Tauheed - Questions That Kept Me Awake

 

We will discuss two set of points here
1. The ones that are directly required for understanding Tauheed
2. The ones that are complimentary for understanding Tauheed for they indirectly point towards tauheed. {while explaining the other pillars of religion (Adl, Nabuwat, Qayamat and so on….)}

Right at the onset - lets ask a very important question -
What is the need for us to discuss the concept of Tauheed or even address this question - someone may raise a point that, there is no need for us to discuss this topic as it is not among the necessities of our lives?
Why waste our energies on such a thing - there are other important things in life that needs to be addressed?

The Scholars have mentioned three reasons as to why one should discuss and address the issue of Tauheed:

• To improve the societal condition or fix the existing problems in the society: According to the scholars if we want our society to progress and develop the only available option at our hand is through Tauheed. The stronger the hold on the understanding of Tauheed by the society the stronger the society would be and the more progressed and developed it would be. The fundamental problems of the society (man being a social being) are related to ethics (Akhlaaq) like lying, back biting and not being honest etc…. Man would implement the true ethics in ones life (and give up the unethical behavior) only when the concept of Tauheed is well resolved for him. Allamah Tabatabai in Tafseer ul Mizan says - If you see a person being unable to uphold the ethics, like its difficult for him to be honest or if faced by a problem he starts doubting Allah (SWT) then its evident that Tauheed is not yet resolved for him. Now someone may raise a point that you are emphasizing the need for Tauheed in a social environment, what if there is only one man on this planet. Then we don’t need any tauheed. When H.Adam (AS) was created - He was the only man - was there a need of tauheed for him - if we say no then it clearly leads us astray - on the other hand the Scholars state that irrespective of existence of society or an individual; the man will always be in need of Tauheed. Whether he is a tribal man, cave man or a lonely man in a jungle.
  Why?
• To reach Final purpose of the man and to reach the perfection
  Every man has a purpose of his life - whether independent of others or interdependent on others. (Individual or social). Either the purpose (of his life) is for this world (Dunyawi) or for the hereafter(Ookhrawi - derived from Akhirat = Here after.) (If you are given a situation where you can achieve only one purpose, either the worldly or the one for the hereafter, then a person would prioritize hereafter's purpose even if  he is not able to achieve the worldly one; example, one of the worldly purposes or desires is to live in this world as long as possible - however the purpose for the here after is not,  that a man should live in this world as long as possible, hence even if one has to sacrifice his life, he would be ready to do so; such that the hereafter's purpose is achieved.) (It is presumed that the worldly purpose will always be sacrificed for the purpose of the hereafter) Tauheed helps us reaching the higher stages of perfection (Kamaal) for (hereafter's) Ookhrawi purpose ( which is, to seek the pleasure of Allah SWT). However later on we will discuss that the final purpose or goal of the man is not just "TO SEEK THE PLEASURE OF ALLAH SWT" - however when we aim towards the final purpose we also are blessed with "HIS SWT being pleased with us (Ridh'ayat). This will be discussed later on. Most of the scholars generally for the common understanding says that "Seeking HIS SWT's pleasure" is the mans purpose and this can be derived from the Verse of the Holy Quran chapter 89:27-28 - (To the righteous soul will be said:) "O (thou) soul, in (complete) rest and satisfaction! "Come back thou to thy Lord,- well pleased (thyself), and well-pleasing unto Him!
• Curing the illness of the soul
  Man suffers from  two types of illness - one is the physical illness and the other is the illness of the soul. The medical doctors are able to assist man, to control, cure and overcome the physical illness. However how do we tackle the illness of the soul. In last 100 years there is a huge leap in the sufferings of the soul as compared to the time earlier than that. This is where the Tauheed comes handy, in curing the illness of the soul. The better the hold on Tauheed the easier the life during the difficulties, the stronger the soul and the more content the man would be. If we look at the life of our prophets we will notice that they managed to pull through the most difficult times of their lives very comfortably. It is very important for us to understand that ALL the discussion regarding Islam are based on Tauheed for example we want to talk about "Justness" (Adl) of Allah SWT, however we need to prove that there exists a GOD, then comes the discussion of HIM SWT being JUST or UNJUST. If we want to talk about Prophethood, then the Question arises Whose prophet - Allah (SWT)'s prophets - again we need to talk about HIS existence; Hence the all the five pillars of deen (Usool-e-Deen) are dependent on Tauheed and all the branches of Islam (Furoo-e-Deen) are dependent on the pillars of deen (Usool-e-Deen). Another concept that will be discussed here is that of Faith and Destiny (Predestination) Qada wa Qadr

Am sure you'd have had this question on your mind before - Why did God create me like this and him that way, why am I not rich, why am I fair and he black etc… could God have changed few things here and there in me or in them - If HE SWT could, then why didn't HE SWT, is there a reason for it, if there is a reason for it can I understand it?

There could be other questions like - Does Allah SWT know what am I going to do after ONE hour, Does HE not know what prayers am I going to offer in the Holy month of Ramadh'an?, if HE SWT does then whats the point in creating me, HE knows everything that I would do right from the birth till the end; whats the point in stating IF YOU DO GOOD - you will get rewards and vice-versa, while HE SWT already know whether am going to do good or bad and in the given scenario do I have any choice at all for HE SWT already knows what choice am going to make.