الحمد لله رب العالمين، وصلى الله وسلم على نبينا محمد وعلى آله وأصحابه أجمعين، أما بعد
Shaikh ‘Abdul-Lateef bin ‘Abdir-Rahmaan bin Hasan Aal ash-Shaikh (rahimahumullaah) (d.1293H/1876CE) said when mentioning the significance of Tawheed in the Qur’aan and the Sunnah:
“Read the Book of Allaah, from its beginning to its end, you will find the declaration of Tawheed and the command with it and the declaration of shirk and the prohibition against it, to be affirmed in every Soorah. Likewise in many of the Soorahs of the Qur’aan, it is affirmed in places within them, that is something known to the one who has insight and consideration.
So in the opening of the Book:
الْحَمْدُ لِلَّهِ رَبِّ الْعَالَمِينَ
((Praise be to Allaah, Lord of all the creation)) (Al-Faatihah: 2)
In it are the two types of Tawheed, Tawheed al-Uloohiyyah and Tawheed ar-Ruboobiyyah. In:
إِيَّاكَ نَعْبُدُ وَإِيَّاكَ نَسْتَعِينُ
((You [alone] do we worship, and You [alone] do we ask for help)) (Al-Faatihah: 5)
Are the two types, and the confinement of worship and seeking aid to be directed to Allaah, The Mighty and Majestic, meaning: we do not worship anything besides You and we do not seek aid except from You. Likewise the first command in the Qur’aan that reaches the hearing of the hearer and listener is His saying, The Most High:
يَا أَيُّهَا النَّاسُ اعْبُدُوا رَبَّكُمُ الَّذِي خَلَقَكُمْ وَالَّذِينَ مِن قَبْلِكُمْ لَعَلَّكُمْ تَتَّقُونَ
((O mankind; worship your Lord, Who created you and those before you so that you may attain Taqwa [piety and fearfulness].))
To His saying:
فَلَا تَجْعَلُوا لِلَّهِ أَندَادًا وَأَنتُمْ تَعْلَمُونَ
((So do not set up rivals unto Allaah (in worship) while you know.)) (Al-Baqarah: 21-22)
So He commanded them with Tawheed al-Uloohiyyah, and inferred it with Ruboobiyyah, and He forbade them from committing shirk with Him, and He commanded them with renouncing the rivals which the polytheists worship besides Allaah.
He, The Glorified, commenced many of the Soorahs of the Qur’aan with this Tawheed.
الم * اللَّهُ لَا إِلَٰهَ إِلَّا هُوَ الْحَيُّ الْقَيُّومُ
((Alif, Lam, Meem. Allaah, none has the right to be worshipped but He, The Ever Living, The Self-Subsisting upon Whom everything depends.)) (Aal-‘Imraan: 1-2)
الْحَمْدُ لِلَّهِ الَّذِي خَلَقَ السَّمَاوَاتِ وَالْأَرْضَ وَجَعَلَ الظُّلُمَاتِ وَالنُّورَ ۖ ثُمَّ الَّذِينَ كَفَرُوا بِرَبِّهِمْ يَعْدِلُونَ
((Praise be to Allaah, Who created the heavens and the earth, and made the darkness and the light, yet those who disbelieve equate [others] with their Lord.))
To His saying, The Most High:
وَهُوَ اللَّهُ فِي السَّمَاوَاتِ وَفِي الْأَرْضِ
((And He is Allaah [to be worshipped alone] in the heavens and on the earth.)) (Al-An’aam: 1-3)
Meaning: the Deity Who is worshipped in the heavens and the earth, and in this Soorah there are from the proofs for Tawheed which can scarcely be enumerated. In it also is the declaration of shirk and the prohibition against it.
Likewise He (The Most High) commenced Soorah Hud with this Tawheed, He said:
الر ۚ كِتَابٌ أُحْكِمَتْ آيَاتُهُ ثُمَّ فُصِّلَتْ مِن لَّدُنْ حَكِيمٍ خَبِيرٍ * أَلَّا تَعْبُدُوا إِلَّا اللَّهَ ۚ إِنَّنِي لَكُم مِّنْهُ نَذِيرٌ وَبَشِيرٌ
((Alif-Lam-Ra. (This is) a Book, whose verses are perfected and then explained in detail from One Who is All-Wise, Well-Acquainted. Do not worship except Allaah, I [Muhammad] am to you from Him a warner and a bringer of glad tidings.)) (Hud: 1-2)
So He, The Most High, perfected the verses of the Qur’aan, then He set them forth in detail with the declaration of His Oneness, and prohibited against associating partners with Him.
In the beginning of Soorah Ta-ha, He, The Most High, said:
اللَّهُ لَا إِلَٰهَ إِلَّا هُوَ ۖ لَهُ الْأَسْمَاءُ الْحُسْنَىٰ
((Allaah; none has the right to be worshipped but He. To Him belong the most Beautiful Names.)) (Ta-ha: 8)
Likewise He commenced Soorah as-Saafaat with this Tawheed, and swore by it, so He said:
وَالصَّافَّاتِ صَفًّا * فَالزَّاجِرَاتِ زَجْرًا * فَالتَّالِيَاتِ ذِكْرًا * إِنَّ إِلَٰهَكُمْ لَوَاحِدٌ * رَّبُّ السَّمَاوَاتِ وَالْأَرْضِ وَمَا بَيْنَهُمَا وَرَبُّ الْمَشَارِقِ
((By those [Angels] lined up in rows. By those [Angels] who drive [the clouds]. By those [Angels] who recite the reminder. Indeed; your Lord is surely One. Lord of the heavens and the earth and what is between them, and Lord of the Easts [the easterly points from where the sun rises].)) (As-Saafaat: 1-5)
Likewise He commenced Soorah az-Zumar with His saying:
تَنزِيلُ الْكِتَابِ مِنَ اللَّهِ الْعَزِيزِ الْحَكِيمِ * إِنَّا أَنزَلْنَا إِلَيْكَ الْكِتَابَ بِالْحَقِّ فَاعْبُدِ اللَّهَ مُخْلِصًا لَّهُ الدِّينَ * أَلَا لِلَّهِ الدِّينُ الْخَالِصُ
((The revelation of the Book is from Allaah, The All-Mighty, The All-Wise. Indeed, We have sent down to you the Book, in truth. So worship Allaah, [being] sincere to Him in religion. Surely, for Allaah is the pure religion.)) (Az-Zumar: 1-3)
In this Soorah there is from the declaration of Tawheed and the command with it and the declaration of shirk and the prohibition against it that which grants light to the heart of the believer by way of it, and in the Soorah after it is likewise. In the Soorah:
قُلْ يَا أَيُّهَا الْكَافِرُونَ
((Say: O disbelievers)) (Al-Kafiroon: 1)
Is a rejection of shirk in worship until its ending, and in the Soorah:
قُلْ هُوَ اللَّهُ أَحَدٌ
((Say: He is Allaah, The One)) (Al-Ikhlaas: 1)
There is Tawheed al-Uloohiyyah and Tawheed ar-Ruboobiyyah and Tawheed al-Asmaa wa Sifaat, and this is manifest to whoever Allaah has illuminated his heart with understanding of the Qur’aan.
In the end of the Mus-haf is:
قُلْ أَعُوذُ بِرَبِّ النَّاسِ * مَلِكِ النَّاسِ * إِلَٰهِ النَّاسِ
((Say: I seek refuge with (Allaah) the Lord of mankind. The King of mankind. The God of mankind)) (An-Naas: 1-3)
He makes clear that He is their Lord and their creator and their Sustainer and regulates and has right of disposal in regard to them by way of His Will and His Decree, and that He is their King Who by way of Him the mastery and control of the kings is in His Hand, and that all of the creation are in His grasp. He grants esteem to this one and appoints lowliness to that one, and He guides whoever He wills, and sends astray whoever He wills and:
لَا مُعَقِّبَ لِحُكْمِهِ ۚ وَهُوَ سَرِيعُ الْحِسَابِ
((There is none to put back His Judgement and He is swift at reckoning.)) (Ar-Ra’d: 41)
And He is their Deity Who is worshipped and that nothing has the right to be worshipped besides Him. So this is an indication to what is in the Qur’aan.
As for the Sunnah; then in it there are from the proofs of Tawheed that which would not be possible to enumerate, such as his saying in the hadeeth of Mu’aadh which is in the two Saheehs:
إنَّ حَقَّ اللهِ على العِبادِ أنْ يَعبُدوه ولا يُشرِكوا به شيئًا
((Indeed the right of Allaah upon His servants is that they should worship Him [alone] and they should not associate anything with Him.))[1]
Likewise in the authentic hadeeth of Ibn Mas’ood:
مَنْ لَقِيَ اللَّهَ، لَا يُشْرِكُ بِهِ شَيْئًا، دَخَلَ الْجَنَّةَ، وَمَنْ لَقِيَهُ، يُشْرِكُ بِهِ، دَخَلَ النَّارَ
((Whoever meets Allaah not having associated anything with Him will enter Paradise, and whoever meets Him having associated [something] with Him will enter the Fire.))[2]
Likewise when a man said to him: ‘As Allaah wills and as you will’ he said:
أجعلتني لله ندًّا؟ بل ما شاء الله وحده
((Have you made me an associate with Allaah? Rather as Allaah alone wills.))[3]
The examples of this cannot be enumerated as has preceded in its mention. Therefore the proofs with regard to Tawheed in the Book are clearer than the sun at the highest point at noon, however – it is for the one who has discerning understanding and complete intellect and critical vision. As for the blind one, then he will not see any brightness for the sun, nor any illumination for the moon.”
Those Who Oppose the Truth and Their Types
The Shaikh (rahimahullaah) continued:
“So from the wisdom of The Lord is that He tests His believing servants, those who call to that which the Prophet (sallallaahu ‘alaihi wa sallam) called to from the religion with three categories from the people, and every category has followers for it.
The first category: Those who knew the truth and then became hostile against it out of enviousness and injustice such as the Jews, He, The Most High, said:
بِئْسَمَا اشْتَرَوْا بِهِ أَنفُسَهُمْ أَن يَكْفُرُوا بِمَا أَنزَلَ اللَّهُ بَغْيًا أَن يُنَزِّلَ اللَّهُ مِن فَضْلِهِ عَلَىٰ مَن يَشَاءُ مِنْ عِبَادِهِ ۖ فَبَاءُوا بِغَضَبٍ عَلَىٰ غَضَبٍ ۚ وَلِلْكَافِرِينَ عَذَابٌ مُّهِينٌ
((Wretched is that for which they sold themselves that they should disbelieve in that which Allaah has revealed out of iniquity that Allaah should reveal of His Grace unto whom He wills from among His servants. So they have incurred wrath upon wrath. And for the disbelievers is a humiliating punishment.)) (Al-Baqarah: 90)
وَإِنَّ فَرِيقًا مِّنْهُمْ لَيَكْتُمُونَ الْحَقَّ وَهُمْ يَعْلَمُونَ
((But indeed, a party of them conceal the truth while they know [it].)) (Al-Baqarah: 146)
The second category: The leaders – people of wealth, those who have been put to trial by their worldliness and their lusts, because they know that the truth prevents them from much of that which they love and become accustomed to from the lusts of wealth. So they do not pay attention to a caller of the truth – and do not accept from him.
The third category: Those who were raised up in falsehood, finding their predecessors upon it, they think that they are upon the truth, whilst they are upon falsehood. These ones do not know except that which they were raised upon, whilst they thought that they were working good deeds.
All three of these categories and their followers – they are the enemies of the truth, from the time of Nooh until the Hour is established.
As for the first category; then you are aware of that which Allaah said in regard to them (in the above).
As for the second category; then Allaah indeed said regarding them:
فَإِن لَّمْ يَسْتَجِيبُوا لَكَ فَاعْلَمْ أَنَّمَا يَتَّبِعُونَ أَهْوَاءَهُمْ ۚ وَمَنْ أَضَلُّ مِمَّنِ اتَّبَعَ هَوَاهُ بِغَيْرِ هُدًى مِّنَ اللَّهِ ۚ إِنَّ اللَّهَ لَا يَهْدِي الْقَوْمَ الظَّالِمِينَ
((But if they do not respond to you; then know that they only follow their [own] desires. And who is more astray than one who follows his desire without guidance from Allaah? Indeed, Allaah does not guide the wrongdoing people.)) (Al-Qasas: 50)
And He said regarding the third category:
بَلْ وَجَدْنَا آبَاءَنَا كَذَٰلِكَ يَفْعَلُونَ
((Rather we found our fathers doing so.)) (Ash-Shu’araa: 74)
إِنَّا وَجَدْنَا آبَاءَنَا عَلَىٰ أُمَّةٍ وَإِنَّا عَلَىٰ آثَارِهِم مُّهْتَدُونَ
((Indeed we found our fathers upon a way, and we are in their footsteps – guided.)) (Az-Zukhruf: 22)
He said likewise:
إِنَّهُمْ أَلْفَوْا آبَاءَهُمْ ضَالِّينَ * فَهُمْ عَلَىٰ آثَارِهِمْ يُهْرَعُونَ
((Indeed they found their fathers astray. So they hasten on in their footsteps.)) (As-Saafaat: 69-70)
These ones – they are the majority, as Allaah, The Most High, said:
وَلَقَدْ ضَلَّ قَبْلَهُمْ أَكْثَرُ الْأَوَّلِينَ
((And verily; there went astray before them most of the early ones.)) (As-Saafaat: 71)
Likewise He, The Most High, said in Soorah ash-Shu’araa in the wake of every story:
إِنَّ فِي ذَٰلِكَ لَآيَةً ۖ وَمَا كَانَ أَكْثَرُهُم مُّؤْمِنِينَ * وَإِنَّ رَبَّكَ لَهُوَ الْعَزِيزُ الرَّحِيمُ
((Indeed in that is a sign, yet most of them are not believers. And verily; your Lord – He is truly The All-Mighty, The Bestower of Mercy.))[4]
He, The Most High, said also:
وَمَا أَكْثَرُ النَّاسِ وَلَوْ حَرَصْتَ بِمُؤْمِنِينَ
((And most of the people will not believe, even if you eagerly desire it.)) (Yusuf: 103)
He, The Most High, said regarding the story of Nooh (‘alaihis salaam):
وَمَا آمَنَ مَعَهُ إِلَّا قَلِيلٌ
((And none believed along with him except a few.)) (Hud: 40)
Likewise He, The Most High, said:
وَإِن تُطِعْ أَكْثَرَ مَن فِي الْأَرْضِ يُضِلُّوكَ عَن سَبِيلِ اللَّهِ ۚ إِن يَتَّبِعُونَ إِلَّا الظَّنَّ وَإِنْ هُمْ إِلَّا يَخْرُصُونَ
((And if you obey most of those upon the earth, they will mislead you from Allaah’s path. They follow nothing but assumption, and they do but form conjectures.)) (Al-An’aam: 116)”
State of Most People When the Proofs are Established
The Shaikh (rahimahullaah) said:
“O! – he who counsels his own soul, reflects over that which Allaah has mentioned in His Book from the misguidance of the majority, so that it should not become deceived by abundance of the those who have strayed from the straight path, which is the path of the believers, and reflects upon that which Allaah mentioned from the circumstances of the enemies of the Messengers and that which Allaah did with them, He, The Most High, said:
مَا يُجَادِلُ فِي آيَاتِ اللَّهِ إِلَّا الَّذِينَ كَفَرُوا فَلَا يَغْرُرْكَ تَقَلُّبُهُمْ فِي الْبِلَادِ * كَذَّبَتْ قَبْلَهُمْ قَوْمُ نُوحٍ وَالْأَحْزَابُ مِن بَعْدِهِمْ ۖ وَهَمَّتْ كُلُّ أُمَّةٍ بِرَسُولِهِمْ لِيَأْخُذُوهُ ۖ وَجَادَلُوا بِالْبَاطِلِ لِيُدْحِضُوا بِهِ الْحَقَّ فَأَخَذْتُهُمْ ۖ فَكَيْفَ كَانَ عِقَابِ
((None dispute concerning the signs of Allaah except those who disbelieve, so let not their movement to and fro in the land deceive you. The people of Nooh denied before them and the confederates after them and every nation plotted against their Messenger to seize him, and disputed by means of falsehood to invalidate therewith the truth. So I seized them, and how [terrible] was My punishment!)) (Ghaafir: 4-5)
Likewise He, The Most High, said:
فَلَمَّا جَاءَتْهُمْ رُسُلُهُم بِالْبَيِّنَاتِ فَرِحُوا بِمَا عِندَهُم مِّنَ الْعِلْمِ وَحَاقَ بِهِم مَّا كَانُوا بِهِ يَسْتَهْزِئُونَ
((Then when their Messengers came to them with clear proofs, they rejoiced with that which they had of knowledge, and that at which they used to mock surrounded them [i.e. the punishment].)) (Ghaafir: 83)
The verses in this regard are many, they make clear that the people of truth; the followers of the Messengers – they are the fewer in number, the paramount with Allaah in degree, and that the enemies of the truth – they are the majority in every place and age; far reaching wisdom.
In the authentic ahaadeeth there occurs that which points to that, as is found in the Saheeh[5] that Waraqah bin Nawfal said to the Prophet (sallallaahu ‘alaihi wa sallam):
يا لَيْتَنِي فِيهَا جَذَعًا، أكُونُ حَيًّا حِينَ يُخْرِجُكَ قَوْمُكَ. فَقالَ رَسولُ اللَّهِ صَلَّى اللهُ عليه وسلَّمَ: أوَمُخْرِجِيَّ هُمْ فَقالَ ورَقَةُ: نَعَمْ، لَمْ يَأْتِ رَجُلٌ قَطُّ بمِثْلِ ما جِئْتَ به إلَّا عُودِيَ
‘Oh! I wish I were young, so that I could be alive when your people drive you out.’ The Messenger of Allaah (sallallaahu ‘alaihi wa sallam) said: ((Will they drive me out?)) So Waraqah said: ‘yes; never did a man come with the like of that which you have come with except that he was treated with hostility.’
So if this is the state of most of mankind towards the Messengers; notwithstanding the strength of their intelligence and their faculties and their sciences, do not then be surprised at that which occurs in these times from those who are like them in enmity against the truth and its people.
He, The Most High, made clear the state of most of the people together with the establishment of proof over them, and the falsity of that which they are upon from committing shirk with Allaah, and a declaration of that which He made obligatory upon them by way of singling Him out, so He said:
فَالَّذِينَ لَا يُؤْمِنُونَ بِالْآخِرَةِ قُلُوبُهُم مُّنكِرَةٌ وَهُم مُّسْتَكْبِرُونَ
((But those who do not believe in the Hereafter, their hearts deny, and they are proud.)) (An-Nahl: 22)
So He mentioned two reasons that serve as obstacles between them and acceptance of the truth that they called to.
The first: is an absence of Eemaan (belief) in the Last Day.
The second: pride – and it is the state of the majority, as is known from the state of the nations to whom Allaah sent His Messenger, such as the people of Nooh and the people of Hud and the people of Saalih and other than them, as well as the manner in which it took place from them and that which came to befall them. Likewise the state of the unbelievers of the Quraish and the Arabs and other than them with the Prophet (sallallaahu ‘alaihi wa sallam) when Allaah sent him with Tawheed and the prohibition against shirk and denunciation.
It is reported by Muslim[6] and other than him from the hadeeth of ‘Amr bin ‘Abasah that he said to the Prophet (sallallaahu ‘alaihi wa sallam) when he said to him:
أَنا نَبيٌّ، قلتُ: وما نبيٌّ؟ قَالَ: أَرْسَلَنِي اللَّه، قُلْتُ: وبِأَيِّ شَيْءٍ أَرْسلَكَ؟ قَالَ: أَرْسَلَني بِصِلَةِ الأَرْحامِ، وكسرِ الأَوْثان، وَأَنْ يُوَحَّدَ اللَّهُ لا يُشْرَكُ بِهِ شَيْء، قُلْتُ: فَمَنْ مَعَكَ عَلى هَذا؟ قَالَ: حُرٌّ وَعَبْدٌ، ومعهُ يَوْمَئِذٍ أَبو بكرٍ وبلالٌ
((I am a Prophet)) I said: ‘and what is a Prophet?’ he said: ((Allaah sent me)) I said: ‘with what did He send you?’ he said: ((He sent me with joining the ties of kinship, and to break the idols, and to proclaim the oneness of Allaah and that nothing is to be associated with Him)) I said: ‘So who else is with you upon this?’ he said: ((A free man and a slave)) and with him on that day was Abu Bakr and Bilaal.
It has been established from the Prophet (sallallaahu ‘alaihi wa sallam) that he said:
بَدَأَ الْإِسْلَامُ غَرِيبًا وَسَيَعُودُ غَرِيبًا، كَمَا بَدَأَ فَطُوبَى لِلْغُرَبَاءِ، الَّذِينَ يُصْلِحُونَ إِذَا فَسَدَ النَّاسُ
((Islaam began as something strange, and will return to being something strange – as it had begun; so Toobaa for the strangers. Those who rectify [affairs] when the people become corrupt.))[7]
The strangers have been explained as being those who have withdrawn/departed from the tribes, so no one accepts the truth from a tribe except one or two who have withdrawn/departed.[8]
It is due to this that some of the Salaf said: ‘Do not become lonely on account of the truth due to a scarceness of those who traverse [upon it], and do not become deluded by falsehood due to an abundance of those who are doomed to perdition [upon it].’
Likewise there occurs from some of them: ‘Amazement isn’t due at the one that was destroyed in the way that he was destroyed. Rather amazement is due at the one that succeeded in how he succeeded.’
So the greatest favour upon the one whom Allaah has granted an understanding of the truth is: adherence to His Book and holding on to His Tawheed and His legislation, in spite of an abundance of those that are contraveners and opponents in dispute with falsehood; and:
مَن يَهْدِ اللَّهُ فَهُوَ الْمُهْتَدِ ۖ وَمَن يُضْلِلْ فَلَن تَجِدَ لَهُ وَلِيًّا مُّرْشِدًا
((He whom Allaah guides, is rightly guided; but he whom He sends astray, you will not find for him a Wali [guiding friend] to lead [him] aright.)) (Al-Kahf: 17)”
(Abridged from: ‘Uyoon ar-Rasaa-il wal Ajwibah ‘alal Masaa-il vol 2 p.645-655. The original source of this extract is: Ad-Durar as-Sanniyyah vol 1 p.439-452)
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[1] Reported by Al-Bukhaaree (no.2856) and Muslim (no.143)
[2] Reported by Muslim (no.266)
[3] Reported by Ibn Maajah (no.2117) and Ahmad in his Musnad (no.1839) and Al-Bukhaaree in Al-Adab al-Mufrad (no.783) and others. The hadeeth as pointed out by Shaikh Al-Albaanee (rahimahullaah) is reported with the wording above, it is also appears with the wording: ((Have you made me an equal with Allaah? Rather as Allaah alone wills.)) Shaikh Al-Albaanee said its chain of narration is Hasan (sound). Refer to Silsilah al-Ahaadeeth as-Saheehah (no.139).
[4] Soorah ash-Shu’araa: 8-9, 67-68, 103-104, 121-122, 139-140, 158-159, 174-175, 190-191.
[5] Al-Bukhaaree (no.3) and Muslim (no.401)
[6] As hadeeth number 1927, it is likewise reported by Ahmad in his Musnad (no.17019).
[7] The first part of the hadeeth: ((Islaam began as something strange and will return to being something strange – as it had begun; so Toobaa for the strangers.)) is reported by Muslim (no.370).
The second part of the hadeeth: ((Those who rectify [affairs] when the people become corrupt.)) is part of a hadeeth reported by ‘Abdullaah bin Ahmad in his Zawaa-id of the Musnad (no.16690) and Abu ‘Amr ad-Daani in As-Sunan al-Waaridah fil Fitan (1/25) and Al-Aajuree in Al-Ghurabaa (1/2) Shaikh al-Albaanee declared its chain of narration as Saheeh (authentic) in Silsilatul Ahaadeeth as-Ṣaheehah vol 3 p.267 hadeeth 1273.
[8] Note: Ibn al-Atheer stated the meaning of this term mentioned in the hadeeth when he said: “Those that withdraw themselves from the tribes, an-nuzzaa’ – the plural of naazi’ and nazee’: the stranger who withdraws from his family and his relatives, meaning: he distanced and left. Its meaning is: Toobaa for those migrants who left their homelands for the sake of Allaah, The Most High.” (See: An-Nihaayah fee Ghareeb al-Hadeeth vol 5 p.41)
Shaikh al-Fawzaan mentions in his Sharḥ Risaalah Fadlul Islaam (p.103): “The nuzzaa’ – the plural of nazee’ (those who depart or extract themselves) – and it is the stranger who moves away from his family and close relatives, meaning: those who depart from the homelands in order to establish the Sunan of the religion”
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