Meaning: {And there is not a thing except that it glorifies His praise...}

Question:
A questioner asks, saying: I know that everything in this universe glorifies Allah, but do the disbelievers glorify Allah the Exalted?

Answer:
Allah (Exalted and Majestic is He) said: [Al-Hajj: 18]. He did not say "all of them"; He said "many of the people." So these rational disbelievers do not glorify Allah with the glorification that Allah has prescribed: namely, prayer, fasting, and performing the prescribed remembrances.
But the scholars said: They are witnesses, by their state and their creation, that Allah is their Lord, their Creator, their Bringer into existence, and the One who does them good. In reality, this is the language of their state, and a witnessing of what Allah created them upon and what He gave them of blessings. In reality, they are prostrating to Allah and submitting to Allah because of what He created in them and brought into existence of His signs and His great blessings .
Some of their people of intellect may glorify Allah, and they may praise Allah, but that does not benefit them because of their disbelief. They may say, "Subhan Allah," or "Alhamdulillah," or speak good words, but it does not benefit them as long as they are disbelievers, for their deeds are nullified, as He (Glorified and Exalted is He) said: : [Al-An'am: 88].
And from them may come glorification—which is praise—good deeds for which they are given reward in this world; they are given for it in this world, but it does not benefit them in the Hereafter, because their disbelief and their associating partners with Allah invalidate it. For this reason, He (Exalted and Majestic is He) said: [Al-Hajj: 18]. The meaning is: The others did not prostrate the prostration that Allah (Glorified and Exalted is He) intended. And so is His saying (Exalted and Majestic is He): [Al-Isra: 44]. We do not know this glorification, but Allah knows it. So they do not glorify with the legal glorification that Allah prescribed, but there may be a specific glorification that comes from them without their intention, or with their intention, but it is not the legal glorification that Allah prescribed for His servants.
But the meaning of glorification is: purifying Allah, and it means: testifying to Allah that He is the Bestower of blessings and that He is the Lord of the worlds. So glorification is purification and sanctification. It may be by the language of speech, it may be by the language of state, and it may be by ways that Allah knows best . For this reason, He said: [Al-Isra: 44].
He may have intendedby his saying: meaning: everyone except the disbelievers. He may have intended this for them, and this became clear from the evidence, meaning: their exclusion became clear from the well-known evidence that they turn away from the path of Allah and prevent others from the way of Allah, just as He excluded them in prostration, saying: meaning: and others who did not prostrate from among the disbelievers.
So the conclusion is that the glorification is general from all created things, but we do not understand their glorification. This is the apparent meaning of the verse: , His saying: , then He said after that: This is the ultimate in generalization. is an indefinite noun in the context of a condition, in the context of negation. means "nothing," so the indefinite noun in the context of negation includes the disbelievers and others. However, the glorification of the disbelievers is a glorification that we do not understand, a glorification in terms of the humility and submission they show to their Lord (Glorified and Exalted is He) , being humbled and abased, and in terms of what He sees of their actions and behaviors, and the strange things they do, all of which testify to Allah that He is the Magnificent and that He is the Holy One (Glorified and Exalted is He) .