The Oneness of Allah That the Polytheists Held

He created the heavens and the earth, and among all that He created, He created those deities they took as gods besides Allah, Mighty and Majestic.
And they used to acknowledge that they were created by Allah, Mighty and Majestic. So, out of their ancient misguidance, 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 You own and
what he owns. This is their acknowledgment of Lordship. They knew that those they called upon besides Allah were 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 as they were. 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 good word: "There is no god but Allah." But the polytheists
knew the meaning. However, here are two opposing realities: Muslims say "There is no god but Allah" because they truly know that
a person does not become a Muslim except by testifying and saying "There is no god but Allah." So they say this good word. But the disbelieving polytheists
do not say it. These are two contradictory positions: Muslims say "There is no god but Allah," and disbelievers do not say "There is no god but Allah."
But the disbelieving polytheists knew the meaning of this word, so they did not say it. As for these Muslims, they
say it but do not know its meaning. The polytheists knew its meaning and denied that meaning. The Muslims
were ignorant of this meaning, so they nullified it with their actions. Had they 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 "There is no god but Allah." Otherwise, they have shared with the polytheists in shirk
in the sense of oneness of worship. The polytheists why? Because they knew that
their faith in "There is no god but Allah" necessitated disbelief in all the deities they used to worship besides Allah. And therefore
they denied them. But as for Muslims, while one of them says "There is no god but Allah," he sees no harm in going to
a dead person and calling upon him besides Allah, seeking aid from him besides Allah, making vows to him alongside Allah, and slaughtering for him alongside Allah. He does all this
and does not feel at all that this contradicts his saying "There is no god but Allah." Meanwhile, the polytheists felt and knew
completely that the acts of shirk they performed contradicted this tawhid. So they denied it, as Allah the Exalted said: So they knew this tawhid, that it was what the Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him)
called them to, so they denied it. Therefore, it is obligatory for us first to understand this testimony in its correct form, and then to convey
that to others. We are responsible not only for ourselves but also for those around us: sons, fathers, relatives,
and the like. Knowing that most Muslims today, their understanding of this word is only the meaning of tawhid al-rububiyyah (oneness of lordship),
and this is a very grave error. Rather, they must understand from this good word that it includes three types of
tawhid: tawhid al-rububiyyah (oneness of lordship), which is what the polytheists believed in, and nothing more. And the second tawhid is tawhid
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 tawhid in 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
It is a part of the parts of the 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, Mighty and Majestic, said: meaning, my sacrifice —
So this slaughtering for other than Allah is like if a Muslim prays
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. And therefore, our Lord, Mighty and Majestic, mentioned in more than one verse and indicated that du'a' (supplication) is shirk if
to His servant other than Allah. And for that reason, our Lord, Mighty and Majestic, mentioned in more than one verse and indicated that supplication is shirk (associating partners with Allah) if it is
directed to other than Allah, Mighty and Majestic. What do you interpret that to mean?
besides Allah. If you pray to them, they are called upon. A prayer includes types of worship. So whoever calls upon other than Allah,
Mighty and Majestic, has worshipped Him besides Allah, Mighty and Majestic. So it is no wonder that Allah, Mighty and Majestic, made it obligatory for Muslims to
Mighty and Majestic, he has worshipped Him other than Allah, Mighty and Majestic. So it is no wonder that Allah, Mighty and Majestic, made it obligatory for the Muslims to
recite al-Fatihah in every rak'ah of the prayer, and in it we say: So seeking help from other than
Allah, Mighty and Majestic, is like worshipping other than Allah, Mighty and Majestic, and there is no difference, whereas many of the later scholars today, like al-Nabhani
and his like, al-Dujayl and his like, interpret worship as meaning
that supplication is worship, or that it is absolute worship. We say, as he (peace and blessings be upon him) said, that supplication is worship.
And he recited this verse: Supplication is worship, contrary to what many of the shaykhs today say. Supplication is worship.
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): "Du'a' is
worship" means that the foundation of all acts of worship is this du'a'. So if a Muslim directs his du'a' to other than Allah, Mighty and Majestic,
saying "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 this means that he has committed kufr (disbelief) and shirk (associating partners with Allah) in the shirk of worship. It does not benefit him 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 person who seeks aid from the dead: "Do you believe that he harms and benefits?" He will say, "No, he does not harm or benefit." So why
are you calling upon him besides Allah? If he does not harm or benefit, do not call upon him. There is no intermediary. So he benefits. His saying "he does not benefit" is a denial
of the reality of their state completely, 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 among the awliya (close friends of Allah) and the righteous benefits them, then... besides Allah, Blessed and Exalted is He. And therefore
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 to believe that they do not benefit. They call upon them besides Allah because the truth is that they believe they
benefit them alongside Allah, Mighty and Majestic. And I mentioned to some of our brothers a very strange story that happened between me and one of
the shaykhs. We prayed Jumu'ah (the Friday prayer) in a mosque on the road between Aleppo and Latakia. Then after the prayer, we went to
this imam's house, and the conversation turned to tawhid (the oneness of Allah). We reached the topic of seeking aid from other than Allah, and he
said, "There is nothing wrong with it." The evidence for that is that this person who seeks aid from other than Allah, Mighty and Majestic, believes that this dead person
does not harm or benefit. So we said to him, "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 besides Allah, Mighty and Majestic?" They said, "It is a form of tawassul (seeking nearness to Allah through a means)." We said, "The door of
tawassul does not necessitate calling upon the one through whom tawassul is made. Rather, the one to whom tawassul is made is called upon, and that is Allah, Blessed and Exalted is He. This is another
matter. 'O Lord, have mercy on me by the status of the Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him).' This person did not seek aid from other than Allah and did not call upon other than Allah. All
that is in the matter is that he introduced an unlegislated means. But the one who says "O Baz, help me" has directed the greatest
act of worship, which is du'a', to other than Allah, Blessed and Exalted is He. So this is not tawassul. You call it tawassul from the
perspective of calling it by a name other than its true name. Then I revealed to him the truth when I said to him, "If you believe that this dead person
who is sought for aid from besides Allah does not harm or benefit, do you see any obstacle to this person seeking aid revealing
what is in his heart, as you say, by saying in his du'a': 'O Baz, O He who does not harm or benefit, help me'? Is that permissible?" He said,
"It is permissible. 'O Baz, O He who does not harm or benefit, help me.'" I said to him, "And I am sitting next to the wall. Is there any obstacle to..."
It is permissible, O Baz, O you who neither harms nor benefits, help me. I said to him, and I was sitting next to the wall, is there any objection to
He says, "O wall, O one who neither harms nor benefits, help me." Is this permissible? He said, "It is not permissible." We said to him, "So there is a difference between the first statement and the second statement."
This indicates that the one who calls for aid from the bat is one who neither harms nor 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 bat, O one who neither benefits nor harms, help me," nor is it permissible to say, "O wall, O one who neither benefits nor harms,
help me," because neither this one nor that one provides aid. This request is associating partners with Allah (Mighty and Majestic) in worship. Therefore, one of
the meanings of "La ilaha illa Allah" is that we do not worship anyone alongside Allah. And the third meaning of tawhid (the oneness of Allah). Yes.

The questioner:
The group dozed off... There is no tawhid of the attributes. I see an important topic that requires a session... We will suffice with this for now.

The Shaykh :
Correct.

The questioner :
Therefore, we will take a fifteen-minute break, an opportunity for the young men to refresh themselves, and then we will return to the lesson. An opportunity
for a break. Just a moment, the university students made a break. When they take a break, each one talks to himself...