Chapter 03: Pillars of Islam by Dr Muhammad Sharif Chaudhry

Part I: Belief (Al-Emaan)

Chapter 03

True Belief – At-Tauheed

Meaning and Importance

We have discussed the belief in detail in the preceding two chapters which a person should profess in order to be a real Muslim who would go to Paradise in the next world. In practical life this belief may be called the true belief or Tauheed (i.e. monotheism) which means belief in and worship of One God only.

God is One. There is no god except Allah (Allah is the personal name of that One God). Islam is strictly a monotheistic religion and is committed to hold that Allah is the Only God of the Whole of the Universe and there is no God in any form or manifestation except Allah. Unity of Godhead is the fundamental teaching of the religion of Islam. None can embrace Islam and enter into the brotherhood of the Muslims until and unless he declares by tongue and affirms in his heart that there is no God but Allah.

It is rightly said that al-Quran, the revealed book of Islam, teaches directly or indirectly in almost every other verse the fundamental principle of Oneness of God and condemns those who hold or worship more than one God or who associate partners to God. The Qur’an rejects polytheist’s claim of many gods, Christian doctrine of Trinity i.e., three Gods (God the Father, God the Son, and the Holy Ghost) and Zoroastrian’s doctrine of two Gods. The Qur’an also tells us that all the Prophets sent by Allah (Right from Adam to Muhammad) have been enjoining their people to believe in and worship one God only i.e. Allah the Almighty God of the Universe besides whom there is no other God.

In its following verses, the Qur’an promotes on the one hand the doctrine of Tauheed (Oneness of God) as taught by all the Prophets of God and on the other hand it rejects the belief that there is no God or there are many Gods:

1) Your God is One God; there is no God save Him, the Beneficent, the Merciful. – (2:Al-Baqarah:163)

2) Allah! There is no God save Him, the Alive, the Eternal. – (3:Al-e-Imran: 2)

3) He it is Who fashioned you in the wombs as pleased Him. There is no God save Him, the Almighty, the wise. – (3:Al-e-Imran:6)

4) Allah (Himself) bears witness that there is no God but He, and so do the angels and the men of knowledge, standing firm on justice. There is no God save Him, the Almighty, the Wise. – (3:Al-e-Imran:18)

5) O People of the Scripture! (i.e. Christians!) Do not exceed the limits in your religion nor speak of Allah anything but the truth. The Christ, Jesus son of Mary, was only a messenger of Allah, and His word which He bestowed on Mary, and spirit from Him. So believe in Allah and His messenger and say not: Three (Gods). Stop saying this, it is better for you. Allah is only One God. Glory be to Him as He is far above having a son …… – (4:An-Nisa:171).

6) They are surely disbelievers who say: Allah is the Messiah son of Mary, whereas the Messiah (Jesus) himself had said: O children of Israel! Worship Allah, my Lord and your Lord. Verily, he who ascribes partners unto Allah, for him Allah has forbidden Paradise. His habitation is the Fire. And for the wrongdoers, there is no helpers. – (5:Al-Maidah:72)

7) And (Remember) when your Lord brought forth the offspring from the loins of Adam’s Children, and made them bear witness about themselves (asking them): “Am I not your Lord”? They said: “yes we bear witness”. This was done, lest you should say on the Day of Resurrection: Verily we were unaware of this fact. – (7:Al-Araf:172).

8) (Yusuf said): O my two fellow prisoners! Are many different Gods better or Allah the One, the Almighty? Those whom you worship besides Him are nothing but mere names which you have invented, you and your forefathers, for which Allah has revealed no sanction. The command is for none but Allah. He has commanded that you worship none save Him. This is the right religion, but most of the people know not. – (12: Yusuf: 39-40).

9) Allah has said: Take not two gods. Truly, He (Allah) is the Only One God. So you should fear Me Only. – (16:An-Nahl:51).

10) And We did not send any messenger before you (O Muhammad) but We revealed to him (The same message i.e.): There is no God save Me, so worship Me. – (21:Al-Anbiya:25).

11) Allah has not taken any son nor is there any god along with Him. Had it been so, then each god would have taken away what he had created, and some of them would have tried to overcome others. Glorified be Allah above all that they attribute to Him. – (23:Al-Muminun:91)

12) Say: He is Allah, the One. Allah is Eternal and Independent of all while all are dependent on Him. He begets not, nor was He begotten. And there is none equal or comparable to Him. – (112:Al-Ikhlas:1-4).

Muhammad (PBUH), the Prophet of Islam, in his following Ahadith, has highlighted the importance of Tauheed:

1) Mu'ad bin Jabal reported that the Messenger of Allah said: Key of the Paradise is to give evidence (or to testify) that there is no God but Allah. – (Ahmad).

2) Abu Hurairah reported that the messenger of Allah said: Emaan (belief) has more than seventy branches. The best among them is to say: There is no God but Allah. And the lowest among them is to remove an injurious thing from the road. – (Bukhari, Muslim)

3) Abu Zar reported that I came to the Prophet. He said: There is no man who says that there is no God but Allah and then he dies on this belief but he would go to Paradise. I said: Even if he is guilty of fornication and theft. He said: Although he is guilty of fornication and theft. – (Bukhari, Muslim).

4) Abadah bin Samit reported. I heard the Prophet saying: whoever bears witness that there is no God but Allah and Muhammad is Allah’s apostle, Allah has forbidden Hellfire for Him. – (Muslim).

5) Abu Saeed Khudri reported that the messenger of Allah said: Moses asked: O My Lord! Teach me a thing with which I should remember you and pray to you. Allah replied: O Moses! Say: There is no God save Allah. Moses said: O My Lord! This is said by all of Your servants. Teach me a thing which is special to me. Allah said. O Moses. If the seven heavens and the things therein and seven earths are put in one scale of the balance and La Ilaha Ill Allah is put in other scale, the scale of La Ilaha ill Allah would be heavier. (Sharah-As-Sunnah).

Kinds of Tauheed

According to scholars and jurists of Islam, there are three kinds or aspects of Tauheed, namely: Tauheed ar-Rububiyyah, Tauheed al-Uluhiyyah, and Tauheed al-Asma wa as-Siffat.

1) Tauheed ar-Rububiyyah: It means belief in Oneness of the Lordship of Allah. In other words it means to believe and accept that Allah is the Only and One Lord of the whole Universe. He is the creator and sustainer of the heavens and the earth and of everything in them. He is the Owner, the King, the Master, the Organizer, the Operator, the Planner, and the Giver of Security. He gives life and death. He provides sustenance, He gives wealth and children and He will reward the good-doers and punish the evil-doers on the Day of Judgment which will surely come.

2) Tauheed al-Uluhiyyah: It means belief in Oneness of the worship of Allah. In other words it means to believe that Allah is the only God of the whole of the Universe and of all the creatures. There is no God (Ilah) in the Universe save Him. He is the only One capable of or eligible for worship. He alone has the right to be worshipped. He alone has the right to be invoked and asked for help. Prayer, sacrifice, giving charity, slaughtering of animals, Fasting and Pilgrimage should be for Him or in His Name only. None of His creations should be joined with Him in such devotional acts.

3) Tauheed al-Asma wa as-Siffat: It means belief in Oneness of the Names and the Attributes of Allah. In other words, it means to believe and accept that all the good names and all the best attributes are reserved for Allah and for none else. Since Allah is the creator of all, so none of His creation has the right or claim to any of His Names or Attributes. None of the created beings should be names after Allah’s Names and none of the created beings should be bestowed with Attributes of the Creator. For example, only Allah has the knowledge of the Unseen while none else has got this knowledge. So no man or any other creature should be considered to have the knowledge of the Unseen. Similarly only Allah has the power of Intercession. None of His creations can intercede unless He gives permission. So no Angel or Prophet or Jinn should be taken to have power of Intercession.