Importance of Understanding Tawheed - Shaykh Zakaullah Saleem

Khutbah Opening

إِنَّ الْحَمْدَ لِلَّهِ نَحْمَدُهُ وَنَسْتَعِينُهُ وَنَسْتَغْفِرُهُ وَنَعُوذُ بِاللَّهِ مِنْ شُرُورِ أَنْفُسِنَا وَمِنْ سَيِّئَاتِ أَعْمَالِنَا مَنْ يَهْدِهِ اللَّهُ فَلَا مُضِلَّ لَهُ وَمَنْ يُضْلِلْ فَلَا هَادِيَ لَهُ أَشْهَدُ أَنْ لَا إِلَهَ إِلَّا اللَّهُ وَحْدَهُ لَا شَرِيكَ لَهُ وَأَشْهَدُ أَنَّ مُحَمَّدًا عَبْدُهُ وَرَسُولُهُ

أَمَّا بَعْدُ، فَإِنَّ أَصْدَقَ الْكَلَامِ كَلَامُ اللَّهِ وَأَحْسَنَ الْهَدْيِ هَدْيُ مُحَمَّدٍ صَلَّى اللَّهُ تَعَالَى عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّمَ وَشَرَّ الْأُمُورِ مُحْدَثَاتُهَا وَكُلَّ مُحْدَثَةٍ بِدْعَةٌ وَكُلَّ بِدْعَةٍ ضَلَالَةٌ وَكُلَّ ضَلَالَةٍ فِي النَّارِ

أَمَّا بَعْدُ — My dear brothers in Islam, our religion, the religion of Islam, consists of two main parts: the beliefs — the iman, the aqeedah — and the practices, the laws. The laws of Allah with regards to do's and don'ts, what is permissible and what is not permissible.

Tawheed: The Core Foundation of Islam

The core of our religion, the core foundation and the core base of our religion is the tawheed of Allah. Tawheed is something that Allah created me and you for. Allah created the human beings and He created the jinn for His worship, for His tawheed.

Allah Dhul Jalal Ikram says: I have never created jinn and mankind except that they worship Me alone. So the tawheed of Allah and the understanding of the tawheed of Allah Dhul Jalal Ikram is the core foundation of our religion. Tawheed and the belief is something for which Allah sent all the messengers.

The Message of All the Prophets

As Allah Dhul Jalal Ikram says in Surah al-Anbiya — the surah that is named after the prophets, al-Anbiya, the surah in which Allah has made mention of many prophets including Sayyiduna Nuh alayhi salatu wa salam, Ibrahim alayhi salam, Dawood, Sulaiman, Ayub, Yunus, Zakariya, Yahya, and many more. In this surah Allah says:

We did not send any messenger before you, O Muhammad, except that We sent them a revelation — We instructed them to proclaim and to announce and to spread the message: there is none worthy of worship except Me alone, so you all need to worship Me alone.

So this is the purpose of all the prophets and all the messengers, and this was the common message of all the prophets and all the messengers. When it comes to the ahkam and the rulings, there were different rulings in the shari'ah of all the prophets:

But when it comes to the tawheed of Allah, the beliefs were the same. So every single prophet, every single messenger of Allah Dhul Jalal Ikram came for this purpose — لَا إِلَهَ إِلَّا اللَّهُ.

Tawheed: The Condition for All Good Deeds to Be Accepted

Tawheed is something that is the basic condition for any good deed to be accepted by Allah. Your salah, your fasting, your zakah, your good akhlaq, your reading of the Quran, your dua — everything, everything that you do is dependent on the tawheed. If you have correct understanding of the tawheed of Allah, if you have correct understanding of your aqeedah, then your salah, your fasting, your zakah, your charity, your hajj, your umrah, your dua — everything will be accepted by Allah Dhul Jalal Ikram.

But if you have a defect in your aqeedah, in your understanding of the tawheed of Allah, then everything will be at risk. You may lose the reward in this dunya, and you may not be successful even in the hereafter.

And tawheed is something for which Allah has created this whole universe. Allah says in the Quran that He created mankind and jinn for His worship. And everything in this universe, Allah created for the service of human beings. He is the one who has created everything that you see in this earth. Allah is the one who has created the heavens and the earth. He is the one who sent down the water from the sky, the rain from the sky. He is the one who subjugated the rivers for you. He is the one who has subjugated the ships for you in the sea. Allah subjugated the sun and the moon for you. He has subjugated the night and day for you. And you are created for His worship alone. So this is the importance of the tawheed of Allah.

The Prophet's Call Began with Tawheed

The Prophet sallallahu alayhi wa sallam began his da'wah and preaching the religion of Allah Dhul Jalal Ikram with this matter — the matter of tawheed. The very first call of the Prophet sallallahu alayhi wa sallam was towards the tawheed of Allah Dhul Jalal Ikram. When he sallallahu alayhi wa sallam came up to the mountain of Safa and he said: O people, say لَا إِلَهَ إِلَّا اللَّهُ — there is none worthy of worship except Allah Dhul Jalal Ikram alone.

Tawheed: The Dividing Line Between Muslim and Non-Muslim

Tawheed is something that is the main difference — the barrier — between a believer and a disbeliever, between a Muslim and a non-Muslim. A person who does not call himself Muslim — in order for him to enter into the fold of Islam, he is required to declare لَا إِلَهَ إِلَّا اللَّهُ. The person cannot be a Muslim, he cannot enter into the fold of Islam, no matter how much he prays five times a day, no matter how much he gives in charity, no matter how many days he fasts including in Ramadan — regardless of anything and everything, he has to declare that there is none worthy of worship except Allah Dhul Jalal Ikram alone.

This is the main part of the religion — for him to convert and enter into the fold of Islam, he has to declare لَا إِلَهَ إِلَّا اللَّهُ.

Tawheed and the Questions of the Grave

Tawheed is something for which you and I will be asked in our graves. The very first question of the grave will be regarding Allah. As the Prophet sallallahu alayhi wa sallam has informed us, when a person dies and is buried in his grave, he is questioned by the angels. And the very first question he is asked is: Who is your Lord?

And you will be able to answer this question only if you knew your Lord in this dunya. Allah is the one who keeps you firm and steadfast on the firm statement. And those who are firm and steadfast on this — the strongest statement — they will be firm and steadfast when they are questioned in their graves.

That is why the Prophet sallallahu alayhi wa sallam, after the burial of one of his companions, instructed his companions: Now your brother has been buried. Now you need to make dua to Allah and ask Allah that He keeps him firm in answering those questions. And obviously the first question is: Who is your Lord? And you can answer this question only if you knew your Lord in this dunya.

The Danger of Shirk

Tawheed is something because of which you are going to be saved on the Day of Judgment. And if you have everything in your scale of good deeds — your salah, your fasting, your zakah, your hajj, your umrah — everything, but you do not have the correct understanding of tawheed, then you fall into the opposite of tawheed, which is shirk.

And unfortunately, this is one of the biggest reasons — the main reason — that many Muslims, let alone non-Muslims, fall into shirk: because of not understanding the tawheed of Allah. So Allah says in the Quran:

Allah has made paradise haram for him. Not only this — Allah is never going to forgive shirk:

Allah is never going to forgive shirk. Not only this — Allah has forbidden you and me to make dua of forgiveness for someone who has died committing shirk. To that extent, my dear brothers in Islam, understanding the tawheed of Allah is important.

The Pillars of Iman

It is very important that we know and understand correctly our beliefs and our iman. And the core part of our iman — our belief — is the belief in Allah. But obviously iman consists of other parts as well: believing in the Prophet sallallahu alayhi wa sallam, believing in the angels of Allah, believing in the divine books of Allah, believing in the Last Day, believing in the divine decree of Allah. This all together is part of our iman and our belief. And we must have the correct knowledge of it.

A lack of knowledge of iman and belief causes you to fall into shirk, innovations, and khurafat. May Allah give us tawfiq and ability to understand our religion. May Allah allow us to gain knowledge about Him, Dhul Jalal al-Ikram, and the Prophet sallallahu alayhi wa sallam.

Belief vs. Information

My dear brothers in Islam, we must know that there is always a difference between a belief and a simple piece of information. Because if you know about something — if someone has informed you or told you — that cannot become your belief unless and until you have the evidence for that information. If you have the evidence, then it can be part of your belief and you can believe in it.

When it comes to knowing Allah, knowing the Prophet sallallahu alayhi wa sallam, having an understanding of the angels and the divine books, and other prophets and the Last Day and the divine decree — we as Muslims are required to have belief in all of it. We must have belief in all these matters. And in order for me and you to have strong belief in this, we must have knowledge with evidences. And the evidences we find are either in the Quran or in the Sunnah and the hadith of the Prophet sallallahu alayhi wa sallam.

That is why it is very important for us to understand and study our aqeedah and our belief — our belief in Allah and the belief in the Prophet sallallahu alayhi wa sallam, as well as the other parts and pillars of our iman.

The Aqeedah Course: Al-Aqeedah Al-Wasitiyyah

For this very purpose, alhamdulillah, Greenland Masjid has been trying for many years — and even now we continue offering various types of courses, including courses on aqeedah. And inshallah this coming week we are going to begin a new course on al-Aqeedah al-Wasitiyyah — a very short and concise book written by Sheikhul Islam Imam Ibn Taymiyyah rahimahullah.

Imam Ibn Taymiyyah rahimahullah wrote this very short book within the matter of a few hours, or probably less than that. As he himself explains, some people approached him from a region within Iraq called Wasit — a city that was established by Hajjaj ibn Yusuf. They requested Imam Ibn Taymiyyah rahimahullah to write for them some important matters related to aqeedah, because there were a lot of khurafat and shirkiyyat amongst the Muslims at that time. So Imam Ibn Taymiyyah rahimahullah says: I sat down after Salatul Asr and I wrote these lines and a few pages.

And this is such a great, concise, and very beneficial book that the scholars have explained it in great detail. So inshallah, over the period of the next few weeks, we will be studying this book — al-Aqeedah al-Wasitiyyah. In this book we will be covering various parts of the belief in Allah, and particularly the principles of our religion pertaining to the beautiful names of Allah.

When we read the book of Allah we find that in the Quran, Allah ends numerous verses with His names. Many names of Allah are mentioned in the Quran, and it is very important for us to memorize and understand the meanings and the concepts of those names. The Prophet sallallahu alayhi wa sallam said:

It does not mean that Allah has only 99 names, but whoever memorizes and understands 99 names of Allah, Allah will allow him to enter into paradise. So there is great wisdom behind ending the ayat of the Quran with the names of Allah. And the scholars, based on the evidences of the Quran and the hadith of the Prophet sallallahu alayhi wa sallam, laid down some basic principles in order to understand those names of Allah — and that will be part of our study, inshallah.

Likewise, as I said, iman and belief consists of believing in the divine decree of Allah Dhul Jalal Ikram. Many people nowadays have misconceptions and misunderstandings concerning the taqdeer, the qadr, the decree and the divine destiny of Allah Dhul Jalal Ikram. In order to clarify all those misconceptions, I encourage every one of you to enroll in that course and benefit from it.

And part of this book will inshallah be our belief concerning the companions of the Prophet sallallahu alayhi wa sallam, and many other related topics will be covered. So we encourage everyone of you to enroll in this course that is going to begin next week inshallah, and to benefit from it.

Closing Du'a

May Allah give us tawfiq and ability to increase our knowledge. May Allah allow us to understand His religion, to understand His tawheed, to understand the Sunnah of the Prophet sallallahu alayhi wa sallam. And we ask Allah that He enables us to gain the knowledge of His religion. And we ask Allah with the dua that He instructed His Nabi sallallahu alayhi wa sallam to make:

O our Lord, increase us in our knowledge — so that we can worship You properly and we can please You, Dhul Jalal Ikram.

وَصَلَّى اللَّهُمَّ وَبَارِكْ عَلَى نَبِيِّنَا مُحَمَّدٍ وَعَلَى آلِهِ وَصَحْبِهِ أَجْمَعِينَ