Tawheed- Oneness of Allah
Tawheed briefly described is the Oneness of Allah SWT in Divinity, in Worship, in His Names and Attributes. Belief in the Oneness of Allah SWT is the focal point around which the religion of Islam revolves.
Submission to Allah SWT alone and the dedication of worship to Him alone, elevates the believers’ character and mind. It saves him from a heart that wanders astray, from desires that become corrupted, and from the darkness of ignorance.
The Imam referenced ayat 64 of Sura Al-Imran in which it is translated to say:
Say: O People of the Scripture! Come to an agreement between us and you: that we shall worship none but Allah, and that we shall ascribe no partner unto Him, and that none of us shall take others for lords beside Allah. And if they turn away, then say: Bear witness that we are they who have surrendered (unto Him).
Dear brothers and sisters, tawheed comes from loving Allah SWT and to love Allah SWT is a duty for us all. The reasons to love Allah SWT is all around us. Take time out to ponder all that He has blessed each and every one of us with. Our health, our freedom, our family and our wealth. We have so much to be thankful for and so much to love Him for.
Equally so, only Allah SWT can protect us from troubles or pain that we may be going through. Only He is worthy of our pleas.
By avoiding associating any partners with Allah SWT, we are able to grasp the reality of the life that we have been given. It is to take all our experiences, good and bad, as a means to return to the one and only worthy of return, Allah SWT.
However, we can sometimes fall into the bad habit of forgetting Allah SWT in times of hardship and instead begin to despair but this is not the correct way a Muslim should behave.
What we sometimes don’t realize is that a person may feel hardship or pain but not know the good that may come of it. Only Allah SWT is knowledgeable of this and it is vital we remember that and Him in such times.
Allah SWT has told us He will test us in life to see if the person displays patience, humility and return to Him through worship. Allah SWT has told us He wants us to constantly return to Him with sincerity in repentance and to Him alone.
The imam spoke of ayat 48 in Sura Al-Nisa which is translated to say:
“Verily, Allah forgives not that partners should be set up with Him (in worship), but He forgives anything else, to whom He wills; and whoever sets up partners with Allah in worship, he has indeed invented a tremendous sin”
Dear brothers and sisters, these ayats demonstrate the both the mercy of our Lord and the severity of worshipping other than Allah SWT. We need to sincerely testify with our hearts that it is only Allah SWT that we turn to. Nobody else is worthy of our gratitude and nobody else is worthy of our prayer.
The Oneness of Allah SWT comes by the realisation that whatever we may be experiencing in our lives comes from Him. It is the belief that only He has the power to change it and only He is the one who we must thank for it.
So practically, is there any habit that may exist that puts us in danger to today’s reminder? Yes, there is a popular habit which has been highlighted in today’s reminder and it is mentioned through the warning in the following hadiths:
The Prophet (peace be upon him) said: Verily! Allah forbids you to swear by your fathers. If one has to take an oath, they should swear by Allah or else keep silent.
And
Whoever swears by anything other than Allah has committed Shirk, i.e associated partners with Allah SWT
Dear brothers and sisters, it’s common for some, when declaring an oath or giving a promise to say something along the lines of “I swear on my life” or “I swear on my mum’s life” or ”I swear on my dad’s life”.
The practical reminder for today is that there is only one permissible oath that can be given when one is wanting to give an oath and that is to swear on Allah SWT alone. Anything other than this risks the dangers mentioned in the hadiths referenced by the imam.
Dear brothers and sisters, declaring the Oneness of Allah SWT with our hearts and our minds is the most important thing for us to grasp in life. For if we learn how to trust and worship Allah SWT with sincerity, then and only then, will we escape from the slavery and captivity of this life.
May Allah SWT develop the love for Him in our hearts. May Allah SWT develop the resolute affirmation of the oneness of Allah SWT in our hearts. May Allah SWT give us the ability to demonstrate this in our actions and our worship.
