of a people until they change their own condition.
Quran 13:11
SAY, HE IS ALLAH, THE ONE. ALLAH, THE ETERNAL. HE BEGETS NOT, NOR IS HE BEGOTTEN. AND NOR IS THERE TO HIM ANY EQUIVALENT.
Indeed Tawhid is the foundation of Imaan. Chapter 4, verse 48 of the Qur'an reads: "God does not forgive the joining of partners with Him: anything less than that He forgives to whoever He will, but anyone who joins partners with God has concocted a tremendous sin."
As we have seen, Tawhid is one of the most important beliefs in Islam. Shirk is anything which denies Tawhid.
Tawhid or, with Arabic pronunciation, Tawḥīd i.e. “making one,” “asserting oneness,” in Islam, the oneness of God, in the sense that He is One and there is no god but He, as stated in the shahādah (“witness”) statement: “There is no god but God and Muhammad is the last prophet of Allah SWT.
Allah is just; He does not do injustice to anyone. He has ordered us to do justice to our fellow creatures - but He Himself treats us not only with justice but with grace. He created us for His worship, in order that we may attain spiritual perfection through it. That spiritual perfection enables us to reach near to Allah.For this purpose, He has given us freedom of will and choice. When we choose, by our own free will the Straight Path (prescribed by Allah) we are assured in the next world of everlasting happiness and glory by Grace of Allah.
To show us the Straight Path, Allah has been sending His Representatives to the mankind. They are called nabii (Prophet) and rasul (messenger). (Plural: anbiya'; rusul or mursaleen). There came 124,000 prophets and messengers, beginning with Adam (a.s.) and ending with Muhammad (s.a.w.a.). All the prophets were ma'sum (sinless, infallible; ma'sumeem). The Muhammad (S.A.W.W) the Last Prophet. (اللّهمّ صلّ علی محمّد و آل محمّد و عجّل فرجهم) “O Allah, send your peace and blessings upon Muhammad (S.A.W.W) and his pure progeny (a.s)”
To lead the people to the Straight Path, and to preserve the religion of Islam, Allah appointed twelve successors - one after another - of the Prophet of Islam. They are called Imams. Imam literally means leader. Plural aimmah (Wl = Imams; leaders). First of them was Ali son of Abu Talib, and the last one is al-Mahdi (a.s.). All Imams are ma'sum.
The names of the twelve Imams are as follows:-
- Ali, son of Abu Talib
- Hassan, son of Ali
- Hussain, son of Ali
- Ali Zaynul 'Abideen, son of Husayn
- Muhammad Baqir, son of Ali Zaynul Abideen
- Ja'far Sadiq, son of Muhammad Baqir
- Musa Kazim, son of Ja'far Sadiq
- Ali Rida, son of Musa Kazim
- Muhammad Taqi, son of Ali Raza
- Ali Naqi, son of Muhammad Taqi
- Hassan Askari, son of Ali Naqi
- Muhammad Mahdi, son of Hasan Askari
After that will come the day of resurrection, the day of judgement. All people will die; then the whole mankind will be resurrected to face the reckoning of their faith and deed. People having correct belief and doing good deeds will be placed in the paradise; while people having wrong belief will go to the hell. To know and believe in the above-mentioned usul al-deen is the first and foremost responsibility of a mukallaf. As explained just now, neglecting them throws one in ever-lasting punishment of the hell. If one does not believe in the usul al-deen, then his acts of worship are not accepted by Allah; also he is not entitled to receive khumus, zakah, fitrah, radd al-mazalim and kaffara1. As described earlier, a minor child of a Muslim parent is treated as Muslim; but as soon as he/she becomes baligh, he/she must have the correct belief with firm faith. If at that time he/she was oblivious of these fundamental beliefs, or had doubt about them, it would create a real problem.
Mere verbal confession is not enough. One must have firm belief in heart. Also, it is very much emphasized in Shi'a Ithna 'ashari faith that one should acquire the knowledge of usul al-deen with proofs and arguments. In this respect we totally differ from the Christians. The Christians say: First believe, then you'll understand. We say: First understand, and then believe. Never the less, if one has not learned rational proofs and arguments of usul al-deen, yet firmly believes in them because, let us say, his parents have told him so, he is accepted as a Shi'a Ithna 'ashari. But such a faith is always in a precarious position. He believes in these things because he has confidence in his father and mother. All right. Now suppose in later life he met someone in whose knowledge he had a greater confidence and that someone told him that there was no God or no twelfth Imam. Would not his belief in One God or the 121h Imam be shaken? Or even destroyed? Therefore, it is essential for the parents to teach their children necessary topics of usul al-deen with rational and logical proofs, so that nobody can mislead them in later days.
