The Difference Between Tawhid al-Rububiyyah and Tawhid al-Uluhiyyah

The questioner:
We hear a lot on the radio about tawhid al-rububiyyah (oneness of lordship) and tawhid al-uluhiyyah (oneness of worship); what is the difference between them?

The Shaykh:
Tawhid al-rububiyyah is believing in the attributes of action that belong to Allah, such as being the Creator, the Provider, the Manager of affairs, the Disposer of them, and the like. It is believing that His will is effective and His might is complete. This is what the polytheists acknowledged; the polytheists admitted that Allah is their Creator and Provider, the Manager of their affairs, the Creator of the heavens, and the Creator of the earth. It is the oneness of Allah in His actions: that you believe that Allah is the Creator, the Provider, the Manager of affairs, the Disposer of things, the One who created everything and managed and disposed of the affairs, creating the rivers, the seas, the mountains, the trees, the sky, the earth, and so on. This is tawhid al-rububiyyah. As for tawhid al-uluhiyyah, it is the oneness of Allah in your actions: that you single out Allah, Glorified is He, with your actions, and you devote worship to Him alone, excluding everything else, such as prayer, fasting, supplication, vows, zakah, Hajj, and the like. The meaning of "La ilaha illa Allah" is that there is no true object of worship except Allah. It means that you devote your actions, your acts of worship, and your nearness to your Lord alone. You do not associate any other god with Allah. You do not sit with Him any other, whether a tree, a stone, an idol, a prophet, or a wali (close friend of Allah). So you do not call upon anyone other than Allah. You do not say, "O Sayyid al-Badawi, heal me," or "O Messenger of Allah, heal me," or "cure me," or "O so-and-so," or "O so-and-so" from the awliya (close friends of Allah) or from the dead who are not awliya, or from the lords, stones, or idols. This is shirk akbar (major shirk). Tawhid al-'ibadah means that you devote worship to Allah alone. It is also called tawhid al-uluhiyyah, and uluhiyyah is worship. Its meaning is that you devote Allah to worship, excluding everything else. This is the meaning of His saying, Glorified is He: His saying, Glorified is He, and He said: Its meaning is that you devote Allah to your worship, with your prayers, your fasting, your supplications, your calls for aid, and your jihad, all of it for Allah alone. This is called tawhid al-'ibadah and tawhid al-uluhiyyah. This is what the polytheists denied and refused.
So when he said, (peace and blessings be upon him), they rejected it and said: They rejected that and persisted in their kufr (disbelief) and misguidance. They say that Allah is the Creator, the Provider, the Compeller. They say this, but despite that, they did not submit to His oneness in worship and devoting worship to Him alone, excluding everything else, and abandoning the idols and statues. No. Therefore, they became disbelievers. The Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) fought them and made their blood and wealth lawful because of their kufr (disbelief) and their refusal to accept tawhid al-uluhiyyah. There is a second type of tawhid, which is tawhid al-asma' wa al-sifat (oneness of the names and attributes). It is believing in all of Allah's names and attributes that came in the Qur'an and in the authentic Sunnah from the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him). It is obligatory to believe in all of them and affirm them, that He is the Mighty, the Wise, the Merciful, the Compassionate, that He is pleased or angry, and that He speaks. When all His attributes come, by the Qur'an and the Sunnah, it is obligatory to believe in them and affirm them for Allah, Mighty and Majestic. This is called tawhid al-asma' wa al-sifat, because believing that Allah is One in that, One in His names and attributes, with no partner for Him. He has no partner who creates or provides or shows mercy to the servants until they swallow Paradise and come from the Fire. He has no partner in power. Even if everything says it, He is alone in this, Glorified and Exalted is He. So He has no partner in His uluhiyyah, nor in His names and attributes, nor in His rububiyyah. He is the One in uluhiyyah, He is the One in names and attributes. Do you know any equal to Him? And no and examples. So all His names are beautiful, and all His attributes are exalted, and all of them are truth for Him and established for Him. And He, Glorified and Exalted is He, is described by them in truth, not in metaphor. It is obligatory to affirm them for Allah, and to make them right as they are, and to believe in them, and that they are truth. Allah, Glorified and Exalted is He, does not accept [anything else], and He, Mighty and Majestic, is not like anything in that. He is the only One, Glorified and Exalted is He. Two.

The presenter:
Do you see it?

The Shaykh:
May Allah keep you.

The presenter:
Yes, yes.