IMPORTANCE OF TAUHEED

Muhammad Asghar   

Rise and fall, apparently, are two eternal and inescapable natural laws every individual and nation as a whole has to pass through. History endorses the fact that different nations underwent the same: rose up to the zenith of glory and then withered away. Allah (SWT), however, has gifted the mankind with exceptional endowments through his messengers and prophets that can help them remain in the position of eminence. For present day Muslim Ummah will have to find it in the holy Quraan and Sunnah of Prophet Mohammad (SallAllaho alaihe wasallam).

The holy Quraan highlights this fact by describing it as a general rule in the following words: “For every Ummah there is a decisive moment.” (49:10) But the law also changes: “Allah removes at will whatsoever He wants and adds at will whatsoever He deems fit and lies with Him the original Book.” (38-39: 13) Muslims, whenever searched back and adopted the divinely prescribed guidelines, were survived every setback.

The holy Quraan’s on of the short chapters, “Suratul ‘Asr” may be taken as the modus operandi of the renaissance. It suggests: “By the ‘Asr. Verily man is in loss except those who have faith and do righteous deeds, and counseled each other unto the Right Religion and counseled each other unto endurance”. The Surah clearly brings to fore that only those will be absolved of the eternal loss and absolute obliteration who embodies the following attributes:

        1) Unshakable faith and belief.
        2) A life with pious deeds.

An essential condition for Islamic revival may be deduced from these points without which no effort can bring about positive or constructive change in individuals and community. The comprehension of the above points needs no explanation. What is required is unflinching faith and strict adherence to the Islamic beliefs as a pre-requisite for renaissance. That’s why we can say that Islamic revival means the revival of basic Islamic values / beliefs in society. Unless this end is achieved no positive change can be brought about.

It is, therefore, appropriate to shed light on the importance of values / beliefs and discuss the position they occupy in individual and collective human life.

Broadly speaking, the values are determinants, which mould and shape human character and give it a specific style, a unique outlook, a different way of thinking and an independent behaviour. According to psychiatrists, individual character is conditioned by certain forces, which are called determinants.

Undoubtedly these determi-nants are of great value so far as personality development is concerned but Islam disapproves of these deterministic factors as having the pivotal position in shaping human character. Rather it believes that these determinants can be got rid of by internalizing the fundamental beliefs.

Basic Islamic beliefs of Tauheed (Monotheism), Risaalat (Prophethood) and faith in the revealed books, angels, the Day of Judgment and the every event, good or bad, is from Allah (SWT), are the foundations upon which the whole superstructure of Islamic faith is raised. If the base is sound the building will survive for long and if not any stormy wind can pull the whole structure down turning it into rubbles. These fundamental beliefs are inter-related and inter-dependent with regard to their very existence.

Tauheed is the first and foremost belief that plays a vital role in fashioning individual and collective human life. It is the belief in oneness of God, which demands true resignation to Allah Almighty. A person, as he embraces Islam, in fact negates every thing including his own self, his wishes and aspirations and submits every thing else to Allah’s will. In Islam, true resignation comes first before all beliefs. No Muslim can become a true believer unless he believes in the attribute of oneness regarding the Almighty. This belief in turn rids a Muslim of all centres of influence as an individual.

A Muslim becomes a totally new human being apparently wearing the old physical garb but inwardly absolutely new being: One who is Allah-centred in his perception and Allah-motivated in his actions. All of his actions stem from the Divine Will. He becomes the embodiment of Divine Will and so his actions become the manifestation of Divine orders.

Such individuals as are possessed of the belief of Tauheed constitute a society, which in the eyes of a modern day intellectual “provides the foundations of world unity in the principles of Tauheed” and stands diametrically opposite to society, which considers “blood relationship as basis” of its establishment.

It may be explained as well in the following words by the same intellectual: “Islam, as a polity, is only a practical means of making this principle (Tauheed) a living factor in the intellectual and emotional life of mankind. It demands loyalty to Allah, not to thrones. And since Allah is the ultimate spiritual basis of all life, as conceived by Islam, it is eternal and reveals itself in variety and change.”

“A society based on such a conception of reality must reconcile, in its life, the categories of permanence and change. It must possess eternal principles to regulate its collective life for the eternal gives us a foothold in the world of perpetual change.”

This analysis of individual and society governed by the conception of Tauheed reveals that it is the belief which is embedded in ideal nature of man and society as well. A polity, which shuts its eyes upon the above fact sows the seed of its own destruction and cannot stay for long by removing the basic element from its very foundation.

The Muslim Ummah in the present time is very much in need of recognizing this principle and making it a living factor for social change. This is the only remedy for social ills we are caught in. Moreover, the world, which is on the collision course, can escape the eventuality only by harmonizing itself with the principle of Tauheed, which is common to all original religions.

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