The three categories of Tawheed

# The three categories of Tawheed ### Tawheed ar-Ruboobeeyah Tawheed ar-Ruboobeeyah means "Maintaining the unity of Lordship". This category is based on the fundmental concept that Allah alone caused all things to exist when there was nothing. This means that **Allah is the sole Lord of the universe** and it's inhabitants— without any partners or challenges to his sovereignty. He sustains and maintains creation without any need from it or for it. "Ruboobeeyah" in arabic is the word used to this creator-sustainer quality. It is derived from the root Rabb (Lord). According to this category, since God is the only real power in existence. It is He who gave all things the power to move and to change. Nothing happens in creation except what He allows to happen. In recognition of this reality, the Prophet SAW would often say"La hawla wa laa quwwata illa billah" (There is no movement nor power except by Allah's will). The basis for the ruboobeeyah concept can be found in many Quranic verses: 1. > **ٱللَّهُ خَـٰلِقُ كُلِّ شَىْءٍۢ ۖ وَهُوَ عَلَىٰ كُلِّ شَىْءٍۢ وَكِيلٌۭ** > > > * > Allah is the Creator of all things, and He is the Maintainer of everything. > * 2. > **مَآ أَصَابَ مِن مُّصِيبَةٍ إِلَّا بِإِذْنِ ٱللَّهِ ۗ** > > > * > No calamity befalls ˹anyone˺ except by Allah’s Will. > ***ٱللَّهُ خَـٰلِقُ كُلِّ شَىْءٍۢ ۖ وَهُوَ عَلَىٰ كُلِّ شَىْءٍۢ وَكِيلٌۭ** Pushing this concept further, good lucks charms (i.e. rabbits feet), bad omens, zodiac signs, etc, are all a manifistation of shirk. Because apparent "good fortune" and "misfortune" are all from Allah and cannot be caused by things like charms. *'Uqbah*, one of the companions of the Prophet SAW reported that *once a group of men approached Allah's Messenger to give their allegiance to him, and he accepted the oath from nine of them but refused to accept it from one. When they asked him why he refused their companion's oath, he replied, "Verily he is wearing an amulet: The main who was wearing the amulet put his hand in his cloak, pulled the amulet off, broke it, and then made the oath. The Prophet SAW then said, "Whoever wears an amulet has commited shirk".* Q: Can the Quran be used as a good luck charm? A: No. ### Tawheed al Asmaa was Aifaat Tawheed al Asmaa was Aifaat means **"Maintaining the unity of Allah's names and attributes"**. This category of tawheed has five main aspects: 1. Allaah must be referred to according to how He and His Prophet (r) have described Him, without explaining away His names and attributes by giving them meanings other than their obvious meaning. For example, 2. Allah must be referred to according to how He and His Prophet SAW have described him. *For example, Allaah may not be given the name al-Ghaadib (the angry one), in spite of the fact that He has said that He gets angry, because neither Allaah nor His messenger has used this name. This rule may seem nitpicky, but it must be put in place to prevent the false description of God by man.* 3. Allah is referred to without giving Him the attributes of His creation *For example, it is claimed in the Bible and Torah that God spent 6 days creating the universe and slept on the 7th day. Such a claim assigns to God the attributes of His creation. It is **man** who tires after heavy work and needs sleep to recuperate.* The key principal which should be followed when dealing with Allah's attributes is the Quranic verse 42:11 in Ash-Shuraa: > **لَيْسَ كَمِثْلِهِۦ شَىْءٌۭ ۖ وَهُوَ ٱلسَّمِيعُ ٱلْبَصِيرُ** > > > There is nothing like Him, for He ˹alone˺ is the All-Hearing, All-Seeing. > The attributes of hearing and seeing are among human attributes, but when they are attributed to The Divine Being they are without comparison in their perfection. So although human beings need human apparatuses to hear (i.e., ears) we do not attribute human ears to Allah SWT. Thus, you cannot say Allah SWT needs eyes to see, or ears to hear. What man knows about the Creator is only what little He has revealed to him through His prophets. Therefore, man is obliged to stay within these narrow limits. When man gives free reign to his intellect in describing God, he is liable to fall into errors by assigning to Allaah the attributes of His creation. 4. Man should not be given the attributes of Allah *For example, in the New Testament Paul takes the figure of Melchizedek, king of Salem, from the Torah (Genesis 14:18- 20) and gives both him and Jesus the divine attribute of having no beginning or end. This is not permissible* 5. Allah's names cannot be given to his creation Maintaining the unity of Allaah’s names also means that Allaah’s names in the definite form cannot be given to His creation unless preceded by the prefix ‘Abd meaning “slave of” or “servant of.” However, there are divine names in indefintie forms that Allah SWT has used to describe the Prophet SAW; and these names are permissible to use: > ** لَقَدۡ جَآءَكُمۡ رَسُولٞ مِّنۡ أَنفُسِكُمۡ عَزِيزٌ عَلَيۡهِ مَا عَنِتُّمۡ حَرِيصٌ عَلَيۡكُم بِٱلۡمُؤۡمِنِينَ رَءُوفٞ رَّحِيمٞ ** > > > “A messenger has come to you from among yourselves who is grieved by whatever afflicts you. He is full of concern for you, full of pity (Ra’oof) and full of mercy (Raheem) for the believers.” > But ar-Ra’oof (the One Most Full of Pity) and ar-Raheem (the Most Merciful) can only be used to refer to men if they are preceded by ‘Abd as in ‘Abdur-Ra’oof or ‘Abdur-Raheem, since in the definite form they represent a level of perfection which only belongs to God