kalimah at-tawheed laa ilaaha ill-allaah...kalimah at-tawheed . i pray to allaah that he guides me...

كلمة التوحيد

هللا ال إله إال

Kalimah at-Tawheed

Laa ilaaha ill-Allaah

By: Dr. Murtaza bin Bakhsh (may Allaah protect him)

WWW.ASHABULHADITH.COM KALIMAH AT-TAWHEED

2

The Meaning, Understanding, Pillars and Conditions of

Kalimah at-Tawheed

لحمد �� أ +*اء والمرسل!

نم األ

خات

�4م ع1 والس

4ة � والص م!

�نا رب العال +ی

له وصح@ه ن

B ا

Bع1 د و محم

� جمع! �ا Gعد ۔ ا م

� أ

Allaah says,

﴿ ا��Iه ا

B ال

K ه

ن�م ا

�اعل

)19: (محمد ﴾ف

So know, [O Muhammad], that Laa ilaaha ill-Allaah (none has the right to be worshipped

but Allaah)

And Prophet ملسو هيلع هللا ىلص said,

هللا“�

ه ودمه، وحساه ع�� من دون هللا، حرم مال

ر ما �ع�د

ف�ه إ! هللا، و�

�ال: ! إل

۔أخرجه مسلم”من ق

The topic of today’s sitting is the meaning, understanding, pillars and conditions of

Kalimah at-Tawheed. I pray to Allaah that he guides me to explain this great Kalimah at-

Tawheed and make it easy for me and for this gathering and the listeners so that we can

understand the meaning of Kalimah at-Tawheed in most excellent way and Allaah guides

us to act upon it, Aameen.

In today’s sitting we will try to understand:

1. Meaning and translation of Kalimah at-Tawheed.

2. Pillars of Kalimah at-Tawheed

3. Conditions of Kalimah at-Tawheed

4. Is it to enough to say Kalimah at-Tawheed

5. Clearing the misunderstandings and doubts regarding Kalimah at-Tawheed


3

Meaning:

Let us see what is Kalimah at-Tawheed? How many words are there in Laa ilaaha ill-Allaah?

There are 4 words “،۔” هللا ،إال إلہ، ال . The actual meaning of Kalimah at-Tawheed is “ المعبود

”هللا حق إال you are watching that هللاإلہ إال ال is written above and beneath that " حقالمعبود

"هللا إال is written. There is an arrow beneath “ال” pointing towards “ال” . The arrow below

”إلہ“ points to the box that says “حقمعبود ” and then there is “إال” in front of “إال” and in

front of هللا there is the word هللا. This shows the meaning of Kalimah at-Tawheed: معبود ال

هللا حق إال .

Understanding:

The translation of Kalimah at-Tawheed is – “There is no deity worthy of worship in Truth

except Allaah”. What meaning we must know from Kalimah at-Tawheed is the meaning of

If we look at the box, there are 2 words ?إلہ What is the meaning of .إلہ حقمعبود . So, the

meaning of إلہ is معبود. Where did this meaning come from? Look at the box below معبود.

The proof is, Allaah says,

ل*م ﴿�اب يوم ا

م عذ

`a*

�خاف عل

� ا �cا ا��

Iا ا

ع@دو

ت

I ن

�)26(ھود: ﴾ا

That you worship none but Allaah, surely, I fear for you the torment of a painful

Day.

A part of aayah says ا��

Iا ا

ع@دو ت

I. There is ا

ع@دو

,So .إلہ mentioned in the aayah in place of ت

we know that the meaning of إلہ is معبود.

The part “in Truth” is not in Kalimah at-Tawheed. The word إلہ إال هللا ال G is not inحق . There

is proof for this as well and it is as Allaah says,

﴿ h ال j1ع

h هو ال ن ا��

�@اطل وا

hن ما pدعون من دونه هو ال

�حق وا

h هو ال ن ا��

�لك Gا ذ tب

�u﴾ :62(الحج(


4

That is because Allaah He is the Truth (the only True God of all that exists, Who has

no partners or rivals with Him), and what they (the polytheists) invoke besides Him,

it is Batil (falsehood) And verily, Allaah He is the Most High, the Most Great.

From this aayah, we know that Allaah is the Truth, and all others are false. There is only

one true God and He is Allaah.

Let us analyze Kalimah at-Tawheed إلہ إال هللا ال grammatically. ال is س الناف*ةzللج (negation of

all and every إلہ .(إلہ is supporting noun of ال. The news of ال is omitted and this omitted

information is called “in Truth”. So as per Arabic grammar also the word Gحق is also

present and there is clear proof in this aayah of Qur-aan that Allaah is the only deity

worthy of worship in Truth (برحق معبود).

Pillars:

There are two pillars of Kalimah at-Tawheed;

”is “to deny”, “to reject ن~� and the meaning of ن~� .1

”meaning “to affirm”, “to recognize – اث@ات .2

Remember, pillar is the basic part of what is being explained and without it, that thing

cannot exist. Just as no building can stand without pillars, Kalimah at-Tawheed has 2

pillars.

First pillar is “to deny”. What do we must deny? See there is a box with something written

in it: To deny worshipping all the deities. The first pillar means deny worshipping all the

deities whether and idol, stone, tree, sun, moon, angel, prophets, or saints. In short

whoever the deity is we must deny it.

Second pillar is “to affirm” or “to recognize”. The meaning is to specify all types of

worship for Allaah alone. Whether it is Salaah, Zakah, Hajj, Du’aa, seeking help, fulfilling


5

vows, sacrifice, fear, hope, absolute trust and so forth; in short, all of these is worship and

these are the rights of Allaah alone.

From where we have taken that there are two pillars of Kalimah at-Tawheed? There is

denial in the first part إلہ ال and affirmation in the second part إال هللا.

As I said that we must deny every false god. Now what is the proof that the idols, the

trees and the stones were worshipped?

1. Allaah says:

رءيتم ف��ت ٱأ

ى ٱو لل عز

h ل

ٱومنوة

ةالثخرى ٱ لث

)20-19(النجم: أل

Have you then considered Al-Lat, and Al-'Uzza (two idols of the pagan Arabs).

And Manat (another idol of the pagan Arabs), the other third?

Here consideration means to find out the reality of these. What are they?

Laat was a white stone which was the deity of the people of Taif. Uzza was a tree

between Makkah and Taif that was being worshipped. Manat was a goddess made of

stone which was being worshipped by the polytheists of Makkah. This is the reality

of Laat, Uzza and Manat. These are idols carved out of stones and trees. But were the

Arabs fool that they cut the trees and put in front, and carve the stones and make

idols, and then prostrate before them and worship them?

Here Allaah orders ﴿ى عزhت وال

�رءيتم الل

ف�﴾ا to concentrate on these things and to find their

reality. These are the stones and trees and idols, but reality is that Laat, as mentioned

in the narration of Sahih Bukhari, syedina ‘Abdullah bin Abbaas radhi Allaahu ‘anhuma

says that Laat was an old man who used to make special dish for the pilgrims and

used to serve them. So, he was a pious and righteous person. When he died, people

made an idol of him and started worshiping him. So, Laat, Uzza and Manat or the

idols Wadd ود, Sawa’a ســــــــواع, Yaghooth غوث�, Ya’ooq عوق�, Nasr ــــــــ�� (the idols of the

nation of Nooh ‘alaihis salaam) were the first ones in whose names shirk first began

with in this world. All of these were pious and righteous people. When they died,


6

idols were made in their name out of love, remembrance. When ‘Ilm diminished,

people started worshiping them.

2. Proof of that Sun and Moon were worshiped, Allaah says:

﴿ مر� واسجدوا ��قh لل

Iمس� و سجدوا للش

� I مر

قhمس وال هار والش *ل والن

�يته ال

Bاە ومن ا pنتم ا

`هن ان ك

ق�ذي خل

� ال

ع@دون )37(فصلت: ﴾ت

And from among His Signs are the night and the day, and the sun and the moon.

Prostrate not to the sun nor to the moon, but prostrate to Allah Who created them, if

you (really) worship Him.

If you are the worshipers of Allaah then these things are not to be worshiped. These

are the creations of Allaah and creation can never reach the status of the Creator. That

is why only Allaah has the right to be worshiped, it is not permissible to worship or

to perform any act of worship for the creation whether it be prostration or any other

act of worship.

3. Angels and Prophets (علیہم الصـــال� والســـالم) were made “معبود” and called upon. And the

proof is, Allaah says:

م ﴿`مر�

hpا�ا ا Gر¡ا

�� ا ب! والن

ة�ك ى¤Bملhوا ال

خذ ت

ن ت

�م ا

`مر�

h pا

Iسلمون و تم م

ن� ار� Gعد اذ

ف`uh)80(آل عمران: ﴾Gال

Nor would he order you to take angels and Prophets for lords (gods). Would he

order you to disbelieve after you have submitted to Allah's Will?

Subhan Allaah! So Allaah did not order to worship angels and prophets rather it is the

order of Shaitaan Ar-rajeem that people worshiped angels and prophets.

4. Were saints (Awliyaa) also made deities? Yes! Allaah says:

﴿ B

ا»ون

ي+تغ

عون

ذين pد

�ك ال ى¤

Bول` ا

محذ

ان�ك ¬ اب ر¡

عذ

ان ابه

عذ

ون

اف رحمته وخ

رب ورجون

ق�هم ا ي

� اة�وسـ*ل

hهم ال ار¡ــ ﴾ور

اء: )57(اال


7

Those whom they call upon [like 'Iesa (Jesus) - son of Maryam (Mary), 'Uzair

(Ezra), angel, etc.] desire (for themselves) means of access to their Lord (Allah), as

to which of them should be the nearest and they ['Iesa (Jesus), 'Uzair (Ezra),

angels, etc.] hope for His Mercy and fear His Torment. Verily, the Torment of

your Lord is something to be afraid of!

This aayah was revealed because a group used to worship the Jinns. These Jinns had

accepted Islaam, repented and became Awliyaa of Allaah, Subhan Allaah! But that

group kept calling upon these Jinns even after their guidance. So Allaah revealed this

aayah to inform that there are such strange people in this world who have made

Allaah`s dear, pious, righteous, devoted, Mu’min and Awliyaa their dieties. And

Allaah’s Awliyaa are free from their actions! Such people who consider Awliyaa as their

deities as being dearer to Allaah have chosen for themselves a path that takes them

away from Allaah. On the contrary, the path to gain Allaah’s nearness is Tawheed and

the shirk can never be the path for gaining His nearness.

Remember that it is obligatory upon us to reject worshiping every false deity be they

trees, stones, idols, sun, moon, angels, prophets or Awliyaa; none of them could be

god. If anyone has worshiped them then those pious creations of Allaah are free from

their actions.

The other part was that all the worship is to be performed for Allaah only. I said Salaah,

Zakah, Hajj are all forms of worship. Let us see the proofs:

1. Salaah and Zakah are worship, Allaah says:

﴿ �

وا ا� ل*ع@د

Iا ا

مرو

` ا±مة وما *

قhلك دين ال وذ

وةB² وا الز

ت وؤ

وةBل ء وق*موا الص

اين ڏ حنف

ه الد

�� ل لص!

)5(البµنة: ﴾مخ

And they were commanded not, but that they should worship Allah, and worship

none but Him Alone (abstaining from ascribing partners to Him), and perform

As-Salat (Iqamat-as-Salat) and give Zakah: and that is the right religion.


8

Correct religion includes sincerity, Salaah and Zakah because these are worship and it

is Allaah`s Right to perform all worship for Him alone.

2. Hajj is worship and its proof is, Allaah says:

عن� ا﴿ � غ

� ا�

انر ف

ف� ومن ك

*ه س+*«

� الب*ت من� اسـتـطاع

hاس� حج ال j الن

� ع1

�� و� م!

�علh)97(آل عمران: ﴾ل

And Hajj (pilgrimage to Makkah) to the House (Ka'bah) is a duty that mankind

owes to Allah, those who can afford the expenses (for one's conveyance, provision

and residence); and whoever disbelieves [i.e. denies Hajj (pilgrimage to Makkah),

then he is a disbeliever of Allah], then Allah stands not in need of any of the

'Alamin (mankind and jinns).

Allaah is All-Independent, who does not need anyone, nor anyone’s worship, but we

surely need to worship him because we are answerable to Him.

3. We have known that Salaah, Zakah, Hajj, fasting all these are worship. Is supplication

worship? Yes! Du’aa is worship, Allaah says:

م ﴿ جهنون

`لخ س*د j

¾cعن ع@اد ون ¿t

huستÀ ذين

� الم ان

`a�ستجب ل

� ا j �cم ادعو

`a ال ر¡

ن وق �Âخ )60(غافر: ﴾ د

And your Lord said: "Invoke Me, [i.e. believe in My Oneness (Islamic

Monotheism)] (and ask Me for anything) I will respond to your (invocation).

Verily! Those who scorn My worship [i.e. do not invoke Me, and do not believe in

My Oneness, (Islamic Monotheism)] they will surely enter Hell in humiliation!"

Subhan Allaah, Du’aa is mentioned (Allaah says, “Invoke Me”) and He further says

that whoever does not worship Me… This proves that Du’aa is worship and worship

is the Right of Allaah alone.

4. Seeking help is also an act of worship, Allaah says:

اك ﴿ pا � ستع! اك � pوا

ع@د

)5(الفاتحہ: ﴾ن

It is You alone [O Allāh] that we worship and it is You alone that we ask for help.


9

So, asking for help is worship and Allaah has the Right on everything upon which He

alone is Capable. Look, there are two types of matters; some matters are those upon

which only Allaah is Capable, for example: To give sustenance, to bless with children,

to cure and so forth; these are the Rights of Allaah, only Allaah is Capable on these

matters and none among the creation is capable on them. So, you cannot ask for help

from any creation to get sustenance or get cure. You can ask for help from the creation

on matters upon which they are capable on conditions that the one being asked form

is alive, capable, and present.

5. Seeking refuge “االستعاذ�”. We say “﴾ج*م *طان الر من الش

� Gا�

عوذ

� we seek refuge of Allaah ”﴿ا

to save us from the evil of Shaitaan. In the same way, we recite ﴿ ق�لفh برب ال

عوذ

�ل ا

﴾قـــــ

اس� ﴿ ،) 1(الفلق: برب النعوذ

�ل ا

)1(الناس: ﴾ق . We want to be in the shelter of Allaah, we ask for

refuge and it is worship, the right of Allaah. And seeking refuge from creation is

allowed on these 3 conditions that he is alive, present and capable on those matters.

6. Sacrifice is worship. Allaah says:

حر ﴿ك وان ¡Âصل ل

)2(الÆوثر: ﴾ف

So pray to your Lord [with gratitude by standing upright, raising the hands and

then placing one hand over the other on the chest] and sacrifice [to Him alone].

So Allaah connected the prayer to the sacrifice. As prayer is worship, so is sacrifice. If

prayer should be offered for Allaah alone then sacrifice should also be offered for

Allaah alone; neither for any saint at any shrine, nor for any wali and not even for any

prophet. If we have to offer sacrifice then it should be for Allaah only.

7. Fulfilling vows is worship, Allaah says:

ا﴿ tە مسـتط Ç ان

�ا ¬ ون يوم

افر� وخ

ذ ون Gالن

)7(اال�سانÈالدھر: ﴾يوف

They (are those who) fulfill (their) vows, and they fear a Day whose evil will be

wide-spreading.

So, it is proved here that fulfilling vows is also worship and is the right of Allaah.

8. Fear is worship, Allaah says:


10

وھم ﴿اف

خ

ت

»

ءە ف

ول*ا

�ف ا و

*طن pخ م الش

`aل ما ذ

� ان من!

ؤ نتم م

`ون ان ك

)175(آل عمران: ﴾وخاف

It is only Shaitan (Satan) that suggests to you the fear of his Auliya' [supporters

and friends (polytheists, disbelievers in the Oneness of Allah and in His

Messenger, Muhammadص� هللا عل2ه وسلم)], so fear them not, but fear Me, if you are

(true) believers.

9. Hope is also worship, Allaah says:

ا﴿ حد �ه ا ك Gع@ادة ر¡ �

Ç�À I ا و صالح

*عمل عم«

hله ف ء ر¡

اان يرجوا لق

�من ¬

)110(الÆھف: ﴾ف

Say (O Muhammad وسلمص� هللا عل2ه ): "I am only a man like you. It has been

inspired to me that your Ilah (God) is One Ilah (God i.e. Allah). So whoever hopes

for the Meeting with his Lord, let him work righteousness and associate none as a

partner in the worship of his Lord.

10. Absolute trust (Tawakkal) is also worship, Allaah says:

﴿ � من! ؤ نتم م

`ا ان ك

و`ل�تو�

ف

j ا��

)23(المائد�: ﴾وع1

…and put your trust in Allah if you are believers indeed.

Do remember that it is obligatory on us to do every act of worship only for Allaah and

this is the second pillar of Tawheed “إال هللا”. You cannot affirm it or admit or act upon it

until you understand it with conviction that all the acts of worships are the Rights of

Allaah (should be offered to Allaah alone).

Conditions:

We have known the pillars of Kalimah at-Tawheed. Now let’s have a look what are the

conditions of Kalimah at-Tawheed. There are 8 conditions:

1- Knowledge: To have the knowledge of meaning and explanation of Kalimah at-

Tawheed إلہ إال هللا ال , and its opposite is ignorance.


11

2- Certainty: To have certainty on the meaning and explanation of Kalimah at-Tawheed ال

“ and its opposite is doubt. The meaning of ,إلہ إال هللا إال هللا ال إلہ ” is “ هللا معبود حق إال ال ”

“There is no deity worthy of worship in truth except Allaah”. We know this. Now we

must believe in it with certainty such that we should not have any doubt in it

whatsoever. There is no other meaning to it except “There is no deity worthy of

worship in truth except Allaah, ” هللا معبود حق إال ال

3- Sincerity: To confess إال هللا ال إلہ with sincerity, its opposite is Shirk.

4- Love: To confess إال هللا ال إلہ with love, its opposite is hatred/grudge.

5- Truthfulness: To confess إال هللا ال إلہ truly and its opposite is lie.

6- Acceptance: To accept هللاإال ال إلہ and its demands from tongue, its opposite is rejection.

7- Submission: To act and follow إال هللا ال إلہ and its demands and its opposite is non-

compliance/leaving off.

8- Rejection of Taghut (طاغوت): Along with the acceptance of إال هللا ال إلہ one should also

reject all the false deities along with testifying to the Kalimah at-Tawheed.

Are these conditions just sayings of the ‘ulamaa, or invented? What are the evidences for

these conditions? Let us see:

1. First condition of the Kalimah at-Tawheed is Knowledge. Knowledge means to

know the meaning of هللاإال إلہ ال and its explanation. Its opposite is ignorance. The one

who does not know that “there is no deity worthy of worship in truth except Allaah”

has ignorance in him. Its proof is, Allaah says:

﴿ ا��Iه ا

B ال

K ه

ن�م ا

�اعل

)19(محمد: ﴾ف

So know (O Muhammadص� هللا عل2ه وسلم) that Laa ilaaha ill-Allah (none has the

right to be worshipped but Allah)

2. Second condition is Certainty. It is to have certainty upon the right meaning of

Kalimah at-Tawheed. If the whole world gathers to separate that certainty out from me

and tries to teach me any other lesson regarding the meaning of Kalimah at-Tawheed,


12

then I must reject all of them because I have certainty that this is the right meaning of

Kalimah at-Tawheed. The proof for ‘certainty’ is as Allaah says:

﴿ �موالهم وا

�ابوا وجهدوا Gا

م يرت

�م ل

ورسوله ث

منوا Gا��Bذين ا

�منون ال

مؤ

hما ال

ان س+*ل ا�� j

�Ï سهمف

ون ن

دق ك هم الص ى¤

Bول

` ﴾ ا

)15(الحجرات:

Only those are the believers who have believed in Allah and His Messenger, and

afterward doubt not but strive with their wealth and their lives for the Cause of

Allah. Those! They are the truthful.

Do not doubt after having certainty ابوام يرت

�م ل

So, this is the proof that Eemaan is based .ث

on certainty. Without certainty, only doubt remains; and to doubt the foundations of

Deen and Kalimah at-Tawheed is kufr. Do remember that these conditions are for the

same reason: that the right meaning of Kalimah at-Tawheed is “There is no deity worthy

of worship in truth except Allaah”. We must have certainty upon this meaning.

Knowledge without certainty is useless. If you do not have certainty on the knowledge

you have, then such knowledge is of no benefit. So, certainty is a condition and it has

its proof and reason.

3. You have certainty, but do you have Ikhlaas (sincerity)? The 3rd condition is Ikhlaas.

When we say we accept “ إال هللا ال إلہ ” with Ikhlaas, it means we accept it by our heart

(with the belief of heart) and by words (accepting it by saying it) that O Allaah! we

will not do shirk ever, we will not relate partners with You ever. I have already

mentioned the proof for Ikhlaas, Allaah says:

﴿ ±ين وما ه الد

�� ل لص!

مخ ل*ع@دوا ا��

Iا ا

مرو

`5سورة البÐنة ﴾ ا

And they were commanded not, but that they should worship Allah, and worship

none but Him Alone (abstaining from ascribing partners to Him), and perform

As-Salat (Iqamat-as-Salat) and give Zakah: and that is the right religion.

Because Ikhlaas is the name of Deen.

4. There is Ikhlaas but do you love the Kalimah? The sequence of conditions is important

- Knowledge, then Certainty, then Ikhlaas then Love. One must love Kalimah at-


13

Tawheed with its meaning and the Muwaahideen who know the same meaning of this

Kalimah. What is the proof of Love? Allaah says:

حب ﴿�هم ك

ون حب p ا داد

ن� ا

من دون ا��

خذ ت اس� من ي ومن الن � Ñ� ا Ò@د ح

ش�ا ا

منو

Bذين ا

� وال

)165(ال@قر�: ﴾ا��

And of mankind are some who take (for worship) others besides Allah as rivals

(to Allah). They love them as they love Allah. But those who believe, love Allah

more (than anything else)

Subhan Allaah! � Ñ� ا Ò@د ح

شــــ�ا ا

منو

Bذين ا

� those friends of Allaah who believe in Allaah are ,وال

the true believers who are stronger than others in their love for Allaah. Here the word

friend is mentioned that they are friends of Allaah, but the right meaning is that they

are those who love Allaah, Allaah loves His believers and believers also loves their

Rabb.

5. Now, there is love but is there Truthfulness? There is also love that is not true, rather

it is fake. So, Truthfulness is the 5th condition of Kalimah at-Tawheed. It is to accept

إال هللا ال إلہ truly, and its opposite is lie. The proof is, Allaah says:

﴿ � من!

خر� وما ھم Gمؤ Kيوم اh و¡ال

ا Gا�� منBول ا

ق p اس� من )8(ال@قر�: ﴾ومن الن

And of mankind, there are some (hypocrites) who say: "We believe in Allah and

the Last Day" while in fact they believe not

Subhan Allaah! It is because they say it, but they lie. They have neither accepted

Eemaan truly from their hearts nor believed in Allaah and the Hereafter.

6. Acceptance, means to accept by saying it. Allaah says:

ون ﴿ ¿thuستÀ ا��

Iه ا

B ال

K هم

�ا ق*ل ل

ا اذ

و

ان

�هم ¬

)35(الصافات: ﴾ان

Truly, when it was said to them: Laa ilaaha ill-Allah "(none has the right to be

worshipped but Allah)," they puffed themselves up with pride (i.e. denied it).

They did not accept it by proclaiming it upon their tongues; rather, they rejected it.

They were not ready to say هللاإال ال إلہ (there is no deity worthy of worship in truth

except Allaah) even once. So, to accept Kalimah at-Tawheed by proclamation upon

tongue is also a condition of Kalimah at-Tawheed.


14

7. Submission: When you have accepted it by proclamation upon your tongue but if

you have not submitted yourself to it through your ‘aamaal (acitons) then your

acceptance is useless. So that is why the 7th condition is to follow the conditions of

Kalimah at-Tawheed by your actions, and its opposite is non-compliance or leaving off.

Allaah says:

عاق@ ﴿ ا��

� وا»

¾~وثhعروة ال

hد استمسك Gال

ق وهو محسن ف

ا��

ا»سلم وجهه À مور� ومن

Kا )22(لقمان : ﴾ة

And whosoever submits his face (himself) to Allah [i.e. (follows Allah's Religion

of Islamic Monotheism), worships Allah (Alone) with sincere Faith in the (1)

Oneness of His Lordship, (2) Oneness of His worship, and (3) Oneness of His

Names and Qualities], while he is a Muhsin (good-doer i.e. performs good deeds

totally for Allah's sake without any show-off or to gain praise or fame etc. and

does them in accordance with the Sunnah of Allah's Messenger Muhammad ص�

-then he has grasped the most trustworthy hand-hold [Laa ilaaha ill ,(هللا عل2ه وسلم

Allah (none has the right to be worshipped but Allah)]. And to Allah return all

matters for decision

Look, you must hand over yourself to Allaah, وهو محسن ا��

� ا»

سلم وجهه À ومن this is called

submission. To hand over ourselves to Allaah and to act upon the conditions of

Kalimah at-Tawheed.

8. You have acted accordingly, but did you proclaim rejection of all false deities? 8th

condition is to deny the Taghut. With the acceptance of إال هللا ال إلہ denial of false gods

is must. Allaah says:

﴿ من

وت وؤ

اغ ر Gالط

فhu p من

سميع عل*م ف ها وا��

�فصام ل

ان

I

¾~وثhعروة ال

hد استمسك Gال

ق ف

)256(ال@قر�: ﴾Gا��

Whoever disbelieves in Taghut and believes in Allah, then he has grasped the

most trustworthy handhold that will never break. And Allah is All-Hearer, All-

Knower

Taghut is name of everything that is worshipped besides Allaah and the one being

worshipped agrees to it. But a stone cannot agree for it being worshipped! Neither the

sun nor the moon! So those who made them their deities are themselves Taghut. The


15

prophets, angels and the Awliyaa of Allaah were being worshiped; however, they

never agreed upon their worship. So, these are not Taghut. The person who makes

other worship him and agrees upon it, is Taghut. Today, you see that some people are

raised to the rank of Sheikh-ul-Islaam and people prostrate them. My brother, these

are Taghut about whom Allaah says, ¾~وثhعروة ال

hك Gال تمســــــــ د اســــــــ

ق ف

Gا��من

وت وؤ

اغ ر Gالط

فhu p من

.ف

You cannot grasp the most trustworthy handhold, you cannot act upon Kalimah at-

Tawheed until you do not show complete rejection of all false deities.

From these conditions we learned that Kalimah at-Tawheed is not mere proclamation upon

tongue; rather it is obligatory to have Knowledge, Certainty, Ikhlaas, Love, Truthfulness,

Acceptance, Submission and Rejection of Taghut (false deities), and to follow it.

Let us have a look at some of those people from the past who did not act upon the

conditions of Kalimah at-Tawheed.

1. Those who understood the Kalimah at-Tawheed only within their hearts, but they

rejected by their words and actions. Is it enough to know just within the heart that “ ال

إال هللا إلــــــہ ” and its meaning is “There is no deity worthy of worship in truth except

Allaah”? No! It is not enough.

Its example is Abu Taalib. He is the uncle of Allaah`s beloved Prophet ملسو هيلع هللا ىلص. He had

known that the religion of Prophet ملسو هيلع هللا ىلص is true, within his heart and that the meaning

of إال هللا ال إلہ is “There is no deity worthy of worship in truth except Allaah” but did he

accept it upon his tongue? Did he submit by his actions? There was neither acceptance

upon tongue, nor submission with actions nor love nor sincerity nor truth nor

rejection of false deities; all these conditions were missing. So, that knowledge did not

benefit him because that just remained as information in his heart.

There is a famous confession in Seerat Ibn Hishaam, Sharh Aqeedah at-Tahaawiyyah and

some ‘ulamaa have mentioned that Abu Taalib said, “I had known that the religion of


16

Muhammad is true rather it is the best of all (best from all the religions that exist in

the world) but I fear that if I accept it then people will oppose me and curse me.”

What were the last words of Abu Taalib? When Prophet ملسو هيلع هللا ىلص was next to his uncle on

his deathbed while Abu Jahl and his mushrik companions were on the other side.

Prophet ملسو هيلع هللا ىلص said, “O my uncle! Just say إال هللا ال إلہ once; I will have some evidence to

favor you in front of Allaah, just say it once.” He had known it within his heart but

what did he say?

Abu Jahl kept on saying repeatedly, “Will you leave your fathers’ and forefathers’

religion? Abu Taalib, will you leave your path? Abdul Muttalib’s path?”

So, what were his last words? That ب لــــــد المط ة ع�ــــــ

= ملــــــ

� Upon the path of Abdul“ – ع�

Muttalib (I die)”. He did not say إال هللا ال إلہ even once. Allaah`s beloved Prophet ملسو هيلع هللا ىلص

said, in the narration of Sahih Muslim “ هما�@ من

�غ B

C DE�علعل بن

تبو طالب،وهو من

� أMااارB عذ

هل الن

� أهون

�أ

ه Abu Taalib will be the least tormented of the inhabitants of Jahannam who will - ”دماغ

wear two shoes of fire that will make his brain boil. And it is mentioned in a narration,

that only two flames will be placed. Only two flames of hell-fire or the shoes of fire

that will boil up his brain.

So, Abu Taalib did not die upon Eemaan; rather he died on kufr. Some people have a

major misunderstanding in this regard; while the hadith is quite clear, narrated in

Sahih Muslim. Should we listen to and agree with the preachers and deny the

statements of Prophet ملسو هيلع هللا ىلص? Strange وهللا! Abu Taalib had accepted by heart, but he did

not fulfill these conditions. The conditions of Kalimah at-Tawheed were left out and

therefore Abu Taalib died on kufr.

2. On the other side, some people accepted Kalimah at-Tawheed by words and actions but

denied within their hearts. Such people also came in this world and maybe there will

be more present at this time, who accept it by words and actions but deny form within

their hearts.

An example is ‘Abdullah bin Abi Salool. He is the master of the hypocrites. He recited

Kalimah, offered Salaah (by action), fasted, offered Hajj, used to pay Zakah. We see both


17

- the acceptance by words and actions - but acceptance within heart is missing. As a

result, he became the master of hypocrites. Allaah says:

﴿ � منفق! hا ان ال tص

ھم ن

�جد ل

ن ت

�ار� ول ل من الن

سف Kرك ا j الد

�Ï﴾ : ساءz145(ال(

Verily, the hypocrites will be in the lowest depths (grade) of the Fire; no helper

will you find for them

Subhan Allaah! There will be no helper. We know Kalimah at-Tawheed’s meaning is

“There is no deity worthy of worship in truth except Allaah”.

How many pillars and conditions of Kalimah at-Tawheed are there? We learned there are

2 pillars and 8 conditions of Kalimah at-Tawheed. What are the pillars of Kalimah at-

Tawheed?

(1) Rejection: This is the first pillar that means to deny all false deities.

(2) Affirmation: This is the second pillar and we find it in “إال هللا”, the second part of

Kalimah at-Tawheed.

Divide the ال إلہ إال هللا into 2 parts: 2 words in the first part and 2 words in the 2nd part. The

2 words in the first part ال إلہ is the denial of every false deity. In the second part إال هللا is

affirmation to specify all the worship for Allaah alone.

There are 8 conditions of Kalimah at-Tawheed:

(1) Knowledge

(2) Certainty

(3) Sincerity

(4) Love

(5) Truthfulness

(6) Acceptance

(7) Submission

(8) Rejection of Taghut


18

Clarification of Misunderstandings about Kalimah at-Tawheed

In this second part, we will clear some misunderstandings and doubts about Kalimah at-

Tawheed.

Ahl-ul-Qibla (people who follow the same Qibla i.e. Muslims) has disagreement on the

meaning of “إلہ” and are divided into 5 groups:

1. One group of sects said the meaning of إلہ in “ إال هللا ال إلہ ” is Creator, Sustainer, and the

Planner. These are Jahmiyyah, Mu’tazilah, Ashairah, Maturidiyyah. These sects are well

known by mentioned names and exist even today.

With them - Jahmiyyah, Mu’tazilah, Ashairah, Maturidiyyah, the meaning of Kalimah at-

Tawheed is “There is no Creator, no Sustainer, no Planner except Allaah”. This is

because they say إلہ means Creator, Sustainer, Planner and this is the wrong meaning.

2. Khawaarij brought up another meaning of إلہ in Kalimah at-Tawheed. This group said إلہ

is meant to be Ruler (one who has authority and power). Khawaarij is the group that

revolted against syedina ‘Ali radhi Allaahu ‘anhu and they passed the verdict of kufr

upon the Sahabah of Prophet ملسو هيلع هللا ىلص. They fought against the Sahabah and Abdul Rahman

bin Muljim, the repulsed, accursed one, was one of the main leaders of khawaarij who

martyred syedina ‘Ali radhi Allaahu ‘anhu.

What was there slogan? Why did they revolt against against the Sahabah?

﴿ ��

Iم اhÛح

h)40(یوسف: ﴾ان ال

The command (or the judgement) is for none but Allah

Did syedina ‘Ali radhi Allaahu ‘anhu did not know that? Did the Sahabah not know

that? And these khawaarij who came later knew better than Sahabah? Subhan Allaah!

So, this is also a wrong meaning.

3. Third and fourth meaning of إلہ is Deity (Ma’bood) and Present (Maujood). Some said

its meaning is Deity while some said its meaning is Present. The Jahmiyyah and the

Soofiyyah of today take the meaning of إلــــــہ in Kalimah at-Tawheed as either Deity or


19

Present. And you can see in different books of Soofiyyah, they explain the meaning of

Kalimah at-Tawheed in three ways - for beginners it is Deity (Ma’bood), for intermediate

it is Aim (Maqsood) and for proficient it is Present (Maujood).

4. Fifth meaning is “Deity worthy of worship in truth”. This is the meaning Ahlus Sunnah

wal Jamaa’ah (believes in). If you are from Ahlus Sunnah wal Jamaa’ah, then you should

hold onto this meaning. I have shared the evidences for both معبود and حقG. This is the

only true meaning of إلہ - “Deity worthy of worship in truth”.

Why the meaning Creator, Sustainer and Planner of إلہ is wrong?

1. Almighty Allaah did not revealed His Books and did not send His Prophet ملسو هيلع هللا ىلص to

explain this meaning. Then why Allaah did revealed His Books and sent His Prophet

Did all the Messengers who came had brought the message that “Know that your ?ملسو هيلع هللا ىلص

Creator, your Master is Allaah? Even Abu Jahl and Abu Lahab knew that.

2. This is the meaning of Tawheed Ar-Ruboobiyyah that there is not any Creator, Master,

Sustainer except Allaah.

3. Even the polytheists of Arab, Abu Jahl and Abu Lahab used to accept this meaning.

But that did not enter them into Islaam. So, this proves that the meaning of Kalimah at-

Tawheed “there is not any Creator, Sustainer and Planner except Allaah” is a wrong

meaning.

Why is the meaning of إلہ as "Ruler" wrong?

1. Allaah did not revealed His Books and sent His Prophets to explain this meaning.

2. It is included in Tawheed Ar-Ruboobiyyah, Tawheed Uloohiyyah and Tawheed Asma wa

Sifaat (Names and Attributes). Allaah is Ruler - Al Haakim, The One with Complete

Wisdom - Al Hakeem. Both are from The Beautiful Names of Allaah and Al-Hikmah is

from the Sifaat (Attributes) of Allaah. Ruler is included in Tawheed Ar-Ruboobiyyah -

only Allaah’s Judgement and Law applies. And when we bow down to Allaah and


20

accept that there is not anyone except Allaah who makes Judgements, then we

worship Him as well (Tawheed Uloohiyyah).

3. This is the meaning that Ahlul Bid’ah mentioned, the Khawarij as I said earlier. All the

meanings that Ahlul Bid’ah brought are wrong except for the last one “Deity worthy

of worship in truth” (that Ahlus Sunnah wal Jamaa’ah believes)

This proves that meaning of Kalimah at-Tawheed “there is no Ruler except Allaah” is

wrong meaning.

4. Meaning of إلہ "Deity" is wrong, why is it wrong? Answer:

(1) Allaah revealed His Books and sent His Prophets to separate the true deity worthy

of worship from the false ones. Why did Prophets come, and Books were revealed?

Because the fundamental message is Message of Kalimah at-Tawheed that “There is

no deity worthy of worship in truth except Allaah”. If its meaning was only

“Deity” then there are many deities that are worshipped – trees, stones, prophets,

Awliyaa, and so forth. Then who would have differentiated between the true and

false deities? How would people know? Allaah revealed His Books and sent His

Messengers (to differentiate).

(2) It is opposite of truth that no one was being worshiped except Allaah. I proved

from the aayaat of Qur-aan and from ahaadith that false deities were worshiped.

Sun, moon, trees, idols, stones, prophets, awliyaa and angels were worshipped.

(3) This meaning indicates that all the deities are right and all of them are Allaah.

(4) This is the first step towards “وحـــــــدت الوجود” and “ الحـلـولوحـــــــدت ”. To believe that

Allaah is present everywhere is called وحدت الوجود and to believe that everything

is Allaah is called وحدت الحلول. So, what is the fundamental reason of وحدت الوجود

and وحدت الحلول? That people assumed the meaning of إلہ is just “Deity” leading to

believe that all the deities are true, ÝاG نعوذ.

Why is the meaning “Deity” for إلہ wrong? Because this will make the meaning of

Kalimah at-Tawheed as “There is no deity except Allaah” which is clearly wrong (see

point (2) above). So, the word “in truth” is compulsory.


21

Why the meaning of إلہ “Present” is wrong?

1. Allaah did not revealed His Books and sent his prophets to prove this.

2. “Allaah is present everywhere” is the base of “وحدت الوجود” and “وحدت الحلول”, that

Ahlul Bid’ah came up with and moved a step ahead saying, “everything is Allaah”,

ÝاG نعوذ.

3. This is ‘aqeedah of kufr, May Allaah saved us from kufr and shirk and Bid’aat

(innovations).

This proves that meaning of Kalimah at-Tawheed “no one is present except Allaah” is a

wrong meaning.

I have explained the meaning, explanation, pillars, conditions of Kalimah at-Tawheed and

clarified some misunderstandings. Today we would have felt that we were bereaved of

a great blessing, there was a major shortfall in our lives, that it’s so easy to know and

understand the meaning of Kalimah at-Tawheed and yet we were so far and unaware of it,

Subhan Allaah! So today we have known the correct meaning of Kalimah at-Tawheed,

correct explanation, its pillars and conditions. What is the necessity of learning about the

pillars and conditions? What is the difference between Abu Taalib and ‘Abdullah bin Abi

Salool? Abu Jahal used to believe that Allaah is the only Sustainer, Creator and Master,

why he did not get Muslim? Abu Taalib accepted it by heart that Allaah is the only deity

worthy of worship in truth, yet he remained kaafir by not admitting by words and actions.

‘Abdullah bin Abi Salool accepted by tongue and actions as well but did not accept by

heart and became the leader of hypocrites and died upon kufr. But Subhan Allaah! Look

it is an obligation upon Muslims and a demand of our Eemaan that we know the base of

Islaam - Kalimah at-Tawheed.

Kalimah at-Tawheed is “ إال هللا ال إلہ ”. Kalimah Shahaadah is we testify Kalimah at-Tawheed “ هد

ش�أ

هللاه إإل

� إلـــــ

R

ن�إال هللا ال إلـــــہ We see some difference in both, right? Kalimah at-Tawheed is .”أ ,


22

Kalimah Shahaadah is not إال هللا ال إلہ , rather it is the testimony of إال هللا ال إلہ - “ ه إإل

� إل

R

ن� أهد

شــــ� أ

.and in testimony all 8 conditions are included ”هللا

Testimony is based on knowledge, knowledge is based on certainty, certainty is based on

Ikhlaas, Ikhlaas is based on love and love is based on truthfulness, then acceptance,

submission and denial of Taghut. All these words are included in the words “ هد

ش� ”أ

I pray to Allaah that “O Allaah whatever we have listened and understand, guide us to

act upon it, and to call others towards it. Aameen”

Today in this Ramadan let us make this our mission that whatever we have learned about

Kalimah at-Tawheed we will teach others about it, explain it to our family, friends circle,

our relatives, our neighbors. We keep doing iftar parties. In Shaa Allaah this Ramadan,

in our iftar party, there will not be just food, dates etc., we will try to make photocopies

of these papers that is in your hands and give it to your guests. Explain it to them so that

they will do iftar and learn the right explanation of Kalimah at-Tawheed as well. وهللا! If

Allaah guides even a single person through you then all the blessings of this world are

on one side and this goodwill, this blessing is on the other side.

I pray to Allaah, that may Allaah bless us with beneficial knowledge and guide us to do

the good deeds, guide us to follow Qur-aan and Sunnah, to follow and understand the

bright Manhaj of Salaf-us-Saaliheen and to act accordingly, guide us to act upon the Kalimah

at-Tawheed, to call others towards it and to have patience on this, Aameen.

هم و¡حمدك �ك الل

س@حان

*ك

�وب إل

ت� وأ

فرك

غست� أتن� أIإ

ال إله

ن� أهد

ش� ، أ

kalimah at-tawheed laa ilaaha ill-allaah...kalimah at-tawheed . i pray to allaah that he guides me...

Documents