Tauhid Al-Qasd wa At-Ta'alluh
The meaning of this type of tauhid is to make Allah our only object in all forms of worship and ritual. This means to turn to Allah and to Allah alone with all forms of worship whether spoken or acted (internally or externally). This includes love, glorification, hope, fear, reliance, supplication (du'a), seeking of aid, rituals of sacrifice, oaths, bowing, prostration, etc. Allah said:
{Say: Surely my prayer, my [rituals of] sacrifice, my living and my dying are for Allah Lord of the Worlds. He has no partner! With this I have been commanded and I am the first of those who submit (Muslims)} Al-An'aam: 162-163
Here Allah ordered his Messenger (sas) to announce to the world and to the mushrikeen of Makka, who used to turn to other than Allah with various forms of worship and to sacrifice in other than His name, the he (we) opposes them in this and that he (we) turn only to Allah with all of this. As we have pointed out earlier, these same mushrikeen 'believed in' Allah and knew his lordship and omnipotence. It was their directing various forms of worship to other than Allah - and NOT any rejection of Allah as Lord - which made them mushrikeen. And so this type of tauhid is the core of the message which Muhammad (sas) brought to his people and the world.
The main source of shirk among mankind has always been going to excess with regard to spiritual leaders and righteous people. For example, the very idols which the people of Makka had placed in the Ka'aba and to which they turned for advice (by casting straws and 'reading' the result) and for intercession with Allah had as their origin pious teachers from the people of Nuh. Allah said on their tongues and the tongues of all who follow their way:
{And we have sent down to you the book with the truth. So worship Allah devoting your din exclusively to Him. Surely, to Allah is the pure religion. But those who have taken beside Allah allies (awliyaa') [say:] We only worship them that they may bring us closer to Allah. Allah will judge between them regarding that in which they have differed. Surely, Allah does not guide one who is a liar and truly a disbeliever.} Az-Zumar: 3
Among these were the people of Nuh. Their idols were, in fact, images of righteous men from their earlier generations. Shaitaan kept after his friends among them for generations until they were actually worshipped and taken as intercessors with Allah Most High. These idols were later worshipped by the Arabs. When confronted with tauhid, the leaders of the people of Nuh said (as Allah reports):
{And they said: Do not abandon your gods. Do not abandon Waddan nor Suwaa'an nor Yaghootha, Ya'ooqa or Nasran} Nuh: 23
Imam Bukhari narrates in his Sahih that Ibn Abbas said: "The idols of the people of Nuh later spread among the Arabs. Wadd belonged to [the tribe of] Kalb from Domat Al-Jandal. Suwaa' belonged to Hudhail, Yaghooth belonged to Murad then later to Bani Ghutaif from Jarf in Saba'. Ya'ooq belonged to Hamadhan. Nasr belonged to Humair, the people of Dhi Al-Kalaa'. These were names of righteous people from the people of Nuh. When they died, Shaitaan inspired their people to place monuments where they used to sit [and teach]. They named these with their names, but they were not worshipped until that generation died out and the knowledge was corrupted - then they were worshipped."
For this reason, the Prophet (sas) forbid all forms of excess with regard to other humans - even himself - in many hadith. For example:
"Do not exaggerate with me (or exaggerate in praising me) as the Christians exaggerated with 'Isa the son of Maryam. I am nothing but a slave. So say: slave of Allah and His messenger." Muslim and Bukhari
"Beware of excess. It was nothing but excess in religion which destroyed those who came before you." An-Nasaa'i, Ibn Majah and Ahmad
Also in Sahih Al-Bukhari, once the Prophet (sas) was listening to some women chanting about the Martyrs of Badr when one of them said: "And among us is a prophet who knows what will be tomorrow." The Prophet (sas) said: "Stay away from this and say what you were saying before."
In our time, many of the devotees of the graves and others have gone astray in this area of tauhid. Many have taken their 'allies' (awliyaa') and righteous ones as partners who they love as one should only love Allah Most High. They turn to them with many forms of worship (which belongs rightfully only to Allah) such as supplication, seeking of aid, ritual sacrifice, oaths, etc. This deviation has spread like wildfire in this Ummah. Some have even been so beguiled by shaitaan that they call this worshipping of other than Allah 'sunnah' or the way of 'ahlus sunnah wa al jamaa' even though they have not one single shred of evidence from the pure Sunnah nor from the practice of the Companions (may Allah be pleased with them) to support their polytheistic ways. The Prophet's (sas) warning about such reversals of reality in the din in a sahih hadith in which he mentioned a time where people will call wrong right and right wrong and when they are corrected and called to the pure sunnah, they will say: "This is an innovation!" (Hadhihi bid'a).
In spite of the magnitude of deviation in this time and in other times in the past, Allah has alway blessed this Ummah with Mujaddidum (renewers) in every age who call this nation back to the pure tauhid and the pure sunnah and practice of the Companions.
Do not consider the battle for tauhid in our age to be limited to establishing the proofs against grave worship and other forms of shirk in the area of ritual. It also includes opposing with sound evidence from the Qur'an and the Sunnah the 'modernists' and the 'secularists' who advocate turning away from the shari'a of Allah and ruling and judging by other than what Allah send down. All of these represent the threats to the pure tauhid of Allah Most High.
Among the types of worship which belong only to Allah are suplication (du'a), seeking of aid (istighaatha) and seeking of refuge (ists'aadha).
Supplication (du'a) can be divided into two types: supplication of asking and supplication of worship. Allah has used the word in theQur'an to mean the first type and to mean the second type and sometimes to mean both of them.
Supplication of Asking. This is asking for that which is beneficial or to be shielded from that which is harmful. Allah rejected in Qur'an the directing of this type of du'a to other than Him, since He alone possesses the right to cause harm or bring benefit. Allah said:
{And do not supplicate beside Allah that which cannot benefit you nor harm you. If you do so, then you are surely among the oppressors.} Yunus: 106
This type of du'a includes and is in fact du'a of worship at the same time because the asker has directed his need to Allah alone and supplicated his Lord in humility and this is one of the best forms of worship. For this reason, the Qur'an and the Sunnah have called this type of du'a 'worship' ('ibaada). Whoever denies that supplication for ones needs is worship has opposed the Qur'an, the Sunnah, the language and the understanding of the nation since its beginnings. The following are proofs of this point:
{And your Lord said: Supplicate to Me that I may respond to you. Surely, those who are too arrogant to engage in worship of me will enter hell-fire humiliated.} Ghaafir: 60
{And who is more astray than one who supplicates beside Allah those who do not respond to them until Qiyama and they are not conscious of their supplication and, when the people are gathered, they will be enemies to them and they will be in total rejection of their worship of them.} Al-Ahqaaf: 5
The Prophet (sas) said: "Du'a is worship." Abu Daud, At-Tirmidhi, Al-Haakim and others.
Supplication of Worship. This is all forms of devotion including mentioning/remembrance, recitation, prayer, sacrifice, etc. These things have been called du'a either because they are similar in their bringing on the reward of Allah or because one who busies himself with these devotions rather than the first form of du'a may be given by Allah even more than those who ask Allah. Or it is because one who engages in any of these forms of worship is actually in a position of asking Allah - asking Him for reward and paradise. So the term du'a really includes both forms as explained here.