The DEEN in BYTES Series | AQEEDAH101 Fundamentals of Tawheed - part 1:

Introduction

TAWHEED is the basis of the Deen of Islam and most precisely expressed in the kalimah ‘Laa ilaaha illallaah’ which states that there is only one true God and that He alone deserved to be worshipped.

This seemingly simple formula forms the dividing line between IMAN (true belief in God) and KUFR (disbelief). Because of this principle, the Islamic belief in God is considered unitarian and Islam is counted among the world’s monotheistic religions along with Judaism and Christianity. Yet, according to Islamic concept of Tawheed, Christianity is classified as polytheism and Judaism is considered a subtle form of idolatry.

The principle of Tawheed is profound and needs clarification even among Muslims – as illustrated by the fact that;

1.         Muslims like Ibn ‘Arabi understood Tawheed to mean ‘Allah is all and all is Allah’, that there is only one existence, which is Allah – but classified by mainstream Islam as pantheism, and as such, Kufr.
2.    Muslims like the Mu’tazilah felt that Tawheed consisted of stripping Allah of all His attributes and asserting that He is present everywhere and in everything – yet these ideas are also rejected by orthodox Islam and considered heretical. 
3.    Almost all of various heretical sects which broke off form the main body of Islam began their divergence from the point of Tawheed.
4.    All of those who worked for the destruction of Islam and misguidance attempted to neutralize the principle of Tawheed – introducing concept designed to take man away from the worship of Allah alone.

Once people accept these deviating philosophies about God, they become easily susceptible to other deviant ideas which eventually lead to worship of created things in the guise of true worship of God alone.

Thus, it is of utmost importance that Tawheed be clearly understood in the way taught by Rasulullah (saw) and understood by the Sahabah or one could easily end up on one of the so many deviant paths, while claiming Tawheed, praying, paying zakaah, and making Hajj.

Allah, the Most Wise, has pointed to this phenomenon in the Quraan;

وَمَا يُؤْمِنُ أَكْثَرُهُم بِاللَّهِ إِلَّا وَهُم مُّشْرِكُونَ

“And most of them believe not in Allah except while they associate others with Him.” (Yusuf 12:106)

(to be continued – main ref: Bilal Philips, The Fundamentals of Tawheed, 2005)