Similarly, if someone seeks judgment from a person who is not a judge, or requests something from someone who holds no authority, and is told, “This man is not a judge, nor is that man a ruler; this is the judge, and that is the ruler,” this negation and affirmation entail a command and a prohibition. A person seeking something turns only to someone who has what he wants and seeks. If he supposes that a particular person has it, and is told, “What you want is not with him; rather, it is with this person,” this amounts to directing him to seek what he wants from the latter rather than the former.

Those who worship intend only to worship a deity who deserves worship. Thus, when they are told, “Nothing besides Allah is a deity; Allah alone is the deity,” this forbids them to worship anything besides Him and commands them to worship Him.

Moreover, even if there were no one seeking to worship, the word “deity” itself entails being worthy of worship. Thus, when He declares that He alone deserves worship, to the exclusion of everything else, this constitutes a command to render Him the worship He deserves. What is meant here by “deity” is not something that someone worships without its deserving worship, for there are many such deities. Rather, calling them deities, describing them as such, and taking them as objects of worship are false. As Allah Most High says:

“They are nothing but names you and your forefathers have named, for which Allah has sent down no authority.”

And He says:

“That is because Allah is the Truth, and what they invoke besides Him is falsehood.”