The Meaning of the Saying of Allah the Exalted: "There is no god but He," and the Clarification of the Error in Estimating It as "There Is No Existing God"

The Shaykh : That is, there is no true object of worship but He. I hope you pay attention; this is the word of tawhid (the oneness of Allah). So what is the meaning of this great word? "There is no god but He." The meaning of this great word is: there is no true object of worship but He. And based on this, the answer is: the predicate of "la" (no) is omitted. The predicate of "la" is omitted, and its estimation is: "true." And "illa" (except) is a tool of exception, and it is a substitute for the omitted predicate. Pay attention, my brother. Some scholars said: "The estimation of 'There is no god but He' is 'There is no existing god but He'". So what is the opinion of the grammarians among you regarding this estimation? Is it correct or not? It is possible, you might say, or it might not be possible. I will say that some scholars said: "The meaning is 'There is no existing god but He,' that is, except Allah". Is this report and estimation correct or not? The answer is: No, it is not correct. Because if you said "There is no existing god but Allah," reality would refute you, for there are gods that are worshipped besides Allah. For this reason, the disbelievers said to the Messenger regarding the Messenger: And Allah the Exalted said: And if we said "There is no existing god but Allah," then all these idols would be Allah, and this is undoubtedly an error. Therefore, those who estimated the predicate to be "existing," if they had considered what follows from this estimation, they would have fled from it as one flees from a lion. So what is the correct estimation? "There is no true god but Allah," and whatever is other than that, and whatever is other than Allah (Mighty and Majestic), is false. And listen to the saying of Allah the Exalted: And know, my brother, that the "ilah" (god) is the one who is worshipped out of love for Him and exaltation of Him. So you worship Allah out of love for Him (Mighty and Majestic), fear of Him, and exaltation of Him. And by your exaltation of Him, you leave His prohibitions, and by your love for Him, you perform His commands. And the Shari'ah is all commands and what? Prohibitions. So the commands are based on love, primarily, because I seek the love of Allah, and I purify myself because I seek the love of Allah. A man leaves zina (unlawful sexual intercourse) out of fear of Allah and exaltation of Him. For this reason, worship is based on these two things: love and what? Exaltation. So by love, the commands are performed, and by exaltation, the prohibitions are left. I hope you pay attention a second time. "There is no god but He" means there is no complete true object of worship but He. And whoever refutes the falsehood by estimating the predicate with the word "existing" is mistaken.