two fundamental principles:
The first is to submit to Allah; the second is that this submission remain pure for Him, so that no one whatsoever shares with Him in it. This is surrendering to Allah alone, and Surah “Say, O you disbelievers” clarifies this.
There is no doubt that action and intention are preceded by knowledge; therefore, one must know and testify that there is no deity but Allah.
As for the verbal tawhid—that is, conveying information about Allah—it is expounded in Surah al-Ikhlas, which equals one-third of the Quran (1). In that surah occur His Names al-Ahad (the One) and al-Samad (the Self-Sufficient). Each of these two Names stands in direct opposition to the doctrine of the Jahmiyyah, as we have explained elsewhere (2).
Worshipping Allah alone encompasses perfect love for Allah alone, perfect fear of Him alone, perfect hope in Him alone (3), and reliance upon Him alone, as the Quran emphasizes in numerous passages. All of this lies at the very core of tawhid, which Allah has made obligatory upon His servants. Through it the entire religion becomes Allah’s alone, just as He commanded His messengers and the believers to fight until that end is achieved, when He says:
“Fight them until there is no more persecution and religion belongs wholly to Allah.” (4)