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The Way to Tawheed
The way to Tawheed is
achieved throughout the following paths:
1.
Knowing God,
be He blessed and to
whom be ascribed all perfection.
2.
Knowing his apostles
and prophets (Peace be upon
them pbuth).
3.
Knowing science and
its people.
4.
Knowing the Intellect
and its rank.
5.
Knowing the Soul and
its movements.
6.
Knowing religion and
its principal constituents.
7.
Knowing the bidden and
forbidden and the good and evil.
8.
Knowing this world and
its conditions.
9.
Knowing the hereafter
world and its consequences.
10.
The necessity of
preserving brethren of religion and provisions thereof.
First: Knowing
God,
be He blessed and to
whom be ascribed all perfection:
The best to begin
with in the course of knowing God,
be He blessed and to
whom be ascribed all perfection,
is ayat al-kursi,
”God! There is no god But He, - the Living, The Self-subsisting, Eternal. No
slumber can seize Him Nor sleep. His are all things In the heavens and on earth.
Who is there can intercede In His presence except As He permitteth? He knoweth
What (appeareth to His creatures As) Before or Agter Or Behind them. Nor shall
they compass Aught of His knowledge Except as He willeth. His Throne doth extend
Over the heavens And the earth, and He feeleth No fatigue in guarding And
preserving them For He is the Most High, The Supreme (in glory).” (The Cow sura
– verse 255)
God, Most Exalted,
Most Glorified, imposed knowing and obeying him in four aspects, the principal
constituents of Tawheed: knowing that He exists in mightiness and perfection; He
is too exalted for all sayings and actions; He is unique in the rank of majesty
and glory; and admitting that we are incapable of achieving the knowledge of Him
in any condition. Therefore, He:
1-
Has no partner in Himself:
“Say: He is God, The One and Only, God, the Eternal, Absolute; He begetteth not,
Nor is He Begotten; And there is none Like unto Him.” (The Pure Tawheed sura –
verses 1-2-3-4)
God also said,
“ Take not (For worship) two gods: For He is just One God: Then fear Me (and Me
alone),”
(The Bees sura – verse 51)
2-
Has
no partner in His traits:
(He is) the Creator Of the heavens and The earth: He has made for you pairs From
among yourselves, And pairs among cattle By this means does He Multiply you:
there is nothing Whatever like unto Him, And He is the One That hears and sees
(all things).” (The Consultations sura – verse 11)
3-
Has no partner in His actions
Such is the Creation of God: Now show me what is there That others besides Him
Have created: nay, but The Transgressors are In manifest error.”
).” (Luqman sura – verse 11)
4-
Has no partner in worship
Say:
“I am but a man Like yourselves, (but) The inspiration has come To me, that your
God is One God: whoever expects To meet his Lord, let him Work righteousness,
and, In the worship of his Lord, Admit no one as partner.” (The Cave sura –
verse 110)
Second:
Knowing his apostles and prophets
(Pbuth):
“ O ye who believe! Obey God, and obey the Apostle, And those charged With
authority among you.” (The Women sura – verse 59)
When God, be He
blessed and to whom be ascribed all perfection, created His creation and imposed
the knowledge of and obedience to Him, He realized that they are incapable of
doing so without a supporting apostle who leads them to the paths of knowledge;
guides them to the scales of obedience; introduces them to righteousness,
motivating its implementation, and to evil warning them against it.
Consequently, he found them an honest apostle in notification and admonition and
wise proverbs and sayings, and imposed on creation the knowledge of God after
knowing itself, and the testimony of apostolic succession, after the testimony
of His Oneness to achieve the eternal goal where he said,
“… The Day that the Caller Will call (them) To a terrible affair,” (The Moon
sura – verse 6)
He also said,
“It was not (Possible) for any apostle To bring a Sign except By the leave of
God:” (The Forgiver sura – verse 78)
Third: Knowing
science and its men:
God said, “For God hath sent down To thee the Book and Wisdom And taught thee
what thou Knewest not (before): And great is the Grace Of God unto thee.” (The
Women sura – verse 113)
When God,
Most Exalted, Most Glorified, imposed the knowledge of Him and his apostles by
His creation, he knew this could never be sought except through extensive
science, so He sent down unto them an evident science on the tongues of his
honest apostles, and interpreted its meaning through what the missionary
prophets discussed at great length, the intimate angles clarified, and the
righteous holy men taught. With science, work is righteous; therefore, the
servant could not but acquire knowledge and be guided by a Scientist. It is said
that people are divided into two categories: either a scientist or a seeker of
science; so if you are not a scientist, be a seeker of science or at least
someone involved in it though this would be the weakest of knowledge yet still
superior to denying its merits and the honor of its holders, the Almighty said,
“Of knowledge it is only A little that is communicated To you, (O men!)” (Al-Isra’
sura – verse 85).
He also said,
“And if all the trees On earth were pens And the Ocean (were ink), With seven
Oceans behind it To add to its (supply), Yet would not the Words Of God be
exhausted (In the writing): for God Is Exalted in power, Full of Wisdom.” (Luqman
sura – verse 27)
God, Most Exalted,
Most Glorified, created his sciences with limits some of which are at man’s hand
and the others are not. The Almighty said,
“Those are limits Set by God: and any Who transgresses the limits Of God, does
verily Wrong his own soul.” (The Divorce sura – verse 1).
Our sons should
consider this dualism related to the divine gift and the responsibility imposed
on man. Man, whether male or female, is capable of free self-performance and
simultaneously is called for, by virtue of bless, concluding an agreement of
obligation with the Creator where no other creature could offer this in
substitute.
Fourth:
Knowing the Intellect and its rank:
God, Most Exalted,
Most Glorified, knew that his servant is incapable of realizing what has
preceded except with the Intellect and its support, so He made him exist and
approachable. The Intellect is the helper to acquire all the concepts and, in
fact, is the leader and conductor of the soul. Therefore, knowing the Intellect
and abiding by it, man is safe from ignorance, and who is safe from ignorance is
in knowledge of what the Almighty imposed on him. The Intellect is the king and
the soul is its followers, and all lusts and desires that deviate from the order
of intellect are its enemy – so is the soul when forbidden the guidance of the
Intellect, its actions and endeavors end up with corruption. The Almighty
said,
“ They will further say: ‘Had we but listened Or used our intelligence, We
should not (now) Be among the Companions Of the Blazing Fire!” (The Kingship
sura – verse 10)
Fifth: Knowing
the Soul and its movements:
The
Almighty said,
“then shall every soul Be paid what it earned, And none shall be Dealt with
unjustly.”
(The Cow sura – verse 281)
Man
should know his self and its movements, since no one could be fully cognizant of
anything without knowing this self, and that it is the elite and best of
creatures, it belongs to the eternal world for it is alive, substantial,
cognizant, reasonable and rational with the ropes of Intellect; then he should
know that it bids with evil and that it is disable, ignorant, threatened by the
ropes of Satan, and that it is in constant motion, characterized by good and
evil and exposed to both; therefore, when man is cognizant of all this, then he
must fight and punish this soul to keep it in the rein of Intellect and the
preaches of discipline.
The Almighty said,
“On the Day when every soul Will be confronted With all the good it has done”
(The Family of ‘Imran sura – verse 30)
Sixth: Knowing religion and its principal constituents:
The best to begin with our talk about religion is the “Prologue”,
“In the name of God,
Most Gracious, Most Merciful. Praise be to God, The Cherisher and Sustainer of
the Worlds; Most Gracious, Most Merciful; Master of the Day of Judgment. Thee do
we worship, And Thine aid we seek. Show us the straight way, The way of those on
whom Thou hast bestowed Thy Grace, Those whose (portion) Is not wrath, And who
go not astray.
” (The
Prologue sura – verse 1-2-3-4-5-6-7)
Tawheed is a branch of the Islam. Islam is the gate of faith. Faith is the gate
of Tawheed. The Islam is based on five: the testimony of faith in a unique God
and that Mohamad is the apostle of God; performance of prayer; paying zakat;
fasting the month of Ramadan, pilgrimage to the Kaaba by those who could go;
whereas, its bidden and forbidden issues could not be limited to words or
knowledge.
Religion is a name attributed to all that is used as a true means to worship
God, Most Exalted, Most Glorified, and the follower should know that
righteousness belongs to God, and that God, be He blessed and to whom be
ascribed all perfection, wanted it for man as a principal constituent and that
His Supreme Kingship would not prosper, because of the obedience of any, or
decrease, because of the disobedience of another, yet it is
“your actions are retrieved for they are done by you and returned back to you,”
the
Almighty said,
“Whoever works righteousness Benefits his own soul; Whoever works evil, it is
against his own soul: Nor is thy Lord ever Unjust (in the least) To his
servants.” (The Detailed verses sura- verse 46)
Seventh: Knowing the bidden and forbidden and the good and evil:
It is an obligation imposed on man to distinguish between the bidden and the
forbidden. The bidden is commanded and the forbidden is prohibited; the bidden
is good, the forbidden is evil; the bidden is beneficial, the forbidden is
harmful; the bidden is obedience, the forbidden is disobedience; the bidden is
evident, the forbidden is evident; the good is known, the evil is unconcealed.
Therefore, all actions are in between these two states, and if something is
suspected between them, the rational being should consider and avoid it.
The Almighty said,
“Say: ‘See ye what
things God hath sent down to you For sustenance? Yet ye Hold forbidden some
things Thereof and (some things) lawful.’ Say: ‘Hath God indeed Permitted you,
or do ye invent (Things) to attribute to God.” (Yonas sura – verse 59)
Eighth:
Knowing this world and its conditions:
God, be He blessed
and to whom be ascribed all perfection, created the whole world perfect to man –
including races, kinds, plants and animals – and imposed on him the knowledge of
its conditions and its bidden and forbidden. He created it perfect in cosmos,
wanted it for His will which is man, and made it desired and sought for, gifted
and ravished; he created it with its ladders and abysses, paths and dangerous
spots and different pathways some of which are blessed and others are depraised.
However, man shall know that it is called an abode because it is a pathway
rather than a place to settle at; it is in constant change from one state to
another and is mortal and temporal. Only he who knows it as it is and adopts the
path of real men, could seek the blessed of consequences in conformity with the
Almighty saying,
“Nay (behold),ye prefer The life of this world; But the Hereafter Is better and
more enduring.” (The Most High sura – verses 16-17)
Ninth:
Knowing the hereafter world and its consequences:
Every man should know
that there is a day when he would be punished and rewarded for his good and bad
deeds, whether few or many. On that day, he would be asked about the way his
life was spent and his body was worn out; the knowledge he acquired and the
knowledge he implemented; the money he earned and the way it was spent.
Therefore, every man is responsible for his actions whereon neither wealth nor
sons would avail, but only a word of righteousness he said or some of the good
and gracious deeds he performed, the Almighty said,
“The Day whereon neither Wealth nor sons will avail, ‘But only he (will prosper)
That brings to God A sound heart;’ ” (The Poets sura – verses 88-89)
The day when
righteousness would prevail to defeat the wrong, when the breast-feeding mother
would be astounded and every soul would be repaid for what it has done of good
and evil. It was known as the Last Day because reward and penalty are postponed
until then, may God help you and us be the winners, the listeners to what was
said and the doers of the best of it, for the Almighty said,
“Alif. Lam. Mim. These are Verses Of the Wise Book, - A Guide and a Mercy To the
Doers of good,
- Those who establish regular Prayer, And give regular Charity, And have (in
their hearts) The assurance of the Hereafter.” (Lukman sura – verses 1-2-3-4)
Tenth:
The necessity of preserving brethren of religion and abiding by the
provisions thereto:
When God, be He
blessed and to whom be ascribed all perfection, created man, He prepared him to
rhetoric, and imposed on him what is aforementioned, he also imposed with that
knowledge and science specific actions as helpful means; such actions could not
achieve the hoped result except with honesty and devotion – the best of which
could be followed by man. So faith is not fulfilled except with preserving
brethren, and the first step in such preservation is acquaintance, then
cordiality, then friendliness, then attachment, then companionship; these issues
could not be achieved except with sincerity, frankness and purity, for He, the
Most Exalted, said,
“(They will be) brothers (joyfully) facing each other On thrones (of dignity).”
(Al-Hijr sura – verse 47).
Brethren is achieved
when
companionship conditions are fulfilled, such conditions do not stand
disagreement, ridicule, competition, backbiting, tale bearing, defect, fighting,
accusation and calumny; instead, you are to your elder friend in the rank of his
son, and to your peer in the rank of a brother, and to your younger in the rank
of the father, and the most glorified of brothers and companions are the most
knowledgeable; however, if they were equal, then the most knowledgeable; if the
knowledgeable were equal, then the eldest; if the eldest were equal, then the
older.
The most decent of
brothers are the best mannered, the most disciplined, the least malicious, the
most benevolent, the most tolerant, the best to keep promise, the closest to
heart, the sincerest in words and the most perfect in intellect.
You should know that
the best of “majales” is that of scientists, and that your companions are three:
a person you benefit from, another who benefits from you, and the other whom you
do neither benefit from nor he does benefit from you. As to whom you benefit
from, keep his company, and the one who benefits from you, be generous with him;
and the one who does neither benefit from you nor you do benefit from, desert
him. Be noble in your morals for the poet said,
“The noblest of
nations do only survive,
With the loss of
morals, they do no more exist .”
Decent morals
dominates chiefs of servants because it is born of, with, from and out of
intellect; so, seek those morals and be indulged in them; perhaps, you could
achieve what beautifies your life and a reward in return at death.
Finally,
the following
verse completes the meaning of faith where the Exalted said,
“… But it is righteousness – To believe in God And the Last Day, And the ANGELS,
And the Book, And the Messengers; To spend of your substance, Out of love for
Him, For your kin, For orphans, For the needy, For the wayfarer, For those who
ask, And for the ransom of slaves; To be steadfast in prayer, And practice
regular charity; To fulfill the contracts Which ye have made; And to be firm and
patient, In pain (or suffering) And adversity, And throughout All periods of
panic. Such are the people Of truth, the God-fearing.” (The Cow sura – verse
177)
Monotheistic
Concepts
A definition
issued by the Bureau of Mashyakhat Al Aql of
The Mouwahidoune
Druze Sect – Beirut
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