A Methodological Critique of Wahhabism’s Account of the Polytheists’ Tawhid al-Rububiyyah: A Case Study of Verses 84–90 of Surah al-Mu’minun

The hypothesis that the polytheists possessed tawhid al-rububiyyah (monotheism in divine lordship) is based on references to verses 84–90 of Surah al-Mu’minun and similar passages. Adopting an analytical-critical approach, this study examines the evidentiary basis of this claim and demonstrates that it rests on a conflation between “reporting a statement” and “endorsing its content.” The findings indicate that accepting the Wahhabi premise entails several problematic consequences for the system of Qur’anic interpretation, since extending this logic to other verses would result in granting validity to all false statements attributed to or reported from unbelievers and polytheists in the Qur’an. Furthermore, in light of the explicit wording of Verse 90 of Surah al-Mu’minun, the Qur’an is clearly refuting the polytheists’ claim rather than endorsing their belief. Even if the explicitness of this verse is set aside, the article’s argument establishes the untenability of the aforementioned hypothesis through six lines of reasoning: “the lack of evidentiary authority of a polytheist’s statement,” “the contradiction between their beliefs and the affirmation of multiple forms of lordship in other Qur’anic verses,” “the absence of a necessary correlation between verbal acknowledgment and inner belief,” “the circumstantial and polemical nature of their admissions,” “the failure of the essential elements of tawhid al-rububiyyah to be realized in the polytheists’ statements,” and “the revelatory function, rather than an endorsing function, of the interrogative structure of these verses.” Ultimately, by disproving the assumed connection between a “reported acknowledgment” and an “actual belief,” this study demonstrates, on the basis of critical scholarly analysis, the complete untenability of the hypothesis that the polytheists possessed tawhid al-rububiyyah.