On the Importance of Tawheed |
Jamaal ud-Deen az-Zarabozo |
|
1) Verily, Allaah has created the world
and everything in it in order to worship Him alone. He sent the Messenger to
call the people to Tawheed and the Noble Qur'aan is concerned with the aqeedah
of tawheed in most of its chapters, and it explains the harm of shirk for the
individual and the society. Shirk is the reason for destruction in this life
and the reason for eternal destruction in the Fire of the Hereafter.
2) Verily, all the Messengers began their
call with Tawheed, which they were commanded by Allaah to convey it to the
people. He, the Most High, said:
"We have not sent before you from the Messengers,
except We inspired to him that He is the only One worthy of worship, so worship
Him." [21:25]
The Messenger of Allaah stayed in Makkah
for thirteen years while he called his people to the Tawheed of Allaah and he
called to Him alone without associating anything with Him. It was regarding
this issue that Allaah revealed the following verse to His Noble Messenger:
"Say: Verily I call to my Lord and I do not ascribe
any partners to Him at all."
[72:20]
The Noble Messenger brought up his
followers upon Tawheed from the time of childhood and he said to the son of his
uncle, his cousin 'Abdullaah ibn 'Abbaas: "When
you ask, then ask Allaah, and when you seek help, then seek help from
Allaah." [Hasan Saheeh, Tirmidhi]. This Tawheed is in reality
the religion of Islaam, which is built upon it, and anything other than it is
not accepted by Allaah.
3) Verily, the Messenger sallallaahu
'alayhi wa sallam taught his Companions to begin their call to the people with
tawheed, so he said to Mu'aadh ibn Jabal, when he sallallaahu 'alayhi wa sallam
sent him to Yemen: "So let the first thing
you call them to, be the testification that none has the right to be worshipped
except Allaah." And in another narration: "...that they worship Allaah alone."
[Bukhaaree and Muslim]
4) Tawheed is embodied in the
testification that "None has the right to be worshipped except Allaah, and
Muhammad is the Messenger of Allaah." Its meaning is that there is no one
who is worthy of deserving worship except Allaah, and there is no worship
except that which the Messenger of Allaah came with. It is this testification
which allows a unbeliever to enter into Islaam, since it is the key to
Paradise, and the one who testifies to it and believes it enters into Paradise
as long as he does not invalidate it by shirk or a word of disbelief.
5) The disbelieving Quraish offered the
Messenger of Allaah sallallaahu 'alayhi wa sallam kingship, wealth and wives
and other than that from the pleasures of this life in exchange for him abandon
the call to tawheed, and abandon the attacks against the idols. However, he did
not desire that from them, rather lie continued his call and endured the
onslaught along with his Companions, until the call to tawheed was victorious
after thirteen years, after which Makkah was conquered and the idols were
destroyed. The Messenger of Allaah sallallaahu 'alayhi wa sallam recited, "Truth has come and falsehood has vanished, surely
falsehood is ever bound to vanish." [17:81]
6) Tawheed is the preoccupation of a
Muslim in his life, so he begins his life with Tawheed and he ends his life
with Tawheed. His task in life is to establish Tawheed and the call to Tawheed,
since Tawheed unifies the believers and gathers them upon the statement of
Tawheed. So we ask Allaah to make the statement of Tawheed (Laa ilaaha lila
Allaah) our last words in this world and we ask Him to gather the Muslims upon
the statement of Tawheed.