A group of the unionists claimed that no one affirms Allah’s oneness, and recited:

“No one has affirmed the oneness of the One,
For whoever affirms His oneness denies Him.”

The substance of their doctrine resembles what the Christians say about the Messiah. They claim that truly affirming Allah’s oneness means that the one affirming it is himself the One whose oneness is affirmed. Thus, it is the Real who speaks through the servant’s tongue, and Allah—not the servant—who affirms His own oneness. This, they allege, is the secret belief held by al-Hallāj and the doctrine of the elite among those who know Allah, though they do not state it openly.

In reality, they believe concerning the righteous in general what the Christians believe concerning the Messiah. Yet they could not proclaim this openly, since the religion of Islam plainly contradicts it. They therefore resorted to alluding to it, saying: “It belongs to the concealed secret and the knowledge of unseen mysteries, and so it cannot be divulged.”

Yet this is nothing but a heretical doctrine, worse than that of the Christians, for the Christians said this only of the Messiah, not of all the righteous. This has been discussed at length in several other places. The purpose here is to draw attention to the foundations of faith and the affirmation of Allah’s oneness contained in this verse, and to refute the doctrine of the religious innovators.