Question:
Can it be said that the categorisation of Tawḥīd is a matter of convention that is indisputable?
Shaykh Ṣaliḥ al-Fawzān:
No, O brother, it is not conventional, it is taken from the Qurʾān. The categorisation of Tawḥīd is taken from the Qurʾān, it is not conventional. The āyāt that speak about Allāh’s actions, these are Tawḥīd al-Rubūbiyyah. The āyāt that speak about worship, these are Tawḥīd al-Ulūhiyyah. The āyāt that speak about Allāh’s names and attributes, these are Tawḥīd al-Asmāʾ wal-Ṣifāt. These are taken from the Qurʾān (directly), they are not conventional. The one who says they are conventional is a liar or he is ignorant.
01 This is refutaiton of those who claim that the categorisation of Tawḥīd is merely a convention made by scholars, and hence, the different ways it can be categorised.
02 However, this is matter that is directly taken from the Qurʾān. And this is because there is Allāh’s essence which is one, and there are Allāh’s actions which related to His Lordship (Rubūbiyyah) and there are His Names and Attributes (al-Asmāʾ wal-Ṣifāt) and there is His right to be worshipped (Ulūhiyyah). However, the first two can be combined and said to be the Tawḥīd of knowledge and affirmation (al-maʿrifah wal-ithbāt) and the third one the Tawhid of intent and worship (al-irādah wal-ibādah), which relate to knowledge and action. Again, this is simply a reality indicated in the Qurʾān, that Tawḥīd is in knowledge and action, and these two categorisations are identical in essence.
Allāh gives us knowledge about Himself and His actions, and commands us to worship Him alone. So this is knowledge and action, and the knowledge about Him is knowledge of His Names, Attributes and Actions, the latter referring to Him creating, owning, providing, regulating, guiding, misguiding and so on, which is His Lordship. This is clear in the Qurʾān and is not a convention devised by scholars.
03 As for Tawḥīd al-Mutābaʿah, some have added that from the angle that it is related to the two testimonies, that there is Tawḥīd relating to Allāh, which is His worship, and there is tawhīḍ related to the Messenger (صلى الله عليه وسلم) which is following him alone, and none other.
However, some scholars have explained that the one who violates the first, the Tawḥīd of Allāh, is said to be a mushrik and the one who violates the second is said to be a mubtadiʾ, and hence, that this does not directly relate to Allāh. Further, this tawḥīd of following comes under Tawḥīd of Ulūhiyyah in any case, as it is Allāh’s right that His messengers are followed, and comes under His worship.
Hence, to make it a separate category is an error.