Explanation of the oneness of worship.
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The Shaykh : So what is the oneness of worship?
The oneness of worship: It is singling out Allah (Mighty and Majestic) for worship, such that you are not a slave to anyone other than your Lord. You do not worship a prophet, nor an angel, nor a close friend of Allah, nor a mother, nor a father, nor a scholar, nor an old woman. You do not worship anyone but Allah alone. This is the oneness of worship. You single out Allah (Mighty and Majestic) alone for deification and worship. For this reason, it is called the oneness of worship and the oneness of worship. In terms of its attribution to Allah, it is the oneness of worship; and in terms of its attribution to the worshipper, it is the oneness of worship.
Worship is based on two great matters: love and exaltation, which result from them.[Al-Anbya 21:90] Through love comes desire, and through exaltation comes awe and fear. For this reason, worship consists of commands and prohibitions. Commands are based on desire and seeking to reach the One who commands. Prohibitions are based on what? On exaltation and awe of this Exalted One. So, in reality, worship is based on these two things: love and exaltation. If you love Allah (Mighty and Majestic), you desire what is with Him, you desire to reach Him, you seek the path that leads to Him, and you obey Him in the most perfect manner. And if you exalt Him, you fear Him. Whenever you are about to commit a sin, you feel the greatness of the Creator (Mighty and Majestic), so you recoil. [Yusuf 12:24] What? [Yusuf 12:24] This is a blessing from Allah upon you. When you are about to commit a sin, you find Allah before you, so you are afraid and you stay away from the sin, because you worship Allah out of desire and fear. So what is the meaning of worship, then?
Worship: It is used for two things: the act and the object. Worship is used for the act and the object. How? Act and object. Yes, it is used for the act, which is the act of worship. It is said: "The man worshipped his Lord with worship and devotion." Its usage for the act of worship is from the perspective of using the name of the source for the source. So it is used for the act. And what comes after? And for the object. We know it by its usage for the act, which is: Humbling oneself to Allah (Mighty and Majestic) by doing His commands and avoiding His prohibitions. You do that in humility and submission to Him. And whoever humbles himself to Allah, exalted is Allah.[Al-Munafiqun 63:8] Good.
And it is used for the object, meaning: that by which one worships. In this meaning, it is defined by what the Shaykh al-Islam Ibn Taymiyyah defined it with, where he said, may Allah have mercy on him: "Worship: A comprehensive name for everything that Allah loves and is pleased with, of words and deeds, apparent and hidden." Do you understand? This thing by which we worship Allah, singling out Allah with it, I do not divert it to anyone else. Prayer, fasting, zakah, Hajj, supplication, vows, fear, reliance, and other acts of worship. I cannot divert these to anyone other than Allah, because the oneness of worship is singling out Allah (Mighty and Majestic) for worship, or the oneness of worship is singling out Allah the Exalted for worship.
If you say: How do you say that Allah the Exalted is unique in deification, while Allah has affirmed the deification of others? Yes, and before I raise this objection, I say: What is the evidence that Allah is unique in deification?
There is much evidence. A little while ago, we cited two verses:[Al-Anbya 21:25] [An-Nahl 16:36] And listen also to a third great verse: [Ali 'Imran 3:18] Allah is the Greatest. If nothing came to you from the seeking of knowledge except this virtue, that Allah did not inform that anyone testified to His deification except the people of knowledge. May Allah make us and you among them. [Ali 'Imran 3:18] With justice. Then He confirmed this testimony by saying: [Ali 'Imran 3:6] This is clear evidence that there is no deity but Allah (Mighty and Majestic).
I bear witness that there is no deity but Allah, and you bear witness that there is no deity but Allah. This is the true testimony.
If someone says: How do you confirm this, while Allah the Exalted affirms deities other than Allah, such as His saying: And such as His saying: [Al-Mu'minun 23:117] And such as His saying: [Hud 11:101] And such as the saying of Ibrahim: [As-Saffat 37:86] And other verses. How do you reconcile this with this?
The answer is: The deification of anything other than Allah is a false deification, a mere naming.[An-Najm 53:23] So its deification is false. Even if it is worshipped and people deify it, whoever does so has gone astray, because it is not worthy of being worshipped and not worthy of deification. So they are gods because they are worshipped, but they are false gods. [Al-Hajj 22:62] And in the other verse: [Luqman 31:30] This is the answer to what Allah, Glorified and Exalted is He, affirmed regarding their deification among those other than Him. That it is a deification, but it is false. For this reason, Allah the Exalted described it in another verse as mere names, because they have no realities. And even if they are worshipped, they do not deserve to be worshipped and deified.
These two types of the divisions of tawhid, or of the types of tawhid, are not denied or rejected by anyone from the people of the qibla who claim to be Muslims, neither the Sunni nor the innovator. No one denies them, because Allah the Exalted is made unique in lordship, and what comes after? And in worship. But yes, it happened later that some people claimed the deification of a human being, such as the extremists of the Rafidah, for example, who say: "Ali is a god." Just as their leader Abdullah ibn Saba did, when he came to Ali ibn Abi Talib (may Allah be pleased with him) and said to him: "You are truly God." I seek refuge in Allah. But Abdullah ibn Saba was originally a Jew who entered the religion of Islam under the claim of supporting the Family of the Prophet, to corrupt the religion of the people of Islam, as the Shaykh al-Islam Ibn Taymiyyah said, may Allah have mercy on him. And he said: "This is just as Paul did when he entered the religion of the Christians to corrupt the religion of the Christians."
This man, Abdullah ibn Saba, said to Ali ibn Abi Talib (may Allah be pleased with him): "You are truly God." Ali ibn Abi Talib was not pleased that anyone would place him above his station. Even he, (may Allah be pleased with him), in his fairness, justice, knowledge, and experience, used to say on the pulpit of Kufa: "The best of this Ummah after its Prophet is Abu Bakr, then Umar." He would declare this in the sermon, and the reports of this from him are mass-transmitted, (may Allah be pleased with him). The one who says this and acknowledges the virtue of those who deserve it among humans, how would he be pleased for someone to say to him: "You are God"? He was not pleased. For this reason, he punished them with the harshest punishment. He ordered the digging of trenches. What are trenches? Ditches dug in the ground, like canals, deep and descending. Then they were filled with wood, then set on fire. Then he brought this man and his companions and threw them into the fire and burned them with the fire, because their lie was great, and I seek refuge in Allah, it is not a light matter. And it is said that Abdullah ibn Saba fled and they did not catch him, and Allah knows best.
The important thing is that Ali ibn Abi Talib (may Allah be pleased with him) burned the Saba'ites with fire because they claimed deification for him.
So we say: Everyone from the people of the qibla does not deny these two types of tawhid, which are: the oneness of lordship and the oneness of worship. Even though there are some among the people of innovation who deify a human being.
The oneness of worship: It is singling out Allah (Mighty and Majestic) for worship, such that you are not a slave to anyone other than your Lord. You do not worship a prophet, nor an angel, nor a close friend of Allah, nor a mother, nor a father, nor a scholar, nor an old woman. You do not worship anyone but Allah alone. This is the oneness of worship. You single out Allah (Mighty and Majestic) alone for deification and worship. For this reason, it is called the oneness of worship and the oneness of worship. In terms of its attribution to Allah, it is the oneness of worship; and in terms of its attribution to the worshipper, it is the oneness of worship.
Worship is based on two great matters: love and exaltation, which result from them.
Indeed, they used to hasten to good deeds and supplicate Us in hope and fear
إِنَّهُمْ كَانُوا يُسَارِعُونَ فِي الْخَيْرَاتِ وَيَدْعُونَنَا رَغَباً وَرَهَباًAnd she certainly determined [to seduce] him, and he would have inclined to her
وَلَقَدْ هَمَّتْ بِهِ وَهَمَّ بِهَاhad he not seen the proof of his Lord. And thus [it was] that We should avert from him evil and immorality
لَوْلا أَنْ رَأى بُرْهَانَ رَبِّهِ كَذَلِكَ لِنَصْرِفَ عَنْهُ السُّوءَ وَالْفَحْشَاءَWorship: It is used for two things: the act and the object. Worship is used for the act and the object. How? Act and object. Yes, it is used for the act, which is the act of worship. It is said: "The man worshipped his Lord with worship and devotion." Its usage for the act of worship is from the perspective of using the name of the source for the source. So it is used for the act. And what comes after? And for the object. We know it by its usage for the act, which is: Humbling oneself to Allah (Mighty and Majestic) by doing His commands and avoiding His prohibitions. You do that in humility and submission to Him. And whoever humbles himself to Allah, exalted is Allah.
And to Allah belongs [all] honor, and to His Messenger, and to the believers
وَلِلَّهِ الْعِزَّةُ وَلِرَسُولِهِ وللمؤمنينAnd it is used for the object, meaning: that by which one worships. In this meaning, it is defined by what the Shaykh al-Islam Ibn Taymiyyah defined it with, where he said, may Allah have mercy on him: "Worship: A comprehensive name for everything that Allah loves and is pleased with, of words and deeds, apparent and hidden." Do you understand? This thing by which we worship Allah, singling out Allah with it, I do not divert it to anyone else. Prayer, fasting, zakah, Hajj, supplication, vows, fear, reliance, and other acts of worship. I cannot divert these to anyone other than Allah, because the oneness of worship is singling out Allah (Mighty and Majestic) for worship, or the oneness of worship is singling out Allah the Exalted for worship.
If you say: How do you say that Allah the Exalted is unique in deification, while Allah has affirmed the deification of others? Yes, and before I raise this objection, I say: What is the evidence that Allah is unique in deification?
There is much evidence. A little while ago, we cited two verses:
And We sent not before you any messenger except that We revealed to him that, "There is no deity except Me, so worship Me."
وَمَا أَرْسَلْنَا مِنْ قَبْلِكَ مِنْ رَسُولٍ إِلاّ نُوحِي إِلَيْهِ أَنَّهُ لا إِلَهَ إِلَّا أَنَا فَاعْبُدُونِAnd We certainly sent into every nation a messenger, [saying], "Worship Allah and avoid Taghut."
وَلَقَدْ بَعَثْنَا فِي كُلِّ أُمَّةٍ رَسُولاً أَنِ اعْبُدُوا اللَّهَ وَاجْتَنِبُوا الطَّاغُوتَAllah witnesses that there is no deity except Him, and [so do] the angels and those of knowledge
شَهِدَ اللَّهُ أَنَّهُ لا إِلَهَ إِلاّ هُوَ وَالْمَلائِكَةُ وَأُولُو الْعِلْمِAllah witnesses that there is no deity except Him, and [so do] the angels and those of knowledge - [that He is] maintaining [creation] in justice.
شَهِدَ اللَّهُ أَنَّهُ لا إِلَهَ إِلَّا هُوَ وَالْمَلائِكَةُ وَأُولُو الْعِلْمِ قَائِماً بِالْقِسْطِThere is no deity except Him, the Exalted in Might, the Wise.
لا إِلَهَ إِلاّ هُوَ الْعَزِيزُ الْحَكِيمI bear witness that there is no deity but Allah, and you bear witness that there is no deity but Allah. This is the true testimony.
If someone says: How do you confirm this, while Allah the Exalted affirms deities other than Allah, such as His saying:
And do not invoke besides Allah any other deity.
وَلا تَدْعُ مَعَ اللَّهِ إِلَهاً آخَرَAnd whoever invokes besides Allah another deity for which he has no proof
وَمَنْ يَدْعُ مَعَ اللَّهِ إِلَهاً آخَرَ لا بُرْهَانَ لَهُ بِهِthey were not availed at all by their gods which they invoked other than Allah
فَمَا أَغْنَتْ عَنْهُمْ آلِهَتُهُمُ الَّتِي يَدْعُونَ مِنْ دُونِ اللَّهِ مِنْ شَيْءٍIs it falsehood [as] gods other than Allah you desire?
أَإِفْكاً آلِهَةً دُونَ اللَّهِ تُرِيدُونَThe answer is: The deification of anything other than Allah is a false deification, a mere naming.
They are not but [mere] names you have named them - you and your forefathers - for which Allah has sent down no authority.
إِنْ هِيَ إِلاّ أَسْمَاءٌ سَمَّيْتُمُوهَا أَنْتُمْ وَآبَاؤُكُمْ مَا أَنْزَلَ اللَّهُ بِهَا مِنْ سُلْطَانٍThat is because Allah is the Truth, and that which they call upon other than Him is falsehood
ذَلِكَ بِأَنَّ اللَّهَ هُوَ الْحَقُّ وَأَنَّ مَا يَدْعُونَ مِنْ دُونِهِ هو الْبَاطِلُand that what they call upon other than Him is falsehood
وَأَنَّ مَا يَدْعُونَ مِنْ دُونِهِ الْبَاطِلُThese two types of the divisions of tawhid, or of the types of tawhid, are not denied or rejected by anyone from the people of the qibla who claim to be Muslims, neither the Sunni nor the innovator. No one denies them, because Allah the Exalted is made unique in lordship, and what comes after? And in worship. But yes, it happened later that some people claimed the deification of a human being, such as the extremists of the Rafidah, for example, who say: "Ali is a god." Just as their leader Abdullah ibn Saba did, when he came to Ali ibn Abi Talib (may Allah be pleased with him) and said to him: "You are truly God." I seek refuge in Allah. But Abdullah ibn Saba was originally a Jew who entered the religion of Islam under the claim of supporting the Family of the Prophet, to corrupt the religion of the people of Islam, as the Shaykh al-Islam Ibn Taymiyyah said, may Allah have mercy on him. And he said: "This is just as Paul did when he entered the religion of the Christians to corrupt the religion of the Christians."
This man, Abdullah ibn Saba, said to Ali ibn Abi Talib (may Allah be pleased with him): "You are truly God." Ali ibn Abi Talib was not pleased that anyone would place him above his station. Even he, (may Allah be pleased with him), in his fairness, justice, knowledge, and experience, used to say on the pulpit of Kufa: "The best of this Ummah after its Prophet is Abu Bakr, then Umar." He would declare this in the sermon, and the reports of this from him are mass-transmitted, (may Allah be pleased with him). The one who says this and acknowledges the virtue of those who deserve it among humans, how would he be pleased for someone to say to him: "You are God"? He was not pleased. For this reason, he punished them with the harshest punishment. He ordered the digging of trenches. What are trenches? Ditches dug in the ground, like canals, deep and descending. Then they were filled with wood, then set on fire. Then he brought this man and his companions and threw them into the fire and burned them with the fire, because their lie was great, and I seek refuge in Allah, it is not a light matter. And it is said that Abdullah ibn Saba fled and they did not catch him, and Allah knows best.
The important thing is that Ali ibn Abi Talib (may Allah be pleased with him) burned the Saba'ites with fire because they claimed deification for him.
So we say: Everyone from the people of the qibla does not deny these two types of tawhid, which are: the oneness of lordship and the oneness of worship. Even though there are some among the people of innovation who deify a human being.