speculative theologians who expound Allah’s oneness in their books of theology and rational inquiry go no further than dividing it into (three types). They say: He is one in His essence, having no parts; one in His attributes, having no likeness; and one in His actions, having no partner.

The best-known of these three types among them is the third, namely “oneness in actions,” which means that the Creator of the world is one. They argue for this using what they call the argument of mutual hindrance and other proofs. They suppose that this is the affirmation of Allah’s oneness that is required, and that this is the meaning of our statement, “There is no deity worthy of worship except Allah.” Indeed, they may even define divinity as the power to bring things into existence.

It is well known that the Arab polytheists to whom Muhammad, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, was first sent did not disagree with him on this. Rather, they acknowledged that Allah is the Creator of everything. They even acknowledged divine decree, yet remained polytheists.

It has thus become clear that no one in the world disputes the basis of this polytheism. The most that can be said, however, is that some people have held that certain existing things were created by someone other than Allah, such as the Qadariyya and others. Yet these people acknowledge that Allah created His servants and their ability, even if they say that the servants created their own actions.

Likewise, the adherents of philosophy, naturalism, and astrology who hold that some created beings bring certain things into existence, while acknowledging the Maker, regard these agents as themselves fashioned