The Prophet, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, replied:

“It refers only to associating partners with Allah. Have you not heard the words of the righteous servant: ‘Indeed, associating partners with Allah is a tremendous wrong’?”

Allah Most High says:

“So fear Me alone.”

“And be mindful of Me alone.”

Another example of this is that the Prophet, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, would say in his sermons:

“Whoever obeys Allah and His Messenger is rightly guided. Whoever disobeys them harms only himself and will not harm Allah in the least.”

He also said:

“And do not say, ‘What Allah wills and Muhammad wills,’ but say, ‘What Allah wills, then what Muhammad wills.’”

Thus, when speaking of obedience, he joined the Messenger’s name to Allah’s with the conjunction “and”; but when speaking of the will, he instructed that “then” be used. This is because obedience to the Messenger is obedience to Allah: whoever obeys the Messenger has obeyed Allah, and obedience to Allah is obedience to the Messenger. The will, however, is different: no servant’s will is Allah’s will, nor does Allah’s will necessarily entail the will of His servants. Rather, whatever Allah wills happens, even if people do not will it; and whatever people will does not happen unless Allah wills it.

The Second Principle: The Rights of the Messenger, may Allah bless him and grant him peace

We must therefore believe in him, obey him, follow him, please him, love him, submit to his judgment, and the like