When he urged them, “Say: lā ilāha illā Allah,” they retorted, “Has he reduced all the gods to a single God? This is truly astonishing!” ⦗Sad 5⦘—for they assumed that divinity was distributed among many gods.

This shows that the phrase means, “None is worshipped in truth except Allah.” Had its meaning been, “None creates or provides except Allah,” they would have readily acknowledged it and offered no resistance, because whenever they were asked, “Who created the heavens and the earth?” they replied, “Allah.” When asked, “Who creates, who provides, who gives life and causes death, who manages the universe?” they answered, “Allah.” They already affirmed all that; so if lā ilāha illā Allah had carried that meaning alone, they would not have refused to utter it. Its real meaning, however, is: “None is worshipped rightfully except Allah.”

If you were to say, “There is no object of worship except Allah,” that would be a grave error, for it would imply that everything worshipped is actually Allah—exalted is He far above such a claim. But when you qualify it and say “in truth,” every false object of worship is dismissed, and only Allah, majestic and exalted, remains. One must therefore state, “There is no true object of worship,” or, more fully, “None is worshipped in truth except Allah.” The very wording of the testimony makes this clear:

lā ilāha: negation—denying worship of anything besides Allah;

illā Allah: affirmation—affirming worship exclusively for Allah alone, without partner.