into Islam, nor did that avowed confession spare them from being fought, killed, and their property taken as spoils, for they were not true monotheists once they associated others with Allah in worship. Such is the Qur’anic definition of tawḥīd—not the definition found in So-and-so’s book, in al-Jawhara, in al-Mawāqif, or in other works of speculative theology. The meaning of tawḥīd must be sought in the Book of Allah, the Sunnah of the Messenger of Allah ﷺ, and in the writings of Ahl al-Sunnah wa-l-Jamāʿah who hold fast to the Book of Allah and the Sunnah of His Messenger.

The evidence for prayer appears in His words: “and they establish the prayer.” The import is that it be performed exactly as Allah has commanded, with all its conditions, pillars, and obligatory elements fulfilled; a mere outward semblance of prayer is not enough. That is why the verse does not say “that they pray,” but rather “that they establish the prayer.” Prayer is not truly established unless it is carried out in the precise manner Allah ordained. Whoever goes through its motions whenever he wishes, or prays without purification, without composure, and without satisfying its requirements, has not really prayed. For this reason