The Shaykh’s explanation of the reality of tawhid (the oneness of Allah) and its categories.

'Ayd 'Abassi: The first of these matters is the issue of tawhid (the oneness of Allah). The majority of Muslims, both the common people and the specialists, have erred in this matter. It has become widespread among them that the tawhid which Allah commanded in His Book and the Sunnah of His Prophet is merely the belief that this universe has a Creator, Manager, Provider, and Wise One who possesses attributes of perfection. They have filled their books and exhausted themselves in proving this reality, even though, as you have heard from our teacher more than once, this reality is innate, ingrained in souls and minds, and does not require much proof or great effort. Allah the Exalted said, for example: And anyone who looks at the path of humanity throughout the ages will find that all humans believe in the existence of a Creator, Manager, and Wise God, except for a rare few of atheists. Throughout the ages, they were called materialists in the past, and are now called atheists, Zindiqs, or communists. Their proportion is very small compared to the rest of humanity. No, no one should say, "By Allah, the communists, for example, are the inhabitants of Russia, the inhabitants of China, and the inhabitants of the other many communist countries." No one should say this, because the majority of the inhabitants of these countries believe in Allah. Most of them are either Christians, or, for example, Jews, or polytheists who believe in a god. But the atheists among them, and the communists, for example, are a very small minority; they are only the rulers and those who run the military and other affairs, meaning they are members of the Communist Party and no one else. As for the rest of the people, you know they have their churches and their worship. They used to conduct, they conduct censuses from time to time. I remember from the last censuses that the communists in Russia are only six or seven million. So they are a minority. What is the value of seven million, or add to that, for example, the other countries... other millions, fifteen million, say twenty, fifty? What is their value compared to the population of humanity, which is now, I think, three thousand million people?
So, the common people and the masses of humanity throughout the ages believe in a God. So what do these people need? The most urgent thing they need is to believe in Allah with the correct faith that was brought to us by Muhammad (peace and blessings be upon him) and the previous messengers. It is this faith that is counted, it is the one that saves its owner from eternal abode in the Fire. It is the path to entering Paradise. It is the only correct faith, and everything other than it is disbelief. We all know that the polytheists believed in the Creator God, except for a very rare few. The Qur'an pointed to this where it said: And it clarified the cause of their misguidance and their shirk (associating partners with Allah) as the belief in intercessors and mediators between them and Allah: , In the poetry of the pre-Islamic age of ignorance, you will find many instances of the word "God" and "Creator," and they swear by it and magnify it, but they believe that these idols are intermediaries and bringers of nearness to this God, and that mentioning them and calling upon them is a guarantee that Allah will respond to their supplication and aid them when they call for help. So, the Salafi call focuses on clarifying the correct tawhid (the oneness of Allah), which is what people need most. This is what the verified scholars, such as Shaykh al-Islam Ibn Taymiyyah and others, have clarified: that there are three types of tawhid. The first is what they termed tawhid al-rububiyyah (oneness of lordship), which is the belief that this universe has a Creator, Provider, and one who possesses attributes of perfection. The second type of tawhid is tawhid al-uluhiyyah (oneness of worship), and the third type is tawhid al-asma' wa al-sifat (oneness of the names and attributes). These are correct names agreed upon by these renowned imams, but their meaning and reality exist in the fabric of the Book and the Sunnah. These scholars merely clarified them, distinguished them, and agreed upon these terms so that matters would become clear and the truths would be evident. We said that tawhid al-rububiyyah means... As for tawhid al-uluhiyyah, it is also, in a general sense, that the Muslim dedicates all categories of worship to Allah (Mighty and Majestic), this Creator and Manager in whom he believes. This is, in fact, a natural thing. If Allah is the Creator, Manager, and Provider, etc., why do they call upon other than Him? Why do they worship other than Him? They worship the created, they worship the needy, they worship those who do not possess for themselves any benefit or harm, as the poet says: "And whoever intends the sea, the water-carrier is small" How can you call upon this weak, helpless slave who does not possess for himself any benefit or harm, nor resurrection, nor life, nor revival, and leave your Lord who has everything in His hand, who, when He wills a thing, says to it "Be," and it is? Is He...? Does He not respond to your supplication? Is He far away? Is He unjust so that you fear Him and turn to others? He is Merciful, Kind to His servants, Compassionate with them. He responds to the call of the distressed when he calls upon Him. He accepts repentance from His servants. He is closer to one of you than...

The Shaykh : the neck of his camel.
'Ayd 'Abassi: ...the neck of his camel. He is the One who rejoices in the repentance of the repentant more than the joy of a person who was traveling and his camel was lost, then he found it with his food and drink on it after he had despaired of perishing. So, this Great, Wise, Merciful God—do not leave Him and turn to other than Him, to these gods who are weak and helpless, who do not possess for themselves any benefit, life, or harm. So, it is... natural. Therefore, tawhid al-uluhiyyah (oneness of worship) is among the most specific characteristics of tawhid, and it is among the most important things brought by the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him). It is, in fact, the meaning of our saying "La ilaha illa Allah" (There is no god but Allah), He alone has no partner. The phrase "La ilaha illa Allah" is what brings a person into Islam, and it is the good word, and it is the one about which the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) said: So, he conditioned entering Paradise upon the one who says this word, believing in it, being sincere from his heart. What is the meaning of this word? Is it just the words spoken by the tongue like this, without understanding, belief, or application? No, that is not the case. Matters are judged by their realities. The meaning of this word is the worshipped god. "Ilah" means one who is worshipped, so the worshipped god. "La ilaha illa Allah" means there is no worshipped one with truth except Allah. So, whoever attaches the realities, whoever attaches the meanings of "La ilaha illa Allah," directing and dedicating all worship, all worship in its different types, to Allah (Mighty and Majestic).
Many Muslims are ignorant of the concept of worship, assuming that believing in "La ilaha illa Allah" (There is no god but Allah) means dedicating worship exclusively to Allah. We also believe in this; we do not dedicate worship to anyone, nor do we prostrate to anyone but Allah. However, this indicates a deficiency in understanding, for they are unaware that worship is a broader and more comprehensive concept. Worship encompasses everything that Allah loves and is pleased with. It includes all forms of magnification that must be reserved for the Wise Creator. It includes supplication, vows, slaughter, reliance, repentance, seeking help, fear, awe, calling for aid, hope, and love. All these types are forms of worship. Due to their ignorance, they assume worship is limited to prayer and Hajj, for example. Numerous texts indicate this, which we cannot enumerate now due to time constraints, but we will mention some examples. For instance, regarding supplication and seeking help, Allah the Exalted said: The fronting of the object here is intended for specification. "Iyyaka na'budu" means we do not worship anyone other than You. "Iyyaka nasta'in" means we do not seek help from anyone other than You. This is the difference between saying "Iyyaka na'budu" and saying "Na'buduka." He did not say "Na'buduka" because that could imply that we worship You and also worship others. Therefore, the object was fronted to specify this exclusivity. Similarly, His saying, the Exalted: He contrasted and , clarifying that supplication is worship. This is fully clarified by the authentic saying of the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him): Likewise, regarding slaughter, Allah the Exalted said: "My sacrifice" means my slaughter, "my life, and my death are for Allah, Lord of the worlds." There are many texts regarding fear and hope: and similar noble texts. This is the second type of tawhid (the oneness of Allah) that Muslims neglect, and the Salafi call focuses on it. Whoever errs in this, or is ignorant of it, or believes otherwise, is a mushrik (one who associates partners with Allah) and is judged to be eternally in the Fire, unless this call did not reach him, in which case his case is left to Allah, who may excuse him. The hadith narrated by Imam Ahmad and others clarifies his fate: he will be sent to on the Day of Resurrection... to the end of the well-known hadith.
The third type of tawhid, which many Muslims also ignore, contradict its essence, and thereby associate partners with Allah, is tawhid al-asma' wa al-sifat (oneness of the names and attributes). This is the belief that no one shares with Allah any of His attributes. Among Allah's attributes is that He knows the unseen. When a person believes that a human being knows the unseen, as the Sufis believe that their sheikhs are granted knowledge of the unseen and know what is in one's heart and are aware of one's state even if one is in the East and they are in the West, this is undoubtedly shirk (associating partners with Allah) in attributes. Similarly, when they believe that some of their sheikhs are capable of everything and can say to a thing "Be, and it is," as mentioned in some of their books, and when they attribute other characteristics, which are among the most specific traits of Allah the Exalted, to their awliya (close friends of Allah), their sheikhs, or the prophets and messengers, they have associated partners with Allah the Exalted. Regrettably, this has spread widely in the speech of later scholars, particularly among the poets who are not the panegyrists of the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) who wrote poems praising the Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him), which people specifically recite at Mawlid celebrations and religious festivals. These contain much calling for aid and attributing these matters, which are not permissible to attribute to anyone but Allah, to the Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him), their sheikhs, and their awliya. The Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him) warned extensively about this and ordered not to exaggerate in praising him (peace and blessings be upon him) out of fear of falling into this serious deviation. He said (peace and blessings be upon him), for example: When some people came to him and said, "You are our master and the son of our master," he said to them (peace and blessings be upon him): The phrase "our master and the son of our master" was found by the Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him) to be an exaggeration, because calling Abdullah, the father of the Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him), "our master" implies he is their master, even though he was a mushrik, as in the well-known hadiths. This is an exaggeration, and he warned them against it. When he heard some maids and children reciting, "Among us is a Prophet who knows what is in the future," he also forbade them and said: Despite this warning and caution from the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him), people openly contradicted him. One of them, for example, al-Busiri, said:
"Leave what the Christians claim about their Prophet, *** And judge as you wish in praise of him and appeal to him" The meaning of this verse is: Do not say that Muhammad is the son of Allah, and say whatever you wish in his praise. This is clearly misguided, clearly deviant, and an exaggeration... Tawhid al-asma' wa al-sifat is the most dangerous type of tawhid that Muslims have ignored and contradicted. As we said, the issue of tawhid is the criterion between Islam and kufr (disbelief). If a person worships at the highest levels of worship, fasting during the day, standing in night prayer, giving charity, paying zakah, performing various voluntary acts, drawing near to Allah through various means of nearness, maintaining family ties, etc., but associates partners with Allah even once in his lifetime, calling for aid from other than Allah, or saying a word that attributes a characteristic of Allah to one of the created beings, then all his deeds are invalid, and he is eternally in the Fire if he does not repent. Allah the Exalted said: Therefore, the issue is serious and very serious, which is why the Salafis give it great attention. It is amazing that the other sheikhs and scholars do not focus on it but rather argue with us about it, saying there is nothing wrong with it and that the issue relates to intention. They say, "Ask about his intention; this person only wants the face of Allah and wants to draw near and show love and magnification for this Prophet and these awliya." Even though they know that intention does not excuse a deed, no matter how good it is; the deed must be good and the intention must be good, in accordance with the saying of Allah the Exalted: meaning let his intention be good meaning in accordance with the Sunnah, as interpreted by the imams and exegetes such as Ibn Kathir and others. Therefore, it is obligatory to pay great attention to the issue of tawhid in its three types, especially the last two, to save people from the abyss and from misguidance.