Category: Faith

Chapter 6: Tawḥīd al-Asmā’ w’al-Ṣifāt (Monotheism in Names and Attributes) Believing in Allah’s names and attributes has enormous influence both on the soul of a Muslim as well as on his worship of his Lord. The impact includes that feeling he has…

Chapter 5: Claiming Knowledge of the Unseen (Ghaib) Ghaib (unseen) refers to anything of the past, present, or further affairs that are hidden for human minds and sights. Allah alone, and none else, has knowledge of the unseen. Allah says, “Say, ‘None…

Shirk consists of two types: Major and minor. As for major shirk, it occurs when associating something with Allah as an equal and worshipping it along with Him. This sends the person outside the fold of Islam and destroys whatever good deeds…

Disbelief (Kufr) The linguistic meaning of kufr is concealment or the act of covering something. Its legalistic meaning is the opposite of faith, which is lack of belief in Allah and His Messenger. Kufr does not necessarily coincide with a denial of…

Chapter 4: Polytheism and Disbelief, and its Types Undoubtedly, every Muslim has a lot to gain by knowing what polytheism and disbelief are, including the causes of both, their means, and their types. Provided that a person’s intention for such knowledge is…

Concerning the tawassul that is unlawful, then it refers to any invalid means, from an Islamic viewpoint, to seek closeness to Allah. The unlawful tawassul is of various types, which are also of varying degree of unacceptability. They included: Tawassul that involves…

The Sixth: Al-Tawassul The word tawassul is derived from another Arabic word, wasīlah, which means: measure, medium, etc. Thus, tawssul denotes seeking to attain one’s aim and the effort made for its achievement. In the legalistic definition, tawassul is to seek attain…

Fourth: Seeking Blessings (Tabarruk) from Trees, Stones, etc. Tabarruk, or seeking the blessings of something, usually takes one of the two following courses: Tabarruk with a known Islamic source of blessing, such as the Book of Allah. Allah says, “This is a…

Chapter 3: The Prophet’s Safeguarding of Tawḥīd The Prophet, out of concern for his followers, was very keen to see them a strong and well-fortified nation, who would fulfil the obligation of tawḥīd and steer clear of any means or causes that…

Worship (‘Ibādah) Should Only be for Allah The word ‘ibādah in the linguistic sense means submission and humility. Thus, it is commonly said, “Ba‘īr mu‘abbad” for a docile camel, as a mark of its humiliation, and, “Ṭarīq mu‘abbad,” for a smooth and…