What is Tawheed ?
Tawheed means believing in Allaah alone as illah (the one who is worshiped) and Rabb(Lord) and attributing to Him alone all the attributes of Lordship and divinity.The Tawheed with which Allah commissioned His Prophets and which He explained in His scriptures is of three kinds; this is in accordance with the Book, the Sunnah and the state of mankind itself:
A) TAWHEED UR RUBUBIYYAH: This is to believe in the Oneness of Allah regarding His actions. In other words, Allah is the sole Creator, Nourisher and Maintainer of His creaturesaffairs, exercising complete freedom in all their matters of this world and of the Hereafter without the aid of any partners.As He says Himself: 'Allah is the Creator of all things." (Zumar 39:62) And He says:"Verily your Lord is Allah, who created the heavens and the earth in six days, then He established Himself on the Throne."(Yunus 10:3) Even the polytheists, those who worshipped idols, recognized this form of Tawheed, although they rejected the idea of resurrection. However, they were not regarded as Muslims because they associated gods with Allah, worshipped many deities beside Him, and refused to accept the Messenger Muhammad (Peace Be Upon Him)
B) TAWHEED UL ULUHIYYAH: This is the type which was totally rejected by the polytheists. Allah Almighty says: "So they wonder that a warner has come to them from among themselves! And the Unbelievers say, 'This is a sorcerer telling lies! as he made gods (all) into one God? Truly this is a strange thing!'." (Saad 38:4-5)The Quran contains a number of other similar verses. Tawheed in this regard requires that a person should direct all forms of worship to Allah alone since Allah alone deserves tobe worshipped and hence to worship someone else is totally false. In fact this is what "La Ilaha Illallah" means, i.e. there is none to be truly worshipped except Allah, as He said:"That is because Allah -He is the Reality; and those besides Him whom they invoke, they are but vain Falsehood". (AI-Hajj 22:62)
C) TAWHEED UL ASMA WAS SIFAT: (Tawheed in names and attributes) This is to believe in all those names and attributes of Allah which occur in the Book of Allah and in theauthentic sayings of the Prophet (Peace Be Upon Him); to believe in them in a way most appropriate to His Being without altering any of His attributes, negating any of them, understanding any of them in an anthropomorphic way (i.e. by attributing a human shape toAllah), or interpreting His names and attributes figuratively. This is in line with the following ayaat of the Quran:"Say: He is Allah, the One; Allah, the Eternal, Absolute; He begets not, nor is He begotten. And there is none like unto Him." (Ikhlas 112:1 - 4) And He says: "There is nothing whatever like unto Him. And He is the One, that hears and sees." (Shura 42:1 1)And He says: "The most beautiful names belong to Allah : so call on Him by them." (A'raf 7:180) And He says: "To Allah applies the highest similitude: for He is the Exalted in power, Full of Wisdom." (Nahl 16:60) The Highest Similitude (AI Mathal ul A'la) means the best description of Him, free of any defect. This is what the people of Sunnah and Jama'ah from among the Companions of the Prophet (peace Be Upon Him) and their Successors believed. They understood the attributes of Allah from the Quran and the Sunnah without any attempt to imagine the physical shape of Him, and at the same time absolved Him of any resemblance to any of Hiscreatures. Their mode of expression is in harmony with all the evidence from the Book and the Sunnah and thus shuts the door in the face of their opponents.