What is tawhid al-uluhiyyah?

Original answer — Shaykh ‘Abd al-‘Aziz ibn Baz

Question

«نسمع كثيرًا في المذياع عن توحيد الربوبية، والألوهية، فما الفرق بينهما؟»

English translation (unreviewed): We hear a lot on the radio about tawhid al-rububiyyah and tawhid al-uluhiyyah. What is the difference between them?

From the text of the answer

«توحيد الربوبية: هو الإيمان بالله بصفات الفعل، كالخلاق، والرزاق، ومدبر الأمور، ومصرفها، ونحو ذلك، وأن مشيئته نافذة، وقدرته كاملة، وهذا هو الذي أقر به المشركون، المشركون أقروا بأن الله خالقهم، ورازقهم، ومدبر أمورهم، وأنه خالق السماوات، وخالق الأرض، وهو توحيد الله بأفعاله، هذا توحيد الربوبية بأن تؤمن بأن الله هو الخلاق، الرزاق، مدبر الأمور، مصرف الأشياء، الذي خلق كل شيء، ودبر الأمور، وصرفها، وخلق الأنهار، والبحار، والجبال، والأشجار، والسماء، والأرض، وغير ذلك، هذا توحيد الربوبية.»

English translation (unreviewed): Tawhid al-rububiyyah is belief in Allah in terms of His attributes of action, such as the Creator, the Provider, the Manager and Disposer of affairs, and the like; that His will is effective and His power is complete. This is what the polytheists acknowledged: the polytheists acknowledged that Allah is their Creator, their Provider and the Manager of their affairs, and that He is the Creator of the heavens and the Creator of the earth. It is the oneness of Allah in His actions. This is tawhid al-rububiyyah: that you believe that Allah is the Creator, the Provider, the Manager of affairs, the Disposer of things, who created everything, managed and disposed affairs, and created the rivers, seas, mountains, trees, the sky, the earth and other things. This is tawhid al-rububiyyah.

Evidence as the shaykh cited it

«فتوحيد العبادة معناه: أن تخص العبادة لله وحده، ويقال له: توحيد الإلهية، والإلهية هي العبادة، معناه: أن يخص الله بالعبادة دون كل ما سواه، وهذا هو معنى قوله سبحانه: وَمَا أُمِرُوا إِلَّا لِيَعْبُدُوا اللَّهَ مُخْلِصِينَ لَهُ الدِّينَ حُنَفَاءَ [البينة:٥].»

English translation (unreviewed): As for tawhid of worship, it means that you single out worship for Allah alone, and it is called tawhid al-uluhiyyah; uluhiyyah is worship. It means to single out Allah for worship, apart from everything else. This is the meaning of His saying, Glorified: “And they were not commanded except to worship Allah, [being] sincere to Him in religion, inclining to truth” [al-Bayyinah: 5].

«فلهذا صاروا كافرين، وقاتلهم النبي ﷺ واستحل دماءهم، وأموالهم لكفرهم، وعدم إذعانهم بتوحيد الإلهية.»

English translation (unreviewed): For this reason they became disbelievers, and the Prophet ﷺ fought them and made lawful their blood and their wealth because of their disbelief and their lack of submission to tawhid al-uluhiyyah.

«وهناك توحيد ثالث، وهو توحيد الأسماء والصفات، وهو: الإيمان بأسماء الله وصفاته، كلها التي جاءت في القرآن، والتي صحت بها السنة عن النبي ﷺ لا بدّ من الإيمان بها كلها، وإثباتها بأنه العليم الحكيم، الرؤوف الرحيم، وأنه يرضى ويغضب، ويتكلم إذا شاء جميع صفاته في القرآن، والسنة لا بدّ من الإيمان بها، وإثباتها لله وهذا يسمى توحيد الأسماء والصفات.»

English translation (unreviewed): And there is a third tawhid, which is tawhid of the names and attributes. It is: belief in the names of Allah and His attributes, all of those that came in the Qur'an and those authentically established in the Sunnah from the Prophet ﷺ. It is necessary to believe in them all and affirm them: that He is the All-Knowing, All-Wise, the Compassionate, the Merciful, that He is pleased and angry, and speaks when He wills. All His attributes in the Qur'an and the Sunnah must be believed in and affirmed for Allah. This is called tawhid al-asma' wa al-sifat.