Dad, what exactly is Tawhid?

One day, the Prophet ﷺ was with Mu‘âdh ibn Jabal رضي الله عنه.

Mu‘âdh was behind him on a mount.

Then the Prophet ﷺ asked him a very important question.

He asked him if he knew the right of Allah over His servants.

Mu‘âdh replied that Allah and His Messenger know best.

Then the Prophet ﷺ explained to him:

The right of Allah over His servants is that they worship Him… and that they associate nothing with Him.

And this is precisely what helps us understand a very important word in Islam.

التوحيد — Tawḥîd.

But… what exactly is Tawḥîd?

Tawḥîd is to recognize that Allah is Unique and to devote to Him what belongs to Him.

Allah alone is our Creator.

Allah alone directs everything.

Allah alone deserves our worship.

And Allah possesses the perfect names and attributes that He has made known to us.

But be careful.

Simply saying:

“I know that Allah exists”

is not enough to explain all of Tawḥîd.

Even some peoples who refused to follow the prophets recognized that Allah was their Creator.

The real problem was that they also worshipped other things with Him.

Yet Allah sent the prophets with the same message:

to worship Allah alone and to associate nothing with Him.

That is why the most important phrase in Islam is:

لا إله إلا الله

“There is no deity worthy of worship in truth except Allah.”

This phrase does not only mean that Allah exists.

It means that all our worship must be for Him alone.

When we pray, we pray to Allah.

When we make a supplication, we supplicate to Allah.