The importance of Tawhid in Islam

Tawhid (monotheism), Tawhid, Tawhid is very, very important within the religion of Islam. Where is Islam without Tawhid? The entire message of Islam is based on Tawhid. And of course, what is Tawhid? Tawhid is nothing but the oneness of Almighty God.

One cannot be a true believer without upholding the principle of Tawhid. If you look at Qur'an to begin with, all teachings of Qur'an can be summarised into three.

The first part of it, is talking about the beginning, and the second part of it is talking about the end. And the third part of the teachings of Qur'an is talking about the connection between the beginning and the end. Now let us look at it.

What is the beginning? Beginning means Allah, meaning oneness of God, meaning your Source, your Maker. Ending, it also means Allah so Qur'an place more emphasis on this.

And the third one, Qur'an said the connection between the beginning and the end. And that is the risalah (messengership), that is where Prophethood and the succession after Prophethood comes in because that connects the beginning and the end.

And if you look at Qur'an Allah Tabaraka wa Ta'ala in the verse of Qur'an where He advised our beloved Prophet to tell his Ummah, that O my beloved Ummah, I am calling all of you to Allah, meaning to Tawhid, to believe in the Oneness of Almighty Allah, Subhana wa Ta'ala. You cannot be a true believer without Tawhid.

You know, Tawhid is fitrah (intrinsic nature)- is something natural. And that is why Prophet mentioned, 'Kullu mawludin yuladu 'ala al-fitrah)- 'each and every birth or every child who comes to this world, he comes with fitrah, meaning with Tawhid, believing in the oneness of Allah Subhana wa Ta'ala.

So as a Muslim, for you to become a true Muslim, you need to dedicate time to truly understand the concept of Tawhid. Because Allah in chapter Muhammad, verse 19, says to our beloved Prophet, 'Fa'lam annahu la ilaha illa Allah'(47:19)- 'know that there is no God but He'. Scholars in the field of the tafasir, commentaries of Qur'an, they said Allah used the word 'Know that' to tell us that Tawhid, we need to acquire knowledge about it. We need to really strive to gain knowledge about Tawhid.

Allah Tabaraka wa Ta'ala in Qur'an again, says our beloved Prophet mentioned, "Wa qul: Rabbi zidni 'ilma!" (20:114) - 'Allah increase me in knowledge.' Knowledge of what? Knowledge about Allah Subhanahu wa Ta'ala.

So therefore brothers and sisters, when we talk of Tawhid, we are talking of understanding the existence of Allah Subhana wa Ta'ala, understanding the true, the beautiful names of Allah, understanding the beautiful attributes of Allah Subhana wa Ta'ala, understanding the actions of Allah Subhana wa Ta'ala.

And you know very well, in trying to understand these things, we need to bear in mind that Allah's attributes are not distinct from His essence. His essence are His attributes, and His attributes are His essence. What do I mean?

You have got al-Rahman, you have got Allah. Allah is al-Rahman, Al-Rahman is Allah. So therefore, understanding of these, are very, very important in ensuring that we are on the right track in getting to Allah Subhana wa Ta'ala.

Hatha bi-Llahi al-tawfiq. Wa as-salamu 'alaykum, wa rahmatu Allahi, wa barakatuh.