Tawheed and Worship

Bismillaahirrahmaanirraheem
Alhamdulillaah rabbil 'alameen
Assalaato wasalaamo ala rasoolullaah sayyidina Mohammad
wa ala ahlihi washabihi ajma'een

Last time we had an introduction to tawheed and the three categories of tawheed. I will shortly refresh our memories, because we are all human beings and we tend to forget even the most important things. Tawheed litterally means to unify something. To make something one. To attribute or asserting oneness to something. It comes from the word wahhada, that means to unify, unite, consolidate. To ascribe unity to something, to make it one. In our religion tawheed, (tawheedullaah) it does of course NOT mean that Allaah, azza wa jal, is three and then we make Him one. It means to acknowledge and maintain the oneness of Allaah and how we relate to it. It means realizing and affirming Allaah’s unity in all of man’s actions which directly or indirectly related to Him. It means to confirm the unification of Allaah, subhano wata’ala, the uniqueness of Allaah, when it comes to His Lordship, His Names and Attributes, and in His right to be worshipped.



The first aspect of tawheed is Tawheed ar-Rubobiyyah, tawheed in Lordship. This means that Allaah is one, He is the only one who created all of mankind, all of the creation. It means He is the only one who sustains all of mankind and all of His creation. It means He is the only one who is control of all of the creation. So if someone would ask us “Who is your creator” we would answer “Allaah subhano wata’ala”. And this is tawheed ar-Rubobiyyah. It’s the fact that we only have ONE Creator, ONE Sustainer, ONE Nourisher, and one deity that is in chanrge of the affairs of all of the creation. Only one! This is based upon the Arabic word Rab, Lord. It is the same root as in ar-rubobiyyah.

The second category of tawheed is Tawheed al-asmaa was-Sifaat, tawheed in Allaahs names and attributes. This is a logical follow-up from tawheed ar-Rubobiyyah, because if you have acknowledged that Allaah, subhano wata’ala, is the Creator and the only Creator, this means that Allaah is blessed with certain attributes, certain qualities that are perfect and flawless, like the attribute of creation, knowledge, power. It means we affirm those perfect names and attributes that are found in the Quraan and the Sunnah and that we deny for Allaah any form of negative attribute. For example when Allaah, subhano wata’ala, refers to Himself as ar-Rahmaan, ar-Rahim – the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful – al-Ghaffaar – the Most Forgiving – and so on, all these names and attributes forms a part of tawheed al-asmaa was-sifaat. It means that we affirm from Allaah, ajja wa jal, what Allaah Himself affirms about His attributes and that we deny all negative attributes.

The third aspect or category of tawheed is tawheed ul-Ulohiyyah, or tawheed ul-Ibadah. Tawheed of worship. This is the natural follow up of tahweed ar-Rubobiyyah and tawheed al-asma wa-sifaat, because when we acknowledge the fact that Allaah is our Creator, our Sustainer, our Nourisher, and the One who gives us our life and our food and everything we need, then the logical consequence will be that we worship only Allaah, that we acknowledge that ONLY Allaah, subhano wata’ala, is worthy of our worship, and only He has the right to be worshipped.

The majority of mankind accepts tawheed ar-Rubobiyyah as we mentioned last week. But when it comes to tawheed ul-ulohiyyah, tawheed in worship, this were the majority of mankind has gone astray. So inshaAllaah we will focus upon that today.

Allaah said, and this ayah have I mentioned many times. But it is a very important ayah. In fact it is the most explicit ayah in the whole Quraan about the purpose of creation. No where else in the Quraan is the purpose more clearly defined. Allaah, subhano wata’ala, says in soorah adh-Dhaariyaat:

وَمَا خَلَقۡتُ ٱلۡجِنَّ وَٱلۡإِنسَ إِلَّا لِيَعۡبُدُونِ
And I (Allâh) created not the jinn and mankind except that they should worship Me (Alone). (51:56).

Allaah, azza wa jal, has denied any other possible reason for creation, except for one reason, and that is to worship Allaah. That is why he created the earth, the universe, why he created Adem and Hawwa/Eve, Paradise and Hellfire, that’s why he sent His Messengers and revealed His Books. The very purpose of the creation is TAWHEED.

After this ayah, Allaah continues with saying:


مَآ أُرِيدُ مِنۡہُم مِّن رِّزۡقٍ۬ وَمَآ أُرِيدُ أَن يُطۡعِمُونِ إِنَّ ٱللَّهَ هُوَ ٱلرَّزَّاقُ ذُو ٱلۡقُوَّةِ ٱلۡمَتِينُ

I seek not any provision from them (i.e. provision for themselves or for My creatures) nor do I ask that they should feed Me (i.e. feed themselves or My creatures). Verily, Allâh is the All-Provider, Owner of Power, the Most Strong. (51:57, 58)

The point with this ayah, is that, in case someone would get the idea that Allaah would need us, because of Him saying He created us only to worship him, He removes these false and evil thoughts from human beings minds, Allaah, subhano wata’ala, says I don’t want any sustenance from you, not any food from you, you can’t benefit me in any way, rather it is I, Allaah subhano wata’ala who gives everything to you. Anway, this ayah in soorah adh-Dhaariyaat, And I (Allâh) created not the jinn and mankind except that they should worship Me (Alone). Is the most explicit ayah in the Quraan of the purpose of life and creation. But what does it mean, worship? Linguistically ‘ibadah means to humble one self, to have a sense of humbleness and a sense of submissiveness to a person or an object. Like in arabic, the word for slave and servant is ‘abd, and it is from the same root as ‘ibadah or as in the ayah we have been talking about “ya’bodoon”, because he humbles himself or submits himself to his master or owner. So Allaah subhano wata’ala, says “I have not created jinn and man except that they should worship Me” meaning that we submit ourselves, surrender our selves completely, our hearts, our minds, our souls, everything, to this Creator and this Lord of ours. This means that we obey Allaah, ta’ala, in everything that He commands us to do, and that we leave everything that He has forbidden from us. It is the nature and very essence of islam. What is the meaning of islam? It means to submit one self to Allaah, to give one self up to Allaah, ta’ala. Whatever Allaah has commanded us to do, we do it. Whatever Allaah forbids us from doing, we stay away from that. So our islam, our submission is also our worship of Allaah.

I have mentioned this before and I will mention it again now, that the message of tawheed, is what every prophet and messenger, aleyhom salaam, has come with from the beginning of time until the time of the Prophet, aleyhi salato wasalaam. They all came with same message, worship Allaah and avoid taghoot. Like in soorah an-Nahl, ayah 36:

وَلَقَدۡ بَعَثۡنَا فِى ڪُلِّ أُمَّةٍ۬ رَّسُولاً أَنِ ٱعۡبُدُواْ ٱللَّهَ وَٱجۡتَنِبُواْ ٱلطَّـٰغُوتَۖ


"And verily, We have sent among every Ummah (community, nation) a Messenger
(proclaiming): 'Worship Allah (Alone), and avoid (or keep away from) Taghut (all false deities etc. i.e. do not worship Taghut besides Allah).' (16:36)

This ayah, in arabic, starts with wa la qad (waw, lam, qaf, dal) وَلَقَد and these letters, are a way of Allaah to point out, to emphasize something. Wa is used when swearing by something, like he says “wal ‘asr” “wal-layli” “wad-doha”. And lam and qad are used when emphasizing things. And of course, Allaah doesn’t need to emphasize anything really, everything He says is the Truth, and everything He says should be the most important thing in our lives. But when Allaah emphasizes something in the Quraan, it means we must pay a little extra attention, so we know and understand that what will come after this is extra important. So when Allaah says here wa la qad, he uses three different ways of emphasizing. Three! This shows how important this ayah is. Allaah says that he has sent a Messenger to every nation, every people, every tribe, that has ever existed and the purpose of these messengers has been the same everytime. Worship Allaah and avoid taghoot. What is taghoot? The root word of taghoot implies overstepping the boundaries, going outside the boundaries. Religiously taghoot is everything that takes us out of the worship of Allaah. Every object, every concept, every false deity, every idol, every person no matter living or dead, that takes you out of the pure worship, the boundaries of Allaah, this is taghoot. it could be an idol, because when we worship that idol, it takes us away from the boundaries of tawheed. It could be our leaders, if they tell us to do things that are prohibited for us and we follow them, then we are going out of the boundaries that Allaah had revealed to us. It can be magicians, people with knowledge that purposely tries to lead us away from the true path. Basically taghoot is a comprehensive term that implies everything that takes us out of the boundaries of the pure worship of Allaah, subhano wata’ala.

Also in soorah al-Anbiyah, ayah 25, Allaah says that he sent messengers and that they all came with the same message:

وَمَآ أَرۡسَلۡنَا مِن قَبۡلِكَ مِن رَّسُولٍ إِلَّا نُوحِىٓ إِلَيۡهِ أَنَّهُ ۥ لَآ إِلَـٰهَ إِلَّآ أَنَا۟ فَٱعۡبُدُونِ
And We did not send any Messenger before you (O Muhammad SAW) but We revealed to him (saying): Lâ ilâha illa Ana [none has the right to be worshipped but I (Allâh)], so worship Me (Alone and none else)." (21:25)

Allaah commands us to do things in many verses, like in soorah al-Israa, ayat 23, 24, or in soorah an-Nisaa ayah 36 or in soorah al-An’aam ayah 151. There are more of course, but I will just show you that in these verses, Allaah commands us to be dutiful to our parents, be good to our families, our neighbours don’t commit zina, don’t kill and so on. And they all start with…. Tawheed! So Allaah says:

soorah al-Israa, ayat 23, 24:
وَقَضَىٰ رَبُّكَ أَلَّا تَعۡبُدُوٓاْ إِلَّآ إِيَّاهُ وَبِٱلۡوَٲلِدَيۡنِ إِحۡسَـٰنًاۚ إِمَّا يَبۡلُغَنَّ عِندَكَ ٱلۡڪِبَرَ أَحَدُهُمَآ أَوۡ كِلَاهُمَا فَلَا تَقُل لَّهُمَآ أُفٍّ۬ وَلَا تَنۡہَرۡهُمَا وَقُل لَّهُمَا قَوۡلاً۬ ڪَرِيمً۬ا وَٱخۡفِضۡ لَهُمَا جَنَاحَ ٱلذُّلِّ مِنَ ٱلرَّحۡمَةِ وَقُل رَّبِّ ٱرۡحَمۡهُمَا كَمَا رَبَّيَانِى صَغِيرً۬ا
And your Lord has decreed that you worship none but Him. And that you be dutiful to your parents. If one of them or both of them attain old age in your life, say not to them a word of disrespect, nor shout at them but address them in terms of honour. And lower unto them the wing of submission and humility through mercy, and say: "My Lord! Bestow on them Your Mercy as they did bring me up when I was young." (17:23,24)


Soorah an-Nisaa, ayah 36:
وَٱعۡبُدُواْ ٱللَّهَ وَلَا تُشۡرِكُواْ بِهِۦ شَيۡـًٔ۬اۖ وَبِٱلۡوَٲلِدَيۡنِ إِحۡسَـٰنً۬ا وَبِذِى ٱلۡقُرۡبَىٰ وَٱلۡيَتَـٰمَىٰ وَٱلۡمَسَـٰكِينِ وَٱلۡجَارِ ذِى ٱلۡقُرۡبَىٰ وَٱلۡجَارِ ٱلۡجُنُبِ وَٱلصَّاحِبِ بِٱلۡجَنۢبِ وَٱبۡنِ ٱلسَّبِيلِ وَمَا مَلَكَتۡ أَيۡمَـٰنُكُمۡۗ إِنَّ ٱللَّهَ لَا يُحِبُّ مَن ڪَانَ مُخۡتَالاً۬ فَخُورًا
Worship Allâh and join none with Him (in worship), and do good to parents, kinsfolk, orphans, Al-Masâkin (the poor), the neighbour who is near of kin, the neighbour who is a stranger, the companion by your side, the wayfarer (you meet), and those (slaves) whom your right hands possess. Verily, Allâh does not like such as are proud and boastful; (36) Those who are miserly and enjoin miserliness on other men and hide what Allâh has bestowed upon them of His Bounties. And We have prepared for the disbelievers a disgraceful torment (4:36)


Soorah al-An’aam ayah 151:
قُلۡ تَعَالَوۡاْ أَتۡلُ مَا حَرَّمَ رَبُّڪُمۡ عَلَيۡڪُمۡۖ أَلَّا تُشۡرِكُواْ بِهِۦ شَيۡـًٔ۬اۖ وَبِٱلۡوَٲلِدَيۡنِ إِحۡسَـٰنً۬اۖ وَلَا تَقۡتُلُوٓاْ أَوۡلَـٰدَڪُم مِّنۡ إِمۡلَـٰقٍ۬ۖ نَّحۡنُ نَرۡزُقُڪُمۡ وَإِيَّاهُمۡۖ وَلَا تَقۡرَبُواْ ٱلۡفَوَٲحِشَ مَا ظَهَرَ مِنۡهَا وَمَا بَطَنَۖ وَلَا تَقۡتُلُواْ ٱلنَّفۡسَ ٱلَّتِى حَرَّمَ ٱللَّهُ إِلَّا بِٱلۡحَقِّۚ ذَٲلِكُمۡ وَصَّٮٰكُم بِهِۦ لَعَلَّكُمۡ تَعۡقِلُونَ
Say (O Muhammad SAW): "Come, I will recite what your Lord has prohibited you from: Join not anything in worship with Him; be good and dutiful to your parents; kill not your children because of poverty - We provide sustenance for you and for them; come not near to Al-Fawâhish (shameful sins, illegal sexual intercourse,) whether committed openly or secretly, and kill not anyone whom Allâh has forbidden, except for a just cause (according to Islâmic law). This He has commanded you that you may understand. (6:151)

This verses, you can say, is a some kind of summarize of islam. And all of them starts with tawheed. Allaah has commanded us with tawheed, to worship only Him and no one or nothing else. In these verses Allaah, subhano wata’ala, uses affirmation and negation. Worship Allaah, affirmation, but don’t commit shirk, don’t join anything in worship with Him, negation. This is by the way also the structure of our testimony of faith, shahadah. La ilaha illAllaah is built upon negation and affirmation. And by combining affirmation and negation, that’s how we completely express the unity of Allaah. We say La ilaha illaAllaah, then we deny the fact that there can be more deities than Allaah and we affirm the fact that Allaah is our God, and the only God. And always when Allaah speaks about tawheed in the Quraan, he uses the combination of negation and affirmation. And this is the only successful way to express that there is only one deity, one object that is worth worshipping and that has the right to be worshipped. So anyway, I wanted also to say, that in all the verses in the Quraan, where Allaah summarizes islam, like He has done in the verses I just mentioned, He always starts with the same concept. Worship Me alone and don’t join anyone in your worship with Me. Like in soorah al-Anaam:

Say (O Muhammad SAW): "Come, I will recite what your Lord has prohibited you from: Join not anything in worship with Him; be good and dutiful to your parents; kill not your children because of poverty - We provide sustenance for you and for them; come not near to Al-Fawâhish (shameful sins, illegal sexual intercourse,) whether committed openly or secretly, and kill not anyone whom Allâh has forbidden, except for a just cause (according to Islâmic law). This He has commanded you that you may understand. "And come not near to the orphan's property, except to improve it, until he (or she) attains the age of full strength; and give full measure and full weight with justice. We burden not any person, but that which he can bear. And whenever you give your word (i.e. judge between men or give evidence), say the truth even if a near relative is concerned, and fulfill the Covenant of Allâh, This He commands you, that you may remember.[] "And verily, this (i.e. Allâh's Commandments mentioned in the above two Verses) is my Straight Path, so follow it, and follow not (other) paths, for they will separate you away from His Path. This He has ordained for you that you may become Al-Muttaqûn (6:151-153)

So here Allaah tells Mohammad, aleyhi salato wasalaam, to tell us, that this is the straight path, and the straight path is the one that leads to Paradise. It is the path that Allaah, subhano wata’ala, has given us so that we will find the way from this life to Paradise. It consists of His commands and prohibitions. And the first command is tawheed.

There is also a hadeeth, we have heard it before, where the prophet explains the straight path to his companions: The Prophet, aleyhi salato wasalaam, sat with his companions, and he drew a straight line in the sand. He then drew a series of lines branching off from either side of it. When the companions asked him what it meant, he pointed to the branches and told them that they represented the various paths of misguidance in this life. He went on to say that at the head of each path sat a devil inviting people to it. After that, he pointed to the straight line in the middle and told them that it represented the path of Allaah.

And we see that sirat al-mustaqeem, the straight path, is one. The path to worship Allaah is one but the road to shirk are many. The manifestations of tawheed is one, but shirk has many manifestations. The truth is one, but falsehood is many. When Allaah, subhano wata’ala, refers to the truth, he refers to singular form, one, and every time when He refers to evil and misguidance, He uses plural, many. Allaah uses the word a light for guidance, one light, singular, but when He talks about darknesses, not one darkness but many. So we see that truth is one. Evil and falsehood is many. The way islam is, they way our religions is, is one, the way of worship Allaah is one, there is only one islam, one version of islam, from the time of the Prophet until the day of Judgement. So this is why Allaah, in the verse I read, says this is My Path – singular – He has only one path, and then He says, do not follow any other paths – plural.

So we have now discussed the importance of tawheed, and especially when it comes to tawheed in worship, and this is, as I have mentioned a few times now, because this is were mankind is in error, and unfortunately also many muslims today. May Allaah make us all amongst those who are pure in our worship, and that will always be on the straight path, amin.


If we are able to practice tawheed, in all it’s aspects, in a perfect way, all our sins can be removed. InshaAllaah. This shows us how important it is with tawheed, and to understand the concept of tawheed. In soorah al-An’aam, Allaah says:

"It is those who believe and do not adulterate their faith [in Allah's Oneness] with zulm [wrongdoing, i.e. associating partners with Him], for them [only] is there safety and they are rightly-guided" (6:82)

Here Allaah mentions the word zulm. Linguistically it means to place something in it’s wrong place. To misplace something. So Allaah says here, “those who believe and doesn’t mix their iman with any form of zulm, these are the ones that has complete safety and will attain real peace.

It is reported on the authority of `Ubadah Ibn As-Saamit (ra) that he said: "Allah's Messenger said: "Whoever testified that none is worthy of worship except Allah (ra), Alone, without partners, and that Muhammad is His slave and Messenger and that Eisa (as ) is His slave and Messenger, and His Word which was bestowed upon Maryam, and a Spirit (created) from Him, and that Paradise and Hell are realities, Allah will admit him to Paradise, whatever his deeds might be." (Narrated by Bukhari)

Here the Prophet, aleyhi salato wasalaam, shows us the importance of tawheed, that the one who testifys that there is only one God and that is Allaah, and that Mohammad is his ‘abd, slave or servant, and not only a slave submitting to Allaah, subhano wata’ala, but also the perfect worshiper of Allaah. So this hadeeth shows that anyone who practices tawheed perfectly will enter Paradise, regardless of what his or hers deeds might be. The Prophet, aleyhi salato wasalaam, doesn’t mention actions here, to pray, to fast, to pay zakat, but he mentions only pure aqeedah, pure faith. This shows that a person with pure aqeedah, pure tawheed and only believes in Allaah and doesn’t associate any with Him in worship and that truly believes in the prophets, the judgement day, in akhirah, the life after this, and that belives in paradise and hell, those will enter paradise, regardless of what their deeds has been. This shows us how important aqeedah is, because it is obvious that if we have good and sound knowledge of our aqeedah and strong eman, then our actions will be good, we will then act and do things for the sake of Allaah and purely for the sake of Allaah.

Subhanaka allahomma wa bihamdik
ashhado anla ilaha illa ant
wastaghfirooka waatoobo ilayk