The Towheed Sought from Mankind

Part 6 of a series of translated articles from the book, Lessons from the Noble Quran (pp.20-21) by Shaykh Saalih al-Fowzaan (may Allaah preserve him), translated by Moosaa Richardson.

[ In the Name of Allaah, the Lord of all the worlds, may His Salaah and Salaam be upon His final Prophet and Messenger, and upon all his family members and companions, and those who follow his way, to proceed… ]

The towheed that is sought from us is towheed al-uloohiyyah. All of the Messengers began by calling their people with [1]:

( Worship Allaah, as you have no deity to worship other than Him )

They began like this, calling to towheed al-uloohiyyah, as the Qur’aan reports about them. That is because towheed al-uloohiyyah is what Mankind is ignorant of, and the Shaytaan tries to keep them away from its proper understanding.

As for towheed ar-ruboobiyyah, it is something understood and continuously present inside the souls. It is not sufficient enough to save the servant. It does not make anyone a believer nor can anyone enter the circle of towheed by way of it. This is why the Messenger (sallallaahu ‘alayhe wa sallam) fought the disbelievers of Quraysh, while they believed that Allaah was the Creator, the Provider, the Controller of affairs, and the One who brings life and death. He fought them, declaring their blood to be permissible until they affirmed towheed al-uloohiyyah. He (sallallaahu ‘alayhe wa sallam) said:

“I have been ordered to fight the people until they say ‘Laa ilaaha illallaah.’ For if they say that, then their blood and property are safe from me, except with its (the shahaadah’s) rights [2], and their account will be with Allaah.” [3]

This is proof that the greatest thing sought from the creation is towheed al-uloohiyyah, since he (sallallaahu ‘alayhe wa sallam) did not say, “I have been ordered to fight the people until they affirm that Allaah is the Creator, the Provider, and the Bringer of life and death.” Everyone agrees to this. Rather he said:

“…until they say ‘laa ilaaha illaah’

This means until they testify that there is none worthy of worship except Allaah alone.

Part 7 – The Three Categories of Towheed are Defined in the Qur’aan…

FOOTNOTES

[1] The meaning of Soorah Al-A’raaf (9):59

[2] Translator’s note: Like the stoning of the adulterer, for example, or the seizure of zakaat from those who withhold it.

[3] An authentic narration collected by Al-Bukhaaree (#2946) and Muslim (#21).

14 thoughts on “The Towheed Sought from Mankind

  1. Assalamualaykum brother moosa. Baarakallahu feek.

    I have a doubt and inshallah i hope you will be able to remove my doubt.

    I have seen many ulemaa mentioning 2 conditions for acceptance of one’s ibaadah.
    1.ikhlas 2. Ittaba’

    so if we assume a grave worshipper or any mushrik or a kaafir murtad etc., performing any act of ibaadah such as salaah sincerely to Allah, will it be accepted?
    Similarly makkan mushrikeen making hajj or invoking allah sincerly during distress in ship, will it be accepted?

    So a brother told me, that conditions of ibaadah are 3,
    1.islaam, 2. Ikhlas, 3. Ittaba’

    so now as for above examples, there acts wont be accepted for their shirk nullifies the first shart, islam.

    He said that when some ulemaa mention 2 conditions, they only mean for a muslim, not a kaafir.

    What is your saying on the above brother?

    He also said that he read allamah al imaam badeeuddin shah as sindhee rahimahullah mention 3 conditions of ibaadah.

    Yes, i am well aware of 6:88 and 39:65 alhamdulillah.

    May Allah aid you brother. Aameen

    • Wa ‘alaykas-salaamu wa rahmatullaahi wa barakaatuh.

      When the scholars say two conditions, they are talking about Muslims and their deeds. Whenever you want to make a bigger list by including Islaam, then you would also need to include aql (sanity), and other things as well, and Allaah knows best.

    • Yes, jazakallahu khairan.

      One more question arises from here. Suppose a person is upon major shirk in that he invokes the occupants of the graves or sacrifices to it, or a person is upon major kufr believing in wahdat ul wajood, hulool etc., so these things nullifies one’s Islam. Now this person also at the same time performs salah, fast, hajj, zakah all with ikhlas towards allah and in a proper way, so if he later repents from his shirk or kufr and enters Islam, what about the deeds he did while upon shirk or kufr al akbar, i mean the ones he was sincere in? Baarakallahu feek brother.

    • When a person accepts Islam, his previous sins are wiped away and turned into good deeds. We hope the same for an apostate who returns to Islam. Allah only accepts from the people of taqwaa. May He make us from them. And Allaah knows best.

  2. Assalamualaykum akhunaaa moosa. Baarakallahu feek.

    You would be aware of one argument of old of current mushrikeen that muslims too are idol worshippers, as they prostrate to ka’bah, bow to it in their salah, and ka’bah is created!

    Is it sufficient and correct to refute this statement of theirs by simply telling them: “kindly differentiate between -prostrating TO kabah-
    And -prostrating TO Allah, in direction of ka’bah-!”

    Meaning muslims prostrate and bow to Allah alone, however in a direction which Allah commanded them with, and that is ka’bah,
    Just as muslims in their salwaat made sujood and rukoo to Allah when qiblah was albaytul maqdis, so sujood and rukoo is for Allah, then and now, however only direction changed as Allah commanded, and muslims submitted.

    Wallahu alam

    • And as such, whats the hukm on a person who performs salaah at al masjidul haraam, and he thinks and intends sujood and rukoo in his salaah to ka’bah in front of him instead of Allah, the One above the seven heavens, over His throne, seperate from His creation?

    • Yes, the direction of one’s prayer is not the object of the worship. Allaah has commanded us to “worship the Lord of this house (Ka’bah)” in Soorah Qaraysh.

  3. Assalamualaykum warahmatullah akhunaa moosa. Baarakallahu feek

    Just needed some clarification in sha Allah:

    1. If a person sacrifices for a jinn when he enters a new place / province to live; he does it to seek nearness to the jinn, and to please him. He does it for the reason that he fears that the jinns might harm hin and his children. So out of this fear, he seeks to please the jinn by sacrificing for it.
    However he doesnt believe that they are rabb neither he does it for seeking ash shafaah.

    What is the hukn upon this action?

    2. Another person sacrifices for a wali, only out of love for the wali and out of تعظيم. He doesn’t believe that the wali has any share in rubuubiyyah of Allah, and neither he sacrificed to seek the ash shafaah of the wali with Allah. He does it only out of love.

    What is the hukm on this action as well?

    • Wa ‘alaykas-salaamu wa rahmatullaahi wa barakaatuh. Both are acts of shirk that nullify a person’s Islam. Sacrificing an animal for other than Allaah, for jinn, angels, or humans, all of that is the same act of shirk.

  4. Assalamu’Alaykum

    Shaykh al-Fawzaan mentions that the disbelievers of Quraysh affirmed Tawheed ar-Rubobiyyah and I have heard the Shyakh mention elsewhere that they were Muwahidoon in Rububiyyah. My question is how can this be since they used to deny the resurrection? Isn’t that denying Allaah’s ability to resurrect and therefore his Rubobiyyah?

    Any clarification will be greatly appreciated.

    Baarakallahu Feek

    • wa ‘alayk as-salaamu wa rahmatullaah. They (most of them) affirmed that He was the only Creator and Provider, not that He will resurrect them. However, they rejected much of Allaah’s Names, Attributes, and Actions. They did not believe in Ruboobiyyah properly or completely, as Ruboobiyyah’s logical next step is to single out Allaah in all acts of worship, al-Uloohiyyah. And Allaah knows best.

  5. As Salāmu Alaykum,

    A video was being circulated wherein apparently a Muslim woman dressed in Islamic garments goes to a Hindu Store, somewhere in the UAE and she finds that they are selling idols, so she begins to throw them down from the shelves and breaks some of them.

    I saw a Muslim say that she is following in the example of Ibraheem alayhis-Salām and that it is a land of Islam (and therefore okay.)

    It surprised me because many of us Muslims do not behave like this and we do not walk into stores and break things despite the fact that we hate shirk and we aren’t happy with idols being worshipped. If someone was opposing the legislation in the country, most of us would probably phone the police and leave it to the authority.

    I was wondering if you could shed some light on the affair, BaarakAllaahu feek.

    • Wa ‘alaykum as-Salaamu wa rahmatullaah. Changing the evil by hand is for when the Muslims have rule and authority. Otherwise, our Prophet (may Allah raise his rank and grant him peace) lived in Makkah for 13 years and did not break the idols at the Ka’bah, until he conquered Makkah near the end of his mission. May Allah raise his rank and grant him peace. So please understand that the event you are mentioning is about living in a Muslim land under Muslim authorities, where the authorities forbid polytheism and idolatry. The proper understanding in this issue can only be attained through proper study of the Seerah, and identifying the distinctions between life in Makkah and life in al-Madeenah.

      Also, if the Muslim authorities request the citizens to report such matters to the police, so they can forbid them and enforce the laws with strength, then the citizens should cooperate with them and report things instead of getting directly involved themselves. And Allah knows best.

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