Page 1 :
Islamic Online University, , The Foundations of Islamic Studies 101, , Islamic Online, University, http://www.islamiconlineuniversity.com, , 1

Page 3 :
Islamic Online University, , The Foundations of Islamic Studies 101, , 1.1 THE CATEGORIES OF TAWHEED, , L, , iterally tawheed means “unification” (making something one) or “asserting, oneness,” and it comes from the Arabic verb ‫ـﺪ‬, َ ‫ﺣ‬ ‫( َو‬wahhada) which itself, 1, means to unite, unify, or consolidate. However, when the term tawheed is, used in reference to Allaah (i.e. tawheedullaah)2, it means realizing and affirming, Allaah’s unity in all of man’s actions which directly or indirectly relate to Him. It, is the belief that Allaah is One, without partner in His dominion (ruboobeeyah),, One without similitude in His essence and attributes (asmaa was sifaat), and One, without rival in His divinity and in worship (ulooheeyah ‘ibaadah). These three, aspects form the basis for the categories into which the science of tawheed has, been traditionally divided. The three overlap and are inseparable to such a degree, that whoever omits any one aspect has failed to complete the requirements of, tawheed. The omission of any of the above mentioned aspects of tawheed is, referred to as shirk (which literally means “sharing” but here signifies) the, association of partners with Allaah. In Islamic terms this association is in fact, idolatry., Because of this principle of tawheed, the Islamic belief in God is uniquely, unitarian and Islaam is counted among the world’s monotheistic religions along, with Judaism and Christianity. However, according to the Islamic unitarian, concept (tawheed), Christianity is classified as polytheism and Judaism is, considered to be a subtle form of idolatry., Thus, the principle of tawheed is very profound and needs further, clarification even among Muslims. This point is vividly illustrated by the fact that, some Muslims like Ibn ‘Arabee3 understood tawheed to mean monism; that, 1, , J.M. Cowan, The Hans Wehr Dictionary of Modern Written Arabic, (Spoken Language Services, Inc., New York, 3rd. ed., 1976), p.1055., 2, The word tawheed does not actually occur in either the Qur’aan or in the statements (Hadeeths), of the Prophet (ρ). However, when the Prophet (ρ) sent Mu‘aadh ibn Jabal as governor of Yemen, in 9AH, he told him, “You will be going to Christians and Jews (ahl al-Kitaab), so the first thing, you should invite them to is the assertation of the oneness of Allaah (Yuwahhidoo Allaah).”, (Narrated by Ibn ‘Abbaas and collected by al-Bukhaaree (Muhammad Muhsin Khan, Sahih AlBukhari, (Arabic-English), (Riyadh: Maktabah ar-Riyaad al-Hadeetha, 1981), vol.9, pp.348-9,, no.469) and Muslim (Abdul Hamid Siddiq, Sahih Muslim (English Trans.), (Lahore: Sh., Muhammad Ashraf Publishers, 1987), vol.1, pp.14-5, no.27). In this Hadeeth the present tense of, the verb from which the verbal noun Tawheed is derived was used by the Prophet (ρ)., 3, Muhammad ibn ‘Alee ibn ‘Arabee was born in Spain in the year 1165 CE and died in Damascus, in the year 1240 CE. He claimed to possess inner light and knowledge of Allaah’s greatest name, and referred to himself as the seal of the sainthood which he implied was a status higher than, , http://www.islamiconlineuniversity.com, , 3

Page 4 :
Islamic Online University, , The Foundations of Islamic Studies 101, , everything which exists is Allaah and Allaah is everything. He asserted that there, is only one real existence, which is Allaah everything else is unreal.4 Yet, such, beliefs are classified by mainstream Islaam as pantheism and, as such, kufr. Other, Muslims such as the Mu‘tazilah5 held that tawheed consisted of stripping Allaah, of all His attributes and asserting that He is present everywhere and in everything;, yet these ideas were also rejected by orthodox Islaam and considered heretical. In, fact, almost all of the various heretical sects which broke off from the main body, of Islaam, from the Prophet’s time till today, began their divergence from the, point of tawheed. All of those who worked for the destruction of Islaam and the, misguidance of its followers have attempted to neutralize the principle of, tawheed, because it represents the very essence of the divine message of Islaam, brought by all the prophets. They have introduced concepts about Allaah totally, alien to Islaam; concepts designed to take man away from the worship of Allaah, alone. Once people accept these pagan philosophies about God, they become, easily susceptible to a multitude of other deviant ideas, all of which eventually, lead those who accept them to the worship of created things under the guise of the, true worship of God., The Prophet (ρ) himself vividly warned Muslims to beware of such, deviations as had befallen the nations before them. He encouraged them to stick, closely to the path which he had tread. One day as he sat with his companions, he, drew a straight line in the dirt. He then drew a series of lines branching off from, either side of it. When the companions asked him what it meant, he pointed to the, branches and told them that they represented the various paths of misguidance in, this life. He went on to say that at the head of each path sat a devil inviting people, to it. After that, he pointed to the straight line in the middle and told them that it, represented the path of Allaah. When the companions asked for further, clarification, he told them that it was his path and he recited the following verse:, , prophethood. In the centuries following his death, his followers elevated him to the status of saint,, and gave him the title of ash-Shaykh al-Akbar (The Greatest Master), but the majority of Muslim, legal scholars considered him a heretic. His principle works are al-Futoohaat al-Makkeeyah and, Fusoos al-Hikim, (H.A.R. Gibb and J.H. Kramers, Shorter Encyclopedia of Islam, (Ithaca, New, York: Cornell University Press, 1953), pp.146-7., 4, A modern proponent of this belief called wahdatul-wujood is Haroon Yahya. He has included a, chapter in most of his works written in refutation of Darwinism promoting this belief., 5, A rationalist philosophical school founded in the Umayyad period (i.e. early 8th century CE) by, Waasil ibn ‘Ataa and ‘Amr ibn ‘Ubayd. It gained sway over the ‘Abbaasid state for over a hundred, years and continued to influence Islamic thought until the 12th century (Shorter Encyclopedia of, Islam, pp.421-6)., , http://www.islamiconlineuniversity.com, , 4

Page 6 :
Islamic Online University, , The Foundations of Islamic Studies 101, , The necessity for this analytical approach to the principle of tawheed arose, after Islaam spread into Egypt, Byzantium, Persia and India and absorbed the, cultures of these regions. It is only natural to expect that when the peoples of, these lands entered the fold of Islaam, they would carry with them some of the, remnants of their former beliefs. When some of these new converts began to, express, in writings and discussion, their various philosophical concepts of God,, confusion arose in which the pure and simple unitarian belief of Islaam became, threatened. There were also others who had outwardly accepted Islaam but, secretly worked to destroy the religion from within, due to their inability to, oppose it militarily. This group began to actively propagate distorted ideas about, Allaah among the masses in order to tear down the first pillar of eemaan (faith), and with it Islaam istself., The early caliphs and their governors were closer to Islamic principles,, and the consciousness of the masses was high due to the presence of the Prophet’s, companions and their students. Hence, the demand for the elimination of open, heretics received immediate response from the rulers. In contrast, the later, Umayyad caliphs were more corrupt and as such cared little about such religious, issues. The masses were also less Islamically conscious and thus were more, susceptible to deviant ideas. As greater numbers of people entered Islaam under, the Umayyads, and the learning of an increasing number of conquered nations, was absorbed, the execution of apostates was no longer used to stem the rising, tide of heresy. The task of opposing it fell on the shoulders of the Muslim scholars, of the period who rose to meet the challenge intellectually. They systematically, opposed the various alien philosophies and creeds by categorizing them and, countering them with principles deduced from the Qur’aan and the Sunnah. It was, out of this defense that the science of tawheed emerged, with its precisely defined, categories and components. Therefore, as the categories of tawheed are studied, separately and in more depth, it must not be forgotten that they are each a part of, an organic whole which is itself the foundation of a greater whole, Islaam itself., Tawheed ar-Ruboobeeyah (Maintaining the Unity of Lordship), This category is based on the fundamental concept that Allaah alone, caused all things to exist when there was nothing; He sustains and maintains, creation without any need from it or for it; and He is the sole Lord of the universe, and its inhabitants without any real challenge to His sovereignty. In Arabic the, word used to describe this creator-sustainer quality is ruboobeeyah which is, derived from the root Rabb (Lord). According to this category, since God is the, only real power in existence, it is He who gave all things the power to move and, to change. Nothing happens in creation except what He allows to happen. In, , http://www.islamiconlineuniversity.com, , 6

Page 10 :
Islamic Online University, , The Foundations of Islamic Studies 101, , “...that He may punish the hypocrites, men and women, and the, pagans, men and women, who have an evil opinion of Allaah. A, circle of evil is around them; Allaah is angry with them, curses them, and has prepared for them an evil end.”20, Thus, anger is one of God’s attributes. It is incorrect to say as some have, that His, “anger” must really mean His “punishment”, since anger is a sign of weakness in, man that does not befit Allaah. What Allaah has stated should be accepted, with, the qualification that His anger is not like human anger-based on Allaah’s, statement., , ِ ِ ِ ‫ﻟَﻴ‬, ِ ‫ﺴ ِﻤﻴﻊ اﻟﺒ‬, ‫ﺼ ُﻴﺮ‬, َ ُ  ‫ﺲ َﻛﻤﺜْﻠﻪ َﺷ ْﻲءٌ َو ُﻫ َﻮ اﻟ‬, َ ْ, “There is nothing like him.”21, , This verse clearly underscores the fact that Allaah’s attributes are different from, those of men. When this fact is overlooked, however, a strictly literal, interpretation of the verse results in the denial of God’s very existence. For Allaah, describes Himself as living and man lives; therefore, according to this, “rationalist” argument, God neither lives nor exists., In fact, the similarity between God’s attributes and those of mankind is in, name only and not in degree. When attributes are used in reference to God, they, are to be taken in the absolute sense, free from human deficiencies., 2. The second aspect of Tawheed al-Asmaa’ was-Sifaat involves referring, to Allaah as He has referred to Himself without giving Him any new names or, attributes. For example, Allaah may not be given the name al-Ghaadib (the angry, one), in spite of the fact that He has said that He gets angry, because neither, Allaah nor His messenger has used this name. This may seem to be a very fine, point, but it must be maintained in order to prevent the false description of God., That is, finite man is in no position to define the infinite Lord of creation., The names an-Naasir and ar-Rasheed are among the common names, which cannot be authentically attributed to Allaah. Although their meanings are, true and are mentioned as attributes of Allaah, they cannot be found in any, Qur’aanic text or authentic hadeeth. They do, however, exist in a few hadeeths, containing a list of the 99 names of Allaah, some of which can be found printed in, copies of the Qur’aan. Unfortunately, all of these hadeeths are inauthentic., 3. In the third aspect of Tawheed al-Asmaa’ was-Sifaat Allaah is referred, to without giving Him the attributes of His creation. For example, it is claimed in, 20, 21, , Soorah al-Fath, (48):6., Soorah ash-Shooraa, (42):11., , http://www.islamiconlineuniversity.com, , 10

Page 11 :
Islamic Online University, , The Foundations of Islamic Studies 101, , the Bible and Torah that Allaah spent the first six days creating the universe then, slept on the seventh.22 For this reason, Jews and Christians take either Saturday or, Sunday as a day of rest during which work is looked at as a sin. Such a claim, assigns to God the attributes of His creation. It is man who tires after heavy work, and needs sleep to recuperate.23 Elsewhere in the Bible and Torah, God is, portrayed as repenting for His bad thoughts in the same way that humans do when, they realize their errors.24 Similarly the claim that God is a spirit or has a spirit, completely corrupts this aspect of tawheed. Allaah does not refer to Himself as a, spirit anywhere in the Qur’aan nor does His Prophet (ρ) express anything of the, nature in hadeeth. In fact, Allaah refers to the spirit as part of His creation.25, The key principle which should be followed when dealing with Allaah’s, attributes is the Qur’anic formula,, , ِ ِ ِ ‫ﻟَﻴ‬, ِ ‫ﺴ ِﻤﻴﻊ اﻟﺒ‬, ‫ﺼ ُﻴﺮ‬, َ ُ  ‫ﺲ َﻛﻤﺜْﻠﻪ َﺷ ْﻲءٌ َو ُﻫ َﻮ اﻟ‬, َ ْ, , “There is nothing at all like Him, and He is hearer and seer of all.”26, The attributes of hearing and seeing are among human attributes, but when they, are attributed to The Divine Being they are without comparison in their, perfection. However, when these attributes are associated with men they, necessitate ear and eye apparatuses which cannot be attributed to God. What man, knows about the Creator is only what little He has revealed to him through His, prophets. Therefore, man is obliged to stay within these narrow limits. When man, gives free reign to his intellect in describing God, he is liable to fall into errors by, assigning to Allaah the attributes of His creation., In their love of pictorial representations, Christians have painted, carved, and molded innumerable human likenesses and called them images of God. These, have served to pave the way for the acceptance of Jesus’ divinity among the, masses. Once they accepted the conception of the Creator as being like a human, being, accepting Jesus as God presented no real problem., , 22, , Genesis 2:2, “And on the seventh day God finished his work which he had done, and he rested, on the seventh day from all his work which he had done.” (Holy Bible, Revised Standard Version, (Nelson, 1951), p.2., 23, In contrast Allaah says explicity in the Qur’aan, “No tiredness overcomes Him nor sleep...”, (Soorah al-Baqarah, (2):255)., 24, Expodus 32:14, “And the Lord repented of the evil which he thought to do to his people.” (Holy, Bible, Revised Standard Version)., 25, Allaah clearly states that in the following verse: “They ask you (Muhammad) about the, spirit. Tell (them) that the spirit (exists) by my Lord’s command” (Soorah al-Israa, (17):85., 26, Soorah ash-Shoora, (42):11., , http://www.islamiconlineuniversity.com, , 11

Page 12 :
Islamic Online University, , The Foundations of Islamic Studies 101, , 4. The fourth aspect of tawheed as-Asmaa’ was-Sifaat requires that man, not be given the attributes of Allaah. For example, in the New Testament Paul, takes the figure of Melchizedek, king of Salem, from the Torah (Genesis 14:1820) and gives both him and Jesus the divine attribute of having no beginning or, end:, 1. For this Melchizedek, king of Salem, priest of the most high God, met, Abraham returning from the slaughter of the kings and blessed him, and, to him Abraham apportioned a tenth part of everything. He is first, by, translation of his name, king of righteousness, and then he is also king of, Salem, that is, king of peace. He is without father or mother or, genealogy, and has neither beginning of days nor end of life, but, resembling the son of God he continues a priest forever.27, ‘5. So also Christ did not exalt himself to be made a high priest, but was, appointed by him who said to him, “Thou art my son, today I have, begotten thee”; as he says also in another place, “Thou art a priest for, ever, after the order of Melchizedek.”28, Most Shi‘ite sects (with the exception of the Zaidites of Yemen) have given their, “imams” divine attributes of absolute infallibility,29 knowledge of the past, the, future and the unseen, the ability to change destiny30 and control over the atoms, of creation.31 In so doing they set up rivals who share God’s unique attributes and, who, in fact, become gods besides Allaah., 5. Maintaining the unity of Allaah’s names also means that Allaah’s, names in the definite form cannot be given to His creation unless preceded by the, prefix ‘Abd meaning “slave of” or “servant of.” Many of the Divine names in, 27, , Hebrews 7:1-3, (Holy Bible, Revised Standard Version)., Hebrews, 5:5-6 (Holy Bible, Revised Standard Version)., 29, Muhammad Rida al-Muzaffar states in his book Faith of Shi‘a Islam, (U.S.A.: Muhammadi, Trust of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, 2nd ed. 1983): “We believe that, like the prophet, an, Imam must be infallible, that is to say incapable of making errors or doing wrong, either, inwardly or outwardly, from his birth to his death, either intentionally or unintentionally,, because the Imams are the preservers of Islam and it is under their protection.” (p.32). See also, Islam, (Teheran: A Group of Muslim Brothers, 1973), p.35, by Sayed Saeed Akhtar Rizvi., 30, Al-Muzaffar further states: “We maintain that the powers of the Imams to receive inspiration, has reached the highest degree of excellence, and we say that it is a Divinely-given power. By this, means the Imam is able to understand information about anything, anywhere, and at any, time, and he understands by means of this Divinely - given power at once, without recourse to, methodological reasoning or guidance from a teacher., 31, Al-Khomeini states: “Certainly the Imam has a dignified station, a lofty rank, a creational, caliphate, and sovereignty and mastery over all atoms of creation.” (Aayatullaah Musavi alKhomeini, al-Hukoomah al-Islaameeyah, (Beirut: at-Talee‘ah Press, Arabic ed., 1979), p.52)., 28, , http://www.islamiconlineuniversity.com, , 12

Page 20 :
Islamic Online University, , The Foundations of Islamic Studies 101, , is on the books but secular laws are in force, should implement the Sharee‘ah as it, pertains to all aspects of life. The implementation of non-Islamic rule in place of, Sharee‘ah in Muslim lands is an act of shirk and kufr as indicated by the, previously quoted verse. However, as Ibn ‘Abbaas explained, it is not the major, act of disbelief which takes one out of the fold of Islaam but a lesser form., Consequently, ruling by non-Islamic law does not automatically make the doer a, disbeliever unless he or she actually believes that non-Islamic laws are superior or, equal to divine law. Therefore, the currently common practice of some extreme, groups of declaring all Muslim rulers and those who work under them to be, disbelievers (takfeer) simply because they uphold un-Islamic systems is incorrect., However, it is the duty of those in positions of authority to change such systems,, while those in positions of influence should advise the rulers in a way which, would not incite rebellion and bloodshed among the masses. As for those not in, such positions, they should despise un-Islamic government for the pleasure of, God and for the upholding of tawheed., , http://www.islamiconlineuniversity.com, , 20