This is made clear by the fact that a person, whether Allah grants him dominion or not, is either obedient to Allah and His Messenger in Allah’s sight, or he is not. If he belongs to the first category, he is among Allah’s servants, like the prophets, the steadfastly truthful, the martyrs, and the righteous. These are the ones of whom Allah Most High says:

“You will have no authority over My servants.”

And Iblīs said:

“By Your might, I will surely mislead them all (82), except Your chosen servants among them (83).” [Sād 82-83]

There are other passages to the same effect. A servant who acts by Allah’s command worships his Lord, relies upon Him, and does not oppose Him in any matter. Likewise, the angels—who “are not too proud to worship Him, nor do they grow weary,” who “glorify Him night and day without faltering,” and who “do not speak before He does, but act by His command”—do not take Allah’s place in any matter, even though they act by His command, worship Him, and obey Him, and are “those who direct affairs” and “those who apportion affairs.”

If, however, a person does not obey Allah and His Messenger, but instead disobeys them, then his actions are even further from constituting any deputizing for his Lord, since he does what Allah hates, detests, and forbids.