Tawheed

Society Religion & Philosophy
1

Bismillah hirRahman nirRaheem

I would like to discuss the importance of Tawheed in Islam and the need for every Muslim to purify their souls by returning to Islam. The last time I was in Pakistan, I saw a rising tide of Mushriks, those who believed in false gods and looked towards humans (Pirs or otherwise) for guidance. It is their faith, which I believe is destroying our Deen from the inside. I am not a militant person nor do I wish to force anyone to change. If you would take a few minutes to read through this article, I would really be grateful :slight_smile:

Source: http://www.salafipublications.com/sps/

Author: Shaikh Muhammad bin Jameel Zainoo
Source: The Methodology of the Saved Sect (trans. Abu Nasir)
Article ID : TAW010009 [3097]

When pure tawheed is actualised in the life of an individual or the society it produces the best of results. From its results are the following:

  1. Liberation of mankind from worship and submission to other than Allaah. The creation cannot create anything, rather they themselves are created. They are not capable of harming nor benefiting their souls. They are not capable of causing death nor giving life nor are they able to resurrect the dead. So tawheed liberates man from every worship, except to his Lord, the One Who created him and then proportioned hini. It liberates his intelligence from deviation and delusions.

It liberates his mind from obedience, humility and submission to other than Allaah. It liberates his life from the mastery of the rulers, the soothsayers and those who deem themselves divinely appointed over the slaves of Allaah.

Due to this, the leaders of shirk and oppression in the times of ignorance rose up against the call of the Prophets in general and particularly against the call of the Messenger, because of the fact that they understood the meaning of “La ilaaha lila Allaah” to be a universal pronouncement for the liberation of mankind, and the overthrowing of the tyrants from their false thrones, and the elevation of the faces of believers, those who do not prostrate except to Allaah, the Lord of the Worlds.

  1. The personality remains balanced. Tawheed aids the formation of a balanced personality, the preferred aim and direction of this life, and it unifies and consolidates its purpose. So the personality does not turn except to the only One worthy of worship, and it turns to Him in private and in open and it calls to him in private and in open, and it calls upon Him in ease and in adversity. As opposed to the Mushrik (pagan) who shares his heart between those who are worshipped besides Allaah, at times he turns to the living and at times he turns to the dead, and Yusuf said:

Oh my two companions of the prison, are many different lords better, or Allaah, the One, the Irresistible? [12:39]

So, the believer worships One Lord, he knows what is pleasing to Him and what is displeasing to Him, lie stops at whatever pleases Him and his heart becomes calm.

As for the Mushrik, lie worships numerous deities, one he takes from here and another he takes from there and he is divided between them and he has no comfort.

  1. Tawheed is the source of security for the people, because it fills the soul of the individual with peace and satisfaction. He does not fear anyone except Allaah and tawheed blocks the ways to fear of loss in provisions, the soul and the family, fear from mankind, inn, death and other than that from those things which are feared.

The believer who worships Allaah alone. does not fear anyone except Him and because of this he feels secure whilst the rest of mankind fear and he feels satisfaction whilst the people are restless. This is the meaning that is indicated in the Qur’aan in His saying:

Those who believe and do not mix their belief with dhulm, they are those upon whom is security and they are the rightly guided.[6:82]

This security emerges from the innermost depths of the soul and not from any police guard which is the security of this world. As for the security of the Hereafter, then it is greater and more lasting for those who are sincere to Allaah and do not mix their tawheed with shirk, because shirk is a great dhulm.

  1. Tawheed is the source for the strengthening of the soul, because it gives an individual a strong and formidable mental attitude, by which he fills his soul with hope in Allaah, confidence in Allaah and reliance upon Allaah, pleasure with His Decree, gives him patience upon His Tests and freedom from reliance upon the creation. This individual is firmly established, like the mountains, and when a calamity befalls him he asks his Lord to remove it and not the dead. The Prophet (sallallaahu alayhi wasallam) indicated this in his saying: "When you ask, then ask Allaah and when you seek help, then seek help from Allaah alone. " [Hasan Sahih – Tirmidhi]

If Allaah touches you with harm, none can remove it except Him."[6:17]

  1. Tawheed is the foundation of brotherhood and equality, because it does not permit following those who take others as lords besides Allaah, since worship is for Allaah alone and worship to Allaah alone must be from all of mankind, and the head of them is Muhammad (sallallaahu alayhi wasallam) His Messenger and His chosen one.
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Sahl ibn S'ad (radiyallaahu 'anhu) said that Allaah's Messenger (salallaahu 'alaihi wasalam) said: "Islam began as a stranger and will return to being a stranger, so tooba (a tree in Paradise) is for the strangers (al-Ghurabaa). They asked, "O Messenger of Allaah, Who are the strangers?" He replied, "Those who rectify (themselves and others) when the people are corrupt" [At-Tabaraani]

May Allah give us guidance and allow us to rise up from the corrupt (Muslims & NonMuslims).

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Salam buddy!! remember me :)

anyways i didnt read the article yet but you wrote "people look towards peer"

well we don't look toward peers or anything but we have to do taqleed of a marjaa, mujtahid..i m gona write bout taqleed again

**You perform the taqlid of a marja' who is most learned (a'lam). This can be known from the ahl al-khibra ( the experts in the field), or if one is learned enough to identify the most learned by himself or you may even follow the advise of one reliable person if he tells you of a mujtahid being a'lam provided this statement is not contradicted by somebody else.

Taqlid literally means to imitate. You follow a specific taqlid so that you
are able to perform the duties required by Allah, the Almighty. Just as you follow the advise of a doctor when sick or refer to an accountant for your accounting problems, you need to do the taqlid of the most learned in the field of performing your religious obligations. By doing the taqlid of an a'lam, the responsibility of researching the divine ruling on a particular issue is removed from you. Instead, you merely follow the ruling of a marja on that issue.**

everyone muslim believes in One Allah and only Allah can help..but some of these scholers have spent their lives searching, learning about the religion of Islam..is it bad if we seek their advice?

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[QUOTE]
*Originally posted by Sheraz CT: *
Salam buddy!! remember me :)

anyways i didnt read the article yet but you wrote "people look towards peer"

well we don't look toward peers or anything but we have to do taqleed of a marjaa, mujtahid..i m gona write bout taqleed again

**You perform the taqlid of a marja' who is most learned (a'lam). This can be known from the ahl al-khibra ( the experts in the field), or if one is learned enough to identify the most learned by himself or you may even follow the advise of one reliable person if he tells you of a mujtahid being a'lam provided this statement is not contradicted by somebody else.

Taqlid literally means to imitate. You follow a specific taqlid so that you
are able to perform the duties required by Allah, the Almighty. Just as you follow the advise of a doctor when sick or refer to an accountant for your accounting problems, you need to do the taqlid of the most learned in the field of performing your religious obligations. By doing the taqlid of an a'lam, the responsibility of researching the divine ruling on a particular issue is removed from you. Instead, you merely follow the ruling of a marja on that issue.**

everyone muslim believes in One Allah and only Allah can help..but some of these scholers have spent their lives searching, learning about the religion of Islam..is it bad if we seek their advice?
[/QUOTE]

Wa'Salaams Sheraz Bhai! Kya haal hain?

I think Pirs and Alims are very different. Our course there nothing wrong in seeking advice, fatwas etc. I am not referring to them at all. In fact, going to scholars should encoraged. I am referring to the jadoo/tona, praying at Mazars etc. I know this is a toucy subject for many people, but if you need to ask for something, ask Allah directly. We do not need to go "through" people. As Muslims we all believe that even Prophet Muhammed (PBUH) was a human, so I don't see how that Faqir will "get" your prayers answered.

5

^

Ok so don't mind the typos there. Basically, I am referring to the culture of Shirk, meaning that we elevate humans to become false gods. The reality is that 9 of 10 Muslims will say that oh they believe in Allah and only him, but how many follow it?

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[QUOTE]
*Originally posted by RajputFury: *
I am referring to the jadoo/tona, praying at Mazars etc.
[/QUOTE]
I doubt you will find many people who will support jadoo/tona... especially since its expressly forbidden in Islam (Sura-e-Falaq). :-)

On the issue of praying for someone else, a significant majority of scholars agree that a muslim can make dua for another muslim. Whether someone's dua has a better chance of being accepted by Allah compared to another person is known only to Allah.

There are many rituals adopted by muslims around the work (not exclusively in Indo-Pak) that are deemed suspicious and near shirk. Turks of pre-1919 era were engaged in a lot of activities that followers of Muhammad Bin Abdul Wahab deemed against Islam, and as a result the tribe of Saud killed tens of thousands of muslims. This was one of the most tragic (so far) events in the history of Islam. These are well-documented facts in the history, and you can search on the internet. If you are a book-reader, let me know and I can give you names of a few books that will take an unbiased view of the history of Islam (especially the rise of Al Saud and followers of Muhammad Bin Abdul Wahab).

Anyway, so, yes, shirk is wrong. Ibadaat and compliance with sharia is fine. People don't understand, or even need to understand tareeqat, so lets skip that, and focus on the faraidh and shariat and make sure to ask Allah for blessings, all the time. Ameen

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[QUOTE]
*Originally posted by Faisal: *
If you are a book-reader, let me know and I can give you names of a few books that will take an unbiased view of the history of Islam (especially the rise of Al Saud and followers of Muhammad Bin Abdul Wahab).

[/QUOTE]

Could I have your recommended book names please :), Ive been wanting to read about this.

About the topic, I think the shirk he is talking about is praying at graves of saints hoping for their intercession.

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Intercession is a poorly defined concept.

If someone dies. You hear about it and you say "May Allah bless the departed soul". Are you interceding on behalf of the deceased? Is it prohibited? I don't think you will find many scholars who'd say its prohibited. At the same time there are a few who do say you should not pray for the departed soul.

Someone comes to you and explains to you that he is having money problems... you say "don't worry, Insha Allah, you will be fine with Allah's help". Are you interceding on his behalf? Not really. You are just making a dua for your muslim brother.

The final Giver is Allah, and Allah alone.

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**
I doubt you will find many people who will support jadoo/tona... especially since its expressly forbidden in Islam (Sura-e-Falaq). :-)
**

Faisal Bhai, you would be surprised, how it is implicitly accepted and supported.
**
On the issue of praying for someone else, a significant majority of scholars agree that a muslim can make dua for another muslim. Whether someone's dua has a better chance of being accepted by Allah compared to another person is known only to Allah.
**

Perhaps I miscommunicated. I am referring to pray to another person to get your own prayers answered. I did not mean praying for another as in praying for the health of you family and friends.
**
There are many rituals adopted by muslims around the work (not exclusively in Indo-Pak) that are deemed suspicious and near shirk. Turks of pre-1919 era were engaged in a lot of activities that followers of Muhammad Bin Abdul Wahab deemed against Islam, and as a result the tribe of Saud killed tens of thousands of muslims. This was one of the most tragic (so far) events in the history of Islam. These are well-documented facts in the history, and you can search on the internet. If you are a book-reader, let me know and I can give you names of a few books that will take an unbiased view of the history of Islam (especially the rise of Al Saud and followers of Muhammad Bin Abdul Wahab).
**

I do not think injecting political Islam is a good idea in this discussion. I mean the Ottoman Turks were no angels either. I think that the basic belief in Tawheed is a prerequisite for any Muslim. Muslim countries in their dictatorship/kingdoms have adopted a "cult of personality" which strongly differs from Islam, where a Muslim pays no obesience except to Allah. Without the belief in the One true G-d, ones imaan can never be strong. I mean the article is very basic in it's message, yet many Muslims have disregarded the most important tenet of Islam.
**
Anyway, so, yes, shirk is wrong. Ibadaat and compliance with sharia is fine. People don't understand, or even need to understand tareeqat, so lets skip that, and focus on the faraidh and shariat and make sure to ask Allah for blessings, all the time. Ameen **

Summa Ameen. Hopefully more Muslims will find the right path.

10

**
Intercession is a poorly defined concept.

If someone dies. You hear about it and you say "May Allah bless the departed soul". Are you interceding on behalf of the deceased? Is it prohibited? I don't think you will find many scholars who'd say its prohibited. At the same time there are a few who do say you should not pray for the departed soul.
**

Faisal bhai, it is our human nature to help and aid those dear to us. The departed soul will be judged on his/her amal alone.

I think M is exactly on target in regards to what I am referring to. I mean the concept of Sainthood is shaky at best and to pray to a grave is nothing less than ancestor worship. Remember, we are all being judge on OUR deeds alone.

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Bro Faisal what I meant is people going to the saints grave and praying so the DEAD saint intercede for them. Why ask for anyones intercession, when we can ask allah direct. There should be no priesthood in islam.

What can a dead person no matter how good be able to help you?

We have to be careful of shirk, Allah forgives all sins except shirk.

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In The Name of Allah, The Most Beneficent, The Most Kind

They say “Ask Allah direct”. It comes in ones mind when he feel himself proud and supercilious, and he has a direct approach to Allah. It’s a fact that Allah is even close to than your jugular vein. Does this mean that you yourself are closer to him too.

Allah is not a physical entity or object. He does not have any physical body. He does not occupy any physical place. Allah does not resemble a physical being or have physical features. If Allah is closer to you it does not mean that you are closer to Allah too.

Example: Allah helps you and you help Him. The Allah’s help is different and your help is different.

Allah knows everything; He has the absolute knowledge. Even if you don’t ask him; he knows that you want. But you! You are not closer to Him as He is. So reach him, to get something from him, to give something to him. You must use certain Wassila. Like you get knowledge from him through Prophets, his appointed people and Angles. For more information about Wasila or Tawassul you can visit this webpage.

http://www.al-islam.org/mot/default.asp?url=tawassul.htm

[Shakir 5:35] O you who believe! be careful of (your duty to) Allah and seek means of nearness to Him and strive hard in His way that you may be successful.
[Yusufali 5:35] O ye who believe! Do your duty to Allah, seek the means of approach unto Him, and strive with might and main in his cause: that ye may prosper.
[Pickthal 5:35] O ye who believe! Be mindful of your duty to Allah, and seek the way of approach unto Him, and strive in His way in order that ye may succeed.

Wasilah is a means of access to a thing or a being.
If Allah had willed He could have guided mankind directly through inspiration, but in His infinite wisdom, He had not deemed it desirable. He selected and appointed His representatives to convey His message and laws to people and administer their affairs in every age. Please refer to pages 1 to 7, and the commentary of al Baqarah: 2 to 5, 30 to 38, 48, and 124 to know that the Holy Prophet and his Ahl ul Bayt are the only means of approach to Allah.
Thus wasilah or means of access to Allah is to faithfully follow the Holy Prophet and the holy Imams of his holy house, who have been thoroughly purified by Allah (Ahzab: 33).

The Holy Prophet said:

*“I and Ali are from one divine light.” *

*“I will soon be called back, so I will have to go away from you, but I leave behind, amid you, the thaqalayn (two weighty indispensable influential authorities), the book of Allah and my Ahl ul Bayt. Should you be attached to these two, never, never shall you go astray, after me, for verily these two will never be separated from each other; and, joined together, they shall meet me at the spring of Kawthar.” *

*“My Ahl ul Bayt amongst you are like the ark of Nuh. He who sails on it will be safe; but he who holds back shall be drowned and lost.”. *

May Allah protect us from the time that we deny his wasila that He Himself made for us.

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[QUOTE]
*Originally posted by RajputFury: *
I do not think injecting political Islam is a good idea in this discussion. I mean the Ottoman Turks were no angels either. I think that the basic belief in Tawheed is a prerequisite for any Muslim.
[/QUOTE]
The only reason I mentioned the historical references is to clear a common miconception amongst many that dilution of Tawheed is a recent phenomenon or that muslims in Indo-Pak have started shirk due to influences from hindus. If you look at muslim history, through out time, you will notice that even in earlier times of Islam there have always been muslims who have accused other muslims of violating Tawheed. This is nothing new.

Part of it is because lack of knowledge and part of it is because of political reasons. This goes for both sides of the issue.

Lack of knowledge:
Some people do acts of shirk because they don't know (or are misguided). There are some acts of worship or devotion to Allah's or Allah's messengers that make little sense to other people and are promptly deemed 'shirk'. So its again lack of knowledge.

Political Reasons:
Some of these Pirs etc show themselves to be closer to Allah and misguide public for political reasons... one example would be pirs like Pir Pagara of Sindh etc. On the other hand, there are plenty of religio-political leaders who stand up as saviors of Tawheed, simply to stomp their opponents in the name of Allah without understanding or educating themselves about the true concept of Tawheed and what violates it. The example will be house of Saud in 19th and early 20th century.

Conclusion is that Tawheed is the corner-stone of Islam as it should be for all divine (monotheist) faiths. We should all gain knoweldge about it and understand what Tawheed stands for and what violates it. And if we see some practices that we believe violate Tawheed, we should find out the underlying reasons for the practice and then decide for ourselves if it is indeed shirk or whether it is our own knowledge about Islam that was incomplete to begin with.

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In The Name of Allah, The Most Beneficent, The Most Kind

Sermon 1: In this sermon he recalls the creation of Earth and Sky and the birth of Adam

Praise is due to Allah whose worth cannot be described by speakers, whose bounties cannot be counted by calculators and whose claim (to obedience) cannot be satisfied by those who attempt to do so, whom the height of intellectual courage cannot appreciate, and the divings of understanding cannot reach; He for whose description no limit has been laid down, no eulogy exists, no time is ordained and no duration is fixed. He brought forth creation through His Omnipotence, dispersed winds through His Compassion, and made firm the shaking earth with rocks.

Sermons of the Commander of the Faithful, Imam Ali b. Abi Talib [AS] from
Nahj al-Balaghah

For the remaining part of this Sermon please visit this link:
http://www.al-islam.org/nahj/

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**
The only reason I mentioned the historical references is to clear a common miconception amongst many that dilution of Tawheed is a recent phenomenon or that muslims in Indo-Pak have started shirk due to influences from hindus. If you look at muslim history, through out time, you will notice that even in earlier times of Islam there have always been muslims who have accused other muslims of violating Tawheed. This is nothing new.
**

I am Pakistani, being from that nation allows me to have a deeper insight to it compared to Shirk in Syria. Whether on a personal level or political dilution of the Tawheed has been one of the main causes of degradatio of Islam as a religion. Perhaps your right that the accusations have been made in the past, however we can not judge the past. We can evaluate the present and project to the future...and it doesnt look good for many.
**
Part of it is because lack of knowledge and part of it is because of political reasons. This goes for both sides of the issue.

Lack of knowledge:
Some people do acts of shirk because they don't know (or are misguided). There are some acts of worship or devotion to Allah's or Allah's messengers that make little sense to other people and are promptly deemed 'shirk'. So its again lack of knowledge.

Political Reasons:
Some of these Pirs etc show themselves to be closer to Allah and misguide public for political reasons... one example would be pirs like Pir Pagara of Sindh etc. On the other hand, there are plenty of religio-political leaders who stand up as saviors of Tawheed, simply to stomp their opponents in the name of Allah without understanding or educating themselves about the true concept of Tawheed and what violates it. The example will be house of Saud in 19th and early 20th century.

Conclusion is that Tawheed is the corner-stone of Islam as it should be for all divine (monotheist) faiths. We should all gain knoweldge about it and understand what Tawheed stands for and what violates it. And if we see some practices that we believe violate Tawheed, we should find out the underlying reasons for the practice and then decide for ourselves if it is indeed shirk or whether it is our own knowledge about Islam that was incomplete to begin with. **

Well said, I agree. I mean many Muslims have severly criticized the concept of the Trinity in Christianity yet have no problem worshiping the local saint. I think the concepts of Tawheed are fully understandable from the Quran as well as the most basic belief in Allah as the only G-d, who we can always approach in good times and bad.

16

I diagree. This is like saying that Allah is not approachable. He created us, he can destroy us..so why do we have to go to humans, as respected as they are..they can never be Almighty and powerful as Allah.

As a person believing in the eternal power of Allah, my imaan can only lie in asking from him rather than respected Muslims.

17

Rajput brother nice post, I agree with you about Tawheed. :k:

I’m not a very religious person sadly but if I’m going to follow it then I’ll make sure I’m doing it right and not doing Kufr whilst thinking I’m going to Jannat.

The problem is to feel the closeness of Allah, to approach Him we have to purify our hearts, people who don’t do that feel distanced from Allah hence they find it easier to approach mortals.

I’m not saying I’ve achieved that closeness to Allah I have at times and then I’m distanced from Him at others because I’m very sinful.

Those people who are following the Mushriq ‘Islam’, Shaitaan leaves them alone and encourages them in this Shirk but for someone who follows the path of Tawheed he has the Shayateen trying to take him of that path all through his life, hindering him from Tawheed, so it’s harder and he has to put more effort in, it’s even harder to follow Tawheed if you’re not religious and do sins since you’ve distanced yourself from Allah so an easy target for the Shayateen to attract you towards shirk.

Anyone who is going to follow the path of Tawheed will have to purify himself, the Mushriq ‘Islam’ (just like Hinduism, Christianity et al) relies on emotion to attract people and keep them hooked but the path of traditional orthodox Sunni Islam, the path of Tawheed is achieved through proper eemaan, aqqedah and ibaadat.

then again I can be totally wrong, just talking from my own opinions and personal experience

18

I’ve also noticed shirk is a sign for femininity, in our village it’s always the women who are more into going to mazaars and the men who do these things tend to be effeminate to some extent, I’ve never seen a macho warrior type person indulge in this sort of stuff. There’ll be cases when the above said is not true but in majority of the cases it is. Has anyone noticed this?

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[QUOTE]
*Originally posted by Ashti: *

The problem is to feel the closeness of Allah, to approach Him we have to purify our hearts, people who don’t do that feel distanced from Allah hence they find it easier to approach mortals.

I’m not saying I’ve achieved that closeness to Allah I have at times and then I’m distanced from Him at others because I’m very sinful.

Those people who are following the Mushriq ‘Islam’, Shaitaan leaves them alone and encourages them in this Shirk but for someone who follows the path of Tawheed he has the Shayateen trying to take him of that path all through his life, hindering him from Tawheed, so it’s harder and he has to put more effort in, it's even harder to follow Tawheed if you're not religious and do sins since you've distanced yourself from Allah so an easy target for the Shayateen to attract you towards shirk.

Anyone who is going to follow the path of Tawheed will have to purify himself, the Mushriq ‘Islam’ (just like Hinduism, Christianity et al) relies on emotion to attract people and keep them hooked but the path of traditional orthodox Sunni Islam, the path of Tawheed is achieved through proper eemaan, aqqedah and ibaadat.

then again I can be totally wrong, just talking from my own opinions and personal experience
[/QUOTE]

Well said. There is not one thing that I disagree with.Ashti, we are all sinners but it is benevolence of Allah that we always have the opporftunity to repent.This religious forum engages in a lot sectarian/religious talk but most Muslims do not talk about the FUNDAMENTAL basis of Islam - Tawheed. One can pay lip service in saying yes I believe only in Allah, however it is ones actions, which determine the imaan. Mushriks are committing gunayhe kabira, and that is why this issue needs to be addressed.

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[QUOTE]
*Originally posted by RajputFury: *

I diagree. This is like saying that Allah is not approachable. He created us, he can destroy us..so why do we have to go to humans, as respected as they are..they can never be Almighty and powerful as Allah.

As a person believing in the eternal power of Allah, my imaan can only lie in asking from him rather than respected Muslims.
[/QUOTE]
You are saying the same what Kufar e Makkah were saying at that time. Why we believe in you (Muhammad-PBUH). Why He (Muhammad's God) come directly to us (Kufar) to tell the truth. We (Kufar) are the same as you (Muhammad-PBUH). HE (Muhammad's God) should come to us (Kufar). Process of conveying message can be both way. It bi-directional not a uni-directional.

We must have to believe what Allah has made Muhammad(PBUH) and Ahle Bait (AS) for us. Why did not Allah give us the his book directly. and there are many other examples. No body says that Allah is not Almighty and He is not the most powerful.

But some people exaggerate in Tawheed and deny other facts which Allah himself has created for us. Admin Faisal gave a good example of it (especially the rise of Al Saud and followers of Muhammad Bin Abdul Wahab).

Thanks. wasalam