Chapter 9: Meaning of Tawhid
Tauhid is the main subject of the Holy Quran. The meaning of Tawhid in its simplest form is: There is no god but Allah.
Quran has repeated this simple meaning of Tawhid in 60 different manners. Some of them are being mentioned here.
There is no god but Allah.
There is no god butHe
.
There is no god butYou
There is no god butMe
.
Who is god exceptAllah.
There is no god but the one God.
You have no god other than Him.
Never was with Him any other god.
Allah is only one God.
Your God is one God.
Your God is only Allah.
He is only one God.
Your God is one God.
Most surely your God is one.
He:Allah,
is one.
Why Quran is repeating the same words in many differentways ?
This is just to make it very clear that the message of Tawhid is very simple, understandable, easily graspable and readily perceivable. It is also to wash out completely all kinds of suspicions and doubts about the existence of God and leaves no room for anyone to pollute his mind with the filth of polytheism and agnosticism.
After these awakening phrases, Quran then offersan unquestionable
evidence and a most powerful proof of Tawhid - The Divine witness: "Allah bears witness that there is no god but He, and so do the angels and, men of immense knowledge. He is the Executor of justice, the only God, the Mighty, the Wise". (3:18)
In the above verse of the Holy Quran, Allah, Who knows everything, andWho
speaks nothing but truth, and nothing is hidden from His sight, is testifying Himself His Existence and His absolute Oneness:
The signatory of Divine witness are the most pure and steadfast souls - The loyal angles and the most knowledgeable men. This is the most authentic witness of Tawhid.
?n the light of such awareness and watchfulness, a man of average intellect can see God through his mind's eye.
The Rules of Tawhid
Tawhid is the edifice of our faith on which the whole building of Islam stands. A slightest error in the understanding of Tawhid is fatal. The first and foremost duty of every Muslim is to make sure by all sincere efforts that he is not committing shirk in anyway or in any form. Because Shirk in its minutest form is a deadly Poison which can destroy us completely. As mentioned above, Allah Subhanahu taala has cautioned the everlasting ill effects of Shirk.
One can remain free from Shirk if he strictly follows the Rules of Tawhid, laid down by the Holy Prophet (sws) and Imams (as). There are four important rules or aspects of Tawhid. We can not be a true Muslim until we fulfill all these four conditions of Tawhid.
First Condition - To believe in the absolute oneness of Allah.
To reject all things being considered as god and to believe in absolute oneness of God.
This is the literal translation of Shahadah. There is no god but Allah.
Thus, the first condition of Tawhid tells us the following truth. We must bear in our mind to reflect this aspect of Tawhid in all our thoughts and actions.
a - Allah is Self-Dependent.
He is a BeingWho
is not dependent on any other being in anyway. Everything depends on Him and needs His help for his survival or to do anything for himself or for anyone else.
To elaborate this fact further in the light of the teachings of our Imam, we believe that;
G The prophets can not show miracle without His permission.
G The doctors can not save the life of any person by their own power.
G The scientists can not discover the secrets of Nature without His backing.
G The engineers can not design airplane, spacecraft, computers or anything without His aid.
G The pilots can not fly the airplanes, spacecraft and rockets without His support.
Quran reflects:
"Allah is He besides Whom there is no god, the everlasting, the Self-subsisting by Whom all subsist ; slumber does not overtake Him nor sleep; whatever is in the heavens and whatever is in the earth is His; who is he that can intercede with Him but by His permission. He knows what is before them and what is behind them, and they can not comprehend anything out of His knowledge except He pleases, His knowledge extends over the heavens and the earth, and the control of the universe is not fatiguing for Him, and He is the Most High, the Great". (2:255)
Thus, to do any small thing or big thing, anyone and everyone needs His help. This quality of Allah is expressed in His name, GHANI, meaning absolutely independent of everything.
Thus, He is absolutely independent of everything, and everything totally depends upon Him. Quran confirms this fact in the following verse. "O men, it is you who stand in need of Allah. As for Allah, He is above all needs, worthy of praise". (35:15)
"All those who are in the heavens and in the earth ask of Him, every moment He is in a state (of glory)." (55:29)
b - Allah alone is the creator
The second aspect of this rule is that, Allah is the sole creator of everything thatexist
in any form whether visible or invisible, material or immaterial, liquid or solid, or gas. He is the only creator and ultimate source of all the existing things.
Thus, all things are from Him and He is not from anything.
The scientists have confirmed this truth by experiments and they call it Law of conversion of mass, which states Matter can neither be created nor be destroyed but can be transformed into different forms. This means that,
No one [EXCEPT ALL AH] can create milk and sugar (sugarcane) but men can transform them into chocolate, ice cream and other sweets. No one [EXCEPT ALL AH] can create gold, iron, copper, aluminum or any other element of the periodic table but men can use them to manufacture cars, helicopters, and thousands of other sophisticated machines and billions of things.
No one [EXCEPT ALL AH] can create or destroy men, animals, plants, mountains, and oceans but man can transfigure them.
Precisely, [EXCEPT ALLAH] no one can create anything from nothing but can make something from anything. Quran confirms this fact in absolute terms.
"Say: Allah is the creator of everything." (13:16) Thus Allah is theCreator,
and everything else is His creation.
In this way even if we see any beautiful thing or any marvelous man-made thing, we should glorify Allah as He is the creator of man. The incredible miracles of science and technology are the manifestation of Allah's eminence. We should glorify Allah Subhanahu Taala, when we see the miracles of science and technology.
Similarly, if we see any great personality and his incredible achievements, then we should glorify Allah, Who is the creator of that great man. Quran tells the story of Hazrat Sulaiman in which we find this lesson.
"He (Prophet Sulaiman) said, O Chiefs: which of you can bring me her throne( of
Queen Bilqees ) before they come to me in submission." (27:38)In
response to Hazrat Sulaiman's request, Quran fur ther tells;
"Said one person who had knowledge of the Book: I will bring it to you within the twinkling of any eye." (27:40)
The person who said this was Asif-e-Barqiya, the Prime Minister of King Sulaiman (as). According to this statement, he said, he can bring the throne of Bilqees in less than a second. Quran confirms;
"Then when Sulaiman saw the (throne was) placed before him." As he said, the throne of Bilqis was there, just in front of Hazrat Sulaiman (as), which he brought in less than a second. Now, what was the reaction of HazratSulaiman(
as) when he saw this incredible achievement of his Prime Minister ?
Did he say any word in praise of his Prime Minister, who did the job and brought the throne from a far distance in just less than asecond ?
NO.Not at all.
Quran tells that immediately after seeing the throne there, "He (Sulaiman) said: This is by the grace of myLord.,
to test me whether I am grateful or ungrateful." (27:40)
Hazrat Sulaiman considered the incredible achievement of his Prime Minister, a great favor of Allah and accordingly thanked Him and praised Him and not the man who apparently did it. Then he further generalized all human achievements as the favors of Allah and said: "And if anyone is grateful, truly his gratitude is (a gain) for his own soul, but if any is ungrateful, truly, My Lord is free of all needs, Supreme in Honor". (27:40)
Thus, the important lesson which we can get from this true story of Quran is that, we should not be impressed by the person who performs any great achievement or we should not feel proud if we do any great service. In all cases, we should glorify Allah and we should thank Allah, as He is the OneWho
deserves for that. It is because, He is the creator of man, and He is the OneWho
provides the oppor tunity to someone to do any incredible thing. So, He is the One who should be glorified and thanked for His favor.
Those who do not realize this fact are the most ignorant, thankless and cheap people. Most of the scientists and great people of the world who are known for their great achievements are among these cheap people.
Similarly, many ignorant people worship great people because they do not realize the Divine Power behind these great people. History reveals that whenever, the Chief Commander of the faithful, Hazrat Ali, killed any strong kafir in the battle field, he always said Allah-o-Akbar.i.e
. clearly acknowledging the Divine Power, glorifying His Might, and thanking His great favor.
Second Condition - Allah alone is the prime source of all blessings
a - Complete trust in God
We must believe that the ultimate result of everything is in Allah's hands only. Quran reflects: "And to Allah go back all questions for decision." (22:76)
NO pilot can say for sure that he will reach to his destination safely. Yuri Gagarin, a highly experienced Soviet air force pilot and the first cosmonaut who circled the earth at the height of 327 kilometers in space (in April 12, 1961) at a speed of 27000 kph, died in a plane crash.
Hundreds of airplane whichtake
off at every minute land safely to their destination only by the Grace of All-Mighty Allah.
"Surely, He guides you in the darkness of land and sea and sends the wind as heralds of glad tidings (no airplane can fly without enough air), going before His mercy. (can
there be another) god besides Allah? High is Allah above that they associate with Him". (27:63) NO surgeon can say with certainty that his surgical operation will save the life of the patient.
It is a common medical practice in all major surgery cases that, the patient or his guardian must sign a paper before the surgical operation, saying, in case of death the surgeon will not be held responsible. This is a medical tradition that explicitly confirms that life and death is in Allah's hand and all Surgeons and Doctors do confess that they do not know for sure the outcome of their effor ts.
NO one, be he the President of the most powerful country or the richest person of the world, can say that he will cer tainly do a particular work, though he has all the means and power to do it.
Former President of the United States, J.F Kennedy came to Texas to give a speech during the 1964 Presidential campaign in which Kennedy planned to run for a second term. Every thing was in order as planned before and the President was going on his special car to deliver his speech. Hundreds of security police cars were moving through the streets of Dallas to the Dallas Trade Mart where Kennedy was scheduled to speak at I.00 sharp. At 12.30 sharp, when the President's car was approaching an expressway for the last leg of the trip, suddenly, three shots rang out and the President of the United States slumped down, hit in the neck and head. President Kennedy, who died instantly on the spot, was in the operation room at 1.00 sharp, when he was scheduled to give his speech.
NO one can say for sure that he will live next moment. Every day hundreds of people who die in road accidents do not have slightest idea of their fate a moment before their deaths. NO one can help anyone without the help of Allah. Every moment in the life of a man is a testimony of this fact. The history of mankind acknowledges this truth. NO one exceptAllah,
has the absolute knowledge of anything.
"Say: None in the heavens or on the earth, except Allah knows what is hidden, nor they can perceive when they shall be raised up." (27:65) Thus, the success and the ultimate fate of everything depends on Allah's will and Mercy. Quran educates;
"Say: He is (Allah) Most Gracious: we have believed in Him, and on Him have we put our trust:" (67:29) b - Absolute Submission to Allah. Quran confirms;
"Whatever beings there are in the heavens and in the earth do prostrate themselves before Allah, some do willingly and some by force, so do their shadows morning and evening." (13:15)
We should show absolute loyalty to Allah only or to whom He commands. Allah should be the sole and ultimate object of our love, loyalty, and obedience. We should love and show obedience to any other thing or person only under His commandments. Thus, the love and obedience of prophets, imams, and parents should be for the sake of Allah.
If the love of the Prophet or Imam is not for the sake of Allah, then it has no value in the eyes of the Holy Prophet (sws) and the Holy Imams. The love of Imam, and attachment and devotion with him must be the outcome of Allah's love.
Thus, if we strongly feel in our heart, that our love for Prophet and Imams is bringing us nearer to Allah, then it is the greatest ibadat and highly commendable act. But, if that is not the case, then all show of love for the Prophet or Imam, is nothing but the high waves of emotions. The Holy Quran quotes the great wordings of Prophet Ibrahim (as )
in the following verse. "Ibrahim said: I have set my face earnestly to Him who has created the Heavens and the earth. I am not a pagan. My prayers and my sacrifice, my living and my dying are all for Allah, the Lord of the universe. He has no partner. So have I been commanded, and I am the first to submit to Him". (6:79, 163-164)
This has also been the Sunnat of the Prophet (sws) and Imams and the righteous and histr
ue followers.
Third Condition - Allah alone has the absolute command over everythingWe
must believe in:
a - Sovereignty of God
All systems working in the universe is the work of Allah alone and no one can upset them without His will. And if anything goes wrong in the working systems, it is He alone,Who
can control it.
The earth with a mass of 6,600,000,000,000,000,000,000 shor t tons, has three simultaneous motions,
G spinning around on its own axis,
G travels around the sun,
G moves through the Milky Way with the rest of the solar system. A slight change in the velocity of the earth or its distance from the sun can throw it either into the deep space or right into the sun.
There are more than 100,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000.stars
only in our galaxy, the Milky Way. These stars, like sun, have planets and satellites moving in their respective orbits. Then there are more than 100 billion galaxies moving in the universe. Allah Subhanahu taala is controlling the movements of all these heavenly bodies.
"Verily Allah keeps the heavens and the earth from falling ( keeps the planets, satellites, and stars into their respective orbits), and if they move away from their orbits, there is none except Allah Who can again bring them back into their right positions."( 35:41
) "Blessed be He in whose hands is all sovereignty: He has power over all things." (67:1)
b - Absolute oneness of God
He alone is the sustainer of the whole universe. He has no par tner in His work. There are more than 2,000,000,000,000,000,000 different kinds of living species on this planet earth. All these creatures of Allah Subhanahu taala live on the earth's
surface or close to the surface - underground, underwater, or in the atmosphere. All of them have different kinds of requirements and different survival conditions. Allah (swt) provides all of them everything they need in appropriate quantities.
"AndWe
have provided therein means of subsistence-for you and for those for whose sustenance you are not responsible. And there is not a thing (on earth or in its underground), but its (sourceand )
treasures (inexhaustible) are with Us, and We only sent down in due and ascertainable measures." (15:20-21) c- All power and ability to do any work by anyone belongs to Him.
The great achievements of the Prophets and Imams or great scientific works of scientists are due to His grace.
"(HE) taught man that which he knew not." (96:5)
"Men, bear in mind Allah's goodness towards you. Is there any other creator who provides you from heavens andearth.
There is no god but Him. How then can you turnaway.
" (35:2)
"He bestowed wisdom on Luqman."(31:12) "Lord, You have given me power and taught me the science of interpreting the dreams.
You are the creator of the heavens and the earth." (12:101) Thus, to praise anything means to glorify Him.
Muslims are taught by the Holy Prophet (sws) to glorify Allah, when they succeed in any great achievement.
"All praisebe
to Allah, Lord of the worlds." (1:2) The Holy Quran explains this condition of Tawhid very clearly in the following verse. "All praise is due to Allah who has takenno spouse nor
a child. He has no partner in His act of governing, nor has He a helper to help Him out of weakness. Therefore glorify Him a great deal." (17:111)
Thus, when we read about the universe which contains billions of galaxies, each galaxy containing billions of stars, bigger than the sun, we should say - ALL AH - O - AKBAR. When we read about the incredible things in biology, chemistry, physics, botany, zoology, and many other branches of science, we should constantly say: - ALHUMD - O - LILL AH.when
we read or hear the unthinkable achievements of Prophets, Imams, and other grand personalities, we should say from the bottom of our hear t: - SUBHAN ALLAH.
WHY! QURAN REFLECTS:
"The seven heavens and the earth and all that is therein, glorify Him and there is not a thing but celebrates His praise. But you do not understand their glorification.truly
, He is Ever forbearing, oft-forgiving." (17:44) Fourth Condition - None other than Allah can be worshippedThe
three above conditions of Tawhid were theoretical i.e., one has to believe that way. But the fourth condition is a practical one, i.e., worship.
To believe in Tawhid means:
G to worship Allah alone and G to reject everyone else for worshipping.
Precisely, none other than Allah can be worshipped. Allah alone deserves to be obeyed unconditionally and given in to total submission, both by mind and action. Practically,
G we must not bow down to anyone except Allah.
G we must not prostrate to anyone except Allah.
G we must not kneel down to anyone except Allah
Basically, both Sajda and Ruku shows the greatness of man, that his status is so high that he can not bow down or kneel down to anyone except Allah. Sajda raises the position of man to its highest level. Salat, which is a practical show of total submission to Allah, is therefore, known as Me'raj ul-Mo'min.
Thus, the essence of the fourth rule of Tauhid is that, nothing must be made a par tner to Him in any form in any kind of worship whether formal worship like salat or personal supplications (Du'a).
All prophets and Imams taught us that we should worship none, but ALL AH. We should ask help from Allah as He alone is the source of everything. "Not a messenger didWe
send before you without this inspiration sent by Us to him: that there is no god but I; therefore worship and serve Me." (21:25) Imam Ali (as) educates his followers:
"Put faith in Allah, Seek His protection,Direct
your prayers, request (hajaat), and supplications to Him and Him alone. Ask as much of His favors as you can, know that Allah owns the treasures of heaven and the earth
. Not only He has given permission to ask for His mercy and favours, but also He has promised to listen to your prayers. He has not appointed guards to prevent your prayers reaching Him. Invoke His help in difficulties and distress. Implore Him to grant you long life and sound health.pray
to Him for prosperity.
Think over it that by simply granting you the privilege of praying for His favors and mercy, He has handed over the keys of His treasures to you. Whenever you are in need, pray and He gives His favors and blessings."
Imam Zainul Abideen (as), our fourth
Imam, has taught his Shias through his duas in Sahifa - e - Sajjadiya, that they should not ask their haajaat to anyone except Allah. He desperately calls Allah in his duas:
"Praise to Allah to Whom I address my supplications and not to any other thanHim.,
and if I were to address other than Him I will be disappointed in my supplication. Praise to Allah to whom I turn in hope and not anyone other than Him, and if I were to turn in hope to anyone other than Him, shattered will be my hopes.
OAllah !
You are my Master and I am your slave, and it is only proper that a slave calls upon his master and no slave has a master full of generosity like you. Praise to Allah, I do not supplicate other than Him, and if I were to supplicate other than him, my supplication will not be answered."
Amir al- Mu'minin Imam Ali (as) wrote a letter to his son on his return from the battle of Siffin, a year before his martyrdom. In this precious letter Imam has unveiled the truth about his Lord which no one can perceive by his own wisdom. Imam writes:
"Know that He Who owns the treasures of the heaven and the earth
has permitted you to pray to Him and has promised you acceptance of the prayer. He has commanded you to beg from Him in order that He may give you and to seek His mercy in order that He may have mercy on you.
He has not placed anything between you and Him that may veil Him from you. He has not required you to get a mediator for you to Him, and if you err, He has not prevented you from repentance.
He does not hasten with punishment.
He does not humiliate you when you deserve for humiliation.
He has not been harsh in accepting repentance.
He does not severely question you about your sin.
Whenever you call Him He hears your call.
You place before Him your needs, unveil yourself before Him, complain to Him of your worries, beseech Him to remove your troubles, seek His help in your affairs and ask from the treasures of His mercy that which no one else has power to give, namely length of life, health of body, and increase in sustenance.
He has placed the keys of His treasures in your hands in the sense that He has shown you the way to ask Him. Therefore, whenever you wish to open the doors of His favors with prayer, and let the abundant rains of His mercy fall on you."
Each and every word of this letter is a powerful missile against Shirk. Each sentence of Imam's letter deserves hours of pondering. It contains basic principle of Tawhid and the true interpretation of monotheism.
Thus, according to the teachings of Imam Ali (as), the sum and substance of Tawhid is that there is no god but Allah - the absolute power, present everywhere, independent of everything, the sole creator, designer and sustainer of all existing things ( visible, invisible, past and future ).
He is onesupreme being
to whom belongs all power and authority and everything else in the universe is the manifestation of His power and wisdom. We should follow His commandments fully and should show total submission to Him alone. Anything else isshirk
(polytheism). If we trust anyone or ask anything from anyone, thinking him independent of Allah, then it is shirk.
We should have a strong belief that: birth
, life, health, death, prosperoity and well-being, all- in-all, are absolutely in Allah's hand. We must ask any of these things from Allah, as He alone has the absolute power to do whatever He wishes to do. Quran has condemned Christians and pagans for calling Hazrat Isa (Jesus Christ) ,
Hazrat Maryam (Mary) and other human beings as god for help.
"Say (OMuhammad )
, Call upon those - besides Him - you think (like Hazrat Isa (as), Bibi Maryam (as) or any other person). They have neither the power to remove the pain (distress) from you nor even they can change it. Those to whom they call upon (for help, like Hazrat Isa (as), Bibi Maryam (as) or any other great person other than Allah), they themselves (striveto )
find the nearest mean to approach to their Lord. They hope for His mercy and fear His torment. Verily, the torment of your Lord is to be afraid of." (17:56-57) Quran confirms:
"For Him (alone) is prayer in truthThose
to which they call upon (for help) besides Allah give them no answer. They are like a man who stretches out his hands to the water to reach his mouth, but it can not reach him, Vain are the prayers of the unbelievers." (13:14)
"Say: Who is the Lord and Sustainer of the heavens and theearth ?
Say: Allah.
Say: Why you then take protectors other than Him, who, even to themselves, can do neither harm norgood ?
Say: Allah is the Creator of all things." (13:16, 17)
"Those whom they invoke besides Allah create nothing and are themselves created." "O men! Here is a parable setforth !
Listen toit !
to
whom besides Allah, you call, can not create (even) a fly, if they all meet together to do this. And if thefly snatch
away anything from them, they would have no power to release it from the fly. Weak are those who petition and whom they petition." (22:73)
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Author: Sayyid Qasim Mujtaba Moosavi Kamoonpuri
