The Way to Tawheed
The way to Tawheed is achieved throughout the following paths:
- Knowing God, be He blessed and to whom be ascribed all perfection.
2. Knowing his apostles and prophets (Peace be upon them pbuth).
3. Knowing science and its people.
4. Knowing the Intellect and its rank.
5. Knowing the Soul and its movements.
6. Knowing religion and its principal constituents.
7. Knowing the bidden and forbidden and the good and evil.
8. Knowing this world and its conditions.
9. Knowing the hereafter world and its consequences.
10. The necessity of preserving brethren of religion and provisions thereof.
First: Knowing God, be He blessed and to whom be ascribed all perfection:
The best to begin with in the course of knowing God, be He blessed and to whom be ascribed all perfection, is ayat al-kursi, ”God! There is no god But He, - the Living, The Self-subsisting, Eternal. No slumber can seize Him Nor sleep. His are all things In the heavens and on earth. Who is there can intercede In His presence except As He permitteth? He knoweth What (appeareth to His creatures As) Before or Agter Or Behind them. Nor shall they compass Aught of His knowledge Except as He willeth. His Throne doth extend Over the heavens And the earth, and He feeleth No fatigue in guarding And preserving them For He is the Most High, The Supreme (in glory).” (The Cow sura – verse 255)
God, Most Exalted, Most Glorified, imposed knowing and obeying him in four aspects, the principal constituents of Tawheed: knowing that He exists in mightiness and perfection; He is too exalted for all sayings and actions; He is unique in the rank of majesty and glory; and admitting that we are incapable of achieving the knowledge of Him in any condition. Therefore, He:
1- Has no partner in Himself:
“Say: He is God, The One and Only, God, the Eternal, Absolute; He begetteth not, Nor is He Begotten; And there is none Like unto Him.” (The Pure Tawheed sura – verses 1-2-3-4)
God also said, “ Take not (For worship) two gods: For He is just One God: Then fear Me (and Me alone),” (The Bees sura – verse 51)
2- Has no partner in His traits:
(He is) the Creator Of the heavens and The earth: He has made for you pairs From among yourselves, And pairs among cattle By this means does He Multiply you: there is nothing Whatever like unto Him, And He is the One That hears and sees (all things).” (The Consultations sura – verse 11)
3- Has no partner in His actions
Such is the Creation of God: Now show me what is there That others besides Him Have created: nay, but The Transgressors are In manifest error.” ).” (Luqman sura – verse 11)
4- Has no partner in worship
Say: “I am but a man Like yourselves, (but) The inspiration has come To me, that your God is One God: whoever expects To meet his Lord, let him Work righteousness, and, In the worship of his Lord, Admit no one as partner.” (The Cave sura – verse 110)
Second: Knowing his apostles and prophets (Pbuth):
“ O ye who believe! Obey God, and obey the Apostle, And those charged With authority among you.” (The Women sura – verse 59)
When God, be He blessed and to whom be ascribed all perfection, created His creation and imposed the knowledge of and obedience to Him, He realized that they are incapable of doing so without a supporting apostle who leads them to the paths of knowledge; guides them to the scales of obedience; introduces them to righteousness, motivating its implementation, and to evil warning them against it. Consequently, he found them an honest apostle in notification and admonition and wise proverbs and sayings, and imposed on creation the knowledge of God after knowing itself, and the testimony of apostolic succession, after the testimony of His Oneness to achieve the eternal goal where he said, “… The Day that the Caller Will call (them) To a terrible affair,” (The Moon sura – verse 6) He also said, “It was not (Possible) for any apostle To bring a Sign except By the leave of God:” (The Forgiver sura – verse 78)
Third: Knowing science and its men:
God said, “For God hath sent down To thee the Book and Wisdom And taught thee what thou Knewest not (before): And great is the Grace Of God unto thee.” (The Women sura – verse 113)
When God, Most Exalted, Most Glorified, imposed the knowledge of Him and his apostles by His creation, he knew this could never be sought except through extensive science, so He sent down unto them an evident science on the tongues of his honest apostles, and interpreted its meaning through what the missionary prophets discussed at great length, the intimate angles clarified, and the righteous holy men taught. With science, work is righteous; therefore, the servant could not but acquire knowledge and be guided by a Scientist. It is said that people are divided into two categories: either a scientist or a seeker of science; so if you are not a scientist, be a seeker of science or at least someone involved in it though this would be the weakest of knowledge yet still superior to denying its merits and the honor of its holders, the Almighty said, “Of knowledge it is only A little that is communicated To you, (O men!)” (Al-Isra’ sura – verse 85). He also said, “And if all the trees On earth were pens And the Ocean (were ink), With seven Oceans behind it To add to its (supply), Yet would not the Words Of God be exhausted (In the writing): for God Is Exalted in power, Full of Wisdom.” (Luqman sura – verse 27)
God, Most Exalted, Most Glorified, created his sciences with limits some of which are at man’s hand and the others are not. The Almighty said, “Those are limits Set by God: and any Who transgresses the limits Of God, does verily Wrong his own soul.” (The Divorce sura – verse 1). Our sons should consider this dualism related to the divine gift and the responsibility imposed on man. Man, whether male or female, is capable of free self-performance and simultaneously is called for, by virtue of bless, concluding an agreement of obligation with the Creator where no other creature could offer this in substitute.
Fourth: Knowing the Intellect and its rank:
God, Most Exalted, Most Glorified, knew that his servant is incapable of realizing what has preceded except with the Intellect and its support, so He made him exist and approachable. The Intellect is the helper to acquire all the concepts and, in fact, is the leader and conductor of the soul. Therefore, knowing the Intellect and abiding by it, man is safe from ignorance, and who is safe from ignorance is in knowledge of what the Almighty imposed on him. The Intellect is the king and the soul is its followers, and all lusts and desires that deviate from the order of intellect are its enemy – so is the soul when forbidden the guidance of the Intellect, its actions and endeavors end up with corruption. The Almighty said, “ They will further say: ‘Had we but listened Or used our intelligence, We should not (now) Be among the Companions Of the Blazing Fire!” (The Kingship sura – verse 10)
Fifth: Knowing the Soul and its movements:
The Almighty said, “then shall every soul Be paid what it earned, And none shall be Dealt with unjustly.” (The Cow sura – verse 281)
Man should know his self and its movements, since no one could be fully cognizant of anything without knowing this self, and that it is the elite and best of creatures, it belongs to the eternal world for it is alive, substantial, cognizant, reasonable and rational with the ropes of Intellect; then he should know that it bids with evil and that it is disable, ignorant, threatened by the ropes of Satan, and that it is in constant motion, characterized by good and evil and exposed to both; therefore, when man is cognizant of all this, then he must fight and punish this soul to keep it in the rein of Intellect and the preaches of discipline.
The Almighty said, “On the Day when every soul Will be confronted With all the good it has done” (The Family of ‘Imran sura – verse 30)
Sixth: Knowing religion and its principal constituents:
The best to begin with our talk about religion is the “Prologue”, “In the name of God, Most Gracious, Most Merciful. Praise be to God, The Cherisher and Sustainer of the Worlds; Most Gracious, Most Merciful; Master of the Day of Judgment. Thee do we worship, And Thine aid we seek. Show us the straight way, The way of those on whom Thou hast bestowed Thy Grace, Those whose (portion) Is not wrath, And who go not astray. ” (The Prologue sura – verse 1-2-3-4-5-6-7)
Tawheed is a branch of the Islam. Islam is the gate of faith. Faith is the gate of Tawheed. The Islam is based on five: the testimony of faith in a unique God and that Mohamad is the apostle of God; performance of prayer; paying zakat; fasting the month of Ramadan, pilgrimage to the Kaaba by those who could go; whereas, its bidden and forbidden issues could not be limited to words or knowledge.
Religion is a name attributed to all that is used as a true means to worship God, Most Exalted, Most Glorified, and the follower should know that righteousness belongs to God, and that God, be He blessed and to whom be ascribed all perfection, wanted it for man as a principal constituent and that His Supreme Kingship would not prosper, because of the obedience of any, or decrease, because of the disobedience of another, yet it is “your actions are retrieved for they are done by you and returned back to you,” the Almighty said, “Whoever works righteousness Benefits his own soul; Whoever works evil, it is against his own soul: Nor is thy Lord ever Unjust (in the least) To his servants.” (The Detailed verses sura- verse 46)
Seventh: Knowing the bidden and forbidden and the good and evil:
It is an obligation imposed on man to distinguish between the bidden and the forbidden. The bidden is commanded and the forbidden is prohibited; the bidden is good, the forbidden is evil; the bidden is beneficial, the forbidden is harmful; the bidden is obedience, the forbidden is disobedience; the bidden is evident, the forbidden is evident; the good is known, the evil is unconcealed. Therefore, all actions are in between these two states, and if something is suspected between them, the rational being should consider and avoid it.
The Almighty said, “Say: ‘See ye what things God hath sent down to you For sustenance? Yet ye Hold forbidden some things Thereof and (some things) lawful.’ Say: ‘Hath God indeed Permitted you, or do ye invent (Things) to attribute to God.” (Yonas sura – verse 59)
Eighth: Knowing this world and its conditions:
God, be He blessed and to whom be ascribed all perfection, created the whole world perfect to man – including races, kinds, plants and animals – and imposed on him the knowledge of its conditions and its bidden and forbidden. He created it perfect in cosmos, wanted it for His will which is man, and made it desired and sought for, gifted and ravished; he created it with its ladders and abysses, paths and dangerous spots and different pathways some of which are blessed and others are depraised. However, man shall know that it is called an abode because it is a pathway rather than a place to settle at; it is in constant change from one state to another and is mortal and temporal. Only he who knows it as it is and adopts the path of real men, could seek the blessed of consequences in conformity with the Almighty saying, “Nay (behold),ye prefer The life of this world; But the Hereafter Is better and more enduring.” (The Most High sura – verses 16-17)
Ninth: Knowing the hereafter world and its consequences:
Every man should know that there is a day when he would be punished and rewarded for his good and bad deeds, whether few or many. On that day, he would be asked about the way his life was spent and his body was worn out; the knowledge he acquired and the knowledge he implemented; the money he earned and the way it was spent. Therefore, every man is responsible for his actions whereon neither wealth nor sons would avail, but only a word of righteousness he said or some of the good and gracious deeds he performed, the Almighty said, “The Day whereon neither Wealth nor sons will avail, ‘But only he (will prosper) That brings to God A sound heart;’ ” (The Poets sura – verses 88-89) The day when righteousness would prevail to defeat the wrong, when the breast-feeding mother would be astounded and every soul would be repaid for what it has done of good and evil. It was known as the Last Day because reward and penalty are postponed until then, may God help you and us be the winners, the listeners to what was said and the doers of the best of it, for the Almighty said, “Alif. Lam. Mim. These are Verses Of the Wise Book, - A Guide and a Mercy To the Doers of good, - Those who establish regular Prayer, And give regular Charity, And have (in their hearts) The assurance of the Hereafter.” (Lukman sura – verses 1-2-3-4)
Tenth: The necessity of preserving brethren of religion and abiding by the provisions thereto:
When God, be He blessed and to whom be ascribed all perfection, created man, He prepared him to rhetoric, and imposed on him what is aforementioned, he also imposed with that knowledge and science specific actions as helpful means; such actions could not achieve the hoped result except with honesty and devotion – the best of which could be followed by man. So faith is not fulfilled except with preserving brethren, and the first step in such preservation is acquaintance, then cordiality, then friendliness, then attachment, then companionship; these issues could not be achieved except with sincerity, frankness and purity, for He, the Most Exalted, said, “(They will be) brothers (joyfully) facing each other On thrones (of dignity).” (Al-Hijr sura – verse 47). Brethren is achieved when companionship conditions are fulfilled, such conditions do not stand disagreement, ridicule, competition, backbiting, tale bearing, defect, fighting, accusation and calumny; instead, you are to your elder friend in the rank of his son, and to your peer in the rank of a brother, and to your younger in the rank of the father, and the most glorified of brothers and companions are the most knowledgeable; however, if they were equal, then the most knowledgeable; if the knowledgeable were equal, then the eldest; if the eldest were equal, then the older.
The most decent of brothers are the best mannered, the most disciplined, the least malicious, the most benevolent, the most tolerant, the best to keep promise, the closest to heart, the sincerest in words and the most perfect in intellect.
You should know that the best of “majales” is that of scientists, and that your companions are three: a person you benefit from, another who benefits from you, and the other whom you do neither benefit from nor he does benefit from you. As to whom you benefit from, keep his company, and the one who benefits from you, be generous with him; and the one who does neither benefit from you nor you do benefit from, desert him. Be noble in your morals for the poet said,
“The noblest of nations do only survive,
With the loss of morals, they do no more exist .”
Decent morals dominates chiefs of servants because it is born of, with, from and out of intellect; so, seek those morals and be indulged in them; perhaps, you could achieve what beautifies your life and a reward in return at death.
Finally, the following verse completes the meaning of faith where the Exalted said, “… But it is righteousness – To believe in God And the Last Day, And the ANGELS, And the Book, And the Messengers; To spend of your substance, Out of love for Him, For your kin, For orphans, For the needy, For the wayfarer, For those who ask, And for the ransom of slaves; To be steadfast in prayer, And practice regular charity; To fulfill the contracts Which ye have made; And to be firm and patient, In pain (or suffering) And adversity, And throughout All periods of panic. Such are the people Of truth, the God-fearing.” (The Cow sura – verse 177)
A definition issued by the Bureau of Mashyakhat Al Aql of
The Mouwahidoune Druze Sect – Beirut