Part One
The creed of Ahl al-Sunnah wa-l-Jamāʿah in summary
First Issue: The Word Tawḥīd in Language and in the Sharīʿah
Tawḥīd is the verbal noun of waḥḥadah, yuwaḥḥidu: to make a thing one, to single it out. The form faʿʿalah in this verb carries the sense of judging and declaring: to judge that a thing is one and to treat it as one. Tawḥīd in language therefore has two sides together, a negation and an affirmation: that nothing else shares in what is specific to the thing, and that what is specific to it is affirmed for it alone.
In the Sharīʿah tawḥīd is to single out Allah with what is specific to Him. What is specific to Him is His lordship, His divinity, and His names and attributes. So tawḥīd is to single Him out with creating, owning and disposing of affairs; to single Him out with all worship; and to single Him out with His names and attributes, affirming what He affirmed for Himself without likening and denying what He denied of Himself without negating His attributes.
This is why the word of tawḥīd, lā ilāhah illā Allāh, is built from a negation and an exception. The negation removes worship from everything besides Allah, and the exception affirms it for Him alone. Whoever affirms Allah and does not deny what is besides Him has not yet spoken the word of tawḥīd, and whoever denies what is besides Him and does not affirm Allah has spoken only half of it.
Part Two
The texts of the Qurʾān and the Sunnah
Second Issue: The Definition of Tawḥīd
Tawḥīd is the verbal noun of waḥḥadah, “to make one”: to judge a thing to be one and to single it out. In the Sharīʿah it is to single Allah out with what is specific to Him. What is specific to Him is of three kinds, and so the scholars divided tawḥīd into three, by tracing the texts: tawḥīd al-rubūbiyyah, singling Him out with His acts — creating, owning and directing all things; tawḥīd al-ulūhiyyah, singling Him out with the acts of the servants — every form of worship; and tawḥīd al-asmāʾ wa-l-ṣifāt, singling Him out with His names and attributes, affirming what He affirmed for Himself without likening and without denial.
The division is a description of what the texts contain, not an addition to them. Sūrat al-Ikhlāṣ, which the Prophet ﷺ described as equal to a third of the Qurʾān, is wholly a statement of the third kind: He is One, al-Ṣamad, He neither begets nor is begotten, and there is none comparable to Him.
Allah, the Exalted, said:
Say: He is Allah, One. Allah, al-Ṣamad. He has not begotten, nor was He begotten. And there is none comparable to Him.
Qurʾān 112:1–4 (al-Ikhlāṣ) Read the verse (opens in a new tab)
Third Issue: The Purpose of Creation
Allah said: “I did not create the jinn and mankind except to worship Me.” The exception after the negation restricts the purpose of their creation to worship. The verse does not inform that all of them do worship Him; it informs of the wisdom for which they were created and the command addressed to them.
Allah, the Exalted, said:
And I did not create the jinn and mankind except to worship Me.
Qurʾān 51:56 (al-Dhāriyāt) Read the verse (opens in a new tab)
Fourth Issue: The Call of Every Messenger
“We sent to every nation a messenger: worship Allah and avoid the ṭāghūt.” The call has two pillars: affirmation — worship Allah — and negation — avoid everything worshipped besides Him. This is the meaning of lā ilāhah illā Allāh: the negation denies divinity to all else, and the affirmation establishes it for Allah alone.
Allah, the Exalted, said:
And We certainly sent to every nation a messenger, [saying]: Worship Allah and avoid the ṭāghūt. Among them were those whom Allah guided, and among them were those upon whom misguidance was established. So travel through the land and see how was the end of the deniers.
Qurʾān 16:36 (al-Naḥl) Read the verse (opens in a new tab)
Fifth Issue: The Believer's Worship Is for Allah Alone
In al-Fātiḥah the object comes first: “You alone we worship, and You alone we ask for help.” Placing the object before the verb gives restriction in the Arabic tongue: no worship and no reliance except upon Him. In al-Anʿām the Prophet ﷺ is commanded to say that his prayer, his sacrifice, his living and his dying are for Allah, Lord of the worlds, who has no partner. In al-Nisāʾ the command to worship Allah is joined directly to the prohibition of associating anything with Him.
Allah, the Exalted, said:
You alone we worship, and You alone we ask for help.
Qurʾān 1:5 (al-Fātiḥah) Read the verse (opens in a new tab)
Allah, the Exalted, said:
Say: Indeed my prayer, my sacrifice, my living and my dying are for Allah, Lord of the worlds. He has no partner; this I have been commanded, and I am the first of those who submit.
Qurʾān 6:162–163 (al-Anʿām) Read the verse (opens in a new tab)
Allah, the Exalted, said:
Worship Allah and associate nothing with Him; and do good to parents, to relatives, orphans, the needy, the near neighbour and the distant neighbour, the companion at your side, the traveller, and those whom your right hands possess. Indeed Allah does not love the arrogant and boastful.
Qurʾān 4:36 (al-Nisāʾ) Read the verse (opens in a new tab)
Sixth Issue: Disbelief in the Ṭāghūt
Ṭāghūt is from ṭughyān, exceeding the limit; the water ṭaghā when it rose above its banks. Shaykh Muḥammad ibn ʿAbd al-Wahhāb closed Thalāthat al-Uṣūl with it. Allah made disbelief in the ṭāghūt and faith in Him obligatory on all the servants, and every messenger from Nūḥ to Muḥammad ﷺ was sent with it: “Worship Allah and avoid the ṭāghūt.” He brought Ibn al-Qayyim's definition: the ṭāghūt is whatever a servant exceeds his limit with, of one worshipped, followed or obeyed.
Allah, the Exalted, said:
And We certainly sent into every nation a messenger: Worship Allah and avoid the ṭāghūt. Among them were some whom Allah guided, and among them were some upon whom misguidance was established. So travel through the earth and see how was the end of the deniers.
Qurʾān 16:36 (al-Naḥl) Read the verse (opens in a new tab)
He listed their heads as five: Iblīs; whoever is worshipped and is pleased with it; whoever claims knowledge of the unseen; whoever calls people to worship himself; and whoever rules by other than what Allah sent down. Then he said: this is the meaning of lā ilāhah illā Allāh. The negation in the word of tawḥīd is the disbelief in the ṭāghūt, and the affirmation is the faith in Allah. Allah made the two together the most trustworthy handhold, and no one holds it who keeps one half and drops the other.
Muḥammad ibn ʿAbd al-Wahhāb said in Thalāthat al-Uṣūl, in al-Durar al-Saniyyah:
والطواغيت كثيرة، ورؤوسهم خمسة: إبليس لعنه الله، ومن عُبد وهو راض، ومن ادعى شيئا من علم الغيب، ومن دعا الناس إلى عبادة نفسه، ومن حكم بغير ما أنزل الله، والدليل قوله تعالى: ﴿لا إِكْرَاهَ فِي الدِّينِ قَدْ تَبَيَّنَ الرُّشْدُ مِنَ الْغَيِّ فَمَنْ يَكْفُرْ بِالطَّاغُوتِ وَيُؤْمِنْ بِاللَّهِ فَقَدِ اسْتَمْسَكَ بِالْعُرْوَةِ الْوُثْقَى﴾ [سورة البقرة آية: ٢٥٦] ، وهذا: معنى لا إله إلا الله، وفي الحديث: " رأس الأمر: الإسلام، وعموده الصلاة، وذروة سنامه الجهاد في سبيل الله
And Allah made obligatory upon all the servants disbelief in the ṭāghūt and faith in Allah. Ibn al-Qayyim, may Allah have mercy on him, said: The meaning of the ṭāghūt is whatever the servant exceeds his limit with, of one worshipped, followed or obeyed. The ṭawāghīt are many, and their heads are five: Iblīs, the curse of Allah be upon him; whoever is worshipped while he is pleased with it; whoever claims something of the knowledge of the unseen; whoever calls people to the worship of himself; and whoever rules by other than what Allah sent down. And the proof is the saying of Allah, Exalted is He: {There is no compulsion in the religion; right guidance has become distinct from error. So whoever disbelieves in the ṭāghūt and believes in Allah has grasped the most trustworthy handhold} [al-Baqarah 256]. And this is the meaning of lā ilāhah illā Allāh. And in the ḥadīth: “The head of the matter is Islam, its pillar is the prayer, and the peak of its hump is jihād in the path of Allah.”
Muḥammad ibn ʿAbd al-Wahhāb, Thalāthat al-Uṣūl, in al-Durar al-Saniyyah 1/136
Source, chain and authenticity
Read the page in the source edition (opens in a new tab)
The whole page in Arabic
وافترض الله على جميع العباد الكفر بالطاغوت، والإيمان بالله، قال ابن القيم: رحمه الله تعالى، معنى الطاغوت: ما تجاوز به العبد حده، من معبود، أو متبوع، أو مطاع.
والطواغيت كثيرة، ورؤوسهم خمسة: إبليس لعنه الله، ومن عُبد وهو راض، ومن ادعى شيئا من علم الغيب، ومن دعا الناس إلى عبادة نفسه، ومن حكم بغير ما أنزل الله، والدليل قوله تعالى: ﴿لا إِكْرَاهَ فِي الدِّينِ قَدْ تَبَيَّنَ الرُّشْدُ مِنَ الْغَيِّ فَمَنْ يَكْفُرْ بِالطَّاغُوتِ وَيُؤْمِنْ بِاللَّهِ فَقَدِ اسْتَمْسَكَ بِالْعُرْوَةِ الْوُثْقَى﴾ [سورة البقرة آية: ٢٥٦] ، وهذا: معنى لا إله إلا الله، وفي الحديث: " رأس الأمر: الإسلام، وعموده الصلاة، وذروة سنامه الجهاد في سبيل الله " ١ والله أعلم،
وصلى الله على محمد، وعلى آله وصحبه وسلم.
Allah, the Exalted, said:
There is no compulsion in the religion; right guidance has become distinct from error. So whoever disbelieves in the ṭāghūt and believes in Allah has grasped the most trustworthy handhold, which does not break. And Allah is Hearing, Knowing.
Qurʾān 2:256 (al-Baqarah) Read the verse (opens in a new tab)
Disbelief in the ṭāghūt has a clear content: to believe that worship of other than Allah is false, to leave it, to hate it, and to declare the falsehood of its people. Whoever says lā ilāhah illā Allāh and does not believe that the worship of the dead is false has not yet disbelieved in the ṭāghūt.
Seventh Issue: Al-walāʾ wa-l-Barāʾ: Allegiance and Disavowal
Walāʾ in the language is nearness and love; the walī is the one who is near and who supports. Barāʾ is separation and freedom from something. In the Sharīʿah, al-walāʾ is to love Allah, His Messenger and the believers and to support them, and al-barāʾ is to hate disbelief and its people for the sake of Allah and to be free of their religion.
Allah made Ibrāhīm and those with him the example: they told their people, we are free of you and of what you worship besides Allah, and there has appeared between us enmity and hatred until you believe in Allah alone. And He said that no people who truly believe in Allah and the Last Day will have love for those who oppose Allah and His Messenger, even their own fathers and sons. This is part of the meaning of tawḥīd: one who loves Allah loves what He loves and hates what He hates.
Allah, the Exalted, said:
There has certainly been for you an excellent example in Ibrāhīm and those with him, when they said to their people: We are free of you and of what you worship besides Allah. We have disbelieved in you, and there has appeared between us and you enmity and hatred for ever, until you believe in Allah alone — except the saying of Ibrāhīm to his father: I will surely ask forgiveness for you, but I possess nothing for you from Allah. Our Lord, upon You we rely, and to You we turn, and to You is the destination.
Qurʾān 60:4 (al-Mumtaḥinah) Read the verse (opens in a new tab)
Allah, the Exalted, said:
You will not find a people who believe in Allah and the Last Day having affection for those who oppose Allah and His Messenger, even if they were their fathers, their sons, their brothers or their kindred. Those — He has written faith in their hearts and supported them with a spirit from Him, and He will admit them to gardens beneath which rivers flow, abiding therein for ever. Allah is pleased with them and they are pleased with Him. Those are the party of Allah; truly the party of Allah, they are the successful.
Qurʾān 58:22 (al-Mujādilah) Read the verse (opens in a new tab)
Part Three
Principles drawn from the evidence
Eighth Issue: The Relation between the Three Categories
Tawḥīd of lordship requires tawḥīd of divinity: whoever knows that Allah alone creates, provides and disposes is bound to worship Him alone. This is why the Qurʾān argues against the mushrikūn from what they affirmed: “Say: To whom belongs the earth and whoever is in it, if you know? They will say: To Allah. Say: Will you then not remember?”
Tawḥīd of divinity includes tawḥīd of lordship: whoever worships Allah alone has already affirmed that He is the Lord. And tawḥīd of the names and attributes is the foundation of both, because the one who knows Allah by His names and attributes knows that He alone deserves worship. Whoever denies His attributes worships something empty, and whoever likens Him to creatures worships an idol.
Part Four
The claims of the opponents and their refutation
“Tawḥīd is to affirm the Creator”
The claim
Tawḥīd is to believe that Allah alone creates and directs; whoever believes this is a muwaḥḥid.
The response
The mushrikūn to whom the Prophet ﷺ was sent believed this, as Sūrat al-Muʾminūn records: asked who owns the earth and who is Lord of the Throne, they answered “Allah” — and they remained mushrikūn. The messengers were sent with “Worship Allah and avoid the ṭāghūt”: the tawḥīd they called to is the tawḥīd of worship, of which lordship is the proof.
“Disavowal forbids all kindness and justice to non-Muslims”
The claim
Al-walāʾ wa-l-barāʾ means that a Muslim must deal with every non-Muslim with hostility, and may not be kind or just to any of them.
The response
The same sūrah that commands the disavowal of Ibrāhīm answers this: Allah does not forbid you from being good to those who did not fight you because of your religion and did not expel you from your homes, and from acting justly towards them. Indeed Allah loves those who act justly.
Allah, the Exalted, said:
Allah does not forbid you, concerning those who did not fight you because of religion and did not expel you from your homes, from being good to them and acting justly towards them. Indeed Allah loves those who act justly.
Qurʾān 60:8 (al-Mumtaḥinah) Read the verse (opens in a new tab)
Disavowal is of their disbelief and its people as such, and its place is the heart and the religion. Kindness and justice in dealings are a separate matter that the Sharīʿah commands. Asmāʾ bint Abī Bakr was told to keep good relations with her mother, who was a mushrik. The Muslim hates disbelief, does not love its people for their religion, and does not help them against the Muslims; and with that he is just, keeps his covenants, and is kind to those who are not at war with him.
Sources
- Muḥammad ibn ʿAbd al-Wahhāb, Thalāthat al-Uṣūl, in al-Durar al-Saniyyah
- Qurʾān