A Response to Those Who Disparage the Focus on Tawhid

Question:
May Allah reward you. The questioner says: There are people who try to make others indifferent to the importance of focusing on tawhid (the oneness of Allah) in lessons and lectures. They say, "Praise be to Allah, we are all monotheists in our worship of Allah, and there is no shirk (associating partners with Allah) among us. Rather, we must focus on other matters of worship, and on what softens people's hearts and makes them indifferent to this world, such as the stories of the righteous and the worshippers, and asceticism, and so on."

Answer:
There is a concise way to answer this doubt. We say to him: "You say that we know tawhid. Show us what tawhid is? Is this what you know? It seems you do not know tawhid and do not know what it is. Tell him: 'Show me tawhid.' He says: 'I know shirk.' Show us what shirk is? Show me tawhid and shirk. If you have knowledge of tawhid and shirk, praise be to Allah.
If you do not have it, how can you claim something that is not yours? This is among the doubts that the Shaykh and Imam Muhammad ibn 'Abd al-Wahhab (may Allah have mercy on him) answered in his book *Kashf al-Shubuhat* (Clarification of Doubts). Tell him: 'Show me what tawhid is?' Praise be to Allah that you know tawhid and shirk, but my brother, show me what tawhid is? He says: 'I do not know, I do not know, I am a monotheist and that is all.' Tell him: 'Show me what shirk is?' He says: 'I do not know, by Allah, shirk is shirk.' Well, you are claiming something you do not know, so restrict yourself to this path only. Yes.