Beginners guide to Islam (Vol-01)

Tawheed Ar Rububiyyah (توحيد الربوبية)

"Tawheed Ar Rububiyyah" (توحيد الربوبية) is to wholeheartedly believe and accept Allah (may He be glorified) as one and only in all His actions (creating something from nothing, turning something into nothing, giving life and death to someone, guiding the lost souls, judging on the Day of Judgement, etc.)

Sheikh Saleh Al Fawzan (may Allah preserve him) writes in his "عقيدة التوحيد" regarding "Tawheed Ar Rububiyyah" (توحيد الربوبية) :

"هو إفراد االله تعالى بأفعاله"

"It is to single out Allah with all His actions from any other creation."

Fahad Bin Naser Bin Ibraheem Al Sulayman compiled the Fatwa of Sheikh Muhammad Bin Saleh Al Uthaymeen (may Allah have mercy on his soul) on Sheikh's authority and named the book "فتاوی ارکان اسلام" and in that book, it is mentioned that, the Sheikh (may Allah have mercy on his soul) regarding "Tawheed Ar Rububiyyah" said :

"Affirming the oneness of Allah in creation, dominion, governance of the whole universe is Tawheed Ar Rububiyyah."

Amir Zaman and Nazma Zaman in their book "Young Muslims" have explained in short terms about "Tawheed Ar Rububiyyah":

"This catagory is based on the fundamental concept that Allah alone caused all things to exist when there was nothing; He sustains and maintains creation without any need from it or for it; and He is the sole Lord of the universe and its inhabitants without any real Challenge to His sovereignty."

One might wonder about the actions of Allah. In that case, creation, sustenance, overall leadership, blessing someone, giving life, giving death, determining destiny, giving honor and taking away honor, management, nurturing, etc. are some examples of Allah's actions. To clarify furthermore, it is very essential to state that we are limited with knowledge and we exactly do not know the nature of Allah's actions except for what has been mentioned in the Quran and Sahih Hadith. It is to say that Allah works in mysterious ways and the nature of his actions are very different from ours. Humans can create as well but the creation of Allah is different than ours (humans can only create something from something, in short the creation of man is to change something and shape it in a way that it becomes something else. But Allah can create something from nothing like the universe and He can also create something from something like He created humans). And acknowledging that Allah's actions are incomparable to any of the creation and His actions can only be done by Him and none other is "Tawheed Ar Rububiyyah".

The evidence of Allah's Lordship is very clear in both Quran and Sunnah, just studying Sura Al Fatiha is enough for that. To aid more, I quote from Quran:

[31:10-11]

خَلَقَ ٱلسَّمَـٰوَٰتِ بِغَيْرِ عَمَدٍۢ تَرَوْنَهَا ۖ وَأَلْقَىٰ فِى ٱلْأَرْضِ رَوَٰسِىَ أَن تَمِيدَ بِكُمْ وَبَثَّ فِيهَا مِن كُلِّ دَآبَّةٍۢ ۚ وَأَنزَلْنَا مِنَ ٱلسَّمَآءِ مَآءًۭ فَأَنۢبَتْنَا فِيهَا مِن كُلِّ زَوْجٍۢ كَرِيمٍ ١٠ هَـٰذَا خَلْقُ ٱللَّهِ فَأَرُونِى مَاذَا خَلَقَ ٱلَّذِينَ مِن دُونِهِۦ ۚ بَلِ ٱلظَّـٰلِمُونَ فِى ضَلَـٰلٍۢ مُّبِينٍۢ ١١

"He created the heavens without pillars-as you can see-and placed firm mountains upon the earth so it does not shake with you, and scattered throughout it all types of creatures. And We send down rain from the sky, causing every type of fine plant to grow on earth.This is Allah's creation. Now show Me what those ˹gods˺ other than Him have created. In fact, the wrongdoers are clearly astray."

It has been mentioned by the scholars on basis of clear evidence that the disbelievers of the past like the Quraish and others also believed in Allah's Lordship but they associated partners in cases of worship. They believed that Allah is their Creator, Provider, Master but they used mediums such as prostating to Prophets and invoking the Angels, idols, etc. In the Quran:

[12:106]

وَمَا يُؤْمِنُ أَكْثَرُهُم بِٱللَّهِ إِلَّا وَهُم مُّشْرِكُونَ

"And most of them do not believe in Allah without associating others with Him ˹in worship˺."

[10:31]

قُلْ مَن يَرْزُقُكُم مِّنَ ٱلسَّمَآءِ وَٱلْأَرْضِ أَمَّن يَمْلِكُ ٱلسَّمْعَ وَٱلْأَبْصَٰرَ وَمَن يُخْرِجُ ٱلْحَىَّ مِنَ ٱلْمَيِّتِ وَيُخْرِجُ ٱلْمَيِّتَ مِنَ ٱلْحَىِّ وَمَن يُدَبِّرُ ٱلْأَمْرَ فَسَيَقُولُونَ ٱللَّهُ فَقُلْ أَفَلَا تَتَّقُونَ

"Ask ˹them, O Prophet˺, "Who provides for you from heaven and earth? Who owns ˹your˺ hearing and sight? Who brings forth the living from the dead and the dead from the living? And who conducts every affair?" They will ˹surely˺ say, "Allah." Say, "Will you not then fear ˹Him˺?"

[43:87]

وَلَئِن سَأَلْتَهُم مَّنْ خَلَقَهُمْ لَيَقُولُنَّ ٱللَّهُ فَأَنَّىٰ يُؤْفَكُونَ

"If you ask them, who created them, they will certainly say, Allah. How then are they deluded away (from the Truth)?"

It is very appearent that, accepting only Allah as our Rabb (ربّ) is "Tawheed Ar Rububiyyah". So to understand this type of Tawheed in more details, we need to understand the concept of "ربّ" (Rabb). The detail discussion about "Rabb" will be published soon.