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The Pillars of Tawheed

Tawheed is one of the most talked about subjects in Islam. Many people speak about it, from the secular apostates to the deviant Muslims who support the dictator regimes in Muslim countries. But what exactly is Tawheed?

Tawheed is to comprehend, believe in and submit to Allah (SWT) exclusively. This means that a Muslim believes in and submits to Allah alone, not to any man or woman. When he prays, he prays only to Allah; when he worships, he worships none but Allah, and does not worship Allah and somebody else – he worships and obeys Allah (SWT) exclusively.

Tawheed has two pillars:

1. To disbelieve in Taaghout (an-Nafi - to reject)

Allah (SWT) says in the Qur’aan:

فَمَنْ يَكْفُرْ بِالطَّاغُوتِ وَيُؤْمِنْ بِاللَّهِ فَقَدِ اسْتَمْسَكَ بِالْعُرْوَةِ الْوُثْقَى لا انْفِصَامَ لَهَا وَاللَّهُ سَمِيعٌ عَلِيمٌ

“…Whosoever declares kufr on (rejects) Taaghout then believes in Allah, he has grasped the most trustworthy knot of Islam (understood the meaning of the Shahaadah).” (EMQ al-Baqarah, 2:256)

Allah (SWT) implies in the above verse that a Muslim is the one who rejects Taaghout, and then believes in Allah. Therefore, we must know what Taaghout is in order to reject and disbelieve in it. Taaghout has been defined by the classical scholars of Islam as: “Anything people worship, obey, submit to or follow other than Allah.”

Therefore even a rock or a tree can become Taaghout; a pop idol; fashion pin-up or a fortune teller; even the law of the land (if it is kufr). Anything people refer to, arbitrate to, worship, obey or submit to other than Allah is known as Taaghout.

Do people worship the laws in the UK? No, maybe the answer; but do people obey the laws? Yes! Therefore, the British law is Taaghout and Muslims are obliged to reject it (if they want to call themselves “Muslims"). Do people obey rocks? No. But do people worship rocks? Yes! Therefore, a rock can become Taaghout if people worship it. Even an animal can become Taaghout if people worship it (as the Hindus worship cows).

Idols are Taaghout as people worship them instead of Allah. The formula is simple and you can even try it yourself! Anything that is obeyed, followed, worshipped, or submitted to other than Allah is Taaghout. Other examples of Tawaagheet (plural for Taaghout) are: the Shaytaan (devil), all the present rulers in the world, the United Nations, British law, freedom, democracy, secularism, liberalism, human rights, Krishna, Guru Nanak or anything else that is worshipped or obeyed other than Allah. Even a footballer or celebrity can become Taaghout if people start to idolise or worship them.

So the first and most important part of being a Muslim is rejecting Taaghout. It is not enough just to believe in Allah and Muhammad (SAW) as the Last and Final Messenger. Before you believe, you MUST reject, or in simple terms: You are still a non-Muslim! The Muslim MUST reject anything that is obeyed, worshipped, followed or submitted to other than Allah. No person can ever claim to be a Muslim or speak about Tawheed without to reject Taaghout first. Whoever thinks they can, they have not understood Tawheed by even 5%.

Now that we understand the first and greatest obligation upon a Muslim is to reject Taaghout, we must now know how exactly do we reject it! There are five ways of rejecting Taaghout which all Muslims are obliged to adhere to and fulfil:

The five ways of rejecting Taaghout

1. To declare the Taaghout to be baatil (falsehood)

You must believe that the Tawaagheet are all falsehood, and not from the camp of Haq (truth):

ذَلِكَ بِأَنَّ اللَّهَ هُوَ الْحَقُّ وَأَنَّ مَا يَدْعُونَ مِنْ دُونِهِ هُوَ الْبَاطِلُ وَأَنَّ اللَّهَ هُوَ الْعَلِيُّ الْكَبِيرُ

“That is because Allah - he is the truth, and what they (Kuffaar) invoke besides him, it is baatil...” (EMQ al-Hajj 22:62)

2. Keep distance from Taaghout

It is not enough just to declare Taaghout to be falsehood; you must also keep distance from it. Hence you cannot call a ruler Taaghout but become his minister or mufti. Allah (SWT) says:

وَلَقَدْ بَعَثْنَا فِي كُلِّ أُمَّةٍ رَسُولا أَنِ اعْبُدُوا اللَّهَ وَاجْتَنِبُوا الطَّاغُوتَ

“…worship Allah alone, and keep away from Taaghout…” (EMQ an-Nahl, 16:36)

3. Declare animosity towards Taaghout

You must declare all Tawaagheet to be your enemy as they are the enemies of Allah. Many people declare Taaghout to be falsehood and keep distance from it, but if you do not declare it to be your enemy you have not yet rejected Taaghout:

إِنَّا بُرَآءُ مِنْكُمْ وَمِمَّا تَعْبُدُونَ مِنْ دُونِ اللَّهِ كَفَرْنَا بِكُمْ وَبَدَا بَيْنَنَا وَبَيْنَكُمُ الْعَدَاوَةُ وَالْبَغْضَاءُ أَبَدًا حَتَّى تُؤْمِنُوا بِاللَّهِ وَحْدَهُ

“...We have rejected you, and there has started between us and you, animosity and hatred for ever, until you believe in Allah alone.” (EMQ al-Mumtahanah, 60:4)

4. To hate Taaghout

After you have declared Taaghout to be falsehood, kept distance from it and declared it to be your number one enemy, you must then have hatred towards Taaghout. In Islam there is no such concept as “love your enemy”. In fact, it is prohibited to love your enemy and it is only the foolish who do so:

إِنَّا بُرَآءُ مِنْكُمْ وَمِمَّا تَعْبُدُونَ مِنْ دُونِ اللَّهِ كَفَرْنَا بِكُمْ وَبَدَا بَيْنَنَا وَبَيْنَكُمُ الْعَدَاوَةُ وَالْبَغْضَاءُ أَبَدًا حَتَّى تُؤْمِنُوا بِاللَّهِ وَحْدَهُ

“...We have rejected you, and there has started between us and you, animosity and hatred for ever, until you believe in Allah alone.” (EMQ al-Mumtahanah, 60:4)

5. To make takfeer upon Taaghout

We all declare Shaytaan (Taaghout) to be on falsehood; we keep distance from him, have animosity towards him and hate him. But we must also declare him to be Kaafir because the Tawaagheet are entities that are worshipped, obeyed or followed other than Allah; therefore, it is inevitable for them to be Kaafir as we only obey and worship Allah exclusively. Hence, it is impossible for the rulers of Muslim countries today to be Muslim, as they are all Tawaagheet, Kuffaar. Furthermore, Allah orders us to declare Taaghout to be kaafir in the Qur’aan:

فَمَنْ يَكْفُرْ بِالطَّاغُوتِ وَيُؤْمِنْ بِاللَّهِ فَقَدِ اسْتَمْسَكَ بِالْعُرْوَةِ الْوُثْقَى لا انْفِصَامَ لَهَا وَاللَّهُ سَمِيعٌ عَلِيمٌ

“…Whosoever declares kufr on (rejects) Taaghout then believes in Allah, he has grasped the most trustworthy knot of Islam…” (EMQ al-Baqarah, 2:256)

After a person has fulfilled the first pillar of Tawheed, he must then fulfil the second pillar which is to believe in Allah and affirm this belief.

2. To believe in Allah (al-Ithbaat - to affirm)

After one has rejected Taaghout (by the five ways mentioned above) it is then safe to believe in Allah exclusively. But even then, one must believe in Allah, His names, attributes and functions the way He (SWT) himself describes them and not by any limited human interpretation or imagination.

From thesavedsect.com