Oneness of Allah's Worship

The Prophet (may Allah's peace and blessings be upon him) informed us that Allah Almighty forbids swearing by the forefathers. So, whoever wants to swear should swear by Allah only and none but Him. ‘Umar ibn al-Khattāb, then, mentioned that ever since he heard the Prophet (may Allah's peace and blessings be upon him) prohibit it, he never swore by other than Allah neither intentionally nor by reporting such an oath on behalf of others.

1. The prohibition of swearing by other than Allah, especially by the forefathers was a habit practiced in the pre-Islamic era of ignorance.
2. Swearing means taking an oath by Allah, His Names, or His Attributes regarding some matter as a form of affirmation.
3. The superiority of ‘Umar (may Allah be pleased with him), given his quick compliance, good understanding, and prudence.

صحيح البخاري (8/ 132) (6647). صحيح مسلم (3/ 1266) (1646). تيسير العلام شرح عمدة الأحكام، للبسام (ص684). الإلمام بشرح عمدة الأحكام، لإسماعيل الأنصاري (2/ 134).

'Ā’ishah and 'Abdullāh ibn' Abbās (may Allah be pleased with both of them) inform us that when the Prophet (may Allah's peace and blessings be upon him) was close to breathing his last, he kept drawing a piece of cloth upon his face. When he found it hard to breathe due to the throes of death, he would remove it from his face. While being in that tough condition, he said: May Allah curse the Jews and the Christians and expel them out of His mercy. Were it not for the seriousness of this matter, he would not mention it in a situation like that. Hence, the Prophet (may Allah's peace and blessings be upon him) forbade his Ummah from emulating this act, because it was done by the Jews and the Christians and because it is a means conducive to association of partners with Allah Almighty.

1. It is prohibited to take the graves of the prophets and pious people as places of worship where prayer is offered to Allah, for this is a means to Shirk (polytheism).
2. The Messenger of Allah (may Allah’s peace and blessings be upon him) was so attentive and careful about Tawhīd (monotheism) and so fearful about exalting the graves, for this leads to Shirk.
3. It is permissible to curse the Jews and the Christians and those who follow them in building over the graves and taking them as places of worship.
4. Building over the graves is one of the customs of the Jews and the Christians, and imitating them is prohibited in this Hadīth.
5. Offering prayer at the graves or towards them falls under taking the graves as places of worship, even if no mosque is built there.

صحيح البخاري (1/ 95) (435)، (2/ 102) (1390). صحيح مسلم (1/ 377) (531)، (1/ 376) (529). الملخص في شرح كتاب التوحيد، للشيخ صالح الفوزان (ص170). الجديد في شرح كتاب التوحيد، لمحمد بن عبد العزيز السليمان القرعاوي (ص185).

The Prophet (may Allah's peace and blessings be upon him) informs that Allah Almighty said: I am the One Who is most free from want of partners. He is Self-Sufficient beyond the need for anything; and if a person performs any good deed and devotes it to Allah and others, Allah discards this deed and does not accept it from him, and He turns it back to him. So, we should make our deeds sincerely devoted to Allah Almighty, for He only accepts what is done purely for His sake.

1. This serves as a warning about polytheism in all its forms and means that it prevents virtuous deeds from being accepted.
2. Our sense of Allah's self-sufficiency and greatness helps us do honorable deeds with sincerity to Him.

صحيح مسلم (4/ 2289) (2985). شرح النووي على مسلم (18/ 115). الملخص في شرح كتاب التوحيد، لصالح الفوزان (ص287). الجديد في شرح كتاب التوحيد، لمحمد القرعاوي (ص325).

The Prophet (may Allah's peace and blessings be upon him) talked about his status in the sight of Allah Almighty and that it reached the highest level of love as reached by Abraham (peace be upon him). That is why he denied that he should have an intimate friend other than Allah, for his heart was full of love and exaltation for Allah and knowledge about Him; so, it does not have room for anyone else. Had he taken an intimate friend from among the people, he would have been Abu Bakr (may Allah be pleased with him). Then, he warned against exceeding the permissible bounds regarding love, as done by the Jews and the Christians regarding the graves of their prophets and righteous people, so much that they turned them into polytheistic gods to be worshiped apart from Allah and built places of worship over those graves. The Prophet (may Allah's peace and blessings be upon him) forbade his Ummah from doing what they did.

1. This points out the merit of Abu Bakr as-Siddīq (may Allah be pleased with him). He was the best among the Companions and the most entitled to succeed the Prophet (may Allah's peace and blessings be upon him) after his death.
2. Building places of worship over graves is one of the evil acts done by previous nations.
3. It is prohibited to take graves as places of worship, with prayer being offered therein or towards them, or to construct places of worship or domes over them, lest this should lead to polytheism.
4. It warns against going to extremes in revering the righteous people for this is conducive to polytheism.
5. It demonstrates the seriousness of what the Prophet (may Allah's peace and blessings be upon him) warned of, as he stressed it five days before his death.

صحيح مسلم (1/ 377) (532). شرح النووي على مسلم (5/ 13). الجديد في شرح كتاب التوحيد، لمحمد القرعاوي (ص188). الملخص في شرح كتاب التوحيد، لصالح الفوزان (ص172).

The Prophet (may Allah's peace and blessings be upon him) forbids Muslims from saying: "What Allah wills and what so-and-so wills" in their speech, or saying: "What Allah wills and so-and-so". This is because Allah's will and determination are absolute and none shares them with Him. but using the conjunctive "and" denotes associating someone with Allah and regarding them as equals. However, one should say: What Allah wills, then what so-and-so wills; thus, making the slave's will subordinate to Allah's will by saying "then" instead of "and", since "then" denotes sequence with a gap in time between the two things in sequence.

1. The prohibition of saying: "What Allah wills and what you will" and similar phrases where the conjunctive "and" is used to join something with the name of Allah, as this is deemed from the verbal Shirk.
2. The permissibility of saying: "What Allah wills, then what you will" and similar phrases where the conjunctive "then" is used to join something with the name of Allah, as this does not involve any prohibition.
3. Establishing will for Allah and for the slave and the fact that the slave's will follows the will of Allah Almighty.
4. The prohibition of associating partners to Allah in His will even verbally.
5. If the sayer believes that the slave's will is equal to the will of Allah Almighty in terms of comprehensiveness and absoluteness, or believes that the slave has an independent will, then, this constitutes major Shirk (polytheism). However, if he believes that he comes in a lower rank, then, this is minor Shirk.

السنن الكبرى للنسائي (9/ 361) (10755). سنن أبي داود (7/ 334) (4980). مسند أحمد (38/ 299) (23265)، (38/ 364) (23339). الجديد في شرح كتاب التوحيد، لمحمد القرعاوي (ص368). الملخص في شرح كتاب التوحيد، لصالح الفوزان (ص329).

Ibn Mas‘ūd (may Allah be pleased with him) said: My swearing by Allah about something I am lying about, assuming that this might happen, is more beloved to me than swearing by anything other than Allah about something I am truthful about. Thus, he gave precedence to swearing by Allah while lying over swearing by other than Him while being truthful. This is because swearing by Allah in this case entails the good deed of monotheism as well as the sin of lying, whereas swearing by other than Allah while being truthful entails the good deed of honesty as well as the sin of polytheism. Nevertheless, the reward for monotheism is definitely greater than the reward for honesty, and the sin of lying is undoubtedly less serious than the sin of polytheism.

كتاب التوحيد للإمام محمد بن عبد الوهاب ص252 ت: د. دغش العجمي . مكتبة أهل الأثر , الطبعة الخامسة , 1435ه الجديد في شرح كتاب التوحيد لمحمد بن عبد العزيز السليمان القرعاوي, ت: محمد بن أحمد سيد , مكتبة السوادي، الطبعة: الخامسة، 1424ه الملخص في شرح كتاب التوحيد للشيخ صالح الفوزان , دار العاصمة , الطبعة الأولى 1422ه المصنف لابن أبي شيبة, ت: كمال يوسف الحوت, مكتبة الرشد, الطبعة: الأولى، 1409 إرواء الغليل للألباني , المكتب الإسلامي , ط2, 1405ه

The Prophet (may Allah's peace and blessings be upon him) prohibits immoderateness and exceeding the Shariah-prescribed limit in praising him and forbids ascribing to himself the peculiar attributes and actions of Allah or knowledge of the unseen, or that he should be supplicated to along with Allah, as the Christians did with Jesus, the son of Mary (peace be upon him). Then, he made it clear that he is one of the servants of Allah and commanded us to call him: the servant and Messenger of Allah.

1. It warns against exceeding the Shariah-prescribed limit in extolling and praising, for this leads to polytheism.
2. What the Prophet (may Allah's peace and blessings be upon him) warned about did take place within this Ummah, as a group of people went to extremes regarding the Prophet (may Allah's peace and blessings be upon him), and another group did the same regarding the members of his household and another group did it for the pious figures. So, they fell into polytheism.
3. The Messenger of Allah (may Allah's peace and blessings be upon him) described himself as a slave of Allah, thus pointing out that he is merely His slave, and it is not permissible to devote to him anything of the Lord's characteristics.
4. The Messenger of Allah (may Allah's peace and blessings be upon him) described himself as the Messenger of Allah, thus pointing out that he is a messenger sent by Allah, and so we are obligated to believe and follow him.

صحيح البخاري (4/ 167) (3445). عمدة القاري شرح صحيح البخاري، محمود بن أحمد بدر الدين العيني (16/ 37). فتح الباري، لابن حجر (6/ 490). منار القاري شرح مختصر صحيح البخاري، حمزة محمد قاسم (4/ 208).

The Prophet (may Allah's peace and blessings be upon him) informs that the happiest of people to receive his intercession on the Day of Judgment is the one who says, "there is no god but Allah" sincerely from his heart; that's no one is worthy of worship except Allah, and he should be free from polytheism and show-off.

1. It establishes the intercession of the Prophet (may Allah's peace and blessings be upon him) in the Hereafter, and that it would only be granted to monotheist believers.
2. The Prophet's intercession is his earnest supplication to Allah Almighty regarding the monotheistic believers who deserve to enter Hellfire not to enter it and those of them who entered it to be taken out of it.
3. It points out the merit and profound effect of the testimony of faith being sincerely uttered for Allah Almighty.
4. To actualize the testimony of faith, one should know its meaning and act according to it.
5. It demonstrates the merit of Abu Hurayrah (may Allah be pleased with him) and his keenness to seek knowledge.

صحيح البخاري (1/ 31) (99). منار القاري شرح مختصر صحيح البخاري، لحمزة محمد قاسم (1/ 197). القول المفيد على كتاب التوحيد، لابن عثيمين (1/ 343).