The First Principle: Knowledge of Your Lord (Ma'rifat Allah)

The first and most fundamental of the three principles is knowledge of Allah — knowing who your Lord is, what He has commanded, and what it means to worship Him alone. Ibn Abdul Wahhab presents this principle with a direct question: "Who is your Lord?" The answer is: "My Lord is Allah, who raised me and all of creation with His blessings. He alone is my deity and I have no deity other than Him." The proof is the verse: "Praise be to Allah, the Lord of all the worlds" (Al-Fatiha, 1:2).

The author explains that "Lord" (Rabb) in Islam carries a comprehensive meaning. It refers to the Creator who owns, sustains, and governs all that exists. Everything in the heavens and earth is under His dominion. He gives life and causes death, provides sustenance, controls all affairs, and nothing occurs except by His will and knowledge. Recognizing this is the foundation of tawhid ar-rububiyyah — the oneness of Allah in His lordship.

However, Ibn Abdul Wahhab makes clear that mere acknowledgment of Allah's lordship is insufficient for salvation. Even the polytheists of Makkah whom the Prophet fought acknowledged that Allah was the Creator and Sustainer. Allah says: "And if you asked them who created the heavens and the earth and subjected the sun and the moon, they would surely say, 'Allah'" (Al-Ankabut, 29:61). What they failed to do was direct their worship exclusively to Him — and this is where they fell into shirk.

This leads to the second dimension of knowing Allah: tawhid al-uluhiyyah, or the oneness of Allah in worship. The word "ilah" (deity) means the one who is worshipped with love, fear, hope, and reverence. Ibn Abdul Wahhab defines worship ('ibadah) as a comprehensive term for everything that Allah loves and is pleased with, whether outward actions or inward states. This includes prayer, fasting, supplication, reliance, love, fear, and hope. All of these must be directed to Allah alone, with no partner or intermediary.

The author further presents the three categories of tawhid that scholars of Ahl al-Sunnah have derived from the Quran and Sunnah: tawhid ar-rububiyyah (oneness in lordship), tawhid al-uluhiyyah (oneness in worship), and tawhid al-asma' was-sifat (oneness in names and attributes). In this last category, Muslims affirm the names and attributes that Allah has affirmed for Himself in the Quran and that the Prophet affirmed in the Sunnah — without distortion, denial, resemblance to creation, or asking "how."

Ibn Abdul Wahhab concludes this section by emphasizing the proof of worship found in nature itself. He cites Allah's words: "Indeed, in the creation of the heavens and the earth and the alternation of the night and the day are signs for those of understanding" (Al 'Imran, 3:190). The universe testifies to its Creator. The Muslim who reflects on creation with a sound heart cannot but arrive at recognition of, gratitude toward, and complete submission to Allah — which is the very meaning of Islam.