What is Tauhid?

By Ayaan Qayyum, Founder and CEO

Understanding the difference between Tauhid and Taqwa is comparable to the difference between Iman and Islam. To start, Allah created us with the knowledge of Himself. We know that there is a God, and that he is the Rabb. Our goal in life is to do what He wants. That you can become his slave.

The Messenger (SAW)’s greatest honor was that he became the slave of Allah. This is preprogrammed in every single human being.

If you lose sight of this goal, you’ll lose sight of that goal and you’ll have a hunger inside of you. How can you fulfill that goal? But when your appetite is not filled with healthy food, with nothing there, you won’t sit there and think “I’ll just starve.” No! You’ll be reduced to chewing on tree bark. Filth. The lowest of the low.

When you lose sight of Allah, and that no longer is your goal, then necessarily you’ll find a replacement. The mission of your life.

Whoever truly finds Allah, their Salah, sacrifices, life and death, the way they live, eat, sleep, what they want to do, short and long term goals, their education, job, and kids, will be for Allah. That is their goal.

For those who do not have this goal, they will look for another one. In old times it was idols and other religions, but our time is far more pathetic. Our time is he who is obsessed with their body, working 18 hours just to get buffer and buffer. Our time is he who is obsessed with money, yet the moment they lose their job, they become suicidal. Our time is he who “lives their children”, where they become consumed and obsessed with their children.

You will find something else and you’ll run after it. You’ll give up your life. No exception. The slacker, too, is not immune to this. The gamer is to entertain themselves, and they work hard to obtain it every day.

These are the psychological implications of understanding Tauhid. This is most evident in the second most popular surah in the Quran: Surah Al-Ikhlas. “قُلْ هُوَ اللَّهُ أَحَدٌ”. It is easy to say that Allah is One. But is He the One in my life? Or is there some other One? Some other thing? “What deluded you from your greatest master? What was so important to you to run after that you couldn’t come after this?”

There is nothing more important than making Him happy, making Him pleased, Him talking to me, Him forgiving me. The true believer will be the one who Allah speaks to directly on the Day of Judgement. The disbelievers...the losers and obsessors… Allah may not even bat an eye. Which group do you want to be a part of?