A Comparative Study of the Explanation of Polytheism among the Polytheists of the Prophets' Era from the Perspective of Wahhabism and Ahl al-

Among all Muslims, the oneness of God's Lordship (Tawhid al-Rububiyya) is considered one of the most important types of monotheism, and its violation is thought to negate the oneness of God and a person's status as a monotheist. However, Wahhabism, with its particular view of lordship, believes that Tawhid al-Rububiyya is the same as monotheism in creation, sustenance, dominion, and governance. They assert that all polytheists throughout past ages only committed polytheism in worship while maintaining monotheism in the attributes of lordship. They argue that the prophets' call was essentially to monotheism in worship, and they had no dispute with their nations regarding lordship. They cite certain Quranic verses and human nature (Fetrat) as the most important evidence for their claim.
This paper examines and compares the Wahhabi belief on the issue of Tawhid al-Rububiyya with that of Ahl al-Hadith (whom Wahhabism claims to follow). Ahl al-Hadith interpret God's lordship as "ownership," "governance," and "creation," but believe that in the time of past prophets, there were individuals who did not even acknowledge God's lordship, let alone maintain monotheism in lordship (in the sense of affirming all attributes of lordship).
Using a descriptive-analytical method, it was found that the Quranic evidence presented by Wahhabis faces numerous issues and may only indicate monotheism in creation. The Ahl al-Hadith have only accepted monotheism in creation as Tawhid al-Rububiyya for Arab polytheists.