What is the tawhid (the oneness of Allah) to which the messengers of Allah called and for which the books were sent down?

The Shaykh : The alternative:
The tawhid (the oneness of Allah) to which the messengers of Allah called and for which the books were sent down is of two types: tawhid in affirmation and knowledge, and tawhid
in seeking and intention. The first is affirming the reality of the Lord, the Exalted, His attributes, His actions, and His names; there is nothing like Him
in any of this, as He informed us about Himself and as His Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him) informed us. And 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 of "Alif Lam Mim" (as-Sajdah),
the beginning of Ali 'Imran, and Surat al-Ikhlas in its entirety, among others. The second is tawhid of seeking and intention, such as what
is contained in the Surah "Say, O you disbelievers" :
and the beginning of the Surah "The sending down of the Book" (al-Baqarah), the beginning, middle, and end of the Surah of Yunus, the beginning and end of the Surah of al-A'raf,
and the summary of the Surah of al-An'am, and most of the Surahs of the Qur'an that contain the two 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), which is that the
Muslim believes that this vast, great universe has no creator except Allah, Blessed and Exalted is He. But this tawhid alone does not
save its holder from disbelief and shirk (associating partners with Allah), which necessitates eternal abode in the Fire, until the other two types of tawhid are added to it.
The second tawhid is tawhid of worship — tawhid al-uluhiyyah (oneness of worship) — meaning that it is obligatory that the Muslim's belief that Allah,
who created the universe, is the only One who must be worshipped, with no other associated with Him in His worship, is added to the first tawhid.
When the second tawhid, which is tawhid of worship, is added to the first, which is tawhid al-rububiyyah, and nothing else is worshipped alongside Allah, Mighty and Majestic,
then he has made tawhid in worship and tawhid al-uluhiyyah. And the third tawhid remains, which is tawhid of Allah, Mighty and Majestic, in
His names and in His attributes. One must not believe that any creation of Allah, however great or however sacred, resembles
Allah, Mighty and Majestic, in any of His attributes. Branching from this is that it is not permissible to name a creation with any of the names of Allah, Mighty and Majestic. It is
not permissible for us 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 attributes, because every name is an attribute of Allah, Mighty and Majestic.
Just as it is not permissible for a Muslim to believe that any creation of Allah 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. It is not permissible for us to say "Abd al-Husayn" or
it is not permissible for us to say "Abd al-Nabi," because this contradicts tawhid of servitude and also contradicts tawhid of the names and attributes.
Combining these three types of tawhid — tawhid al-rububiyyah, tawhid of worship, and tawhid of the attributes — is
the tawhid that the Messenger (peace be upon him) was commanded to convey, and indeed the Ummah was commanded through the person of the Messenger (peace be upon him) when
He said: "So know that there is no god but Allah." So "There is no god but Allah" must be understood in a way that encompasses the three types of
tawhid: tawhid al-rububiyyah, tawhid of worship, and tawhid of the attributes.
What is the reality of Muslims today, with great regret? Most Muslims do not understand from the testimony of tawhid anything but
the first tawhid, meaning that there is no creator with Allah. As for "there is no true object of worship in existence except Allah," they do not understand this except
those whom Allah wills, and they are few. "There is no god but 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, that "there is no god" means "there is no creator except
Allah." Rather, the meaning of this beautiful phrase is "there is no true object of worship in existence except Allah." So when you say "there is no Lord except Allah," you have not
added anything to the belief of the polytheists who, when asked who created the heavens and the earth, would say, "Allah." So the fact that Allah
is the Creator is a matter of innate nature upon which Allah, Mighty and Majestic, created His servants, even the polytheists. They believe in this true belief,
namely that the Creator of the universe is One with no partner. But why did the polytheists disbelieve, despite 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, but rather they worshipped others alongside Him, Blessed and Exalted is He.
And so they disbelieved in "There is no god but Allah," and this was made explicit in the Noble Qur'an, Lord of the worlds Why do they become arrogant, while they believe that the Creator of the heavens and the earth is Allah? Because
the meaning of "There is no god but Allah" is not "there is no creator except Allah," but rather its meaning includes something more than that, which is "there is no creator except Allah and no
object of worship except Allah." This Creator is the One who must be worshipped alone, with no partner. So when they are told "There is no god but Allah,"
they become arrogant, meaning they become arrogant about worshipping Allah alone, with no partner, as if they were not arrogant
to say that Allah is the One who created the heavens and the earth. From this, the scholars of investigation derived two types of tawhid: 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
of worship. So whoever wants to be saved on the Day of Resurrection from eternal abode in the Fire must add to tawhid al-rububiyyah
the addition of tawhid of worship, believing that no one deserves worship alongside Allah, no matter how
insignificant this worship may appear 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 at 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: "Whoever attends Friday prayer in the first hour is as if he has offered a camel, and whoever attends Friday prayer
in the second hour is as if he has offered a cow," and so on, mentioning the ram and the chicken. These are all, and finally the egg,
these are all acts of obedience and worship, but in varying degrees. So whoever offers a chicken to other than Allah, Mighty and Majestic, is like the one who
offers the greatest act of worship, such as a camel, because he associates with Allah, Mighty and Majestic, in His worship. So the one who makes tawhid
is not truly a monotheist until he believes that it is not permissible to worship other than Allah, Mighty and Majestic, in any type of worship, because these
acts of worship are the command of Allah, Mighty and Majestic, as He said: "And they were not commanded except to worship Allah, alone, making their religion sincere to Him."
So the polytheists went astray because of their lack of submission to tawhid of worship, as came in the previous verse