Tawhid/Monotheism is the Foundation of Islam
In accordance with the previously mentioned hadith about the five pillars of Islam, another well-known hadith also states that Islam is built upon these five matters. Thus, al-Bukhari narrates from 'Abdullah ibnu 'Umar that the Prophet صلى الله عليه وسلم said:
عَنْ ابْنِ عُمَرَ رَضِيَ اللَّهُ عَنْهُمَا قَالَ قَالَ رَسُولُ اللَّهِ ﷺ بُنِيَ الْإِسْلَامُ عَلَى خَمْسٍ شَهَادَةِ أَنْ لَا إِلَهَ إِلَّا اللَّهُ وَأَنَّ محمّدا رَسُولُ اللَّهِ وَإِقَامِ الصَّلَاةِ وَإِيتَاءِ الزَّكَاةِ وَالْحَجِّ وَصَوْمِ رَمَضَانَ
Islam was built upon five (pillars):
• The testimony that there is nothing worthy of worship except Allah and that Muhammad is His Messenger,
• the establishment of prayer,
• the giving of Zakat,
• the pilgrimage, and
• the fasting of Ramadan.
Thus, it becomes clear once again that Islam is inconceivable without its foundation, as the entire religion is built upon this very foundation.
In another narration of this hadith in al-Bukhari, it is stated:
عَلَى خَمْسٍ إِيمَانٍ بِاللَّهِ وَرَسُولِهِ وَالصَّلَاةِ الْخَمْسِ
Islam was built upon five (pillars): Iman in Allah and His Messenger, the five prayers...
In yet another narration of the hadith in Muslim39, the following wording is recorded:
عَلَى أَنْ يُوَحَّدَ اللَّهُ
..., that Allah is affirmed as One40.
عَلَى أَنْ يُعْبَدَ اللَّهُ وَيُكْفَرَ بِمَا دُونَهُ
..., that one worships (only) Allah and rejects41 everything else that is worshiped besides Him.
This is, without a doubt, the foundation upon which Islam is built – a matter upon which there has been consensus among Muslims from the very beginning. As is often the case with different narrations, the wordings are identical in meaning and serve to clarify one another.
Notes
- Muslim ibnu l-Hajjaj (204–261 AH / 820–875 CE). As previously mentioned, the hadith scholar Muslim was a student of al-Bukhari and, along with him, one of the most significant scholars of hadith. ↩
- In Arabic, the verb “yuwahhadu” is used here. It derives from the same root as the word “wahid”, meaning “one.” The word tawhid is the masdar (verbal noun) of this verb. As previously explained, tawhid means “to unify” or “to make one.” Thus, from this hadith and its wording, it is evident that tawhid constitutes the foundation of Islam. ↩
- Literally: “to perform kufr against everything else.” Committing kufr against something means to completely reject it and disassociate oneself from it. ↩