What is Tawheed of worship?
Ulama Institute #1
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- Everything a Muslim does can be an act of worship.
It will make a big difference if a person thinks carefully before doing an act.
If the action is good and the intention is to please Allah ﷻ , everyday duties can be transformed into acts of worship. Here is an example to illustrate this point:
Two women are eating food. The first is eating for the sake of eating.
The second is eating in order to stay healthy so she can pray Salah at night.
This simple example shows a big difference in what the two women are doing. The second is doing an act of worship. She has corrected her intention so her action is purer than that of the first woman. This example helps explain the hadeeth narrated by ‘Umar Ibn Al-Khattaab who heard Allah’s Messenger ﷺ say:
( البخاري ومسلم ) (إنما الأعمال بالنيات، وإِنما لَكُلِّ امرئ ما نوى)
“The reward of deeds depends upon the intentions and every person will get rewarded according to what he has intended.” (Al-Bukhaari and Muslim).
- Intentions should be made sincere before doing anything. This means doing things with the sole intention of pleasing Allah ﷻ . Then everything that is done will be acts of worship. This is called Tawheed in worshipping Allah ﷻ alone. The following hadeeth, narrated by ‘Abdullaah Ibn ‘Umar, describes the importance of Tawheed of worship:
The Prophet ﷺ said, “While three men were walking, it started raining and they took shelter in a cave in a mountain. A big rock rolled down from the mountain and closed the mouth of the cave. They said to each other, ‘Think of good deeds which you did for Allah’s sake only, and invoke Allah by giving reference to those deeds so that He may remove this rock from you.”” (Al-Bukhaari)
- This long hadeeth ends by stating that the men finally managed to walk out of the cave after asking Allah ﷻ for help by virtue of the good deeds they had done for His sake. This hadeeth also indicates that people can ask only Allah for help directly or through their good deeds. To ask Allah ﷻ through dead people, Prophets, saints, spirits, holy men or angels etc. is not allowed in Islam and is disbelief.
What we learn from the lesson:
- Muslims must have sincerity in everything that they do.
- It is permissible to ask Allah ﷻ through our good deeds.
- Muslims are not allowed to ask Allah ﷻ through dead people.
“Discussion:”
- Which books can you find the hadeeth in ?
