(The fourth reason)

In His saying, Most High:

“Indeed, those who pledge allegiance to you are actually pledging allegiance to Allah,”

He did not mean, “You are Allah.” Rather, He meant, “You are Allah’s Messenger, conveying His commands and prohibitions; whoever pledges allegiance to you has pledged allegiance to Allah, just as whoever obeys you has obeyed Allah.” He did not mean that the Messenger is Allah. Rather, the Messenger commands what Allah has commanded, so whoever obeys him has obeyed Allah. As the Prophet, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, said:

“Whoever obeys me has obeyed Allah, and whoever obeys the commander I appoint has obeyed me. Whoever disobeys me has disobeyed Allah, and whoever disobeys the commander I appoint has disobeyed me.”

It is well known that the commander he appoints is not the Prophet himself.

Whoever supposes that His saying:

“Indeed, those who pledge allegiance to you are actually pledging allegiance to Allah,”

means that your action is Allah’s action, or that Allah dwells within you, or anything similar, has—in addition to his ignorance and misguidance, indeed, his disbelief and heresy—stripped the Messenger of his distinctive status and made him like everyone else. For if the intended meaning were that Allah performs your action, this would be something the Messenger shares with all other created beings. Whoever pledged allegiance to Abū Jahl would then have pledged allegiance to Allah; whoever pledged allegiance to Musaylima the Liar would have pledged allegiance to Allah; and whoever pledged allegiance to the leaders of the Confederates would have pledged allegiance to Allah. On this assumption, the one pledging allegiance would also be Allah, so Allah would have pledged allegiance to Allah, since Allah is the Creator of both parties. Likewise, according to the doctrine of those who advocate indwelling, the oneness of existence, and union, it applies universally to both parties, so Allah would have pledged allegiance to Allah.

Many of the shaykhs who advocate indwelling and union say this, to the point that, when one of them is ordered to fight the enemy, he says: “Am I to fight Allah? I cannot fight Allah,” and other such