Islam Means Renunciation of the Taghut – The Polytheist Does Not Fulfil This Principle

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It has already been mentioned that a Muslim must necessarily renounce everything that is worshiped besides Allah سبحانه وتعالى or that is obeyed unconditionally alongside Allah. This principle is also explicitly mentioned multiple times in the Qur'an and has always been known in Islamic theology as al-kufru bi-t-taghut, meaning the renunciation of the taghut.

For this reason, it is often seen that the fulfilment of this fundamental principle is stated as one of the essential conditions⁹⁶ for the validity of the shahadah, that is, the testimony of faith.

Since the polytheist definitely does not fulfil this condition, he cannot be regarded as a Muslim from the perspective of Islamic theology in this regard either. It would be absurd to claim that a person, on one hand, “worships the taghut”, while at the same time, “has renounced everything that is worshiped besides Allah.”

Once again, this also makes it clear how irrelevant it is whether the person is aware of his own condition or not, because this knowledge or ignorance does not change the fundamental question of whether a person worships the taghut or rejects its worship. To assume both at the same time within the same person would be a clear contradiction.

In fact, someone who adheres to this obvious contradiction thereby provides further proof of the absurdity of this claim. Such people usually argue with two points that are supposed to make a polytheist a Muslim:

1. The outward declaration of the person to Islam
2. The ignorance and lack of awareness of the person regarding the fact that his own actions fundamentally contradict Islam

For those who argue in this way, however, another insoluble problem arises, namely the question: How can someone who is unaware of the reality of monotheism and polytheism, and the difference between these two, be considered a Muslim, when he has not understood the core content of his testimony of faith?

As this book progresses, this contradiction will be further elaborated separately. For now, it should suffice to point out that knowledge of the fundamental meaning of the testimony of faith is undoubtedly a prerequisite for being a Muslim or entering Islam.

Returning to the principle of renouncing the taghut discussed here, it can be concluded that, from an Islamic theological perspective, it would be inconceivable to imagine a Muslim who worships something alongside Allah while simultaneously renouncing the worship of all other things.

At the beginning of this book, several narrations of the well-known hadith about the five pillars of Islam were already mentioned. It became clear that Islam is built upon the principle of monotheism.

In some of these narrations from the Sahih collection of Muslim ibnu l-Hajjaj, the following was clearly evident:

عَلَى أَنْ يُوَحَّدَ اللَّهُ

In this narration, it is stated that Islam is built upon “... that Allah is made One⁹⁷.”

عَلَى أَنْ يُعْبَدَ اللَّهُ وَيُكْفَرَ بِمَا دُونَهُ

In another narration of the same hadith, however, it is stated that Islam is built upon “... that one worships only Allah and makes kufr against everything that is worshiped besides Him.”

Here, the principle of renouncing the taghut is explicitly formulated. Islam was established upon this principle, and the polytheist does not fulfil this foundation under any circumstances.

Likewise, this principle is described in other hadiths. The Prophet صلى الله عليه وسلم said in the following hadith, which is narrated by Muslim:

مَنْ قَالَ لَا إِلَهَ إِلَّا اللَّهُ وَكَفَرَ بِمَا يُعْبَدُ مِنْ دُونِ اللَّهِ حَرُمَ مَالُهُ وَدَمُهُ وَحِسَابُهُ عَلَى اللَّهِ

Whoever says la ilaha illa-llah and performs kufr against everything that is worshiped besides Him, their wealth and life are forbidden to us⁹⁸, and their reckoning is with Allah.

In another narration recorded by Muslim, the following wording is found:

مَنْ وَحَّدَ اللَّهَ ثُمَّ ذَكَرَ بِمِثْلِهِ

“Whoever makes Allah One⁹⁹...”

In both hadiths, tawhid is therefore explicitly equated with kufr against the taghut.

Kufr against the taghut consists precisely in not worshiping it. Whoever, however, engages in polytheistic actions contradicts this and, from the perspective of Islamic theology, cannot be considered a Muslim.

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Through the preceding chapters, it has been demonstrated that fulfilling the following principles is essential for a person's Islam:

• Ikhlas, meaning the purification of one's actions from polytheistic worship
• The realization of hanifiyyah, which consists of pure monotheism
• The adherence to the Abrahamic monotheism (millatu Ibrahim)
• The principle of renouncing the taghut

Whoever neglects these principles, which are required by Islamic theology by consensus, falls into numerous fundamental contradictions – not only concerning the aforementioned principles.

In the following, further Islamic source texts will be presented to reinforce what has been stated so far.