Ash’ari scholars also divide Tawheed into categories. Usually into three: Dhat (essence), sifat (attributes) and af’aal (actions):
Abu Bakr Ibn Fawrak al-Asbahani (d.406) in his book maqalat ul-Ash’ari page 55, says Allah is has no partners or duplicates in his Self, Actions, Ruling or Attributes.
Abu Bakr al-Bayhaqi (d.458) in his book al-I’tiqad page 61 divides Allah’s attributes (which one must have Tawheed in) into essence and attributes, and further divides the essence attributes into ‘Aqli and sam’i. Will you be consistent and call this a bid’ah as well?
Also Abdul-Kareem al-Qushari (d.465) in his book explaining the Names of Allah p.215. He says Allah is One in 3 ways:
-In his dhat, has no divisions
-In his attributes, has no comparison
-in his actions, has no partner
-In his dhat, has no divisions
-In his attributes, has no comparison
-in his actions, has no partner
Tajuddin Muhammad ibn Abdil-Kareem ash-Shahrastani (d.548) says the same thing in his book Nihayat ul-Iqdaam fi ‘Ilm al-Kalam p.89. Allah is one in his essence with no divisions, one in his attributes with no comparison, one in his actions no partner.
Will you be consistent and call the Ash’aris innovators too? Let’s wait and see
One other thing to note. Their only problem is with Tawheed ul-Uloohiyyah, as much as they try to pretend their issue is with simply the division.
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