this reading, the prepositional phrase is connected to the meaning of seeking refuge conveyed by the expression “might and power,” not to the meaning of “I disclaim.” When the preacher’s critic assumed that the prepositional phrase was connected to “I disclaim,” he objected to the exception. Had the preacher intended this, omitting the exception particle would indeed have been necessary. But he did not intend that; rather, he intended a meaning that requires the exception.

This is an elliptical exception: what precedes the exception particle directly governs what follows it. Such an exception occurs in a construction that is non-affirmative, either in wording or in meaning. Although “disavowal” is affirmative in form, it conveys negation. It thus resembles His words:

“And those who guard their private parts, except with their wives or those their right hands possess, for then they are not blameworthy.”

“Guarding” is affirmative in form, but it implies withholding from anyone other than those mentioned. The implied meaning is: “They do not uncover them except before their wives.” The same applies to the expression “disavowal.”

The words of Abraham, Allah’s intimate friend:

“Indeed, I disavow what you worship, except the One who created me,”

contain a complete exception, in which the general term from which the exception is made is explicitly mentioned. Yet this indicates that he disavowed something, not nothing. The corresponding formulation would be: “I declare my disavowal of might and power to everything except Him.”

However, the person citing the verse as evidence drew upon a shared meaning: disavowing everything besides Allah. The meaning he intended by citing the verse is sound insofar as it signifies Allah’s oneness—namely, disavowing everything besides Allah. Allah has mentioned this meaning in several places. For example, He, Most High, says:

“You have a good example in Abraham and those with him, when they said