From "Sharh al-'Aqidah al-Tahawiyyah," Tawhid and Its Categories.

The questioner : "Then the tawhid (the oneness of Allah) to which the messengers of Allah called and by which His books were revealed is of two types: tawhid in affirmation and knowledge, and tawhid in seeking and intention.
The first is affirming the reality of the Lord's (Glorified and Exalted is He) essence, His attributes, His actions, and His names; there is nothing like Him in all of this, as He informed us of Himself, and as His Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him) informed us.
The Qur'an has expressed this type with complete clarity, as in the beginning of Surat al-Hadid, Surat Ta-Ha, the end of al-Hashr, the beginning of the surah beginning with "Alif Lam Sin" (al-Sajdah), the beginning of Ali 'Imran, Surat al-Ikhlas in its entirety, and others.
The second is tawhid of seeking and intention; such as what is contained in , , the beginning and end of the surah of the revealed book (al-Baqarah), the beginning, middle, and end of Surat Yunus, the beginning and end of Surat al-A'raf, the summary of Surat al-An'am, and the majority of the surahs of the Qur'an that contain both types of tawhid."

The Shaykh : The tawhid that every Muslim must believe in is, as we mentioned, of its three types: tawhid al-rububiyyah (oneness of lordship) is for the Muslim to believe that this vast, great universe has no creator except Allah (Blessed and Exalted is He). However, this tawhid alone does not save its holder from disbelief and shirk (associating partners with Allah) that necessitates eternal abode in the Fire; until the other two types of tawhid are added to it.
The second tawhid is tawhid al-'ibadah (oneness of worship), tawhid al-uluhiyyah (oneness of worship); that is, it is obligatory that be added to the Muslim's belief that Allah, who created this universe, is the only one who must be worshipped, with no other alongside Him in His worship. So, when the second tawhid, which is tawhid of worship, is added to the first tawhid, which is tawhid of lordship, and one does not worship anything else alongside Allah (Mighty and Majestic), then he has established tawhid of worship and tawhid of worship (uluhiyyah).
And the third tawhid remains: which is tawhid of Allah (Mighty and Majestic) in His names and His attributes; so one does not believe that there is any creation of Allah, however great it is, however sacred it is, that resembles Allah (Mighty and Majestic) in any of His attributes. Branching from this is that one does not name a creation of Allah with any of the names of Allah (Mighty and Majestic); it is not permissible to name a creation of Allah with any of the names of Allah; because the names of Allah are, at the same time, attributes of Allah (Blessed and Exalted is He); so Allah (Mighty and Majestic) is unique in His names and His attributes; because every name is an attribute of Allah (Mighty and Majestic). Just as it is not permissible for a Muslim to believe that there is a creation of Allah that resembles our Lord (Mighty and Majestic) in any of His attributes, so it is obligatory that we do not name a creation of Allah with any of the names of Allah (Blessed and Exalted is He).
Branching from this is that it is not permissible to make a person a slave to a name other than the name of Allah (Mighty and Majestic); so it is not permissible to say "Abd al-Husayn" (slave of Husayn), and it is not permissible to say "Abd al-Nabi" (slave of the Prophet); because this contradicts tawhid of servitude, and also contradicts tawhid of names and attributes.
Combining these three types of tawhid: tawhid al-rububiyyah, tawhid al-'ibadah, and tawhid of attributes, is the tawhid that the Messenger (peace be upon him) was commanded to convey; indeed, the Ummah was commanded through the person of the Messenger (peace be upon him), as he said: . So "La ilaha illa Allah" (There is no god but Allah) must be understood in a way that encompasses the three types of tawhid: tawhid al-rububiyyah, tawhid al-'ibadah, and tawhid of attributes. So what is the reality of Muslims today?
With great regret, most Muslims do not understand from the testimony of tawhid anything other than the first tawhid; meaning, there is no creator with Allah only. As for "there is no worshipped entity with truth in existence except Allah," this is not understood by them except by those whom Allah wills, and they are few. So "La ilaha illa Allah" does not mean, as some authors in the present age have explicitly stated, and as the reality of the lives of Muslims today and before today interprets it; the meaning of "La ilaha illa Allah" is not "there is no creator except Allah," but rather the meaning of this beautiful phrase is "there is no worshipped entity with truth in existence except Allah." So when you say "There is no Lord except Allah," you have not gone beyond the belief of the polytheists, who, when asked, "Who created the heavens and the earth?" would say, "Allah." The fact that Allah is the Creator is a matter of fitrah (the innate natural disposition) upon which Allah (Mighty and Majestic) created His servants; even the polytheists believed this true belief; that is, that the Creator of the universe is One with no partner. But what was the disbelief of the polytheists, given their explicit affirmation of this belief? Their disbelief was that they did not make worship pure for Allah, they did not make tawhid of Allah in His worship; rather, they worshipped others alongside Him (Blessed and Exalted is He). And for that reason, they disbelieved in "La ilaha illa Allah." And the Lord of the worlds explicitly stated this in the Noble Qur'an: "And when it is said to them, ."

The questioner : .

The Shaykh: And ?

The questioner : .

The Shaykh:
Because the meaning of "La ilaha illa Allah" is not "there is no creator except Allah," but rather its meaning is something more than that, which is "there is no creator except Allah and no worshipped entity except Allah." This Creator is the One who must be worshipped alone, with no partner. So means: they are arrogant about worshipping Allah alone, with no partner, at a time when they were not arrogant to say, "Allah is the One who created the heavens and the earth." From this, two types of tawhid emerged among scholars of investigation: tawhid al-rububiyyah, which is what the polytheists used to believe, but that did not save them from shirk; and the second tawhid is tawhid al-'ibadah. So whoever wants salvation on the Day of Resurrection from eternal abode in the Fire must add tawhid al-'ibadah to tawhid al-rububiyyah; he must add to that tawhid of worship; that he believes that no one deserves worship alongside Allah, no matter how insignificant that worship may seem to some people, it is not insignificant; because everything that brings one closer to Allah (Mighty and Majestic) is a great matter, and very great. So there is no difference between a person slaughtering, for example, a camel for the grave of a wali (close friend of Allah), or slaughtering a sheep, or slaughtering a chicken; all these sacrifices, despite their differing values from the perspective of the Shari'ah, as indicated by the authentic hadith in al-Bukhari, the hadith of Abu Hurayrah: . And thus the ram and the chicken were mentioned; so these are all, and finally the egg; so these are all acts of obedience and worship, but with varying degrees. So whoever brings a chicken to other than Allah (Mighty and Majestic) is like whoever brings the greatest worship, such as a hump-backed camel; because he associates with Allah (Mighty and Majestic) in His worship. So the one who establishes tawhid is not truly a monotheist until he believes that it is not permissible to worship other than Allah (Mighty and Majestic) with any type of worship; because these acts of worship, Allah (Mighty and Majestic) commanded them, as He said: , meaning: He alone . So the polytheists went astray due to their lack of submission to tawhid al-'ibadah, just as mentioned in the previous verse: .

Another questioner : ... .