Explanation of the Types of Tawhid and the Differences Between Them

Question:
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?

Answer:
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, and the Realizer of them, and so on, and that His will is complete and encompassing. This is what the polytheists acknowledged; the polytheists acknowledged that Allah is their Creator, their Provider, and the Manager of their affairs, and that the Creator of the heavens and the Creator of the earth is Allah. This is tawhid of Allah in His actions: believing 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 it, creating the rivers, the seas, the mountains, the trees, the sky, the earth, and so on. As for tawhid al-uluhiyyah, it is tawhid of Allah in your actions. You tawhid Allah the Exalted in your actions by directing your worship to Him alone, without associating with Him anything else in prayer, fasting, supplication, vows, zakah, Hajj, or anything else.
Tawhid al-uluhiyyah is the meaning of "La ilaha illa Allah" (There is no deity worthy of worship except Allah), meaning that no one is worthy of praise except Allah. It is to single out your Lord with your actions, your worship, and your acts of drawing near to Him. You do not associate with Allah any other deity, nor do you associate with Him anything else, 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 Badawi, give me drink," or "O Messenger of Allah, give me drink," or "heal me," or "cure my deafness," or "O so-and-so," or "O so-and-so from the awliya (close friends of Allah)," or from other awliya, from the dead, from the angels, from the parties, or from the idols. This is shirk akbar (major shirk). Tawhid of worship means restricting worship to Allah alone. It is also called tawhid al-uluhiyyah, and al-uluhiyyah is worship. It means restricting Allah with worship, excluding everything else. This is the meaning of His saying, the Exalted: . He said, "Your Lord, do you not die except to Him?" O mankind, your Lord is one, and what you created is not. And if Allah wills, you will worship Him. Its meaning is to single out Allah with worship: your prayer, your fasting, your supplication, your seeking aid, and your reliance, all of it for Allah alone. This is called tawhid of worship and tawhid al-uluhiyyah. Most Muslims are deficient in this.
When he said, "Say: There is no god but the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him)," they rejected it and said: They rejected that and persisted in his falsehood and misguidance, while saying that Allah is the Creator, the Provider, and the Sustainer. They say this, but despite that, they did not submit to the oneness of Allah in worship, which includes the abandonment of idols and statues. No.
For this reason, they became disbelievers, and the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) fought them, and their blood and wealth became lawful to be taken because of their disbelief and their refusal to accept tawhid al-uluhiyyah. There is a third 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 that are established by the Sunnah from the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him). All of them, and affirming them, because He is the Mighty, the Wise, the Compassionate, the Merciful, and He is pleased or angry, and He speaks if He wills, Blessed and Exalted is He. Based on the benefit derived from the Qur'an and the Sunnah, it is necessary 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 His essence, 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, so that He may test them with Paradise and save them from the Fire. He has no partner in power. Even if everything is singular, He is Blessed and Exalted. So He has no partner in His divinity, nor in His names and attributes, nor in His lordship, Blessed and Exalted is He. He is one in His lordship, one in His divinity, and one in His attributes. Nothing is like Him. He is the All-Hearing, the All-Seeing. Do you know anyone similar to Him? There is nothing comparable to Him, and . So all His names are good, and all His attributes are high, and all of them are truth for Him, established for Him. He, Blessed and Exalted is He, is described by them in truth, not in metaphor. It is necessary to affirm them for Allah, and to describe Him as He came, and to believe in them, and that they are truth. Allah, Blessed and Exalted is He, does not accept anything in that, and He is the One to whom we are called, and there is nothing in that, and He is the One who consults, Blessed and Exalted is He.