Tawheed and its divisions.doc

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 walithbaat) 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 SooratulKaafiroon 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.” [SooratulMumtahinah 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]
THE DIVISION OF TAWHEED INTO THREE
CATEGORIES:
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] TawheedulUloohiyyah (The Oneness of Allaah in His Divinity) [iii]
and Tawheedul-Asmaa was-Sifaat (The Oneness of Allaah in
His Names and Attributes).” [4]
TAWHEEDUR-RUBOOBIYYAH:
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).” [SooratuzZukhruf 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]
TAWHEEDUL-ULOOHIYYAH:
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]

A POINT OF BENEFIT:
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?” [SooratulMu‘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]
TAWHEEDUL-ASMAA‘ WAS-SIFAAT:
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]
THE COMPREHENSIVE DESCRIPTION OF BELIEF
IN TAWHEED:
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]
Footnotes:
[1] Fathul-Majeed (p. 12) of Shaykh ’Abdur-Rahmaan Ibn Hasan aalushShaykh.
[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 alFawzaan.
[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.

For Further Reading:
• www.salaf.com Islaamic Web Portal
• www.islaam.ca Info For Non-Muslims
© Please reproduce, include original referencing

Important Islaamic Concepts No. 1

An Introduction to
Tawheed and Its
Divisions

“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]

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