I often emphasize teaching children Tawheed and focus my resources on it. But what is the precise meaning of Tawheed?
Tawheed linguistically means to make something one.
In it's Islamic meaning, it means to worship Allah Alone, singling Him out in every act of worship, and to abandon the worship of anything other than Him, and this is the meaning of Laa ilaaha illallaah.
And Tawheed also has a more general definition, which is the three categories of Tawheed:
Tawheed ar-Ruboobiyyah, the Oneness of Allaah in His Lordship, which is to single out Allah in His Actions. So He Alone is the Creator and Sustainer, and He Alone gives life and death and Allah Alone arranges the affairs of His creation.
Tawheed al-Uloohiyah, or the Oneness of Allah in His sole right to be worshipped, which is to single out Allah with our acts of worship. So we direct all of our actions of worship, whether they be actions of the limbs, the heart or the tongue to Allah Alone without directing anything from them to other than Him. And this was the dawah of every Prophet and Messenger to their peoples.
3. Tawheed al-Asmaa' was-Sifaat, or the Oneness of Allah in regards to His Beautiful Names and Lofty, Perfect Attributes. So Allah is perfect and totally incomparable to His creation. His Attributes are attributes of perfection, free from every deficiency. We affirm them as they come in the Book and the authentic Sunnah without negating them, distorting or changing their meanings, comparing them to those of the creation, and without asking how they are.
Refer to "Explanation of the Three Fundamental Principles" by Shaykh Muhammad bin Saalih al-'Uthaymeen (pg. 71-74]
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