Divine Unity (Tawhid) We believe that it is obligatory to...

Divine Unity (Tawhid) We believe that it is obligatory to believe in the Unity of Almighty Allah ( tawhid ) from all aspects; that is to say, in the same way as we must, firstly, believe in the Unity of Almighty Allah’s Essence and that He is necessarily Existent, we must, secondly, believe in the Unity of His Attributes, that is to believe that Almighty Allah’s Attributes are the same as His Essence. More light will be shed on this topic later on.

We must believe that there is nothing like Him in His Essential Attributes; so, Almighty Allah is unparalleled in Knowledge and Power; He is matchless in creation and providing of sustenance; and He is peerless in all items of perfection.

Thirdly, it is obligatory to believe in the Unity of Almighty Allah in worship; it is therefore absolutely unacceptable to worship anyone or anything save Him by any form of worship and it is unacceptable to associate anyone or anything to Him through any sort of worship, be it obligatory or recommended, or be it in offering of prayers or in any other act of worship.

One who ascribes a partner to Him in worship has committed polytheism, just like one who pretends to worship Him while in fact one’s intention is to seek nearness to someone or something other than Him. According to the laws of Islam, such ostentatious persons are subject to the same rulings pertaining to those who worship idols, without any difference.

The visiting of graves and holding of ceremonies on the death anniversaries of the Holy Prophet (s) and Imams (`a), cannot be considered as acts seeking nearness to other than Almighty Allah, as assumed by those who intend to attack the rites of the Imamiyyah Shi`ah owing to their inadvertence of the reality of such rites.

In fact, such rites are acts seeking nearness to Almighty Allah through righteous acts, exactly like seeking nearness to Him through visiting the sick, participating in funeral ceremonies, visiting one’s brethren-in-faith, and helping the poor. For example, to visit a sick person is a good act in itself through which a believer seeks nearness to Almighty Allah.

It is thus not an act aimed at seeking nearness to the sick person to be considered worshipping other than Almighty Allah or associating others in worshipping Him. The same thing is applicable to the other aforementioned righteous acts.