Tawḥīd al-Rubūbī and the Polytheism of the Polytheists: A Review of the Views of Ayatollah Javadi Amoli and Sultan al-‘Umairi

Tawḥīd al-Rubūbī (Oneness of Divine Lordship) is one of the fundamental pillars of theoretical monotheism in the Qur'an. This article examines the perspectives of Ayatollah Javadi Amoli and Sultan al-‘Umairi. According to Javadi Amoli, theoretical Tawḥīd, especially rubūbīyah, is the basis and necessary condition for practical Tawḥīd, and its core is the absolute independence of God in administering the universe; any attribution of independence in the functions of rubūbīyah to other than God is considered shirk. In contrast, al-‘Umairi, with a Wahhabi approach, emphasizes the primacy of Tawḥīd al-‘Ibādī (Oneness of Worship) and defines Tawḥīd al-Rubūbī merely as acknowledging God as unique in major acts such as creation and sustenance. This difference leads to two major disagreements: first, the interpretation of verses such as “If you ask them…” (la’in sa’altahum)—where Javadi Amoli holds that the polytheists’ acknowledgment pertains only to creatorship and does not constitute complete rubūbīyah, whereas al-‘Umairi considers it as evidence for obligatory rubūbīyah monotheism. Second, the application of other verses which, according to al-‘Umairi, demonstrate the rubūbīyah monotheism of the polytheists stems from his incorrect definition of the criterion of rubūbīyah and its mistaken application to the polytheists.