The word "Tauhid " means to make or to conceive as or hold to be one. Tauhid of Allah means both the oneness and the uniqueness of Allah Most High. Stated briefly, tauhid means attributing/ascribing/dedicating all attributes, beliefs and forms of worship to Allah and allowing none of these to be toward other than Allah, Most High.
In this way, tauhid combines the two fundamentals of rejection and assertion. When we say laa ilaha (there is no deity…), we reject all aspects of deity from all others except Allah Most High. Thus, Allah shares His attributes with no one, he alone creates and commands and He alone defines how He is to be worshipped and legislates the laws which govern our lives. When we say illa Allah (…except Allah), we affirm all of the things just mentioned to Allah Most High.
For ease of understanding, the study of Tauhid is divided into three areas:
Tauhid Ar-Ruboobiya. The exclusive uniqueness of Allah as omnipotent Lord. The one and the only one fully capable and in command in His creation. Stated another way: this form of tauhid pertains to the actions of Allah Most High.
Tauhid Al-Uloohiya. The exclusiveness uniqueness of Allah as deity. Allah is the only valid object of worship and no portion of any form of worship may be directed to other than Allah. Stated another way: this form of tauhid pertains to our actions.
Tauhid Al-Asmaa’ wa As-Sifaat. The exclusiveness uniqueness of Allah with regard to His names and attributes as He told us in the Qur’an or commanded his Prophet (sas) to tell us in the hadith. Stated another way: this form of tahuid pertains to complete acceptance of Allah’a attributes and names as they have been given to us.
These three categories are not from the revelation (Qur’an and Sunnah) as such. They were developed by the early scholars of this Ummah for ease of study and understanding. They carry weight because of the specific evidence from the Qur’an and the Sunnah for each point, not in and of themselves. In fact, this is not the only possible categorization and two other ‘types’ of tauhid are sometimes mentioned:
Tauhid Al-Ittibaa. The exclusiveness of following. Allah, the One has ordered us to take the Prophet (sas) as our guide and our example. Thus to give any other priority in following over the Prophet (sas) is to go against Allah and to divide our belief.
Tauhid Al-Haakimiya. The exclusiveness of Allah in legislation. Since Allah is the Supreme Lawgiver, part of our worship of Allah is to always accept His legislation on all matters and never to give the legislation of any other precedence over the legislation of Allah. Since Allah is our deity, there is no conceptual difference between turning away from bowing to Allah and bowing to others and turning away from Allah’s perfect laws and implementing the laws of others instead.
Once you understand how the two principles of rejection and assertion apply to the three (or four, or five) categories of Tauhid just described, you have a basic understanding of the framework of this field of knowledge into which to place specifics of its study.
First: Tauhid At-Ruboobiya
(The Oneness of Allah as Omnipotent Lord)
This is the oneness and uniqueness of Allah with regard to His actions. We believe that Allah alone can create and He is omnipotent and in full control of all things. He alone creates life and brings death. He alone provides our sustenance and sends us messengers. Allah said about His creating:
{Allah is the creator of all things and He is in charge over all things.}
Az-Zumar: 62
Allah mentioned his ‘order’, that He alone is in control and in command of all things in two verses (Aal-Imraan: 152-154). The specific mention is in the following sentense in verse 154:
{…they say is there anything for us in this affair? Say: the command belongs entirely to Allah…}
In another verse, Allah combines the two concepts:
{…Verily, His is the creation and the command. Blessed is Allah, Lord of the worlds.}
Al-A’raaf: 54
The meaning is that everything is created except for Allah and His attributes and that everything is under His command. Nothing happens except by His command, nothing can impede His command and nothing happens which was not commanded by Allah. Allah is the sovereign and has no partner or companion in His dominion.
When Pharaoh, who claimed himself to be lord but actually knew better in his heart, challenged Musa and Harun as to the identity of the lord they claimed, Musa answered:
{He said: "Our Lord is the one who gave all things their form and then directed them.}
Taha: 50
Complete understanding of Tauhid Ar-Ruboobiya is not sufficient to avoid Shirk.
Actually, it is rare in human history that any group advocated the rejection of this kind of tauhid. It is mainly cited as something obvious and used as evidence for the other aspects of tauhid. It is the nature of mankind to know and except his creator. Read Sura Ibrahim, verses 8 and 9 for a description of the call of all of the messengers and the behavior of most of the people in the face of it. At the beginning of verse 9, Allah quotes them as saying:
{Their messengers said: "Is there any doubt about Allah, the creator of the heavens and the earth?!"}
Even Pharaoh who, like Farakhan after him, claimed that Allah was a man walking on the earth (himself), knew in his heart that his Creator was the One and Only Allah Most High. Allah quotes Musa as saying to him:
{He said: "You know that these signs have only been sent by the Lord of the heavens and the earth…"}
Al-Israa: 102
Also, Allah said about Pharaoh and his people:
{They opposed it, though they were certain of its truth, out of oppression and arrogance.}
An-Naml: 14
Even the pagans of Makka, to whom the Qur’an was first sent, accepted the Lordship of Allah Most High and understood Tauhid Ar-Ruboobiya. After mentioning some of the disputes of these people with the Prophet (sas), Allah says about them:
{And if you were to ask them who created the heavens and the earth and put the sun and the moon in submission, they will say: "Allah." So how, then, are they misled?}
Al-Ankaboot: 63
After several verses talking about the realities which all who disbelieve in Allah will face on Qiyama, Allah says to them:
{Say: Who provides your sustenance from the heavens and from the earth and who owns hearing and sight and who brings the living from the dead and the dead from the living and who arranges all affairs? They will surely say: "Allah." Why, then, don’t you beware?}
Yunus: 31
