What is your opinion of one who added a fourth category to the categories of tawhid (the oneness of Allah), namely tawhid al-hakimiyyah (the oneness of sovereignty)?

The questioner : The questioner says at the end of his question: He criticizes Shaykh Rabee' ibn Hadi al-Madkhali, may Allah have mercy on him, for his stance on ... sovereignty, and for his statement ... Is this ... tawhid al-hakimiyyah (the oneness of sovereignty) and what the previous scholars mentioned regarding tawhid of obedience and worship?

The Shaykh : First, this term is a recent innovation. Tawhid al-hakimiyyah (the oneness of sovereignty) is a recent term, and it is more of a political term than a religious creedal term. Therefore, we find that those who use this word have turned away from calling to tawhid (the oneness of Allah) in its known categories among the scholars: tawhid al-rububiyyah (oneness of lordship), tawhid al-uluhiyyah (oneness of worship), and tawhid al-asma' wa al-sifat (oneness of the names and attributes), let alone that they have turned away from calling people to follow the Messenger, peace and blessings be upon him, as we mentioned in a previous study, to tawhid of the Messenger, peace and blessings be upon him, in following him. This is a meaning in which no Muslim scholar doubts ... to the chanting about sovereignty for Allah. There is no doubt that Allah, Mighty and Majestic, is the most just of judges . This is a matter in which people do not differ, but it is a matter concerning a very small group of people, namely the rulers. Why did they leave the ruled in their ignorance? That is because their call is a political call. Therefore, we say:
First, this is an innovated and political term, and we do not follow them in this term because it is a booby-trapped term. It is booby-trapped because if they intend by it a legal meaning, as I mentioned earlier, which is what came in the text of the Qur'an, such as the saying of the Exalted , this is known as tawhid (the oneness of Allah) known to all Muslim scholars. And from ... when this clear and manifest explanation was undertaken, which is tawhid al-rububiyyah (oneness of lordship), tawhid al-uluhiyyah (oneness of worship), and the attributes, I mean by that Shaykh al-Islam Ibn Taymiyyah, may Allah have mercy on him, and his student Ibn al-Qayyim al-Jawziyyah, and then those who came after them followed their path. This ... from such a recent term ... And I repeat that it is a recent term that comes not ... for the religion, but for politics. Therefore, you find these preachers who are enthusiastic about this sovereignty do not ... they do not limit the issue to the rulers, but the ruled themselves are not ... sovereignty for Allah, Mighty and Majestic.
I said in some tapes and some gatherings about an incident that occurred between me and one of these ... while he was delivering the khutbah (sermon) ... in Damascus, and I took issue with him for contradicting the Sunnah. After the prayer, I isolated him to one side and drew his attention to the fact that you ... He answered me by saying: I am a Hanafi ... your khutbah (sermon) was all but you ... the ruling is for Allah so that you fight the rulers ... and they do not rule with the ruling of Allah in ... Therefore, if they intend by this word or this recent term a meaning that falls under the tawhid (the oneness of Allah) known among Muslims, we preceded them, but with an expression we did not invent on our own. And if they intend, as ... a political matter ... this is what I have.

The questioner : May Allah reward you, O Shaykh. May Allah reward you with good ... a final question from me ...

The Shaykh : ... and this is not from you?