Tawheed of Allah (SWT) - Shaykh Abdullah al-Ubayd

The Heart of Monotheism: Attaching Oneself to Allah

Alhamdulillah, we praise Him and ask for His help and we ask for His forgiveness and guidance. And we seek refuge in Allah from the evil of our souls and from the evil of our deeds. Whomsoever Allah guides, none can misguide him, and whomsoever He misguides, none can guide him.

And I bear witness that there is no god but Allah, alone, with no partner. And I bear witness that our Prophet Muhammad is the servant of Allah and His Messenger and the best of His creation. The master of the first and the last.

And upon his family and his companions and those who follow them with goodness until the Day of Judgment.

Dear brothers, today's lecture will be about the topic of the heart of monotheism and the heart of servitude to Allah. And that is to be attached to the Lord Almighty.

The Message of All the Prophets

Dear brothers, Allah Almighty sent the prophets to this world as bearers of glad tidings and warners. And they summarized their call to the people. Every prophet summarized his call to the people with a simple phrase that everyone can understand — from an adult to a child, a woman to a child, a scholar to a learned person: to worship Allah, you have no god other than Him.

This great word that came to the tongues of the messengers, peace be upon them, is the heart of the message. As long as this truth and this value is weak in your daily life, in your family life, in your public life, in your private life, in your social life, in your life at work — as long as this value is weak, your life is weak. And your life becomes more inclined to the devil than to the Lord Almighty.

And that is our connection and our attachment to Allah Azzawajal. This issue of attaching oneself or connecting oneself to Allah Azzawajal is something which Allah sent the prophets with as givers of glad tidings and as warners. And the prophets when they came with this message, they were able to summarize it in such a way and to put it into such succinct words that it was easy for people to remember. So that the person who's elderly, the person that's young, the woman, the child, the one who's learned, and the one who's uneducated — all of them would be able to understand this message. And that message was that they should worship Allah Azzawajal alone and that they shouldn't associate anyone in worship with Him.

The Shaykh said that this easy, simple message is the essence of the message that all of the prophets brought. And every time we as people who follow that message become more distanced from that message, our hearts become weaker as well. So in our daily life, in our family life, in our work life, in our social life — every single aspect of our life — when we become distanced from this message, our relationship with Allah goes further and we become closer to Shaytan.

There are many things that cannot be attributed to any of the creations or attributed to any of the people, no matter who they are — no angel or prophet that is sent. So when the companions understood this, their behavior — as we call it today in our life — was automatic. Meaning, it was not intentional. One should look directly at the Beloved of Allah, without looking at anything else.

Two Incidents from the Lives of the Companions

I will mention to you two incidents before we come to the rulings of the relationship with Allah — two incidents that indicate the depth of the relationship with Allah from this prophetic upbringing that the Prophet, peace and blessings be upon him, had with his companions.

First Incident: The Slander of Aisha (r.a.)

As for the first incident, it is the story of the mother of the believers, Aisha, may Allah be pleased with her, in the famous incident of al-Ifk (the slander). As you know, it lasted for a month, and the Prophet, peace and blessings be upon him, did not receive any revelation about it. It was a great calamity.

Allah told us about the greatness of this calamity, and He continued to mention it in ten verses in Surah An-Nur. Allah Almighty said:

"Indeed, those who came with the slander are a group among you. Do not think of it as an evil for you; rather, it is better for you."

"And you think it is easy" — that is, you think that the words spoken against the mother of the believers, Aisha, may Allah be pleased with her, are easy — "but it is great with Allah." Great in the utmost greatness. Because Allah Almighty loves His Messenger, peace and blessings be upon him, with a love that none of creation can match. And that is why it was believed by the people of the Sunnah and the community that the Prophet, peace and blessings be upon him, is the best of those whom Allah created in this world.

This incident shook the believers, and they experienced it deeply. And when the relief came and these ten verses were revealed, Aisha, the mother of the believers, said: "By Allah, I did not think that Allah would reveal in my matter a Qur'an. And I am more ashamed than that Allah would reveal in my matter a Qur'an."

Look at this. She did not think that Allah would reveal in her matter ten verses of the Qur'an. Her mother said to her, "O my daughter, when the relief came from the sky" — and the Messenger, peace and blessings be upon him, was among them, in the house of Abu Bakr, with the Prophet, peace and blessings be upon him, and Abu Bakr and his wife present — her mother said, "O my daughter, stand up and praise the Messenger of Allah" — that is, thank him. She said: "By Allah, I do not praise except Allah. He is the one who revealed my innocence."

Look, brothers. Ibn al-Mubarak, may Allah have mercy on him, when a man asked him how it was that the mother of the believers, Aisha, did not also thank the Prophet, peace and blessings be upon him — Ibn al-Mubarak said a word that indicates the depth of attachment to Allah. He said: "Absolute praise belongs to Allah Almighty alone." The Messenger, peace and blessings be upon him, is a means and a supporter — but who is the one who is truly and ultimately praised? He is Allah Almighty.

The Shaykh said that the point of this is to see how Aisha r.a. responded when this issue took place and when eventually her innocence was revealed within the Qur'an. This was an issue that affected all of the Muslims and the whole community. When her innocence was declared in the Qur'an, she never thought that Allah azza wa jal would reveal verses of the Qur'an concerning her. And she didn't think that she was befitting of the Qur'an to speak of her in this way. When the mother of Aisha heard these verses being recited declaring her daughter's innocence, she said to Aisha, stand up and go and thank the Prophet ﷺ. Aisha r.a. said, rather I will thank Allah, because He is the one who revealed my innocence. And this shows you how closely attached the companions were — that even in an issue like this, she went back to thanking Allah azza wa jal instead of thanking her husband, the Prophet ﷺ.

Second Incident: Amr ibn al-As (r.a.) on His Deathbed

The second incident is that of the companion Amr ibn al-As, may Allah be pleased with him, when he was on the bed of death and his son Abdullah was with him. Abdullah ibn Amr told the story of his father's passing. He said, "Then he turned his face to the wall and sat crying." This affected Abdullah ibn Amr deeply — to see this from a master of the companions, a knight of the companions who conquered the Islamic lands.

So he said to his father, "O father, you supported the Messenger of Allah and fought with him, and the Prophet ﷺ placed even Abu Bakr and Umar under your leadership in an army." It is a great title — to be a commander over whom? A commander over Abu Bakr and Umar, may Allah be pleased with them.

His father turned back to him after hearing all of these virtues being mentioned, and he said, "O my son — there is no god but Allah." Look at the depth of monotheism in the hearts of these people. He said that better than all of this that you have mentioned is لا إله إلا الله — meaning that I have more trust and attachment to this single statement than all of these other virtues that you have mentioned.

Which shows you just from these two examples how closely attached the companions were to Allah azza wa jal in all of their affairs.

Attachment to Allah Is Unlike Any Other

Dear brothers, attachment to Allah has a form that is unlike any other. Attachment to your father has a form. Attachment to your mother has a form. Attachment to your son has a form. Attachment to your wife has a form. Attachment through love of the Prophet ﷺ has a form. However, attachment to Allah is unlike any other.

This is why Allah has taught us in many places that what belongs to Allah does not belong to creation. Look at the difference between what belongs to Allah and what belongs to His Messenger ﷺ. In the saying of Allah, for example:

"If only they were content with what Allah and His Messenger had given them, and said, 'Allah is sufficient for us. Allah will give us of His bounty, and so will His Messenger. Indeed, to Allah we turn with hope.'"

Notice the verse: giving and receiving may be from Allah and may be from others, from people. That is why He said here, "if they were content with what Allah has given them and His Messenger" — that is, of good. But in sufficiency, there is none sufficient except Allah:

"Is Allah not sufficient for His servant?" — and in another recitation, "Is Allah not sufficient for His servants?" That is, the righteous. Allah is sufficient.

The Hadith of the Seventy Thousand

And the Prophet, peace and blessings be upon him, when he wanted to show people the power of attachment to Allah — until the action of the cause, do not look at it, but look at who is the cause of that. The Prophet, peace and blessings be upon him, as recorded in the two Sahihs, in the story of the seventy thousand who will come to Allah on the Day of Resurrection without any reckoning and without any punishment — he described them as those people who truly trust in Allah azza wa jal. And the scholars when they spoke about this trust said that there are those people who trust in Allah azza wa jal over and above everything else — before they trust in anything else, they trust first and foremost in Allah.

(Sahih al-Bukhari, Hadith 5705; Sahih Muslim, Hadith 220)

"Seventy thousand of my nation will enter Paradise without any reckoning or punishment. They are those who do not seek ruqyah, do not cauterize themselves, do not believe in bad omens, and they put their trust in their Lord."

The Woman Who Was Patient with Epilepsy

Likewise, in the story of the woman who came to the Prophet ﷺ and she used to be overcome by epileptic fits. She came and she said, "O Messenger of Allah, make du'a for me." The Prophet ﷺ said, "I can make du'a for you and you will be cured, or you can be patient and you will have Paradise in return." She said, "Rather I will be patient, but ask Allah that when I have these fits I do not become unveiled." This is her attachment to Allah azza wa jal — she was willing to be patient with this condition and trust in Allah azza wa jal — that Allah alone would cure her, without anything else coming in the way.

And that is why the greatest form of cure, as the Shaykh said, is the one who has that trust in Allah and then takes the correct and righteous means that are at their disposal — but first and foremost, always, the trust is in Allah.

The People of the Qur'an and Closeness to Allah

For every person there is a share of this love that draws them closer to Allah. So the closer the servant is to the Lord, the more the creation is drawn close to him as well. And that is why the people of the Qur'an were attached to His words — which are a quality of His attributes — and they were the noblest of people. As the Prophet ﷺ said:

(Sahih al-Bukhari, Hadith 5027)

"The best of you are those who learn the Qur'an and teach it." Addressing his companions.

And that is why, when a man came to the Prophet ﷺ, as is authentically reported, and he said, "O Messenger of Allah, I seek your intercession before Allah, and I seek Allah's intercession before you" — the Prophet ﷺ's face turned red and he became angry. He said to him, "Woe to you! Do you know who Allah is?" And he said, "No one intercedes for Allah" — meaning, you are making Allah subservient to the Prophet ﷺ in some way, placing Allah as though He is beneath the Prophet ﷺ in position. This is the reason for the anger of the Prophet ﷺ.

The Prayer as a Daily Connection to Allah

O brothers, if a believer ponders in his daily life of worship of Allah Azzawajal — in prayer, fasting, charity, righteousness, goodness — and he does not feel the meaning of servitude and attachment to Allah Azzawajal, then this is a deficiency in his religion, his mind, and his knowledge.

Let us take an example. The Prophet ﷺ wanted us to attach our hearts to Allah Azzawajal through the prayer that we pray five times a day. Look at how we walk to it. The Prophet ﷺ ordered us not to rush and run, but to walk calmly. He said to them: "What you find of the prayer, pray it, and what you have missed, make it up." Because the one who runs to the mosque will lose a part of that first entry into servitude and attachment to Allah Azzawajal — he will be preoccupied and out of breath. So the Prophet ﷺ ordered that servitude be complete — not lacking in anything, and not affected by haste.

Likewise, when a person comes to pray, he must notice in the place of servitude to Allah Azzawajal anything inappropriate. For example, if this person has things in front of him that will distract him from prayer — as is reported in the two Sahihs — when the Prophet ﷺ said to go and take back the decorated cloth and give it to Abu Jahm, because it was an obstacle to him in his prayer. Because it diminishes the meaning of servitude and the perfection of attachment to Allah Azzawajal.

And also, the person in the mosque is forbidden from announcing lost property, from engaging in transactions, and from poetry and things like that in the masjid. Why? Because even worldly speech was prohibited by the Prophet ﷺ in the masjid. The one who was busy in the mosque was told: "These mosques are not suitable for any of these things. They are only for reciting the Qur'an, remembering Allah, and prayer."

And also, the person is commanded to stand in rows with his brother, and there should not be a gap between them — so that Satan does not enter between Muslims. This affects the attachment of a person to Allah Almighty.

So likewise, the more that a person attaches themselves to Allah, the increase in their sincerity, the increase in their attachment and their connection to Allah, the closer they also become to Allah. And the greatest of all the Prophets was our Prophet ﷺ. And as mentioned authentically, Allah Azzawajal looked at the hearts of creation and He chose the noblest, purest, and greatest of those hearts to be the heart of His Prophet ﷺ.

The Shaykh said that if we take the simple example of the prayer — this act of worship that was placed and obligated upon us so that we would develop on a daily basis, five times a day at least, a strong connection to Allah azza wa jal — if you look at all of the issues surrounding the prayer, you will find that all of them have been structured in such a way as to bring about that connection with Allah azza wa jal. Even when it comes to walking to the masjid, we have been told not to run and not to jog and not to hasten — so that when you arrive at the masjid, you are calm, you are composed, and you are able to concentrate in the prayer. When it comes to the place of prayer, you don't pray in a place where you are going to be distracted or where your attention is going to be diverted. Even when it comes to standing in prayer, we stand in rows, in straight lines, and we don't leave gaps — because all of this preserves that connection that we have with Allah.

Closing — The Prayer

The Iqamah was called and the congregation stood for prayer. The following verses were recited during the prayer:

May the peace, mercy, and blessings of Allah be upon you.