Some of those who claim affiliation with the Da'wah care only about the oneness of lordship; does that benefit them or not?

Al-Fawzan: I say that many of those who claim affiliation with knowledge and the Da'wah know... So does this definition benefit them?

The Shaykh : No, it does not benefit them; because this belief is not sufficient. The disbelievers who opposed the Messenger (peace be upon him), fought him, and forced him to leave his land and migrate to the Holy City of Madinah believed in this belief . Many verses in the Noble Qur'an clarify that the polytheists first believed in the existence of Allah, and second, they did not make any partner for Allah in His essence; they did not believe that there was a Creator with Him, a Benefactor with Him, or a Harmer with Him; rather, they believed that the entire matter is in His hand (Blessed and Exalted is He). This is from one aspect.
From another aspect, when Allah (Mighty and Majestic) sent the Messengers and sent down the Books, He did not do so to call people to believe in the existence of Allah, and that He is the Harmer and the Benefactor, and that He has no partner in any of that. He did not send them or send down the Books for this purpose; because this is an innate disposition in people, even among the polytheists. Therefore, the Noble Verse explicitly states that when the polytheists are asked: "Is there a god besides Allah?" they distinguish between the deity (ilah) and the Lord (Rabb). They associate partners with Allah in worship (uluhiyyah) but do not associate partners with Him in lordship (rububiyyah). They believe that Allah is the Lord of all worlds alone, with no partner, and that when they fall into calamity or affliction, they supplicate to Allah and seek refuge in Him, because it is settled in their hearts that Allah is the Harmer and the Benefactor. So they believed in what scholars call the oneness of lordship. But Allah sent the Messengers and sent down the Books to call all these people to worship Him alone, with no partner, not to believe that He is one in His essence and that there is no Creator with Him. No, they believed in that belief explicitly in the Noble Qur'an. Rather, what they disbelieved in was that there are created persons who deserve to be worshipped alongside Allah (Blessed and Exalted is He). This is explicit in the Qur'an, where He (Mighty and Majestic) said: . Those you call upon in distress are servants like you. Your supplication is not answered because they believe they are slaves. Therefore, He (Mighty and Majestic) said in another verse: . These polytheists who took protectors (awliya) besides Allah, when asked why they worship them besides Allah, said: "We do not worship them except to bring us closer to Allah in nearness." So they believe that the true object of worship is one, with no partner in worship, but due to their misguidance, they took some of the righteous as protectors (awliya) to worship, turning to them for supplication, calling for aid, bowing, and prostration. Why? They answered with their own selves and tongues: .
So the polytheists in the time of the Messenger (peace be upon him) did not differ with the Messenger on the point that the Creator is one, the Provider is one, the Giver of life is one, and the Giver of death is one; they believed in that. But the difference was that they worshipped other than Allah (Mighty and Majestic) and submitted to other than Allah (Mighty and Majestic), so they associated partners with Allah in worship, not in lordship. Therefore, the misguidance of these polytheists reached the point that when they circumambulated the House, and this circumambulation they inherited from their father Ibrahim (peace and blessings be upon him), then shirk entered them, and one of them would say: "Here I am, O Allah, here I am. Here I am, You have no partner, except a partner that You own, and what He owns is Yours. You have no partner, but this partner is owned by You, and what is with Him is also owned by You." So the polytheists disbelieved in the oneness of worship (tawhid al-uluhiyyah), the oneness of worship, and not in the oneness of lordship. For this reason, in the Noble Qur'an: .
As for the previous verse, it does not negate lordship: . Here they said: . The point is that the first verse is explicit that the polytheists believe in the lordship of Allah alone, with no partner. In the second verse, it is explicit that they deny that the deity (ilah) is one. What does "deity" (ilah) mean? The deity is the one who is worshipped. So when the Messenger called them to worship Allah alone, with no partner, they denied that and said: . In the other verse: . How do they become arrogant? And in the other verse, our Lord informs about them: ? This means that lordship is one thing and deity (uluhiyyah) is another. The Lord is one by the agreement of all people, even the polytheists who fought the Messenger (peace be upon him) and opposed him, as we mentioned. But the deity (ilah) is multiple in their view. Therefore, they objected to the Messenger (peace be upon him) when he called them to worship Allah alone, with no partner.
Worship has types and categories, and the greatest worship in which the need of man and his servitude to Allah (Mighty and Majestic) is manifested is supplication. Therefore, he (peace be upon him) said in the authentic hadith: . Then he recited the saying of the Exalted: . So the polytheists—this is a point, unfortunately, that many of the special ones among the Muslims today have not realized, which is the distinction between uluhiyyah (oneness of worship) and rububiyyah (oneness of lordship). The polytheists believed in the oneness of Allah in lordship, but they disbelieved in the oneness of Allah in worship and uluhiyyah. Therefore, they said that Allah has a partner, but this partner is owned by Allah, and what this partner owns is also owned by Allah. And on this basis, the meaning of "La ilaha illa Allah" (There is no deity but Allah) is not permissible to interpret as "There is no Lord but Allah." This is the belief of the polytheists and is not sufficient. Rather, "La ilaha illa Allah" means this word that came in the Qur'an, which he (peace be upon him) and his Ummah were commanded to say: . The meaning of this is: Know that there is no object of worship with truth in existence except Allah. It is not "There is no Lord but Allah." "There is no Lord but Allah"—the polytheists believe in this, meaning the Creator, the Provider, the Giver of life, and the Giver of death. The polytheists believe that He is one, with no partner, but they make a partner for Him in worship.
From here, it is not permissible for the Muslim, first, to understand this good word "La ilaha illa Allah" to mean "There is no Lord but Allah"; because that is a denial (ta'til) of the meaning of uluhiyyah (oneness of worship) and worship for Allah (Mighty and Majestic) alone.
Second, if the Muslim understands this good word that the meaning of "La ilaha illa Allah" is: there is no object of worship with truth in existence except Allah; then it is not permissible to contradict this belief, the belief in the oneness of Allah in worshiping Him alone, with no partner, in practice. Many of the Muslims today call upon other than Allah in times of distress, just as the polytheists did exactly. This one calls upon al-Badawi, and this one calls upon al-Qadir al-Jilani, 'Abd al-Qadir al-Jilani, and this one calls upon al-Shadhili, and so on. All these persons are worshipped today by many Muslims due to their ignorance of the meaning of this word , which means there is no object of worship with truth in existence except Allah. For this reason, the first thing the Messenger (peace be upon him) called to was this good word, as he (peace and blessings be upon him) said in the authentic hadith: . "I was commanded to fight the people until they testify that there is no ilah (deity)." It does not mean that there is no Rabb (Lord), but rather it means there is no object of worship with truth except Allah. So whoever believes that there is no object of worship with truth except Allah believes that the Lord is one, with no partner. But whoever believes that the Lord is one, with no partner in His essence, may disbelieve in servitude, in the worship of Allah alone, with no partner. Because among the worship of Allah is supplication, so if he supplicates to other than Allah, he has taken him as a deity (ilah) besides Allah (Blessed and Exalted is He). This is what can be mentioned now. It is eleven o'clock now, O Abu 'Abdullah, let us pray and go, but the time has run out.