and attributes. Indeed, none of the Companions ever spoke of this classification, nor any of the Successors, nor any of the pious predecessors—may Allah be pleased with them all. Rather, this classification is a reprehensible innovation of later generations that arose in the eighth century AH, some eight hundred years after the time of the Prophet—may Allah bless him and grant him peace. No one had advocated this classification before ...”

He also says on p. 10: “Ibn Taymiyyah, who invented the division of monotheism into Allah’s right to be worshipped and His lordship...”

I say: The evidence in the Quran and Sunnah for this classification is too abundant to enumerate, and anyone with even the slightest familiarity with their texts knows it. Indeed, anyone who has memorized Sūrat al-Fātihah1 and Sūrat al-Nās will find in them clear indications and compelling proof that amply suffice to establish this classification. Indeed, it is the greatest of the religious truths established in the Quran and Sunnah. Some of the Quranic evidence for this classification has already been presented above. Given how clear and evident it is, only a misguided, deviant person would obstinately dispute it.

As for the writer’s claim that Ibn Taymiyyah invented this classification, that none of the pious predecessors spoke of it, and that it only appeared in the eighth century AH, this demonstrates his limited knowledge and scant familiarity with the writings of the pious predecessors. Their writings abound in references to these categories, sometimes explicit and sometimes implicit. Were I to quote all their statements on this subject that I know, the discussion would grow lengthy. I shall therefore content myself here with a few quotations and a small selection of texts mentioning the three categories of monotheism, from imams who lived before Shaykh al-Islām Ibn Taymiyyah, to expose the writer’s falsehood and make his ignorance plain.