1. THE CATEGORIES OF TAWHEED
Literally tawheed means “unification” (making something one) or “asserting oneness,” and it comes from the Arabic verb (wahhada) which itself means to unite, unify, or consolidate. However, when the term tawheed is used in reference to Allah (i.e. tawheed allah) , it means realizing and affirming Allaah’s unity in all of man’s actions which directly or indirectly relate to Him. It is the belief that Allaah’s One, without partner in His dominion (ruboobeeyah), One without similitude in His essence and attributes (asmaa was sifaat), and One without rival in His divinity and in worship (uloohiyyah ‘ibaadah). These three aspects form the basis for the categories into which the science of tawheed has been traditionally divided. The three overlap and are inseparable to such a degree that whoever omits any one aspect has failed to complete the requirements of tawheed. The omission of any of the above mentioned aspects of tawheed is referred to as shirk (which literally means “sharing” but here signifies) the association of partners with Allah. In Islamic terms this association is in fact idolatry.
Because of this principle of tawheed, the Islamic belief in God is uniquely unitarian and Islaam is counted among the world’s monotheistic religions along with Judaism and Christianity. However, according to the Islamic unitarian concept (tawheed), Christianity is classified as polytheism and Judaism is considered to be a subtle form of idolatry.
Thus, the principle of tawheed is very profound and needs further clarification even among Muslims. This point is vividly illustrated by the fact that some Muslims like Ibn ‘Arabee understood tawheed to mean monism; that everything which exists is Allaah and Allah is everything. He asserted that there is only one real existence, which is Allah; everything else is unreal. Yet, such beliefs are classified by mainstream Islaam as pantheism and, as such, kufr. Other Muslims such as the Mu‘tazilah5 held that tawheed consisted of stripping Allaah of all His attributes and asserting that He is present everywhere and in everything; yet these ideas were also rejected by orthodox Islaam and considered heretical. In fact, almost all of the various heretical sects which broke off from the main body of Islaam, from the Prophet’s time till today, began their divergence from the point of tawheed. All of those who worked for the destruction of Islaam and the misguidance of its followers have attempted to neutralize the principle of tawheed, because it represents the very essence of the divine message of Islaam brought by all the prophets. They have introduced concepts about Allah totally alien to Islaam; concepts designed to take man away from the worship of Allah alone. Once people accept these pagan philosophies about God, they become easily susceptible to a multitude of other deviant ideas, all of which eventually lead those who accept them to the worship of created things under the guise of the true worship of God.
The Prophet himself vividly warned Muslims to beware of such deviations as had befallen the nations before them. He encouraged them to stick closely to the path which he had tread. One day as he sat with his companions, he drew a straight line in the dirt. He then drew a series of lines branching off from either side of it. When the companions asked him what it meant, he pointed to the branches and told them that they represented the various paths of misguidance in this life. He went on to say that at the head of each path sat a devil inviting people to it. After that, he pointed to the straight line in the middle and told them that it represented the path of Allah. When the companions asked for further clarification, he told them that it was his path and he recited the following verse:
“This is my path leading straight, so follow it. And do not follow the other paths, or else you will be separated from His (Allaah’s) path.”6
It is therefore of the utmost importance that tawheed be clearly understood in the way it was taught by the Prophet and understood by his companions, or else one could easily end up on one of the many deviant paths while claiming tawheed, praying, paying zakah, fasting and doing Hajj. Allaah, Most Wise,has pointed to this phenomenon when He said in the Quran,
“Most of them claim to believe in Allah, but they really commit shirk.”8
The three categories of tawheed are commonly referred to by the following titles:
1. Tawheed ar-Ruboobeeyah: lit. “Maintaining the oneness of Lordship,” that is, affirming that Allah is one, without partners in his sovereignty.
2. Tawheed al-Asmaa’ was-Sifaat: lit. “Maintaining the unity of Allaah’s Names and Attributes,” that is, affirming that they are incomparable and unique.
3. Tawheed al-‘Ibaadah: Affirming that Allah is alone in his right to be worshipped.
The division of tawheed into its components was not done by the Prophet nor by his companions, as there was no necessity to analyze such a basic principle of faith in this fashion. However, the foundations of the components are all implied in the verses of the Quran and in the explanatory statements of the Prophet and his companions, as will become evident when each category is dealt with in more detail later.
The necessity for this analytical approach to the principle of tawheed arose after Islaam spread into Egypt, Byzantium, Persia and India and absorbed the cultures of these regions. It is only natural to expect that when the peoples of these lands entered the fold of Islaam, they would carry with them some of the remnants of their former beliefs. When some of these new converts began to express, in writings and discussion, their various philosophical concepts of God, confusion arose in which the pure and simple unitarian belief of Islaam became threatened. There were also others who had outwardly accepted Islaam but secretly worked to destroy the religion from within, due to their inability to oppose it militarily. This group began to actively propagate distorted ideas about Allah among the masses in order to tear down the first pillar of eemaan (faith) and with it Islaam itself.
The early caliphs and their governors were closer to Islamic principles, and the consciousness of the masses was high due to the presence of the Prophet’s companions and their students. Hence, the demand for the elimination of open heretics received immediate response from the rulers. In contrast, the later Umayyad caliphs were more corrupt and as such cared little about such religious issues. The masses were also less Islamically conscious and thus were more susceptible to deviant ideas. As greater numbers of people entered Islaam under the Umayyads, and the learning of an increasing number of conquered nations was absorbed, the execution of apostates was no longer used to stem the rising tide of heresy. The task of opposing it fell on the shoulders of the Muslim scholars of the period who rose to meet the challenge intellectually. They systematically opposed the various alien philosophies and creeds by categorizing them and countering them with principles deduced from the Quran and the Sunnah. It was out of this defense that the science of tawheed emerged, with its precisely defined categories and components. Therefore, as the categories of tawheed are studied separately and in more depth, it must not be forgotten that they are each a part of an organic whole which is itself the foundation of a greater whole, Islaam itself.
By Bilal Philips
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