تَعْلِيمُ الصِّبْيَانِ التَّوْحِيدَ
Teaching Children Tawhîd
Shaykh'ul Islâm Muhammad bin Abd'il Wahhâb Rahimahullâh
May Allâh have mercy upon him, Shaykh'ul Islâm Muhammad bin Abd'il Wahhâb said:
I seek refuge in Allâh from the accursed devil.
In the name of Allâh, the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful. All praise is due to Allâh, the Lord of the worlds. May peace and blessings be upon the master of the messengers, and all of his family and companions.
To proceed:
This is a beneficial treatise regarding what is obligatory upon a person to teach children before teaching them the Qur'ân. This is so that the child becomes a perfect Muslim upon the Fitrah (innate nature) of Islâm, and a good Muwahhid upon the path of faith.
I arranged it in a question-and-answer manner:
Question 1: When you are asked, "Who is your Rabb (Lord)?"
Answer: Reply, "My Rabb is Allâh!"
Question 2: When you are asked, "What is the meaning of Rabb?"
Answer: Reply, "Rabb is the Mâlik (Owner of Everything) who is the Ma'bûd (One Who is Worshipped)!
Allâh means the possessor of Ulûhiyyah (divinity) and Ubûdiyyah (servitude) over all His creations."
Question 3: When you are asked, "With what do you recognize your Lord?"
Answer: Reply, "I recognize Him with His signs and His creations.
The night, the day, the sun, and the moon are amongst His signs.
The heavens and the earths and all that is in them are amongst His creation. The evidence for this is the statement of Allâhu Taâlâ,
"Indeed your Lord is Allâh, Who created the heavens and the earth in six days, then He rose over the Throne. He covers the night with the day, (another night) chasing it rapidly." (al-A'râf 7/54)
Until His statement,
"Blessed is Allâh, the Lord of the worlds!" (al-Arâf, 7/54)1"
Question 4: When you are asked, "For what did Allâh create you?"
Answer: Reply, "He has created me to worship Allâh who is One and has no partner, to obey Him by submitting to what He commanded, and abandoning what He prohibited, as Allâhu Taâlâ said,
"I have not created the jinn and human beings except that they worship Me." (adh-Dhâriyât, 51/56)
As Allâhu Taâlâ also said,
"Worship Allâh and associate nothing with Him." (an-Nisâ, 4/36)
And Shirk is the greatest sin through which Allâh is disobeyed, as Allâhu Taâlâ said,
"Indeed, he who associates others with Allâh -Allâh has forbidden him Paradise, and his refuge is the Fire." (al-Mâ'idah, 5/72)
Shirk is assigning a rival for Allâh which one invokes, hopes from, fears, places his trust in, desires besides Allâh, and directs other types of Ibâdah to.
Ibâdah is a comprehensive name for everything which Allâh loves and is pleased with from statements and actions, internal and external.
Invoking is from Ibâdah. Allâhu Taâlâ said,
"And the Masâjid are only for Allâh, so pray not unto anyone along with Allâh." (al-Jinn, 72/18)
The evidence for invoking other than Allâh being Kufr is as Allâhu Taâlâ said,
"And whoever invokes another deity with Allâh, while he has no proof for it, his reckoning is only with his Lord. Surely, the disbelievers will not achieve success." (al-Mu'minûn, 23/117)
The reason behind invoking other than Allâh being Kufr is because invocation is from the greatest types of Ibâdah, as Allâhu Taâlâ said,
"And your Lord says: Call upon Me; I will answer your (prayer). Indeed, those who are too arrogant to worship Me will surely enter Jahannam (Hell) in humiliation!" (Ghâfir, 40/60)
It is narrated in the Sunan, in a Marfû Hadîth on the authority of Anas Radiyallâhu Anh that,
"Invocation is the essence of Ibâdah."2
The first thing Allâh made obligatory upon His slaves is rejecting the Tâghût and believing in Allâh, Allâhu Taâlâ said,
"And verily, We have sent among every Ummah (nation) a Messenger (proclaiming): Worship Allâh (Alone), and avoid (worshipping) the Tâghût." (an-Nahl 16/36)
Tâghût is everything worshipped besides Allâh, the devil, soothsayers, fortune-tellers, those who judge by other than what Allâh revealed, and everything that is followed and obeyed in other than the truth.
Allâmah Ibn'ul Qayyim Rahimahullâhu Taâlâ said,
"Tâghût is all that which causes the slave to exceed the limits with regards to what is worshipped, followed, or obeyed."3
Question 5: If you are asked, "What is your religion?"
Answer: Reply, "My religion is Islâm!
The meaning of Islâm is submitting to Allâh with Tawhîd (unification), surrendering to Him by obedience, befriending the Muslims, and having enmity to the Mushrikûn.
Allâhu Taâlâ said,
"Indeed, the religion in the sight of Allâh is Islâm." (Âl-i Imrân, 3/19)
Allâhu Taâlâ also said,
"Whoever seeks a faith other than Islâm, it will never be accepted from him." (Âl-i Imrân, 3/85)
It is authentically narrated from the Prophet Sallallâhu Alayhi wa Sallam that he said,
"Islâm is that you testify that there is no -true- deity -worthy of worship- except Allâh and that Muhammad is Allâh's Messenger, establish the prayers, give Zakâh, fast Ramadhân, and perform the pilgrimage to the House, if you have the means to do so."4
La Ilaha Illallâh means there is no true Ma'bûd other than Allâh, as Allâhu Taâlâ said,
"And (remember) when Ibrâhîm said to his father and his people: Verily, I am free of what you worship, except for He who created me; and indeed, He will guide me. And he made it a word lasting among his offspring that they may turn back (to the truth)." (az-Zukhruf 43/26-28)
The evidence for Salâh and Zakâh is the statement of Allâhu Taâlâ,
"And they were not commanded except to worship Allâh, (being) sincere to Him in religion, inclining to truth, and to establish prayer and to give Zakâh. And that is the correct religion." (al-Bayyinah, 98/5)
In this verse, Allâhu Taâlâ drew attention to Tawhîd and distancing from Shirk.
The greatest of that which Allâh has ordered is Tawhîd. The greatest of that which He has prohibited is Shirk. He also commanded establishing Salâh and giving the Zakâh. This is the main part of the religion. What comes after them from the religious rulings follows them.
The evidence for the obligation of fasting is the statement of Allâhu Taâlâ,
"O you who believe, fasting has been enjoined upon you as it was enjoined upon those before you, so that you may be God-fearing." (al-Baqarah, 2/183)
Until His statement,
"The month of Ramadhân in which the Qur'ân was revealed, a guidance for mankind and clear proofs for the guidance and the criterion. So whoever of you witnesses the month must fast in it." (al-Baqarah, 2/185)5
The evidence for the obligation of pilgrimage is the statement of Allâhu Taâlâ,
"And pilgrimage to the House is a duty that mankind owes to Allâh." (Âl-i Imrân, 3/97)
The pillars of Îmân are six
Your belief in Allâh, His angels, His books, His messengers, the Last Day, and believing in Qadar (pre-ordainment); its good and evil.
The evidence for this is what is narrated in the Sahîh from the Hadîth of Umar Ibn'ul Khattâb Radiyallâhu Anh."6
Question 6: If you are asked, "Who is your Nabî?"
Answer: Reply, "Our Nabî is Muhammad the son of Abdullâh the son of Abd'ul Muttalib the son of Hâshim the son of Abdu Manâf. Allâhu Taâlâ chose him from Quraysh, and they are the most elite of the sons of Ismâ'îl Alayh'is Salâm. Allâh sent him to the red-skinned and the black-skinned. Allâh revealed the Book and the wisdom to him. So, Rasûlullâh Sallallâhu Alayhi wa Sallam called people to devote worship sincerely for Allâh and to abandon what they used to worship besides Allâh from idols, stones, trees, the prophets, the righteous, the angels, and other than that.
So Rasûlullâh Sallallâhu Alayhi wa Sallam called the people to abandon Shirk and fought them until they abandoned it and devoted worship sincerely to Allâh. As Allâhu Taâlâ said,
"Say: I only invoke my Lord and do not associate anyone with Him." (al-Jinn, 72/20)
Allâhu Taâlâ also said,
"Say: Allâh (alone) do I worship, sincere to Him in my religion." (az-Zumar, 39/14)
Allâhu Taâlâ also said,
"Say: I am commanded only to worship Allâh and not to ascribe partners to Him. To Him I call and to Him is my return." (ar-Ra'd, 13/36)
Allâhu Taâlâ also said,
"Say: Do you order me to worship other than Allâh, O ignorant ones? And it was already revealed to you and to those before you that if you should associate (anything) with Allâh, your deeds would surely become worthless, and you would surely be among the losers. Rather, worship (only) Allâh and be among the grateful." (az-Zumar 39/64-66)
From the principles of faith, which save one from Kufr are: Belief in the awakening, resurrection, retribution, reckoning, and that Jannah (Paradise) and Hellfire is real.
Allâhu Taâlâ said,
"From it (the earth) We created you, and into it We will return you, and from it We shall raise you up once again." (Tâ-Hâ, 20/55)
Allâhu Taâlâ also said,
"And if you wonder, then wondrous is their saying: When we are dust, shall we indeed then be (raised) into a new creation? Those are the ones who have disbelieved in their Lord! They are those who will have shackles around their necks and they are the people of the Fire. They shall abide therein forever." (ar-Ra'd, 13/5)
There is evidence in this verse that whoever rejects the awakening has disbelieved with Kufr that makes it obligatory for one to abide eternally in the Hellfire.
May Allâh protect us from Kufr and the actions of Kufr. (Âmîn!)
So, these verses contain a clarification of what the Prophet Sallallâhu Alayhi wa Sallam was sent with, which is devoting worship sincerely to Allâh, prohibiting from worshipping other than Allâh, and restricting worship to Allâh. This is the religion of the Prophet Sallallâhu Alayhi wa Sallam, which he called people to and for which he fought against them.
As Allâhu Taâlâ said,
"And fight them until there is no more Fitnah and until all of the religion will be for Allâh Alone." (al-Anfâl, 8/39)
The word Fitnah mentioned in the verse is Shirk.
Allâhu Taâlâ dispatched him as a Messenger at forty years of age. So, he called the people to devote worship sincerely to Allâh and to abandon the worship of other than Allâh, for a period of ten years. Then he was ascended to the skies (Mi'râj), and the five daily prayers were prescribed upon him without an intermediary between him and Allâhu Taâlâ in this regard. Then, he was commanded with Hijrah (migration), so he migrated to Madînah. He was commanded with Jihâd (fighting in the way of Allâh), so for nearly ten years, he waged Jihâd in the way of Allâh as it deserved to be waged until the people espoused the religion of Allâh in groups.
When he had completed sixty-three years in age, and all praise is due to Allâh, the religion was completed and the message of Allâhu Taâlâ informing His slave that He will take his soul, reached. May the peace and blessings of Allâh be upon him.
The first of the messengers is Nûh Alayh'is Salâm and the last of the messengers is Muhammad Sallallâhu Alayhi wa Sallam. As Allâhu Taâlâ said,
"Surely, We have revealed to you as We have revealed to Nûh and to the prophets after him." (an-Nisâ, 4/163)
Allâhu Taâlâ also said,
"Muhammad is only a Messenger." (Âl-i Imrân, 3/144)
Allâhu Taâlâ also said,
"Muhammad is not the father of any of your men, but he is the Messenger of Allâh and the last of the Prophets. And Allâh has the Knowledge of everything." (al-Ahzâb, 33/40)
The most virtuous of the messengers is our Prophet Sallallâhu Alayhi wa Sallam. The most virtuous of mankind after the prophets Sallallâhu wa Sallam Alayhim is Abû Bakr Radiyallâhu Anh. Then it is Umar Radiyallâhu Anh. Then it is Uthmân Radiyallâhu Anh. Then it is Alî Radiyallâhu Anh. May Allâhu Taâlâ be pleased with them all.
The best of generations is the first generation, then those who follow them, then those who follow them.
Îsâ Sallallâhu Alayhi wa Sallam will descend from the heavens and kill the Dajjâl.
All praise is due to Allâh, the Lord of the worlds.
This treatise has ended as mentioned.
1- Allâhu Taâlâ said in this verse,
"Indeed your Lord is Allâh, Who created the heavens and the earth in six days, then He rose over the Throne. He covers the night with the day, (another night) chasing it rapidly, and (He created) the sun, the moon, the stars subjected to His Command. Surely, to Him alone belongs the creation and the command. Blessed is Allâh, the Lord of the worlds!" (al-Arâf, 7/54)
2- At-Tirmidhî, Hadîth no. 3371; Abû Dâwûd, Hadîth no. 1479.
3- Ibn'ul Qayyim, I'lâm'ul Muwaqqi'în, 1/40.
4- Al-Bukhârî, Hadîth no. 50; Muslim, Hadîth no. 8.
5- Allâhu Taâlâ said in these verses,
"O you who believe, fasting has been enjoined upon you as it was enjoined upon those before you, so that you may be God-fearing. (Fasting for) a limited number of days. So whoever among you is ill or on a journey - then an equal number of other days (are to be made up). And as for those who can fast with difficulty, they have to feed a poor person. Then whoever does good voluntarily, that is better for him. However, that you fast is better for you, if you only knew. The month of Ramadhân in which the Qur'ân was revealed, a guidance for mankind and clear proofs for the guidance and the criterion. So whoever of you witnesses the month must fast in it, and whoever is ill or on a journey - then an equal number of other days. Allâh intends for you ease, and He does not want to make things difficult for you, and (wants) for you to complete the period and to glorify Allâh for having guided you, so that you may be grateful." (al-Baqarah, 2/183-185)
6- Al-Bukhârî, Hadîth no. 50; Muslim, Hadîth no. 8.
