The First Pillar: The two shahadahs (testimony that there is no god but Allah)



اشهد ان لا اله الا الله

aishhad an la alih ala allah
I bear witness that there is no god but Allah

This word is the greatest word that people speak and the best word, and it is a word and a deed, and it is not enough just to say it. If it were enough just to say it, the hypocrites would be Muslims, because they say it, and yet they are infidels, and even in the bottom of the Fire; because they say it with the tongue without belief or faith, so it must be said with the tongue with the belief of the heart and the belief of the heart that there is no true god except Allah.

Monotheism
التوحيد

Meaning of monotheism



In the terminology of Muslims,tawhid is the belief that God is one in Himself, His attributes, and His actions, that He has no partner in His sovereignty and management, and that He alone is worthy of worship. Tawhid is considered by Muslims to be the center of the Islamic faith, and indeed the center of all religion,[1] as it is stated in the Qur'an: 'And we sent no messenger before you except to reveal to him that there is no god but me, so worship me 25( [Al-Anbiya: 25], and Tawhid constitutes half of the two testimonies uttered by those who wish to enter Islam, and it is considered the foundation on which the rest of the Islamic beliefs are built



Tawhid is the door through which a person enters Islam and leaves the path of disbelief. The word “La ilaha illallah” is in itself a word that includes disbelief in the idol, so whoever says the word Tawhid declares at the same time disbelief in the idol, and disowns all that is worshipped without Allah Almighty. And the word of testimony: “There is no god but Allah” denies the divinity of anyone other than Allah, because it means: It denies divinity, which is the worship of anyone other than Allah, and establishes the worship of Allah alone, without any other creatures.



Monotheism in the Qur'an and Sunnah



The Almighty says: “And your God is one God, and there is no other God except Him who is merciful and compassionate.” Al-Baqarah/163.

He says: “Those who say that Allah is a triple God and there is no God but one God have disbelieved, and if they do not stop what they say, a painful punishment will befall those of them who disbelieve.” (Al-Ma'idah/73) Al-Ma'idah/73, and the verses in this sense are very numerous.

In Sahih al-Bukhari (7372) and Muslim (19) from Ibn Abbas (may Allah be pleased with them both), it is narrated that when the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) sent Mu'adh bin Jabal to the people of Yemen, he said to him: ("You are coming to a people of the People of the Scriptures, so let the first thing you invite them to do be to unite them with Allah, and if they know that, then tell them that Allah has imposed on them five prayers in their day and night, and if they pray them, they should pray them five times a day. If they pray, then tell them that Allah has imposed on them a zakat in their wealth, which is to be taken from the rich and returned to the poor, and if they acknowledge this, then take it from them and avoid what is valuable in the wealth of the people.) In Sahih Muslim (16)

In Sahih Muslim (16) from Ibn 'Umar (may Allah be pleased with him), the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) said: “Islam is built on five pillars: On the monotheism of Allah, the observance of prayer, the payment of zakat, the fasting of Ramadan, and the pilgrimage.)

In all these texts, tawhid means the realization of the meaning of the testimony (that there is no god but Allah and that Muhammad is the messenger of Allah), which is the true religion of Islam that Allah sent His Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him), as evidenced by the occurrence of these words and terms synonymously and alternately in the Qur'an and the Qur'an.



Divisions of monotheism

Tawhid al-Rububiyyah

Tawhid al-Rububiyyah is: Singling out Allah with His actions such as creation, ownership, management, revival, death, etc.

The evidence for this tawhid is very abundant in the Qur'an and the Sunnah; please see question no.13532 for some of them.

Whoever believes that there is a creator other than Allah, or an owner of this universe who controls it other than Allah, has violated this type of tawhid and disbelieved in Allah.

The early disbelievers recognized this monotheism in general, although they disagreed on some of its details, and the proof that they recognized it is found in many verses in the Qur'an, including:

If you ask them who created the heavens and the earth and harnessed the sun and the moon, they would say, “Allah,” so how can they disbelieve? Al-Ankabut/61.

And the Almighty says: “And if you ask them who sent down water from the sky and revived the earth after its death, they would say, ‘All praise be to God,’ but many of them do not understand.” (Al-Ankabut/63) Al-Ankabut/63.

And what He says: “If you ask them who created them, they will say, ‘God,’ then how can they be deceived?” (Al-Zukhraf/87) In these verses, Allah shows that the disbelievers acknowledge that He is the Creator, Owner, and Manager, and yet they do not worship Him, which shows their great injustice, the severity of their deception, and the weakness of their mind. The one who is characterized by these attributes and who is unique in these actions should be worshipped only by Him.

Therefore, whoever recognizes this monotheism correctly must necessarily recognize the monotheism of divinity.

There is no creator in existence except God Almighty, no owner of the universe except Him, and no controller of the affairs of creation and the universe except Him, as He is the divider of sustenance, and He is the one who lives and dies, and it is worth noting that the disbelievers have recognized this type of monotheism, God said: (And if you ask them who created the heavens and the earth and harnessed the sun and the moon, they would say God)[4].

The disbeliever recognizes



The disbeliever recognizes that Allah is the creator and owner of the universe, but this recognition is not a reason to escape the fire, nor does it make him a Muslim if this recognition is coupled with the word tawhid (monotheism): There is no god but Allah, and there is no true idol except Allah, and this type of tawhid relates to cosmic matters.



This type of tawhid is realized by singling out Allah, the Almighty, alone, without any partner, for prayer, tawakkul, help and other worship. This type of tawhid is the one with which Allah, the Almighty, sent His messengers, and the disbelievers denied it at all times. The Almighty says: “We have sent in every nation a messenger to say, ‘Worship Allah and avoid the idols’; of those whom Allah has guided, and of those whom He has led astray, walk on the earth and see what was the outcome of the disbelievers.”[5]