The Importance of Unity(Tawheed) In Islam

Earlier I wrote about the Unification of God in Islam. View Post. This post is just going to be a slight explanation about that.  Out of all things in Islam, this is the most important.  All the good actions, that can be done, this is the only action that is required to be done by a Muslim, 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, 365 days out of the year(366 during a leap year.)  The prayers Muslims do, is only 5 times a day.  But a Muslim must be in the state of Tawhid, at all states.  Meaning, a Muslim must believe that there is only one God, at all times.  Allah says in the Qur’an:

“Verily, Allâh forgives not that partners should be set up with Him In worship, but He forgives except that (anything else) to whom He pleases, and whoever sets up partners with Allâh In worship, He has indeed invented a tremendous sin.”

Meaning in Islam, all sins are forgiven except associating partners with Allah(shirk).  This is why the Unity(tawheed) of god is the most important part of Islam.

Oneness of God In Islam

A little video explaining the oneness of God in Islam.

For more videos like this visit http://thedeenshow.com/

In Depth Explenation of What Islam Is.

Earlier, I made a post which explains the basic beliefs of Islam.  In that Post I used a saying of Prophet Muhammad(Peace be upon him):

“Islam is that you should testify that there is no deity save Allah and that Muhammad is His Messenger, that you should perform salah (ritual prayer), pay the zakah(charity), fast during Ramadan, and perform Hajj (pilgrimage) to the House (the Ka’bah at Makkah), if you can find a way to it (or find the means for making the journey to it).”

In that post I explained, the parts of the speech.  In this post I will try to simplify what I said.

One of the greatest Scholars in Islam, is a man named Nawawi, or as the Muslims call him, Imam Nawawi.  He has authored many books, most famously the 40 Hadith of Nawawi.  His 40 Hadith of Nawawi, are the 40 most important Hadith in Islam.  He died in the year 1277 CE.

Imam Nawawi wrote:

The sheikh and Imam Ibn Salah said: “Being a Muslim is outwardly established by one’s saying the two Testifications(Sheykh Nuh Ha Meem Keller, a moder American-Islamic scholar noted that these testifications do not need to be done in Arabic).  The Prophet only added the prayer, zakat, the pilgrimage, and the fast because they are the most patent and greatest of Islamic observances.  One’s submission(istislam) is perfected through performing them, and neglecting them suggests that one has dissolved or vitiated the terms of one’s compliance.  Moreover the term faith(iman) ecompasses all of the things by which Islam is explained in this hadith, and indeed, all acts of obedience, for they are fruits of the inner conviction that is underlying basis of faith, and are what strenghen, and complete and preserve it.”

The First Testification of Faith

From the Previous post, The first pillar of Islam, is the testification of faith also known in Arabic as the Shahada.  This is the bare minimum of being a Muslim.  The first part of the testification is “there is no deity worthy of worship except Allah”.  That is what I will explain in this post.

Before we start with the Shahada(Testification of faith), we must define Tawhid.  Tawhid comes from the root word Wahada, which means ‘to ascribe unity’ to something. Meaning he made something one. So the word Tawhid islamically means unify Allah in his lordship, his names and attributes, and his rights to be worshiped. These are the three types of Tawhid. These are mentioned in the Qur’an. The first four verses of the Qur’an testify to these.

“All praise is due to Allah, Lord of the worlds.”

• The Unification of Allah’s lordship.

“The Entirely Merciful, the Especially Merciful.

Sovereign of the Day of Recompense.”

• The Names and Attributes of Allah.

“It is You we worship and You alone we ask for help.”

• His rights to be worshiped.

So all three forms of Tawhid are mentioned in these verses. Tawhid Rububiyah(of his lordship), there is only one lord, one creator, one sustainer, Allah. Tawhid Asma wa Sifa’t(his names and attributes), his names and attributes are perfect. And Tawhid Uluhiyah(his rights to be worshiped), Allah is the only one worthy of worship.

What Is Islam?

The often asked question, is what is the religion of Islam all about?  Well In the last post I posted a Hadith(saying) of Prophet Muhammad (Peace be upon him) where he said “Islam is that you should testify that there is no deity save Allah and that Muhammad is His Messenger, that you should perform salah (ritual prayer), pay the zakah(charity), fast during Ramadan, and perform Hajj (pilgrimage) to the House (the Ka’bah at Makkah), if you can find a way to it (or find the means for making the journey to it).”

So what does this mean, why are there five answers to this.  Well these five answers are called the five pillars of Islam. These are the five Pillars of Islam simplified.

1.  Testification of Faith.

• One must believe that there is no diety of worship other than Allah.
• One must believe that Muhammad is the Messenger of Allah.

2.  Prayer.

• Muslims Pray 5 times a day.
• These prayers are a spiritual connection between a Muslim and Allah.

3.  Zakat(charity).

• Muslims must pay charity to the less fortunate.
• Those who are poor themselves do not have to pay charity.

4.  Fasting.

• Muslim must fast in the 9th month of the Islamic Calander, Ramadan.
• A fast lasts from Sunrise to Sunset, where Muslims abstain from eating, drinking, and sexual intercourse.

5.  Hajj(pilgrimage).

• A Muslim must once in their life make a pilgrimage to the holy city of Mecca.
• A Muslim is not required to do this until he can do this financially.

Those are five pillars of Islam, which are the credentials to be a Muslim.  Later on, I will explain each of the Pillars, so please come back and learn more about the religion of Islam.