When we say Tawheed, what do we mean by it? Tawheed is derived from the word “One”. So when you say the verb “wahhada”, it means that he made the things in to one. So, Tawheed is the belief in the Oneness of Allah ‘azza wa jal. So first of all, we have the belief in the existence of Allah, which every human being knows and every creature on earth believes in. Then we have the three divisions of Tawheed and these three divisions are Tawheed ar-Ruboobiyyah (the Lordship Tawheed), Tawheed al-Uloohiyyaah (the Worship Tawheed) and then you have Tawheed al-Asmaa was-Siffat (the Tawheed of Allah’s Beautiful Names and Attributes). All of these three types are combined in a verse of the Qur’an (19:65). Allah ‘azza wa jal says, “Lord of the heavens and the earth.” So this is Tawheed ar-Ruboobiyyah, when you acknowledge that Allah ‘azza wa jal is the Owner, the Creator, the Facilitator; this is part of the Lordship Tawheed. “Lord of the heavens and the earth and all that is between them, so worship Him Alone and be consistent and patient in His worship.” This is Tawheed al-Uloohiyyah, the Tawheed of Worship. Allah then goes on to say, “Do you know of any who is similar to Him?” This is Tawheed al-Asmaa was-Sifaat.
Now, the three types of Tawheed are very easy. To believe in the Tawheed of Lordship is to acknowledge Allah ‘azza wa jal with His actions, subhanahu wa ta’ala .So you believe that He is the Creator, that He is the Owner of the things we have, the things we see and the things we do not see and that is He is the Facilitator of things. Allah ‘azza wa jal says, “Indeed your Lord is Allah, who created the heavens and the earth in six days.”(10: 3). Allah ‘azza wa jal tells us that He is the Creator, and no one argues this. Can you find someone saying, “No wait, I am also a creator”? Allah is the Supreme Creator. We may create something like make a toy or a prototype of something, but this not creation, this is assembling. Creation is to make something out of nothing and this is the actual and true creation. Allah goes on to say, “O mankind, remember the grace of Allah upon you. Is there any Creator other than Allah who provides for you from the sky and the earth?”(35:3). The answer is no. So this is Allah’s creation, everything we see. And finally, Allah ‘azza wa jal says, “And to Allah belongs the dominion of the heavens and the earth and Allah has power over all things.” (3:189). So Allah is the Owner and Allah ‘azza wa jal is the Creator.
Allah subhanahu wa ta’ala is also the Provider, as He says, “Say: ‘In whose hands is the sovereignty of everything and He protects all while against whom there is no protector, if you know.’”(23:88). So Allah ‘azza wa jal is the One who Protects, the One who Owns, and Allah ‘azza wa jal is also the Provider. We cannot have anything on earth and we cannot have anything in the heavens without Him providing it to us. See, we take things for granted. Now, I have taken a deep breath, inhaling it. Then, once I exhale it, no one else can bring it back to me except Allah ‘azza wa jal. I myself cannot even prevent myself from this action. Allah the Almighty says, “Say: ‘Who provides for you from the sky and from the earth? Or who owns hearing and sight? And who brings out the living from the dead and brings out the dead from the living? And who disposes the affairs? …’” (10:31).
It is Allah who raises people and puts people down. It is Allah who honors people and humiliates them as well. It is Allah ‘azza wa jal who gives nations wealth and deprives other nations from such wealth. The health and the illness is in Allah’s Hands, subhanahu wa ta’ala. All is given with wisdom. And there was no great dispute among the humans since the time of Adam about this type of Tawheed, which is the Lordship Tawheed or Tawheed ar-Ruboobiyyah. No one ever claimed to be the provider, the facilitator, the creator, the giver of life and death. Nobody dared to do so, except one or two people who said this out of arrogance and not out of true belief. One example is of An-Namrood, who was debating with Ibrahim. He said that he gives life and takes it away. He brought two prisoners and ordered one of them to be executed and said that, see, he has killed him; that is, he took a life. And he ordered the other one, initially, to be executed but then he stopped him from being executed and said that, see, he has given him life. Another example is of Pharaoh, who said, “I am your Lord, the high” and we know what happened to him. Other than that, there are no known examples of people who said that they themselves are Allah, the creator of the heavens and earth. This brings us to the end of this episode of Tawheed of Lordship.
The Quotations from the Qur’an in this Article are a rough translation of the meanings of the original text!