone to come between himself and God then he has worshipped that thing. In this way money can become someone's God or even ones desires could become a God''(Bilal Phillips)
Quran 25:43 says: have you not seen the one who takes his desires as his God?''


 examples of such desires that play a huge part in peoples lives that if is not taken in moderation will divert their true purpose in this life could be Money, Alcohol, Drugs, Sex with anyone you can get your hands on just because you like sex. That iswhy we must be careful not to become a slave to the things of this world which is very easy to do trust me I know. But when you control your desires and gain will power so your desires don't control you its one of the best things you can do for yourself.

Another form that is not major but is still important is doing good or righteous deeds in order to show off this is called Riyah in Islam. So rather than doing it for the sake of God and out of sincerity you are doing it gain praise from man this is called secret shirk because it is very hard to realise you are doing. So we must always check our Niyah (intentions) before doing something to ensure our Niyah is pure. The prophet told us to say:

O Allah (God) we seek refuge in you from knowingly committing shirk with you we ask your forgiveness for that shirk we commit which we do not know about.
Ameeen

Ok let’s recap:

·     There is only one God. This concept is known as Tawheed and is very important

·     There are 3 types of Tawheed. Rububia (lordship), that deals with the fact that there is only one creator who created the whole world. The only one that can help us and the only one who has any power over our lives so there is no such thing as good or bad luck

·     Tawheed Al asma wa sifat which is the oneness of the names and attributes of Allah. So he is the only one that is all powerful- all seeing – all hearing – we cannot liken him to the creation and we can not liken the creation to him because he is incomparable to anyone or anything

·     Tawheed - al Ibadah, which is the oneness of worship. We must not ask for help or bow down to anyone or anything but God. Not righteous people, saints  Jesus or  even addictions to our desires because everyone and everything is just a creation of God, therefore we must go directly to God when asking for help because he is closer to us than our jugular vein

Ok thats it for part one hope you understood all that. If your reading this than that means you read the whole thing so Jazak Allah (may Allah reward you) thank you. Let me know if you have any questions or comments and I will endeavour to answer them with clear evidence Insha Allah