Clarifying the Muslims' misunderstanding of the word *tawhid* (the oneness of Allah), and their assumption that its meaning is: "There is no Lord but Allah," along with clarifying the three categories of *tawhid*.

The Shaykh : Many Muslims today, not only in Egypt as you mentioned, but also in Syria, and perhaps here in the shrines where it is claimed that the awliya (close friends of Allah) and righteous people are buried, are visited with the intention of having their needs fulfilled.

The questioner : They seek blessing from them.

The Shaykh : They seek blessing from them and tie rags, binding the rags so that the wali remembers them before his Lord and asks Him to fulfill their need for them; all of this contradicts the beautiful word, *La ilaha illa Allah* (There is no deity but Allah); because the meaning of *La ilaha illa Allah* is that there is no one worthy of worship in existence except Allah. When a Muslim comes to visit the grave and asks the deceased for support, asks for help and healing, and the like; all of this is shirk (associating partners with Allah) and polytheism, which the Najdis fight with the fiercest fighting; because the Book of Allah is established upon that.
Among the scientific facts that Muslims today overlook—except for a few of them—is that we are ignorant of the type of shirk (associating partners with Allah) in which the polytheists who the Messenger was sent to and who fought him, and he fought them, were. What was the type of their shirk? Many assume that these people denied the existence of Allah. This is a mistake. They believed in the existence of Allah (Blessed and Exalted is He); because the explicit Qur'an says: , they explicitly state that the Creator is One with no partner, and this is a verse among many verses that narrate their belief that the Creator is One. So what was their disbelief? He (the Exalted) said in the other verse: , so their ultimate goal was Allah, and when they took deities other than Allah, they made them a means to reach Him and bring them closer to Allah (Blessed and Exalted is He). So it is a grave and abominable ignorance among Muslims to assume that the difference between the Messenger (peace be upon him) and the polytheists was that they denied the existence of Allah. No, absolutely not. Rather, they denied the divinity of Allah, not the lordship of Allah. They did not believe in the oneness of divinity. But please, do not rush a little; because *tawhid* (the oneness of Allah) according to the scholars is of three categories: *tawhid al-rububiyyah* (oneness of lordship), *tawhid al-uluhiyyah* (oneness of worship), and some express it as *tawhid al-'ibadah* (oneness of worship), and this is clearer for the general people. The first type is *tawhid al-rububiyyah*, the second is *tawhid al-'ibadah*, and *tawhid al-asma' wa al-sifat* (oneness of the names and attributes).
Three types of the meanings of *tawhid* (the oneness of Allah); if they are present in the belief of the Muslim, he is a true monotheist, and he is the one who understands the meaning of *La ilaha illa Allah*; by the text of the Noble Qur'an. So who believes in *tawhid* first? What is it? *Tawhid al-rububiyyah* (oneness of lordship). And by *tawhid al-rububiyyah* we mean the oneness of creation; meaning there is no Creator with Allah, as you heard earlier, the text of the Qur'an narrating about the polytheists, , saying "Al-Lat and Al-Uzza, and Manat the third?" No, the Creator is One with them; therefore, among their misguidance in their response to the call around the House of their Lord, they say: "Here I am, You have no partner, here I am, You have no partner except a partner over whom You have dominion and what He owns." Look at this misguidance! "Over whom You have dominion and what He owns." What is this partner? This is a partner in worship; meaning: they used to worship other than Allah, they admit it.

Another questioner: Peace be upon you.

The Shaykh : And upon you be peace, and the mercy of Allah and His blessings.
They explicitly state that they worship these awliya (close friends of Allah) and righteous people, but why do they worship them? Because they deserve worship other than Allah? No; ; so these people disbelieved in *tawhid al-'ibadah* (oneness of worship), the second category, *tawhid al-'ibadah*. They did not believe in it because they worship other than Allah, and this is in the explicit Qur'an, O our brothers, . What is the meaning of the verse? There is a condition in the speech, . They worship them other than Allah. When they are asked: Why do you worship them other than Allah? They said: . So the shirk of the polytheists is not their denial and rejection of *tawhid al-rububiyyah* (oneness of lordship), the oneness of creation, but rather it is *tawhid al-'ibadah* (oneness of worship), *tawhid al-uluhiyyah* (oneness of divinity); therefore, in the Qur'an: , they said: .
Many of us to this day understand *ilah* (deity) to mean *Rabb* (Lord), and this is a grave error linguistically and religiously; because the disbelieving polytheist, of whatever type, of whatever religion, if he says: "There is no Lord but Allah," he does not become a Muslim. Rather, if he says: *La ilaha illa Allah* (There is no deity but Allah), he becomes a Muslim. And if they say *La ilaha illa Allah* with the concept: "There is no Lord but Allah," they do not become believers. There is Islam, there is faith. Islam saves the Muslim from being judged in this world, from being treated like the disbelievers, when there is an Islamic ruling for the people of *dhimmah* (protected non-Muslims). The people of *dhimmah* have the right to live under the banner of Islam and the rulings of Islam, and so on, and their blood is respected, and their wealth and women are completely safe; because they are living under the system of Islam. But these people are not saved with Allah; because they are polytheists. So this polytheist, if he says: "There is no Lord but Allah," does not become a Muslim with what we have and what we owe; until he says: *La ilaha illa Allah*. If he says: *La ilaha illa Allah*, he becomes a Muslim. But if he says: *La ilaha illa Allah* meaning "There is no Lord but Allah," he does not become a believer; meaning he is not saved with Allah on the Day of Resurrection. Why? Because he did not go beyond remaining on his first shirk (associating partners with Allah); because the polytheists believed in the Creator of the universe, and he says: "There is no Lord but Allah," so he is a believer, and the polytheists believed that Allah is the One Creator Lord. So what did the Messenger of Allah ask of them? That they worship Allah alone, with no partner. And as they were Arabs, when they were told: Say: *La ilaha illa Allah*, they were arrogant, explicitly in the Qur'an, ; why? Because we want to oppose our fathers and our grandfathers. Thus we found our fathers upon a religion; and therefore they said, in amazement: . They did not say: "Did He make the Lord one, O our brothers?" Rather, they believed in the One Lord, but they did not believe in the One Deity.
And I think it is now clear to you what is meant by the One Deity, the One Worshipped. They did not believe in the One Worshipped. They worshipped other deities with Allah, and they explicitly stated in their previously mentioned saying: ; so *tawhid al-rububiyyah* (oneness of lordship) alone is not sufficient and does not save; because the polytheists believed in this *tawhid*. Rather, their disbelief was in *tawhid al-'ibadah* (oneness of worship) or *tawhid al-uluhiyyah* (oneness of divinity); it is one thing. As for *tawhid al-asma' wa al-sifat* (oneness of the names and attributes), this is further from the Arabs; because they were living in *jahiliyyah* (the pre-Islamic age of ignorance).
Many Muslims today who have not studied *tawhid* (the oneness of Allah) with that precise study fall into these problems. They say: *La ilaha illa Allah*; meaning: "There is no Lord but Allah." This is a deficient and wrong interpretation by which the Muslim is not saved from the punishment of Allah, and the forgiveness in the previous verse does not include him: .