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And its meaning is: “There is no deity truly worthy of worship except Allah.” The words lā ilāha negate everything that is worshipped besides Allah, whereas illā Allah affirms that worship belongs to Him alone, with no partner in His worship, just as He has no partner in His sovereignty. ⦗34⦘
Justice is the opposite of injustice, and He—exalted is He—is the Just Judge; only justice can proceed from Him in every matter.
‘There is no deity but He’ reinforces the first statement.
‘Al-Aziz, al-Hakim’ are two of Allah’s names that embody the attributes of might and wisdom.
(34) His words, “and its meaning is: There is no deity worthy of worship except Allah,” clarify that la ilaha illa Allah does not mean, as the people of falsehood claim, “There is no Creator or Provider except Allah.” That interpretation concerns the oneness of lordship (tawhid al-rububiyya), which the idolaters themselves affirmed, yet they still refused to say la ilaha illa Allah. Allah says: “Indeed, when it was said to them, ‘There is no deity but Allah,’ they grew arrogant and said, ‘Shall we really abandon our gods for a mad poet?’” (Surat al-Saffat 37:35–36). “Our gods” here means their objects of worship. By “mad poet” they meant the Messenger ﷺ, whom they accused of poetry and madness because he told them to declare la ilaha illa Allah and forbade them to worship idols.
ومعناها لا معبود بحق إلا الله، (لا اله) نَافِيًا جَمِيعَ مَا يُعْبَدُ مِنْ دون الله (إلا الله) مثبتًا العبادة له وَحْدَهُ لا شَرِيكَ لَهُ فِي عِبَادَتِهِ كَمَا أنه ليس له شريك في ملكه. [٣٤]
والعدل ضد الجور، وهو ﷾ حكم عدل لا يصدر عنه إلا العدل في كل شيء.
لا إله إلا هو: تأكيد للجملة الأولى.
العزيز الحكيم: اسمان لله ﷿ يتضمنان صفتين من صفاته وهما العزة والحكمة.
[٣٤] قوله: ومعناها لا معبود بحق إلا الله، أي معنى لا إله إلا الله ليس كما يقول أهل الباطل: لا خالق ولا رازق إلا الله؛ لأن هذا توحيد الربوبية يقر به المشركون، وهم لا يقولون: لا إله إلا الله، قال تعالى: ﴿إِنَّهُمْ كَانُوا إِذَا قِيلَ لَهُمْ لَا إِلَهَ إِلَّا اللَّهُ يَسْتَكْبِرُونَ وَيَقُولُونَ أَئِنَّا لَتَارِكُو آلِهَتِنَا لِشَاعِرٍ مَجْنُونٍ﴾ [الصافات: ٣٥ - ٣٦] آلهتنا، أي: معبوداتنا ﴿لِشَاعِرٍ مَجْنُونٍ﴾ يعنون الرسول ﷺ وصفوه بالشعر والجنون؛ لأنه قال لهم: قولوا لا إله إلا الله، ونهاهم عن عبادة الأصنام.