A Word on the Oneness of Worship and the Oneness of Lordship

The Shaykh : ... that He is the One who created the heavens and the earth, and created among all that He created those deities that they took as gods besides Allah (Mighty and Majestic). And they, too, acknowledged that they were of the creation of Allah (Mighty and Majestic). So much was their ancient misguidance that when they were circumambulating the Ka'bah, one of them would say: "Here I am, O Allah, here I am. Here I am, You have no partner, here I am. Except a partner that You own and what He owns." "You own and what He owns." This was their acknowledgment of the oneness of lordship; that those whom they called upon besides Allah are owned by Allah (Blessed and Exalted is He). So this was the height of their misguidance: they called upon and worshipped other than Allah (Mighty and Majestic) while knowing that they were servants of Allah, just like them.
There is a difference in terms of knowledge and understanding of the Arabic language. The masses of Muslims today, especially the common people, do not understand the correct meaning of the beautiful word "La ilaha illa Allah." As for the polytheists, they knew the meaning, but there are two opposing groups: Muslims say "La ilaha illa Allah" because they truly know that a person does not become a Muslim except by testifying and saying "La ilaha illa Allah." So they say this beautiful word. As for the disbelieving polytheists, they do not say it. So they are contradictory: Muslims say "La ilaha illa Allah," and disbelievers do not say "La ilaha illa Allah." But the disbelieving polytheists know the meaning of this word; that is why they did not say it. As for these Muslims, they say it, but they do not know its meaning. The polytheists knew its meaning and denied this meaning. Muslims were ignorant of this meaning and nullified it with their actions. If they had known, their Islam would have been complete. Therefore, the danger lies in the reality of Muslims today in their ignorance of the true meaning of "La ilaha illa Allah." Otherwise, they have shared with the polytheists in shirk (associating partners with Allah) in the sense of the oneness of worship.
The polytheists . Why? Because they knew that their faith in "La ilaha illa Allah" necessitated disbelief in all the deities they used to worship besides Allah. So they denied them. As for Muslims, at the time one of them says "La ilaha illa Allah," he does not see any harm in going to a dead person and calling upon him besides Allah, seeking aid from him besides Allah, making vows to him with Allah, and slaughtering for him with Allah. He does all of this and does not feel at all that this contradicts his saying "La ilaha illa Allah." Meanwhile, the polytheists felt and knew fully that the acts of shirk they did contradicted this tawhid (the oneness of Allah). So they denied it, as He (the Exalted) said: .
So they knew this tawhid was what the Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him) called them to, and they denied it. Therefore, we must first understand this testimony in its correct form, and then convey that to others. We are responsible not only for ourselves, but also for those around us, such as sons, fathers, relatives, and the like.
Knowing that most Muslims today understand this word in the sense of the oneness of lordship only. This is a very grave error. Rather, they must understand from this beautiful word that it includes three types of tawhid: the oneness of lordship, which is what the polytheists believed in and nothing else; and the second is the oneness of worship, which is that no one is worshipped with Allah in any type of worship. And among the ignorance of Muslims today is that they imagine that the worship which, if directed to other than Allah (Mighty and Majestic), becomes kufr (disbelief) is only prostrating to other than Allah, praying to other than Allah. Thus, they narrowed the meaning of the oneness of worship, confining it to prayer and prostration, which is a part of the parts of prayer.
But they do not know that slaughtering for other than Allah is like prostrating to other than Allah. So it is no wonder that Allah (Mighty and Majestic) paired slaughtering with prayer, and He (the Exalted) said: meaning: my sacrifice, . So this slaughtering for other than Allah is like if a Muslim prayed to other than Allah. Just as this prayer is considered shirk (associating partners with Allah) with Allah (Mighty and Majestic) in worship, so all acts of worship—and among them is slaughtering—are considered shirk with Allah (Mighty and Majestic) for whoever slaughters for them.
And so is calling upon other than Allah. Whoever calls upon other than Allah has worshipped him besides Allah. Therefore, our Lord (Mighty and Majestic) mentioned in more than one verse and indicated that du'a' (supplication) is shirk if it is directed to other than Allah (Mighty and Majestic): , . How do some of the later scholars interpret that? meaning: you worship only. Yes, while it is in its proper place: ; meaning: you call upon them besides Allah. So if he prays to him, it is even more so, meaning he has combined a prayer containing types of worship. So if he supplicates to other than Allah (Mighty and Majestic), he has worshipped him besides Allah (Mighty and Majestic). So it is no wonder that Allah (Mighty and Majestic) made it obligatory for Muslims to recite al-Fatihah in every rak'ah of prayer, and in it is our saying: . So seeking aid from other than Allah (Mighty and Majestic) is an act of worship for other than Allah (Mighty and Majestic), and there is no difference. Meanwhile, many of the later scholars today, like al-Nabhani and his like, al-Dajwi and his like, interpret worship meaning: supplication is worship, or it is absolute worship. We say as he (peace and blessings be upon him) said: , and he recited this verse: , , the opposite of what many shaykhs today say, . This is on the scale of his (peace be upon him) saying: . It does not mean that whoever stands at 'Arafah and does not come with anything else of the pillars of Hajj that his Hajj is valid. Rather, it means that the foundation of the pillars of Hajj is standing at 'Arafah. Similarly, the saying of the Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him): means that the foundation of all worship is this supplication. So if a Muslim directs a supplication to other than Allah (Mighty and Majestic); he says: "O Baz, help me," "O Baz, support me," "O Baz, assist me"; he has directed the greatest act of worship to other than Allah (Mighty and Majestic). And the meaning of that is that he has committed kufr and associated partners with Allah in the shirk of worship. It does not benefit him anything, as some shaykhs want to save these people from this great misguidance. Some shaykhs say: "My brother, he knows and believes that he does not benefit or harm. Ask him, ask this one who seeks aid from the dead: do you believe that he harms and benefits?" He will say to you: "No, he does not harm or benefit." Good, why are you calling upon him besides Allah? If he does not harm or benefit, do not call upon him. No, a means! So he benefits. His saying "he does not benefit" is a denial of the reality of their matter entirely, and arrogance against the texts of the Book and the Sunnah. If it were not that they believe that their calling upon other than Allah (Mighty and Majestic) from the awliya (close friends of Allah) and the righteous benefits them, they would not call upon what they call upon besides Allah (Blessed and Exalted is He).
-- And upon you be peace and the mercy of Allah --
And so they distinguish between those who are certain that he does not benefit, so it is not permissible to call upon him besides Allah (Mighty and Majestic), and those who pretend that they believe they do not benefit; so they call upon them besides Allah. Because the truth is that they believe they benefit with Allah (Mighty and Majestic).
I mentioned to some of our brothers a very strange story that happened between me and one of the shaykhs. We prayed Jumu'ah in a mosque on the road between Aleppo and Latakia, and after the prayer we went to this imam's house. The conversation turned to tawhid (the oneness of Allah), and we reached the topic of calling for aid from other than Allah. He said, "There is nothing wrong with it." His argument was that the one who calls for aid from other than Allah (Mighty and Majestic) believes that this dead person does not harm or benefit. We said to him, "If so, why does he call upon him other than Allah (Mighty and Majestic) if he truly believes in the depths of his heart that this dead person does not harm or benefit? Why does he call upon him other than Allah (Mighty and Majestic)?" He said, "It is a form of tawassul (seeking nearness to Allah through a means)." We said, "The door of tawassul does not imply calling upon the means itself; rather, one calls upon the one to whom one seeks nearness, which is Allah (Blessed and Exalted is He). This is a different matter. 'O Lord, have mercy on me by the status of the Messenger (peace be upon him)'—this person did not call for aid from other than Allah, nor did he call upon anyone other than Allah. All that happened is that he introduced an unlegislated means. But the one who says, 'O Baaz, save me!'—this person has directed the greatest act of worship, which is du'a' (supplication), to other than Allah (Blessed and Exalted is He). This is not tawassul. You call it tawassul on the basis of: ."
Then I revealed the truth to him when I said to him, "If you believe that this dead person who is called upon for aid other than Allah does not harm or benefit, do you see any objection to this person who calls for aid revealing what is in his heart, as you say, by saying in his supplication: 'O Baaz, O you who do not harm or benefit, save me!' Is that permissible?" He said, "It is permissible." "O Baaz, O you who do not harm or benefit, save me!" He said, "It is permissible." I said to him—and I was sitting next to the wall—"Is there any objection to someone saying: 'O wall, O you who do not benefit or harm, save me!' Is that permissible?" He said, "It is not permissible." We said to him, "Then there is a difference between the first statement and the second. This indicates that the one who calls upon 'Baaz' for aid believes in the depths of his heart that he harms and benefits. Otherwise, what is the difference between him and the wall? He made a distinction even in the wording, whereas we make no distinction, neither in wording nor in belief. Therefore, it is not permissible to say, 'O Baaz, O you who do not benefit or harm, save me,' nor is it permissible to say, 'O wall, O you who do not benefit or harm, save me,' because neither this one nor that one saves. This request is shirk (associating partners with Allah) with Allah (Mighty and Majestic) in worship. Therefore, one of the meanings of 'La ilaha illa Allah' is that we do not worship anyone along with Allah."
And the third meaning is of tawhid.

The questioner: ... of the attributes.

The Shaykh : Yes?

The questioner: I see that tawhid al-asma' wa al-sifat (oneness of the names and attributes) should be postponed...

The Shaykh : Yes.

The questioner: In the group, some are dozing off, so we will give them a quarter-hour break regarding the creed...

Eid Abbasi: No problem, the continuation of the side.

The questioner: No, tawhid al-asma' wa al-sifat (oneness of the names and attributes), I see that the discussion is important and requires a special session.

Eid Abbasi: Yes, you can make it a session.

The questioner: Yes, so we will suffice with this for now, and I see the eyes are doubled.

The Shaykh: Correct, this is a witness to what we said.

The questioner: Therefore, we will take a quarter-hour break now, a chance for the young men to refresh themselves, and then we will return to the lesson of "Riyad al-Salihin."

Eid Abbasi: What do they do with the chance?

The questioner: A break chance, what do you find university students do when they take a break? They talk among themselves, every two for themselves, to refresh themselves.