Part 21

He goes on to mention many acts of worship, including the obvious ones, such as prayer, prostration, fasting, animal sacrifice, pilgrimage and so forth. All of these must be done solely for the sake of Allah. They must also be done in the manner that is prescribed by Allah and that is pleasing to Him. To perform any of these acts for anyone other than Allah negates and destroys one's fulfillment and implementation of tauheed.

Al-Saadi's definition sheds some further light on this concept. He wrote that tauheed al-uloohiya

Is to know and recognize with knowledge and certainty that Allah is the only God and the only one truly deserving of worship. [It is also to verify that] the attributes of Godhood and its meaning are not found in any of [Allah's] creatures. No one is then deserving of worship except Allah. If the person recognizes that and recognizes it correctly, he will reserve all of his external and internal acts of servitude and worship for Allah alone. He will fulfill the external acts of Islam, such as prayer,… Jihad, ordering good and eradicating evil, being dutiful to parents, keeping the ties of kinship, fulfilling the rights of Allah and the rights of His creatures… He will not have any goal in life other than pleasing His Lord and attaining His rewards. In his affairs, he will be following the Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him). His beliefs will be whatever is proven in the Quran and Sunnah. His deeds and actions will be what Allah and His Messenger legislated. His character and manners will be in imitation of His prophet, in his guidance, behavior and all of his affairs.134

133 Marwaan al-Qaisi, Maalim al-Tauheed (Beirut: al-Maktab al-Islami, 1990), pp. 61-62. 134 Abdul Rahman Al-Saadi, Al-Fatawa al-Saa'diyah (Riyadh: Manshooraat al-Mu'assasat alSa'eediyah, n.d), pp. 10-11. The definition al-Saadi gave highlights the fact that tauheed aluloohiyah is composed of tauheed al-ikhlaas (where one acts solely and purely for Allah's pleasure), tauheed al-sidq (where one acts sincerely and honestly according to this belief) and tauheed 106

This aspect of tauheed comprises both the actions of the heart as well as the deeds of the physical body. There are two aspects in particular that must be combined in the worship of Allah. Al-Saadi stated,

The spirit and actuality of worship is by the realization of love and submission to Allah. Complete love and full submission to Allah is the reality of worship. If the act of worship is missing both or one of those components, it is not truly an act of worship. For the reality of worship is found in submission and yielding to Allah. And that will only occur if there is complete and full love [for Allah] which dominates all other expressions of love.135

Jaafar Shaikh Idris has aptly described the process that should come about through the correct belief in Allah and how that should lead to the acts of the heart which are essential aspects of tauheed. Idris wrote,

When faith enters a person's heart, it causes therein certain mental states, which result in certain apparent actions, both of which are the proof of true faith. Foremost among those mental states is the feeling of gratitude towards God, which could be said to be the essence of Ibadah (worshipping or serving God).

This feeling of gratitude is so important that a nonbeliever is called kaafir which means, "one who denies a truth" and also "one who is ungrateful". One can understand why this is so when one reads in the Quran that the main motive for denying the existence of God is that of unjustified pride. Such a proud person feels that it does not become him to be created or governed by a being whom he must thus acknowledge to be greater than himself and to whom he must be grateful. "Those who dispute concerning the signs of God without any authority come to them, in their hearts is only pride that they shall never attain" (Ghaafir :56).

With the feeling of gratitude goes that of love: "There are some people who take to themselves [for worship] others apart from God loving them as

al-tareeq (where the path that one follows is one, that established by the Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him)). For more on these concepts, see Muhammad al-Hammad, Tauheed alUloohiyah (Dar ibn Khuzaima, 1414 A.H.), pp. 22-24. 135 Quoted in al-Hammad, p. 26. 107

they should love God; But those who believe love God more ardently than they love anything else" (al-Baqara : 165).

A believer loves and is grateful to God for His bounties, but being aware of the fact that his good deeds, whether mental or physical, are far from being commensurate with Divine favors, he is always anxious lest because of his sins God should withhold from him some of these favors or punish him in the Hereafter. He therefore fears Him, surrenders himself to Him, and serves Him with great humility.136

There is thus no real worship unless the heart is filled with the feeling of love and glorification for Allah. Along with this flows the other necessity components of having hope in Allah and fear of Allah in the heart. Fear of Allah comes about when one truly glorifies and exalts Allah.137 Hope in Allah flows from a complete and true love of Allah. All of these components must be present and in a proper balance. If they are not present at all or if they are not properly balanced, one's worship becomes distorted and incorrect.138

Allah says about some of His true and pious servants, "Verily, they used to hasten to do good deeds. They used to call upon Us with hope and fear. They also would humble themselves before us" (21:90). In reference to the pious and devoted servants Jesus, Uzair and the angels, Allah has said, "They hope for His mercy and fear His torment" (17:57).139

This category of tauheed is the key to a "real life", a life that is sound and proper. Ibn Taymiyyah wrote,

136 Jaafar Sheikh Idris, The Pillars of Faith (Riyadh: Presidency of Islamic Research, Ifta and Propagaon, 1984), pp. 9-10. 137 Sometimes a person or object is feared but that fear is not combined with complete love. Hence, that fear does not constitute a false form of worship. 138 There are numerous statements from early scholars stressing the proper balance of the different components of imaan in the heart. For example, it is said about fear and hope, "They are like two wings of a bird. The believer flies towards Allah by his two wings of hope and fear. If they are balanced, he flies properly. If one of them is missing, he has a shortcoming. If they are both missing, the bird is on the edge of death." (Quoted in al-Hammad, p. 41.) 139 Cf., al-Hammad, pp. 34-41. 108

You must know that a human's140 need for Allah that he worship Him and not associate any partner with Him is a need concerning which there is no comparison that one can make an analogy to. In some matters, it resembles the need of the body for food and drink. However, there are many differences between the two.

The reality of a human being is in his heart and soul. These cannot be prosperous except through [their relation] with Allah, concerning whom there is no other god. There is [, for example,] no tranquility in this world except in His remembrance. Verily, man is heading toward his Lord and he shall meet Him. He must definitely meet Him. There is no true goodness for him except in meeting Him.141 If the human experiences any pleasure or happiness other than in Allah, that joy and happiness will not endure. It will move from one nature to another or from one person to another. The person will enjoy it at one time or only some of the time. In fact, sometimes the thing he enjoys and gets pleasure from does not bring him pleasure or enjoyment. Sometimes it even hurts him when it comes to him. And he is even more harmed by that. But his God is definitely always with him under every circumstance and at all times. Wherever he is, He is with him [by His knowledge and aid]…

If someone worships anything other than Allah even if he loves it and attains some love in this world and some form of pleasure from that [that false worship] will destroy the person in a way greater than the harmful displeasure that comes to a person who ate poison…

You must know that if anyone loves something other than for the sake of Allah, then that beloved thing will definitely be a cause of harm and punishment… If somebody loves something other than for the sake of Allah, that thing will harm him whether it is with him or he is without it…142

In order for any deed to be accepted by Allah, it must be done in accordance with this aspect of tauheed. In other words, if a person is fulfilling and understanding this form of tauheed properly, this, by necessity, implies that he 140 The word ibn Taimiya used was abd (servant or slave); however, its inference is every human being. 141 This is because the soul, by its ingrained nature, yearns for its meeting with its Creator. 142 Ibn Taimiya, Majmoo, vol. 1, pp. 24-29. 109

is accepting and applying the other forms of tauheed. Therefore, his deeds may then be accepted by Allah.143 Allah says, "So whoever hopes for the meeting with his Lord, let him work righteousness and not associate anyone [with Allah] in the worship of his Lord" (18:110).

One of the acts that must be done solely towards Allah is prayer or supplication. The Prophet (peace be upon him) has said, "Supplication is the [essence of] worship."144 When a person prays or supplicates to another, he is showing his trust and reliance in that other. He is demonstrating his need for the one he is praying to. He is demonstrating his trust in that person or being's ability to know, understand and fulfill his need. This kind of feeling in the heart that is reflected in supplication must be directed towards Allah only. That is why the Prophet (peace be upon him) called supplication the essence of worship. Hence, anyone who prays or supplicates to anyone other than Allah is associating partners with Allah or, in other words, committing shirk. This is the antithesis of Imaan and tauheed.

This type of tauheed is actually a necessary consequence or result of the correct belief in tauheed al-ruboobiyah. If one realizes that there is no rabb (Lord) except Allah, then one will realize that none is worthy or deserving of worship except Allah. If none other than Allah is worthy of worship, then why would anyone worship somebody or something other than Allah?

On this aspect of tauheed, ibn Abu al-Izz al-Hanafi wrote,

The Quran abounds with statements and parables concerning this type of tawhid. It first affirms the tawhid al-ruboobiyah, that there is no Creator other than Allah. This conviction necessitates that no one should be worshipped except Allah. It takes the first proposition [that Allah is lord] as evidence for the second proposition [that Allah is the only one worthy of worship]. The Arabs believed in the first proposition and disputed the second. Allah then made it clear to them: Since you know that there is no Creator except Allah, and that He is the One who can give a person what benefits him or keep away from him what harms him, and He has no partner in those acts, 143 Cf., al-Hammad, Tauheed al-Uloohiyah, p. 18. 144 Recorded by Abu Dawud, al-Nasaa'i, al-Tirmidhi and others. Graded sahih by al-Albani. AlAlbani, Sahih al-Jami al-Sagheer, vol. 1, p. 641. 110