Many scholars before Muḥammad ibn ʿAbd al-Wahhāb spoke about dividing tawḥīd into categories, they are:
Al-Ṭabarī (d. 310 AH), the great mufassir and historian, explained in his tafsīr the difference between Allah’s sole right to worship, His sole lordship, and His attributes. He showed that Quraysh acknowledged Allah’s rubūbiyyah but denied His ulūhiyyah.
Abū Yūsuf al-Qāḍī (d. 182 AH), the leading student of Abū Ḥanīfah and the chief judge of the Abbasid caliphate, said tawḥīd is not by qiyās and affirmed that Allah is only known by His Names, His Attributes, and His acts of creating and providing.
Ibn Battah al-ʿUkbarī (d. 387 AH), the Hanbali Imam, wrote that Allah created Pharaoh knowing he would claim lordship, yet still sent Mūsā commanding him with tawḥīd of worship.
Al-Harawī al-Anṣārī (d. 481 AH), the ḥāfidh, muhaddith, ascetic, and preacher of Khurasa, described three categories of tawḥīd corresponding to the levels of people: the common, the elect, and the elect of the elect.
Al-Shahrastānī (d. 548 AH) the Ashʿarī Shāfiʿī philosopher also mentioned tawḥīd in three categories, linking it to levels of knowledge and understanding among people.
Qiwām al-Sunnah al-Aṣbahānī (d. 535 AH), the famous scholar of Isfahan, transmitted reports affirming tawḥīd through Allah’s Names and Attributes, His rubūbiyyah, and His sole right to be worshipped.
Shayk Al Islam Ibn Taymiyyah (d. 728 AH) distinguished clearly between tawḥīd of rubūbiyyah and tawḥīd of ulūhiyyah, stating that ulūhiyyah is what separates believers from polytheists while rubūbiyyah was admitted even by the idolaters.
Ibn Abī al-ʿIzz al-Ḥanafī (d. 792 AH), a Hanafi judge and known for his commentatory on al-ʿAqīdah al-Ṭaḥāwiyyah, gave an explicit division of three categories of Tawheed: tawḥīd of Asmāʾ wa Ṣifāt, tawḥīd of Rubūbiyyah, and tawḥīd of Ulūhiyyah.
Al-Saffārīnī al-Ḥanbalī (d. 1188 AH), a Hanbali scholar of creed and fiqh, also stated clearly that tawḥīd is three categories: rubūbiyyah, ulūhiyyah.
All The Sources Below
Translation: He says, none deserves to be worshipped except Him, “So how are you deluded” (al Ankabut: 61). He says, which way are you taking, and to where do you turn away from Him to worship others besides Him.
And His saying, “Thus are deluded those who used to reject the signs of Allah” (al Ghafir: 63). He says, just as you, O people, have turned away from Him, leaving the truth for falsehood, guidance for misguidance, so did those before you from earlier nations.
They denied the signs of Allah, meaning the proofs and evidences of Allah, so they did not believe. He says, you people of Quraysh followed their path and rode their way in misguidance.
The explanation of His saying, “Allah is the One who made for you the earth a resting place, and the sky a structure, and He formed you and made your forms good, and He provided you from the good things. That is Allah your Lord, so blessed is Allah, Lord of the worlds. He is the Ever Living. None is worthy of worship except Him, so call upon Him devoting the religion sincerely to Him. All praise is for Allah, Lord of the worlds” (Ghafir: 64-65).
Allah, to whom belongs the sole right of worship (Tawheed al Uluhiyyah), says, “Allah” who alone has the right of Uluhiyyah, O people, “the One who made for you the earth” upon which you dwell, “a resting place” so you settle upon it and live upon its surface, “and the sky a structure” He built it and raised it above you without pillars that you see, for your interests and the order of your worldly life until the end of your terms, “and He formed you and made your forms good.”
He says, He created you and perfected your creation. “And He provided you from the good things.” He says, He provided you with lawful provision, with delightful foods and drinks (Tawheed al Rububiyyah).
And His saying, “That is Allah your Lord.” He says, the One who did these acts and granted you these blessings, O people, is Allah who alone deserves lordship/divinity (Tawḥīd al-Rubūbiyyah), your Lord who alone deserves Rububiyyah, not the one who cannot benefit or harm, cannot create or provide. “So blessed is Allah, Lord of the worlds.” He says, so blessed is Allah, the Owner of everything.
The creation, jinn and humans and all other kinds of creation besides them. “He is the Ever Living”. Meaning, He is the Ever Living who never dies, whose life is everlasting. Everything besides Him has an end to its life and is not everlasting.
“There is no god except Him”. Meaning, none deserves to be worshipped, nor is Uluhiyyah correct for any but Allah, the One whose attributes are these.
“So call upon Him devoting the religion sincerely to Him”. Meaning, worship the God whose attributes are these (Tawḥīd al-Asmāʾ wa al-Ṣifāt). O people, devoting to Him obedience, singling Him out in Uluhiyyah, not associating in His worship anything else, whether idol or image, nor making for Him any equal or partner.
Tafsir At Tabari (d. 310 AH) (20/356-357)
Translation:
In the prohibition of seeking the how of the attributes of Allah, Mighty and Majestic
Bishr ibn al Walid the judge narrated from Abu Yusuf the judge (d. 182 AH) that he said: Tawhid is not by qiyas. Have you not heard the word of Allah, Mighty and Majestic, in the ayat in which He describes Himself, that He is Knowing, Able, Strong, Owner (Tawhid al Asma wa al Sifat), and He did not say, I am Able for such a cause I am able, and for such a reason I know, and for this meaning I own.
Therefore qiyas is not permissible in tawhid, and He is only known by His Names and only described by His Attributes (Tawhid al Asma wa al Sifat). Allah, Mighty and Majestic, said in His Book, O mankind, worship your Lord who created you and those before you so that you may have taqwa (worship your Lord, Tawhid al Uluhiyyah) (who created you and those before you, Tawhid al Rububiyyah) the ayat.
And He said, Or have they not looked into the dominion of the heavens and the earth and what Allah has created of anything (Tawhid al Rububiyyah). And He said, Indeed in the creation of the heavens and the earth and the alternation of the night and the day and the ships that sail in the sea, until His saying, they reason.
Abu Yusuf said, Allah did not say, Look at how I am the Knowing, and how I am the Able, and how I am the Creator, but He said, Look at how I created. Then He said, He created you then He causes you to die. And He said, And in yourselves, do you not see.
That is, know that these things have a Lord who turns them and originates them, and that He is the One who formed that, your forming, and Allah only guided His creation by His creation so that they would know that they have a Lord whom they worship and obey and single out in tawhid (Tawhid al Uluhiyyah), and so that they would know that He is the One who made them, not that they made themselves (Tawhid al Rububiyyah).
Then He named Himself and said, I am the Most Merciful, I am the Ever Merciful, I am the Creator, I am the Able, I am the Owner, meaning, this One who formed you is called the Owner, the Able, Allah, the Most Merciful, the Ever Merciful, by these He is described (Tawhid al Asma wa al Sifat).
Then Abu Yusuf said, Allah is known by His signs and by His creation (Tawhid al Rububiyyah), and He is described by His attributes and named by His names as He described in His Book and by what His Messenger conveyed to the creation (Tawhid al Asma wa al Sifat).
Then Abu Yusuf said, Allah, Mighty and Majestic, created you, and He made within you instruments and limbs, some of your limbs too weak for what other limbs can do, and He moves you from state to state so that you know that you have a Lord who formed you, and He made your own self a proof against you for knowing Him, you come to know Him through His creation.
Then He described Himself and said, I am the Lord, I am the Most Merciful, I am Allah, I am the Able, I am the Owner, so He is described by His attributes and named by His names. Allah said, Say, call upon Allah or call upon the Most Merciful, whichever you call upon, to Him belong the most beautiful names (Tawhid al Asma wa al Sifat).
And He said, And to Allah belong the most beautiful names, so call upon Him by them, and leave those who deviate concerning His names. And He said, To Him belong the most beautiful names, everything in the heavens and the earth glorifies Him, and He is the Mighty, the Wise (Tawhid al Asma wa al Sifat).
Allah has commanded us to single Him out in tawhid (Tawhid al Uluhiyyah), and tawhid is not by qiyas, because qiyas applies to something that has a likeness and a similar, and Allah has no likeness and no equal, Blessed is Allah, the best of creators (Tawhid al Asma wa al Sifat, and in acknowledging His creating, Tawhid al Rububiyyah).
Then he said, How can tawhid be grasped by qiyas, while He creates the creation unlike the creation, there is nothing like unto Him, Exalted and Transcendent (Tawhid al Asma wa al Sifat).
And Allah has commanded you to believe in everything that His Prophet brought, and He said, Say, O mankind, indeed I am the Messenger of Allah to you all, to Whom belongs the dominion of the heavens and the earth, there is no deity except Him, He gives life and causes death, so believe in Allah and His Messenger, the unlettered Prophet who believes in Allah and His words, and follow him so that you may be guided (to Whom belongs the dominion, Tawhid al Rububiyyah) (there is no deity except Him, Tawhid al Uluhiyyah) (He gives life and causes death, Tawhid al Rububiyyah).
Allah has commanded you to be a follower who listens and obeys. If the door were widened for the ummah to seek tawhid and to pursue iman by his opinion and his qiyas and his desire, they would go astray. Have you not heard the word of Allah, And if the Truth had followed their desires, the heavens and the earth and whoever is in them would have been corrupted. So understand what has been made clear for you.
Al-Ḥujjah fī Bayān al-Maḥajjah by Muḥammad ibn al-Faḍl al-Aṣbahānī (1/111-113)
Translation: Imam Ibn Battah Al Ukbari (d. 387AH) said: Allah created Pharaoh while knowing that he would claim lordship (Tawḥīd al-Rubūbiyyah), corrupt the land, and destroy the servants.
Yet He sent to him Musa commanding him with tawḥīd for Allah and with acknowledgement of servitude to Him (Tawḥīd al-ʿUlūhiyyah), while knowing that he would not accept. So His knowledge of him overcame His command to him
Al-Ibaanah ‘an Shari’atil Firqatin-Naajiyah By Ibn Battah (9/17)
Shayk Al Islam Ibn Taymiyyah al-Ḥarrānī (d. 728 AH) said: This tawhid, the tawhid of uluhiyyah, includes doing what is commanded and leaving what is prohibited. Among that is patience regarding what is decreed. And the first kind includes acknowledging that there is no creator, no provider, no giver, and no withholder except Allah alone (Tawhid al Rububiyyah).
So this entails that the servant does not ask anyone other than Him, does not rely except upon Him, and does not seek help except from Him. As the Most High said concerning the two kinds, You alone we worship (Tawhid al Uluhiyyah) and You alone we ask for help (Tawhid al Rububiyyah). And He said, So worship Him (Tawhid al Uluhiyyah) and rely upon Him (Tawhid al Rububiyyah).
This tawhid is the separator between the people of tawhid and the polytheists (Tawhid al Uluhiyyah). Upon it the recompense and the reward take place in this life and the next. Whoever does not bring it is among the polytheists who abide forever, for Allah does not forgive associating partners with Him, and He forgives what is less than that for whom He wills.
As for the tawhid of rububiyyah, the polytheists acknowledged it, while they worshipped along with Allah others and loved them as they loved Him (Tawhid al Rububiyyah).
So that tawhid, which is the tawhid of rububiyyah, is a proof against them. If Allah is the Lord of everything and its Owner, and there is no creator and no provider except Him, then why do they worship others along with Him when those others have no creating and no providing over them, and in their hands there is no withholding and no giving, rather each of them is a servant like them who does not possess for himself harm or benefit, nor death, nor life, nor resurrection.
Majmūʿ al-Fatāwā By Ibn Taymiyyah (14/379-380)
Translation: Imam Ibn Abī al-ʿIzz al-Ḥanafī (d. 792 AH) said:
Tawheed is built upon three categories.
The first is speaking about the attributes (Tawheed al Asma wa al Sifat), affirming what Allah has affirmed for Himself and what His Messenger ﷺ has affirmed for Him without distortion, denial, asking how, or resemblance.
The second is Tawheed al Rububiyyah, clarifying that Allah alone is the Creator of everything, the Owner, and the One who controls all affairs. None shares with Him in creation, ownership, or control.
The third is Tawheed al Uluhiyyah, which is affirming that He, glorified and exalted, alone deserves to be worshipped, that none is worthy of worship besides Him, and that all acts of worship must be directed to Him without any partner.
Sharḥ al-ʿAqīdah al-Ṭaḥāwiyyah by Ibn Abī al-ʿIzz Page 27
al-Saffārīnī al-Ḥanbalī said: Know that tawhid is three categories, tawhid of lordship, tawhid of worship, and tawhid of the attributes. Tawhid of lordship is that there is no creator, no provider, no giver of life, no causer of death, no bringer into existence, and no one who makes cease to exist except Allah Most High (Tawhid al Rububiyyah).
Tawhid of worship is to single Him Most High out with worship and devotion to Him, and with submission, humility, love, neediness, and turning to Him Most High (Tawhid al Uluhiyyah).
Tawhid of the attributes is that Allah Most High is described with what He described Himself, and with what His Prophet, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, described Him, in negation and in affirmation, so you affirm for Him what He affirmed for Himself and you deny from Him what He denied from Himself. It is known that the way of the Salaf of the Ummah and its imams is to affirm what He affirmed of the attributes without (Tawhid al Asma wa al Sifat).
Lawāmiʿ al-Anwār al-Bahiyyah wa-Sawāṭiʿ al-Asrār By al-Saffārīnī (1/128-129)
Translation: “As for tawheed, Ahlus sunnah and all those who affirm the attributes said: Allah the Exalted is One in His Essence, none equal to Him (Tawheed al Uluhiyyah). He is One in His eternal attributes, none resembles Him (Tawheed al Asma wa al Sifat). He is One in His actions, none shares with Him (Tawheed al Rububiyyah).”
al-Milal wa al-Niḥal by The Philosopher Muḥammad ibn ʿAbd al-Karīm ibn Abī Bakr Aḥmad al-Shahrastānī (d. 548 AH) Page 42
Translation: Tawheed is upon three categories.
The first is the tawheed of the common people, which is affirmed by evidences and signs.
The second is the tawheed of the elect, which is established through realities.
The third is a tawheed established in eternity, and it is the tawheed of the elect of the elect.
Kitāb Manāzil al-Sāʾirīn by The Sufi Muḥammad al-Anṣārī al-Harawī (d. 481 AH) Page 135
