Exegesis of the saying of Allah the Exalted: << و لاتدع مع الله إلها ءاخر لآ إله إلا هو كل شيء هالك إلا وجهه له الحكم و إليه ترجعون >> from the surah

You worship is a prohibitive particle, and is a present tense verb suspended by the prohibitive particle, and the sign of its suspension is the deletion of the waw, and the dammah before it is evidence for it. is the object of , and al-Ilah means the one who is worshipped, i.e., the one who is worshipped. Indeed, it is not possible for there to be another true god with Allah, and that is because all the gods other than Allah are false, as He the Exalted said: [Luqman: 30], and in this verse Allah the Exalted named what is worshipped as a god, and that is because Fi'al means Maf'ul, i.e., worshipped. This sentence is like an explanation for the previous prohibition, meaning that there is no god but He, and this prohibition, rather this negation, is a negation of the truth, meaning of the true worshipped one, for there is no god but Allah, and thus there is no contradiction between it and what preceded it, since what preceded it—as you see—affirms gods with Allah but prohibits calling these gods gods, and the second says: It negates that there is a god, and the reconciliation between them is to say: The true god who is worshipped and deserves to be worshipped is none but Allah, and as for the false god who is worshipped and does not deserve to be worshipped, this is affirmed for other than Allah, and this is the correct view regarding the negation, although it is possible that it is a negation meaning prohibition, i.e., do not worship but Allah, and negation meaning prohibition occurs in the Qur'an, as they said regarding His saying: [Al-Baqarah: 2], they said: The meaning—according to some exegetes—is i.e., do not doubt in it, so they made the negation mean prohibition, but it is better to keep the negation on its apparent meaning and make it a true negation, and the negation is more emphatic than the prohibition, because the negation is the affirmation of an attribute, whereas the prohibition is a prohibition from which compliance may be possible or may not be possible, meaning compliance may occur or may not occur, but if it is a negation, it is greater and more appropriate, so we say: This negation does not contradict what came before it, because what came before it considers them false gods, and the second considers them true gods, so there is no true god but Allah. The word is a pronoun referring to Allah and is not an independent name, meaning it is not among the names of Allah , contrary to the innovating, misguided Sufis, for they make one of the names of Allah and say: like , so they say in their false dhikr: Hu, Hu, Hu, repeating it, and they say: This is tawhid, so we say: The pronoun Hu is not a proper name for Allah, but rather it is a pronoun referring to Allah. This name i.e., except the previously mentioned one. He said: means vanishing, fading, and ceasing to exist after existence. The author said: "Except Him" meaning except Allah, for He, Glorified and Exalted is He, does not perish, as He the Exalted said: [Ar-Rahman 26:27], and his saying: The author explained it by his saying: "Except Him" as a refutation of the saying of the people of falsehood who said: "Allah perishes except His Face", and refuge is sought in Allah, so they made the Face here not an expression for the Essence, but rather an expression for the attribute of the Face only, and they said: "Allah perishes except His Face", and this is undoubtedly false speech, and the intended meaning of the Face here is the entire Essence, the whole of the Exalted Essence, but he expressed it with the Face like other linguistic expressions where the Face is used to express the whole thing. Yes.
The student: .......?

The Shaykh : If it is ... that means , but it is better to say: If something precedes to which the pronoun refers, it is better to mention Allah by His proper name. For this reason: Islam is built on five: Testify that there is no god but He? No, there is no god but Allah.
He said: So the author's saying: is correct in terms of refuting those who say that Allah perishes except His Face. But it may imply a false meaning, which is the denial of the Face. But I do not think the author intends that, rather it is known that the Asha'irah deny the Face in reality. So we say: Allah has a real Face ... and this verse is used as evidence for that. For this reason he said: But they say he expressed the Face for the Essence, yes, like other styles of the Arabic language. And it was said: The meaning is: Everything perishes except what is intended by its Face, so this would refer to deeds, meaning: All deeds are rejected and not accepted except what is intended for the Face of Allah. And these people used as evidence that His saying: this is among the deeds of man. Then he said: as if he said: Shirk is perishing and useless and does not benefit the person except what is intended for the Face of Allah, who is their Creator, for that remains for the person.
The student: .....?

The Shaykh : No, perishing means that it does not benefit the person with the meaning of i.e., it does not benefit him, like the saying of the Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him): . But we say: The first meaning of the verse is stronger, that the intended meaning is: Everything is vanishing and perishing except the Face of Allah, and this is like an explanation for his saying: meaning as if he is saying: Do these idols worshipped other than Allah remain or do they not remain? They do not remain. And Allah the Exalted is the One who remains, so He is the One who deserves to be worshipped. He said: Yes?
The student: ......?

The Shaykh : No ... in reality ... because the Essence is always expressed by the Essence, ..like although the Generous One is Allah. And the expression with this ... is consistent in the Arabic language, there is no ta'wil. And his saying: this is a sentence composed of a subject and a predicate. The predicate is advanced and is a delayed subject. "And advancing what is properly delayed implies restriction, and the meaning: For Him alone is the judgment

That is the judgment of Allah; He judges between you, and Allah is All-Knowing, Wise.

والحكم

The author says: " the effective judgment " And he explained it with the cosmic ruling, and the correct view is that it includes both the cosmic and the legislative ruling. So for Him is the effective judgment over everyone, and for Him is also the decision between creation in the legislative rulings. So the ruling is comprehensive of both the cosmic and the legislative ruling. And it has passed us that among the examples of the legislative ruling is the saying of Allah the Exalted in Surat Al-Mumtahanah:

That is the judgement of Allah; He judges between you. And Allah is Knowing and Wise.

ذَلِكُمْ حُكْمُ اللَّهِ يَحْكُمُ بَيْنَكُمْ وَاللَّهُ عَلِيمٌ حَكِيمٌ

[Al-Mumtahanah: 10], and that among the cosmic ruling is the saying of Allah the Exalted about the brothers of Yusuf:

So I will never leave [this] land until my father permits me or Allah decides for me, and He is the best of judges.

فَلَنْ أَبْرَحَ الأَرْضَ حَتَّى يَأْذَنَ لِي أَبِي أَوْ يَحْكُمَ اللَّهُ لِي وَهُوَ خَيْرُ الْحَاكِمِينَ

[Yusuf: 80]. And his saying:

And to Him you will be returned.

له الحكم

We mentioned that the sentence contains the exclusivity that the judgment is for Allah alone, although others have a judgment. For this reason it is said the legislative judge and the judge of the country and the like. And the answer to this is to say: The judgment of these is subordinate to the judgment of Allah, and the absolute, complete, second judgment is for Allah alone. So the fact that these are judges is from the aspect of subordination, for this judge does not judge except with what Allah has revealed. If he judges otherwise, his judgment does not take effect.

And to Him you will be returned.

وَإِلَيْهِ تُرْجَعُونَ

[Al-Qasas: 88] by the resurrection from your graves" i.e., to Allah you return, and He will reward you for your deeds, and that is by the resurrection when He resurrects you from the graves, so there is no return except to Allah. And it is possible that the return here is more general than what the author mentioned, such that the meaning is: even in your judgments, for indeed you are only returned to Allah. For this reason the judgment between people is returned to whom? To Allah, Mighty and Majestic ...