the taghut, because worship of Allah is not genuine worship unless it is accompanied by shunning the taghut—which is nothing but shirk. The Almighty says: “Whoever rejects the taghut and believes in Allah has grasped the firmest handhold, one that will never break.” ⦗2:256⦘

Thus faith in Allah is not sufficient unless it is joined to disbelief in the taghut; otherwise, the polytheists themselves believe in Allah yet still commit shirk. “Most of them believe in Allah only while they are associating others with Him.” ⦗12:106⦘ The Exalted has therefore clarified that they do have some belief in Allah, but they spoil it through shirk—may Allah protect us.

This is what the Shaykh means: whoever worships Allah and obeys the Messenger does not associate anything with Allah, for Allah is never pleased that anyone be partnered with Him in worship.

In a hadith qudsi the Prophet ﷺ relates that his Lord said: “I am the least in need of partners: whoever performs a deed in which he associates someone else with Me, I abandon him and his act of shirk.”

There are people who pray, who bear witness that there is no deity but Allah and that Muhammad is the Messenger of Allah—repeating that testimony often—who fast and make the pilgrimage, yet they call upon the shrines and worship Hasan, Husayn, and al-Badawi.