AQEEDA. PART 1

 BismiLlahir-Rahmaanir-Raheem. We send peace and salutations to the Prophet peace bee upon him, his
household, his companions and all those who have followed his path until the last day. As-Salaamu
alaikum warahmatuLahi wabarakaatuhu...
Today our short reminder will be on _Aqeeda_, the *Muslim Creed*. As we all know, the Muslim creed
is built on _Tawheed_, thus the Oneness of Allah. So what we’re going to discuss today and a couple of
days to come will be on this one pillar. Although Christianity and Judaism is classified with Islam as
monotheistic religions, they are not fit to be called monotheic in practice; due to their corrupted beliefs
about Allah.
Aqeeda in essence is a multifaceted subject, and I’ll try my possible best by the will of Allah to address
them. These presentations will be a gross oversimplification of concepts. I hope this will be a prod to
assist us in revision, further learning and reflection on these concepts.
Tawheed has been classically divided into three aspects; arRuboobiyya (Lordship), ebaada (worship) and
asmaai wasSifaat (names and attributes). So Tawheed has to do with maintaining the unity or oneness
of Allah in all these three aspects.
*_Tawheed arRboobiya_*
Maintaining the Lordship of Allah means belief that He has no associates in the creation of the universe.
The word (رَب) Lord, denotes the meaning of the Creator, Sustainer and Provider. Therefore Allah alone
is the creator of our universe. He neither needs anyone to assist Him in His creation nor does He need
someone in maitaining them.
The prophet, peace be upon him mentions in one _Hadeeth_ that every child is born on the _Fitra_, a
natural disposition and innate recognition that there is a creator of the universe (until their environment
corrupts or establishes it). This is the aspect of Tawheed that cuts across religions; and they recognize
that God created the universe we find ourselves in. We find in numerous Qur’anic verses where Allah
says that were they (pagans) to be asked of the creator of the heavens and earth, they would say Allah.
The difference between their affirmation and our affirmation is that it doesn’t lead them to the worship
of Allah. Allah says in the Qur’an, “Or do they assign to Allah partners who created the like of His
creation, so that the creation (whch they made and His creation) seemed alike. Say, ‘Allah is the Creator
of All things and He is the One, the irresistible’” and He also says, “Those whom they invoke besides
Allah have not created anything, but are themselves created.”
*_Tawheed ebaada_*
This deals with singling out Allah in all aspects that is classified under the bigger umbrella of worship.
Worship is anything that Allah loves and is pleased with. Worship entails dua, salaat, giving charity,
fasting, helping a sister in difficulty… most of our daily acts whether religious or not, could be classified
as worship if done with right intention.
In practical terms, ruboobiya of Allah actually necessitates His ebaada; Allah’s ability to create and
fashion this world alone necessitates that He be worshipped alone. In one verse, Allah says what is
translated to mean, “O mankind! Worship your Lord, Who created you and those who were before you
so that you may become God-conscious…” the subsequent verses mention several of the creations of

Allah; meaning because of His position as the originator, creator and sustainer of the universe and
everything in it, He deserves worship alone.
This concept can be summarized in our profession of “Laa ilaaha illaLlah”; there is no deity worthy of
worship except Allah. So we find this statement in two parts; ‘there is no deity worthy of worship’ and
‘except Allah’. So we first denounce every deity, and then affirm only Allah. As Allah says in the Qur’an,
“Whoever disbelieves in Taaghoot and believes in Allah, then he has grasped the most trustworthy
handhold that will never break…
Therefore in our calling of people, either Muslims or people of other faiths to Islam, it is healthy to start
by trying our best to awaken the Fitrah of the individual, by drawing their minds to the Lordship of Allah;
and reminding them that if Allah did all that, then He deserves absolute submission in worship.
So subsequently, we will by the will of Allah go through maintaining the oneness of Allah through His
names and attributes and then the contemporary question of ‘why Allah needs our worship’ as posed by
Atheists. May Allah preserve us. وصلى الله على رسول الله وعلى آله وسلم
JazaakumuLlahu khayran; wassalaamu alaikum warahmatullahi wabarakaatuhu