Many of those who claim to be scholars and callers to Islam define "La ilaha illa Allah" as: There is no benefactor but Allah, and no harm-doer but Allah.

The questioner : Many of those who claim to be scholars and callers to Islam define "La ilaha illa Allah" as: There is no benefactor but Allah, no harm-doer but Allah, no giver of life but Allah, and no giver of death but Allah. Does this definition benefit them?

The Shaykh : No, it does not benefit them, because this belief is not sufficient. The disbelievers who opposed the Messenger (peace be upon him), fought him, and forced him to leave his land and migrate to the Holy City of Madinah held this belief. Many verses in the Noble Qur'an clarify that the polytheists first believed in the existence of Allah, and second, they did not assign any partner to Allah in His essence. They did not believe that there was a creator alongside Him, a benefactor alongside Him, or a harm-doer alongside Him. Rather, they believed that the entire matter is in His hand (Blessed and Exalted is He). This is from one aspect. From another aspect, when Allah (Mighty and Majestic) sent the messengers and sent down the books, He did not do so to call people to believe in the existence of Allah and that He is the one who harms and benefits, and that He has no partner in any of that. He did not send them or send down the books for this purpose, because this is an innate disposition in people, even among the polytheists. Therefore, the Noble Verse explicitly states that when the polytheists are asked: they distinguish between the deity and the Lord. They associate partners with Allah in worship (uluhiyyah) but not in lordship (rububiyyah). They believe that Allah is the Lord of the worlds alone, with no partner, and that when they fall into calamity or affliction, they supplicate to Allah and seek refuge in Him because of what is settled in their hearts that Allah is the one who harms and the one who benefits. So they believed in what scholars call the oneness of lordship (tawhid al-rububiyyah). But Allah sent the messengers and sent down the books to call all these people to worship Him alone, with no partner, not to believe that He is one in His essence and that there is no creator alongside Him.
Note the belief: they believed in it explicitly in the Noble Qur'an. What they disbelieved in was that there are created persons who deserve to be worshipped alongside Allah (Blessed and Exalted is He). This is explicit in the Qur'an, where He (Mighty and Majestic) said: Those you call upon in distress are slaves like you. Your supplication . This is because they believed they were slaves. Therefore, He (Mighty and Majestic) said in another verse: . These polytheists who took allies other than Allah, when asked: Why do you worship them other than Allah? They said: . So they believed that the true object of worship is one, with no partner in worship. But due to their misguidance, they took some of the righteous as allies, worshipping them, turning to them for supplication, seeking aid, bowing, and prostrating. Why? They answered with their own selves and tongues: . So the polytheists in the time of the Messenger (peace be upon him) did not differ with the Messenger regarding the fact that the Creator is one, the Provider is one, the Giver of Life is one, and the Giver of Death is one. They believed in that. But the difference was that they worshipped other than Allah (Mighty and Majestic) and submitted to other than Allah (Mighty and Majestic). So they associated partners with Allah in worship, not in lordship. Therefore, the misguidance of these polytheists reached the point where, when they circumambulated the House—and this circumambulation they inherited from their father Ibrahim (peace and blessings be upon him)—then polytheism entered them. So one of them would say: "Here I am, O Allah, here I am. Here I am, You have no partner, except a partner that You own and He owns nothing. You have a partner, but this partner is owned by You, and he too is owned by You." So the polytheists disbelieved in the oneness of worship (tawhid al-uluhiyyah), not in the oneness of lordship. For this reason, in the Noble Qur'an: . As for the previous verse, what is it? No, it follows lordship. . There they said: .
The point is: The first verse is explicit that the polytheists believed in the lordship of Allah alone, with no partner. The second verse is explicit that they denied that the deity is one. What is the meaning of "deity" then? The deity is the one who is worshipped. So when the Messenger called them to worship Allah alone, with no partner, they denied that and said: . In the other verse: . How do they act arrogantly when in the other verse our Lord informs about them: ? This means that lordship is one thing and deity is another. The Lord is one, by the agreement of all people, even the polytheists who fought the Messenger (peace be upon him) and opposed him, as we mentioned. But as for the deity, it is multiple in their view. Therefore, they objected to the Messenger (peace be upon him) when he called them to worship Allah alone, with no partner.
Worship has types and categories, and the greatest worship in which the need of man and his servitude to Allah (Mighty and Majestic) is manifested is supplication. Therefore, he (peace be upon him) said in the authentic hadith: . Then he recited His saying (Exalted is He): .
So, the polytheists—this is a point, unfortunately, that many of the special Muslims today have not noticed—which is the distinction between lordship and deity. The polytheists believed in the oneness of Allah in lordship, but they disbelieved in the oneness of Allah in worship and deity. Therefore, they said that Allah has a partner, but this partner is owned by Allah and does not own what this partner owns. And so, the meaning of "La ilaha illa Allah" is not permissible to interpret as "There is no Lord but Allah." This is the belief of the polytheists and is not sufficient. Rather, "La ilaha illa Allah" is the meaning of this word that came in the Qur'an, commanded to him (peace be upon him) and his intended community: . The meaning of this is: Know that there is no true object of worship in existence but Allah. It is not "There is no Lord but Allah"!! The polytheists believe in "There is no Lord but Allah." That is, the Creator, the Provider, the Giver of Life, and the Giver of Death—the polytheists believe that He is one, with no partner. But they assign Him a partner in worship.
From here, it is not permissible for a Muslim, first, to understand this good word "La ilaha illa Allah" as meaning "There is no Lord but Allah," because that is a denial of the meaning of deity and worship of Allah (Mighty and Majestic) alone. Second, if the Muslim understands this good word to mean that "La ilaha illa Allah" means: There is no true object of worship in existence but Allah, then it is not permissible for him to contradict this belief—the belief in the oneness of Allah in worshipping Him alone, with no partner—practically.
Many Muslims today call upon other than Allah in times of distress, just as the polytheists did completely. So this one calls upon al-Badawi, this one calls upon 'Abd al-Qadir al-Jilani, and this one calls upon al-Shadhili, and so on. All these persons are worshipped today by many Muslims due to their ignorance of the meaning of this word: "La ilaha illa Allah" means: There is no true object of worship in existence but Allah. For this reason, the first thing the Messenger (peace be upon him) called to was this good word, as he (peace and blessings be upon him) said in the authentic hadith: , . It does not mean "There is no Lord," but rather it means "There is no true object of worship but Allah." So whoever believes that there is no true object of worship but Allah believes that the Lord is one, with no partner. But whoever believes that the Lord is one, with no partner in His essence, may disbelieve in servitude by worshipping other than Allah alone, with no partner. Because supplication is part of worshipping Allah. So if he calls upon other than Allah, he has taken him as a deity other than Allah (Blessed and Exalted is He).