The meaning of Tawheed & its Categories

Attributing Oneness to Allaah and describing Him as being One and Unique, with no partner or peer in His Essence and Attributes. With regard to the shar’i definition of Tawheed, it means believing in Allaah alone as God and Lord and attributing to Him alone all the attributes of Lordship and divinity. It may be defined as follows: Believing that ..

1. Allaah is One with no partner or associate in His Lordship (ruboobiyyah)
2. Divinity (uloohiyyah) or names
3. Attributes (al-asma’ wa’l-sifaat).  

This word (Tawheed) and its derivatives are used with this meaning in the Qur’aan and Sunnah. For example:

• Allaah says (interpretation of the meaning): “Say (O Muhammad): He is Allaah, (the) One [Ahad].
• Allaah‑us‑Samad [Allaah — the Self‑Sufficient Master, Whom all creatures need, (He neither eats nor drinks)].
• He begets not, nor was He begotten.
• And there is none co‑equal or comparable unto Him” [al-Ikhlaas 112:1-3]

“And your Ilaah (God) is One Ilaah [ilaahun waahidun] (God — Allaah), Laa Ilaaha illa Huwa (there is none who has the right to be worshipped but He), the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful” [al-Baqarah 2:163]

“Surely, disbelievers are those who said: ‘Allaah is the third of the three (in a Trinity).’ But there is no Ilaah (god) (none who has the right to be worshipped) but One Ilaah [ilaahun waahidun] (God —Allaah). And if they cease not from what they say, verily, a painful torment will befall on the disbelievers among them” [al-Maa'idah 5:73]

In Saheeh al-Bukhaari (7372) and Saheeh Muslim (19) it is narrated that Ibn ‘Abbaas (may Allaah be pleased with him) said: When the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) sent Mu’aadh ibn Jabal to Yemen, he said to him:

“You are going to people from among the People of the Book, so let the first thing to which you call them be belief in Allaah alone (Tawheed). If they accept that, then tell them that Allaah has enjoined on them five prayers every day and night. If they pray then tell them that Allaah has enjoined on them zakaah from their wealth to be taken from their rich and given to their poor. If they agree to that then take it from them but avoid the best of people’s wealth.”  

In Saheeh Muslim it is narrated from Ibn ‘Umar (may Allaah be pleased with him) that the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) said:

“Islam is built on five (pillars): belief that Allaah is One, establishing regular prayer, paying zakaah, fasting Ramadaan and Hajj.”

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Affirming the meaning of the testimony , Essence of Islam

Tawheed in all these texts is affirming the meaning of the testimony that there is no god but Allaah and that Muhammad is the Messenger of Allaah, which is the essence of the religion of Islam with which Allaah sent His Prophet Muhammad (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him), based on the evidence of the words of the Qur’aan and Sunnah.


In some versions of the hadeeth of Mu’aadh quoted above it says:

“You will come to some people from among the People of the Book so when you come to them, call them to bear witness that there is no god except Allaah and that Muhammad is the Messenger of Allaah.” Narrated by al-Bukhaari, 1492.

According to another version of the hadeeth of Ibn ‘Umar: The Messenger of Allaah (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) said:

“Islam is based on five (pillars): the testimony that there is no god except Allaah and that Muhammad is His slave and Messenger…” Narrated by Muslim, 16.

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Tawheed is the essence of the testimony

This indicates that Tawheed is the essence of the testimony that
there is no god except Allaah and that Muhammad () is the Messenger of Allaah, and that this is Islam with which Allaah sent His Prophet to the two races of mankind and the jinn, other than which Allaah will not accept any religion from anyone.



Allaah says (interpretation of the meaning):

“Truly, the religion with Allaah is Islam” [Aal ‘Imraan 3:19]
“And whoever seeks a religion other than Islam, it will never be accepted of him, and in the Hereafter he will be one of the losers”
[Aal ‘Imraan 3:85]

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Once this is understood, it should be noted that the scholars have divided Tawheed into three categories, as follows:

1. Tawheed al-Ruboobiyyah (Oneness of Divine Lordship)
2. Tawheed al-Uloohiyyah (Oneness of Divinity)
3. Tawheed al-Asma’ wa’l-Sifaat (Oneness of the Divine Names and Attributes)

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1.  Tawheed al-Ruboobiyyah

(Oneness of Divine Lordship)
means believing in Allaah as One and Unique with regard to His actions such as creation, sovereignty, control, giving life and death, and so on.


There is a great deal of evidence to support this in the Qur’aan and Sunnah.

Whoever believes that there is any creator other than Allaah or any sovereign controlling this universe and disposing of its affairs other than Allaah has denied this aspect of Tawheed and disbelieved in Allaah.

The kuffaar of old test accepted this aspect of Tawheed in general terms, although they differed with regard to some of its details. The evidence that they used to accept this is to be found in several verses of the Qur’aan such as the following (interpretation of the meaning):

“And if you were to ask them: ‘Who has created the heavens and the earth and subjected the sun and the moon?’ they will surely reply: ‘Allaah.’ How then are they deviating (as polytheists and disbelievers)?” [al-‘Ankaboot 29:61]

“And if you were to ask them: ‘Who sends down water (rain) from the sky, and gives life therewith to the earth after its death?’ they will surely reply: ‘Allaah.’ Say: ‘All the praises and thanks be to Allaah!’ Nay, most of them have no sense”[al-‘Ankaboot 29:63]

“And if you ask them who created them, they will surely say: ‘Allaah.’ How then are they turned away (from the worship of Allaah Who created them)?” [al-Zukhruf 43:87]

In these verses Allaah states that the kuffaar affirm that He is the Creator, Sovereign and Controller, but despite that they do not worship Him alone (Tawheed of worship), which points to the graveness of their wrongdoing and lies, and the weakness of their reasoning. For if there is One Who is described in such terms, none should be worshipped except Him alone and none should be described as being one and unique except Him; may He be glorified above those that they associate with him.

So whoever affirms this Tawheed in the true sense must inevitably also affirm the Oneness of Allaah’s Divinity (Tawheed al-Uloohiyyah).



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2.  Tawheed al-Uloohiyyah

( devoting all one’s actions to Allaah alone )
means devoting all acts of worship, both inward and outward, in word and deed, to Allaah Alone, and not worshipping anything or anyone other than Allaah,



Allaah says (interpretation of the meaning):

“And your Lord has decreed that you worship none but Him” [al-Isra’ 17:23]

“Worship Allaah and join none with Him (in worship)” [al-Nisa’ 4:36]

• Devoting all one’s actions to Allaah alone.
•  Worship and devotion of Allaah accompanied by love and veneration.
•  Oneness of worship , a person worships Allaah by doing that which He has commanded and avoiding that which He has forbidden. 
• Oneness of goal, purpose and will , a person does not seek anything except the Face of Allaah, so he worships Him sincerely.

   This is the kind of Tawheed concerning which people went astray, which is why the Prophets were sent and the Books were revealed.

   This is the purpose for which the universe was created and laws were prescribed. Concerning this disputes arose between the Prophets and their peoples, so the stubborn were doomed and the believers were saved.

   Whoever goes astray with regard to this Tawheed, such as devoting some of his worship to someone other than Allaah, has gone beyond the pale of Islam and drifted away from true belief. May Allaah protect us from that And Guide us to straight path



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3.   Tawheed al-Asma’ wa’l-Sifaat

(Oneness of the Divine Names and Attributes)
this means affirming the names and attributes of Allaah and believing that there is none like unto Allaah in His names and attributes.

This Tawheed is based on two principles:


1 – Affirmation:
i.e., affirming that which Allaah has affirmed for Himself in His Book or that His Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) has affirmed of His beautiful names and sublime attributes in a manner that suits the Majesty and Greatness of Allaah, without distorting them, twisting their meanings, denying their reality or discussing how they are.


2 – Denial:
i.e., denying that Allaah has any faults and denying any shortcomings that He has denied Himself.
The evidence for that is the words of Allaah (interpretation of the meaning):

“There is nothing like Him, and He is the All‑Hearer, the All‑Seer” [al-Shoora 42:11]

So He has denied that He bears any resemblance to His creation, and affirmed that He has attributes of perfection in a manner that befits Him, may He be glorified.


For more detail on importance of learning , understanding attributes

~~^*Knowing the Beautiful Names of Allah is very important indeed*^~~ 
http://www.facebook.com/note.php?note_id=148212428547131


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Inshallah in the next parts we wil try to discuss & convey ...

• Tawheed al-Asmaa was-Sifaat (maintaining the unity of Allah’s name and attributes)
• Allah should be referred to as described by Him and His Prophet
• Allah must be referred to as He has referred to Himself
• Allah is referred to without giving Him the attributes of His creation
• The key principle when dealing with Allah’s attributes is given in the Qur’an in Surah Ash-Shura
• God’s creation should not be given any of His attributes precisely
• Allah’s name cannot be given to His creatures
• Is it possible to give the mushrikoon (polytheists, those who associate others with Allaah) proof of the oneness of Allaah?
• Shirk and its types
• Is calling people by the names of Allaah regarded as shirk?

[[[Quranic Tafseer, explanation of each verse]]]
http://www.islamtruereligion.com/tafsir_ibn_kathir/
[[[Read English/Arabic ,Quran with topic index]]]
http://www.islamtruereligion.com/Quran_ArbEng.html
[[[Hadith the way Muhamed sw lived his life in every aspect,sayings,actions,approvals]]]
http://www.islamtruereligion.com/bukhari.html
http://www.islamtruereligion.com/sahihmuslim/



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