means worshipping Allah out of love, fear, and hope, complying with His commands and shunning what He has forbidden. In essence, it is to devote to Allah alone every act of worship He has legislated for His servants.
- Tawḥīd al-asmāʾ wa’l-ṣifāt (the oneness of the divine names and attributes): affirming for Allah every name and attribute He has affirmed for Himself, or His Messenger ﷺ has affirmed for Him, while declaring Him exalted above every defect and shortcoming He has negated for Himself, or His Messenger ﷺ has negated on His behalf.
Thus, every Qur’anic verse that speaks of Allah’s actions falls under tawḥīd al-rubūbiyyah. Every verse that speaks of worship, commands it, or calls to it belongs to tawḥīd al-ulūhiyyah. And every verse that addresses the divine names and attributes belongs to tawḥīd al-asmāʾ wa’l-ṣifāt.
Of these three, the objective sought is tawḥīd al-ulūhiyyah, for it is the message to which the messengers summoned, the reason the scriptures were sent down, and the cause for which striving in Allah’s path was undertaken—so that Allah alone would be worshipped and everything besides Him abandoned.
As for tawḥīd al-rubūbiyyah—which includes tawḥīd al-asmāʾ wa’l-ṣifāt—no created being has ever denied it. Allah has mentioned in many verses that the disbelievers themselves acknowledge that He alone is the Creator, Provider, Giver of life and death, and Governor of all affairs; in this they do not differ. Yet if a person limits himself to this type alone