Tawhid
Articles of Faith 1
Introduction to Articles of Faith
A tradition from Sahih Muslim:
One day we were sitting in the company of Allah’s Apostle ( )ﷺwhen there
appeared before us a man dressed in pure white clothes, his hair
extraordinarily black. There were no signs of travel on him. None amongst us
recognized him. At last he sat with the Apostle ()ﷺ. He knelt before him
placed his palms on his thighs and said: Muhammad, inform me about Al-
Islam. The Messenger of Allah ( )ﷺsaid:
Al-Islam implies that you testify that there is no god but Allah and that
Muhammad is the messenger of Allah, You establish prayer, Pay Zakat,
Observe the fast of Ramadan, And perform pilgrimage to the (House) if you
are solvent enough (to bear the expense of) the journey.
He (the inquirer) said: You have told the truth. He (Umar Ibn Al-khattab) said:
It amazed us that he would put the question and then he would himself verify
the truth. He (the inquirer) said: Inform me about Iman (faith). He (the Holy
Prophet )ﷺreplied: That you affirm your faith in Allah, In His Angels, In His
books, In His Apostles, In the Day of Judgment, And you affirm your faith in
the Divine Decree about good and evil.
He (the inquirer) said: You have told the truth. He (the inquirer) again
said: Inform me about al-Ihsan (performance of good deeds). He (the
Holy Prophet )ﷺsaid: That you worship Allah as if you are seeing
Him, for though you don’t see Him, He, verily, sees you.
He (the enquirer) again said: Inform me about the hour (of the
Doom). He the Holy Prophet ( )ﷺremarked: One who is asked knows
no more than the one who is inquiring (about it). He (the inquirer)
said: Tell me some of its indications. He (the Holy Prophet )ﷺsaid:
That the slave-girl will give birth to her mistress and master, that you
will find barefooted, destitute goat-herds vying with one another in
the construction of magnificent buildings.
He (the narrator, Umar Ibn Al-khattab) said: Then he (the inquirer)
went on his way but I stayed with him (the Holy Prophet )ﷺfor a long
while. He then, said to me: Umar, do you know who this inquirer was?
I replied: Allah and His Apostle ( )ﷺknows best. He (the Holy Prophet
)ﷺremarked: He was Gabriel (the Angel). He came to you in order to
instruct you in matters of religion.
Six Articles of Faith
Articles of faith are the beliefs which are necessary for every Muslim
to hold and without believing in them, one cannot be a Muslim
They are:
Tawhid or Oneness of Allah
Angels
Revealed Books
Prophets of Allah
Day of Judgement
Predestination and Decree
Introduction to Tawhid
The meaning of Tawhid?
The belief that there is only one god, i.e. creator and master of the universe and
being who is worth worshipping
The most fundamental belief in Islam, without which all beliefs become
meaningless
All prophets brought this very message to humankind: “And certainly We sent to
every nation a Messenger (saying): ‘Worship Allah and avoid false gods.’ “Quran
16:36
The whole edifice of Islam stands on this belief
Three main aspects:
Unity of Lordship
Unity of Attributes
Unity of Worship
Unity of Lordship
Allah is the only Creator and Master of everything; the Rabb
Rabb in Arabic refers to the Master, Sustainer and Cherisher
He has no equal, and no being can match Him in his status as the Almighty
Controller of the universe
The harmony and systematic nature of the universe bears witness that there is only
one master and creator of the universe
Everything contributes to the sustenance and upkeep of everything else; the world
works according to a very intricate system in which all beings contribute towards
the growth and perfection of the whole system
This cannot work unless there is one creator and designer and controller of the
whole system, for there would have been strife and conflict if there were more than
one creator and controlling power of the universe.
The Quran says: “If there were a god other than Allah in them [i.e. the heavens and
the earth], both of them would have been destroyed.”
That He is the Only Lord, also means that only He can set rules and
laws for everything
Allah is, therefore, the Supreme Lawgiver for all beings
All beings, especially, humans must therefore obey only Allah.
Oneness of Attributes
Allah’s being cannot be known by anyone; it is beyond human imagination
and human reason
But we can know His Attributes and His Names as He has revealed these to
the Prophets
These attributes are unique: no one shares any of these attributes with Him
The attributes are also all-encompassing; He does not depend on anyone
else in any way
These attributes are manifested in the divine names mentioned in the
Quran and the Hadith; 99 of His names are mentioned
These include: Allah; ar-Rahman; the Entirely Merciful; ar-Rahim, the
Especially Merciful; al-Qawee, the Ever-Powerful; al-Samee, the All-Hearing;
al-Baseer, the All-Seeing; al-Aleem, the All-Knowing
The Quran says: His are the Most Beautiful Names. So call upon Him
by them, and keep away from those who abuse His Names. (7:180)
A Muslim must believe in all the Names and attributes of Allah as
described in the Quran; denying any of these is infidelity and disbelief
(Kufr)
These attributes and names cannot be associated with any other
being; doing this is shirk, an unforgivable sin
No one must, therefore, be named with Allah’s attributes
Unity in Worship
Belief in the unity of lordship and the unity of attributes implies that
there is no other being independent of Him, however powerful it may
be in relation to beings other than God
Worship means to express extreme unconditional submission and
adoration for a being
Given that no one is perfect or independent apart from Allah,
complete submission and unconditional adoration is meaningless for
any other being, for all beings by their very nature submit to Him
willingly or unwillingly
Therefore, only He deserves worship and worship for others is simply
null and void
A human being must, therefore, worship Allah alone
This was the central message of all the prophets: “And we never sent
any Messenger before you (O Muhammad) without having revealed to
him that there is not god but I, therefore worship and serve Me.”
(2:163)
The Quran quotes several Messengers as repeating this very theme
It is the basis of all Islamic laws and practices
Shirk, associating partners with
Allah
Shirk is the opposite of Tawhid
From the three aspects of Tawhid discussed above, we can identify
three kinds of Shirk: Shirk in Lordship, Shirk in Attributes and Shirk in
worship
All three kinds are strictly forbidden, unforgivable sins
The Quran calls Shirk ‘great injustice’
