Linguistically, Tawheed means oneness, and its religious meaning is to single out Allaah in worship.

THE DIVISION OF TAWHEED INTO TWO TYPES:

Al-’Allaamah ’Abdur-Rahmaan Ibn Hasan (d.1285H) said:

"Tawheed is of two types: Tawheed of knowledge (ma’rifah) and affirmation (ithbaat) and it is the Tawheed of Ruboobiyyah (Lordship) and Asmaa was-Sifaat (the Names and Attributes of Allaah). Then there is the Tawheed in actions (talab) and intentions (qasd) and it is the Tawheed of Uloohiyyah (divinity) and ’ibaadah (worship)." [1]

Imaam Ibnul-Qayyim al-Jawziyyah (d.751H) said:

"As for the Tawheed which the Messengers called to and which was revealed in the Books, then it is of two types: Tawheed in knowledge and affirmation (al-ma’rifah wal-ithbaat) and Tawheed in actions and intentions (at-talab wal-qasd). So the first thing is the affirmation of the reality of the essence of Allaah the Exalted and His Attributes and His Actions and His Names, and what He spoke in His Books, and what He spoke to whomever He wished from amongst His servants. It is also the affirmation of the comprehensiveness of His Predestination (qadaa) and His Pre-Decree (qadar) and His Wisdom (hikmah). Indeed the Qur’aan has clarified this in an open declaration as is found in the beginning of Sooratul-Hadeed, and Soorah Taa Haa; and towards the end of al-Hashr and in the beginning of as-Sajdah, and in the beginning of Aali-’Imraan and in all of Sooratul-Ikhlaas, and in other than them.

The second type is what is demonstrated in Sooratul-Kaafiroon and in the statement of Allaah the Exalted:

"Say: O People of the Book! Come to a word between us and you that we will not worship anyone besides Allaah and we will not associate anything with Him and we will not take each other as lords besides Allaah. So if they turn away, say: Bear witness that we are Muslims." [Soorah Aali-’Imraan 3:64]

This can also be seen at the beginning of Soorah Tanzeelul-Kitaab and at its end. It is also contained in the beginning, middle and end of Sooratul-Mu‘minoon. It is also at the beginning of Sooratul-A’raaf and at its end; and in most of Sooratul-An’aam and in the great majority of the Soorahs (chapters) of the Qur’aan. Rather, it is in every soorah of the Qur’aan. So it demonstrates the two types of Tawheed, testifies to it and calls to it.

So verily the Qur’aan consists of either, information (akhbaar) about Allaah and His Names and His Attributes and His Actions and His Statements - so it is the Tawheed of knowledge (’ilm) and information (akhbaar). Or the Qur’aan consists of calling the servants of Allaah to His Oneness and not associating partners with Him, and leaving off whatever is worshipped besides Him. So this is Tawheed of intentions (iraadah) and actions (talab). Or the Qur’aan consists of ordering and prohibiting and the obligation of obeying His commands and prohibitions. So these are the rights of Tawheed and its completion. Or the Qur’aan informs of the nobility of the people of Tawheed and what is done to them in the world and how they will be honoured due to it in the Hereafter, so it is the reward of Tawheed. Or the Qur’aan consists of information about the people of Shirk and what was by them in the world and what they shall receive of exemplary punishment and torment, so this is the recompense of those who leave from the rule of Tawheed. So all of the Qur’aan deals with Tawheed and its rights and its rewards and with the affair of Shirk and its people and their recompense." [2]

Shaykhul-Islaam Ibn Taymiyyah (d.728H) said:

"Indeed the Tawheed which the Messengers came with includes affirmation of the divinity (uloohiyyah) of Allaah alone. It includes testifying that there is no true deity worthy of worship besides Allaah, none except Him is to be worshipped, and none is relied upon except Him, no alliance is made except to Him and no enemies are developed except His, and nothing is done except with His permission. So due to that, it is necessary to affirm what He has affirmed for Himself from names and attributes. Allaah the Exalted says:

"And your God is one God. There is no true deity besides Him. The Most Merciful, the Bestower of Mercy." [Sooratul-Baqarah 2:163]

Allaah said:

"Do not take two gods. He is only one God, so fear Him." [Sooratun-Nahl 16:51]

Allaah the Exalted said:

"Whoever calls upon another deity along with Allaah, then he has no proof for it. So verily his reckoning will be with his Lord. Indeed the disbelievers will not succeed." [Sooratul-Mu‘minoon 23:117]

And Allaah the Exalted said:

"And ask those whom we sent before you from our messengers, did We make any deities to be worshipped besides the Most Merciful." [Sooratuz-Zukhruf 43:45]

So Allaah has informed that every prophet from amongst the Prophets called the people o the worship of Allaah alone, without any associates. And Allaah said:

"Indeed there is an excellent example for you in Ibraaheem and those who were with him, when they said to the people: Verily we are free from what you worship besides Allaah. We have rejected you, and there has developed between us and you, hostility and hatred forever - until you believe in Allaah alone." [Sooratul-Mumtahinah 60:4]

And Allaah said about the polytheists:

"Verily it is said to them: There is no deity worthy of worship besides Allaah, then they become arrogant. And they say: Are we to abandon our deities for a mad poet?" [Sooratus-Saaffaat 37:35-36]

So this is found in many places in the Qur’aan." [3]

Shaykh Saalih Ibn Sa’d as-Suhaymee says:

"Linguistically, Tawheed means oneness, and its religious meaning is to single out Allaah in worship. And Tawheed is divided into three categories: [i] Tawheedur-Ruboobiyyah (The Oneness of Allaah in His Lordship) [ii] Tawheedul-Uloohiyyah (The Oneness of Allaah in His Divinity) [iii] and Tawheedul-Asmaa was-Sifaat (The Oneness of Allaah in His Names and Attributes)." [4]

Shaykh Saalih as-Suhaymee says:

"It is the Tawheed of Allaah in His actions such as creating and providing sustenance, and giving life or death, and supreme authority and planning. The meaning here, is to believe that Allaah the Glorified and Exalted is the Creator, and the Sustainer, and the Master, and the Governor, and the Planner of everything. None can change what He has predestined and none can alter His decision. From the proofs of Tawheedur-Ruboobiyyah is the statement of Allaah the Exalted:

"Verily your Lord is Allaah, who created the heavens and the earth in six days, then He ascended above the Throne. He covers the night with the day, chasing it rapidly. And He created the Sun and the Moon and the Stars, which are subjected to His command. Indeed His is the creation and the command. Blessed is Allaah, Lord of the Worlds." [Sooratul-A’raaf 7:54]

Indeed this category of Tawheed was accepted by the early polytheists, but this acceptance did not enter them into Islaam, due to the absence of its necessary requisite, and it is Tawheedul-Uloohiyyah. Allaah the Exalted said:

"And if you ask them who created the heavens and the earth, they will say: They were created by the All-Mighty (al-’Azeez), the All-Knowing (al-’Aleem)." [Sooratuz-Zukhruf 43:9]

Allaah the Exalted says:

"And if you ask them who created them, they will say: Allaah. So how are they deluded?" [Sooratuz-Zukhruf 43:87]

So the proofs concerning Lordship (ruboobiyyah) of the Creator - the Glorified and Exalted - cannot be counted, its textual and intellectual proofs are innumerable. So the creation is proof of the existence of the creator and the product is proof of the existence of the producer. So the product does not bring itself into existence, rather it is undoubtedly Allaah - the Glorified and Exalted - who brings things into existence. Allaah the Exalted said:

"Were they created by nothing? Or were they themselves the creators?" [Sooratut-Toor 52:35]

And Allaah the Exalted says:

"And in the earth and in their own selves are signs for those who are certain. So will you not see? And in the skies is your sustenance and whatever you have been promised." [Sooratudh-Dhaariyaat 51:20-22]

And there is other than them from the texts which show the completeness of His - the Blessed and Exalted - power.

‘And in everything is a sign, Showing that it is one.’" [5]

Shaykh Saalih as-Suhaymee says:

"It is the Tawheed in the actions of the servants for which they were created and for the sake of which they exist, such as Prayer (salaah), and fasting (sawm), and sacrifice (dhabh), and taking oaths (nadhr), and seeking aid (istghaathah) and other than these from the types of worship. Tawheedul-Uloohiyyah means to make all of the various types of worship for Allaah alone without any associate. So none besides Him, from His creation, is to be called upon, whether he be a successive king, or a sent prophet. So whoever makes something from these for other than Allaah, then he is a pagan disbeliever, as Allaah the Blessed and Exalted says:

"Say: Verily my Prayer and my Sacrifice, and my Living and my Dying are for Allaah, Lord of the Worlds. He has no partners, and that is what I command you with, and I am the first of the Muslims." [Sooratul-An’aam 8:162-163]

And Allaah the Exalted says:

"Whoever calls upon another deity besides Allaah, then he has no proof for it. So verily his reckoning is only with His Lord. Verily the disbelievers shall not succeed." [Sooratul-Mu‘minoon 23:117]" [6]

Shaykhul-Islaam Ibn Taymiyyah (d.728H) says:

"The meaning of Tawheed is not Tawheedur-Ruboobiyyah only - and that is the belief that Allaah alone is the Creator of the world - as some of the people of kalaam (theological rhetoric) and tasawwuf think. So they think that if they affirm that - along with its proofs - then they have affirmed the objective of Tawheed! They believe that if they testify to this and become engrossed in it, then they have become engrossed in the objective of Tawheed. So if a man affirms the Attributes of Allaah the Exalted, which He deserves, and negates everything that must be negated from Him and affirmed that He alone is the Creator of everything - he is still not a Muwwahhid (one who affirms Tawheed), until he testifies that there is no Ilaah (deity) except Allaah alone. And the Ilaah is the one who is deified and worshipped and he is deserving of worship, and he is not the Ilaah solely based upon the meaning that he is the one who has the power to create and originate. So if the explainer explains Tawheed to mean the one who has the power to create and originate and he believes that this is the most particularized description of al-Ilaah, and he makes this affirmation the utmost goal of Tawheed - as is done. So the people who exercise kalaam in the Attributes of Allaah, and those who relate this from Abul-Hasan [al-Ash’aree] and follow him in it - they do not know the reality of Tawheed with which Allaah sent His Messenger (sallallaahu ’alayhi wa sallam). So the pagan Arabs used to accept that Allaah alone was the creator of everything, but despite this, they were still disbelievers. Allaah the Exalted said:

"Most of them do not believe in Allaah, except that they associate partners with Him." [Soorah Yoosuf 12:106]

A group from amongst the Salaf used to say: ‘If you ask them who created them, they will say: Allaah. But despite this, they are worshipping other than Him.’ [7]

Allaah the Exalted said:

"Say: Whose is the earth and all that is in it, if you indeed know? They will say: Allaah. Say: Will you not then remember? Say: Who is the Lord of the seven heavens and the Magnificent Throne? They will say: Allaah. Say: Will you not then fear? Say: In whose Hand is the realm of everything - and He protects and none can protect against Him - if you indeed know? They will say: Allaah. How then, are they deluded?" [Sooratul-Mu‘minoon 23:84-89]

So everyone who accepts that Allaah the Exalted is the Lord of everything and its Creator - is a servant of Him alone, nor a caller upon him alone, hoping in Him alone, having fear of Him alone, making allegiance and enmity with Him alone, and obeying His Messengers, and ordering what He orders and prohibiting what He prohibits." [8]

Shaykh Saalih al-Fawzaan said:

"Entering into belief in Allaah is faith (eemaan) in His Attributes which He described Himself with in His Book, or that which He was described with by His Messenger (sallallaahu ’alayhi wa sallam) in His Sunnah. So we affirm what came in the Book and the Sunnah with their wordings and meanings, and without alteration (tahreef) in the wordings, and without nullification (ta’teel) in their meanings, and without resembling (tashbeeh) His Attributes to those of the Creation. We rely only upon the Book and the Sunnah in their affirmation, not exceeding what is in the Qur’aan and Hadeeth, because the mater of the Attributes is restricted to what is found in the texts (tawqeefiyyah)." [9]

Imaam Muhammad Ibn ’Alee ash-Shawkaanee (d.1250H) said:

"The methodology adopted by the Companions (radiyallaahu ’anhum) and their followers and those who followed them is to follow the evidences of the Attributes of Allaah at face value, without any figurative explanation (ta‘weel), nor comparison (tamtheel), nor nullification (ta’teel). Whenever they were asked about any of the Attributes of Allaah, they would recite the proof concerning it from the Qur’aan, or the Sunnah and avoid any other references. They would say: ‘Allaah said such and such, and this is the only thing that concerns us. We do not talk about what we have no knowledge of, nor were we permitted to do so by Allaah.’ If the inquirer attempted to obtain more out of them, they would chastise him for delving into what does not concern him. They forbade him from seeking what could never be attained without falling into heresy, which is not their path, nor is it what they learned from their Prophet (sallallaahu ’alayhi wa sallam) and the Companions and their followers. In that noble era, there was consensus (ijmaa’) concerning the Attributes, and the methodology was one. Their only concern was with what Allaah had commanded them to do, and with the obligations that He had commanded them to fulfill. Those included: belief in Allaah, establishing regular prayers, zakaat (alms), fasting, pilgrimage (hajj), Jihaad, charity (sadaqah), seeking beneficial knowledge, guiding the people to all types of good, seeking the glad tidings of Paradise, and avoiding the punishment of the Fire, enjoining the good and forbidding the evil, and rectifying the transgressors, as much as possible. They never occupied themselves with any matter that Allaah had not instructed them to become occupied with, nor had they tarnished their worship with the innovation of inquiring about His nature and essence. In those days, the Religion was pure and devoid of all heresy." [10]

Shaykh Muhammad Ibn Saalih al-’Uthaymeen says:

"So whoever does not believe in the existence of Allaah, then he is not a Believer. Whoever believes in the existence Allaah, but without the oneness of His ruboobiyyah (lordship), the he is not a Believer. Whoever believes in Allaah and in the oneness of His ruboobiyyah, but not in the oneness of His uloohiyyah (divinity), then he is not a Believer. Whoever believes in Allaah and in the oneness of His ruboobiyyah, and in the oneness of His uloohiyyah, but he does not believe in His Names and Attributes, then he is not a Believer. So in the last example, there is the one who is deprived of faith completely and the one who is deprived of the completeness of faith." [11]

[2] Madaarijus-Saalikeen (3/449-450)

[3] Majmoo’ul-Fataawaa (3/97-101) of Ibn Taymiyyah.

[4] Mudhkiratun-fil-’Aqeedah (p. 13) of Saalih as-Suhaymee.

[5] Mudhkiratun-fil-’Aqeedah (p. 13-14)

[6] Mudhkiratun-fil-’Aqeedah (p. 14)

[7] This is a statement of Ibn ’Abbaas and others, refer to Jaami’ul-Bayaan (13/50-51).

[8] Majmoo’ul-Fataawaa (3/102-103)

[9] Sharhul-’Aqeedatil-Waasitiyyah (p. 15) of Shaykh Saalih Ibn Fawzaan al-Fawzaan.

[10] at-Tuhaf fee Madhaahibis-Salaf (p. 7) of Imaam ash-Shawkaanee.

[11] Sharhul-’Aqeedatul-Waasityyah (1/55) of Shaykh Muhammad Ibn Saalih al-’Uthaymeen.

Prepared by Maaz Qureshi