It has thus become clear that what they call the affirmation of Allah’s oneness contains both truth and falsehood. Even if it were all true, the polytheists’ acknowledgment of all of it would not free them from the polytheism with which Allah described them in the Quran and for which the Messenger—may Allah bless him and grant him peace—fought them. Rather, they must acknowledge that there is no deity worthy of worship except Allah.

What is meant by (a deity) is not one who has the power to bring things into existence, as some leading speculative theologians supposed. They thought that divinity meant having this power to the exclusion of all others, and that whoever acknowledged that Allah alone has the power to bring things into existence had thereby testified that there is no deity worthy of worship except Him. Yet the polytheists acknowledged this while remaining polytheists, as explained earlier. Rather, the true deity is the One who deserves to be worshipped. He is a deity in the sense of one who is worshipped, not one who worships. Affirming Allah’s oneness means worshipping Allah alone, without any partner; associating partners with Him means setting up another deity alongside Allah.

And if it becomes clear that the utmost these speculative thinkers establish—those who affirm divine decree and identify themselves with the Sunnah—is merely Allah’s oneness in His lordship, and that Allah is the Lord of everything, even though the polytheists acknowledged this while remaining polytheists, then the same applies to certain groups of Sufis and those who profess spiritual knowledge, realization, and the affirmation of Allah’s oneness. The utmost they attain in affirming His oneness is to witness this oneness: to witness that Allah is the Lord, Sovereign, and Creator of everything, especially when the mystic becomes so absorbed in the One he contemplates that he loses awareness of