After having understood the precise meaning of the Shahādah, it is essential to point out that there are pillars to Lā ilāha illa Allāh (there is none worthy of worship except Allāh) which are known in the Arabic language as: أَرْكَانُ لا إِلهَ إِلَّا الله, Arkānu Lā ilāha illa Allāh.

To be more precise, there are two pillars which are:

Negation and Affirmation (النَّفْيُ وَالْإِثْبَاتُ)

First Pillar: Negation ( النَّفْيُ)

This means to negate, deny, disbelieve in and reject anything else that is worshipped besides Allāh. It means to believe that nothing else is deserving of worship i.e. negate the worthiness of anything being worshipped besides Allāh.

This is the meaning of لا إِلهَ.

Second Pillar: Affirmation (الإِثْبَاتُ)

This means to affirm that Allāh alone, and Him alone, is worthy of worship and that He has all the Attributes that make Him worthy of our worship and that none else is worthy. Therefore, anything else worshipped besides Him is false (بَاطِل).

This is the meaning of إِلَّا الله.

The evidence for this is the statement of Allāh the Exalted:

ذٰلِكَ بِأَنَّ اللَّهَ هُوَ الحَقُّ وَأَنَّ مَا يَدْعُونَ مِنْ دُونِهِ هُوَ الْبَاطِلُ وَأَنَّ اللَّهَ هُوَ العَلِيُّ الكَبِيرُ

{That is because, Allāh is the Truth, and that which they call upon besides Him is false, and Allāh is the Most High and Great}

[al-Ḥajj (22): 62]

So, {That is because, Allāh is the Truth} is the affirmation and {that which they call upon besides Him is false} is the negation.

Consequently, when you say Lā ilāha illa Allāh, you are negating something and affirming something.

When you say Lā ilāha, as Imām Muḥammad b. ʿAbd al-Wahhāb (d. 1206) explains in his elementary treatise entitled The Three Principles and Their Evidences (ثَلَاثَةُ الْأُصُولِ وَأَدِلَّتُهَا), it means:

Lā ilāha negates everything that is worshipped besides Allāh, whether that be a person, angel, jinn, animal, rock, tree, planet, star etc because these things are not deserving or worthy of worship.

Illa Allāh affirms all forms of worship for Allāh the Exalted alone as He is the Only One deserving and worthy of worship (الْمُسْتَحِقُّ لِلْعِبَادَة) without any partners in His worship at all.

There are other verses throughout the Qurʾān which echo this negation and affirmation as Sh. Ṣāliḥ al-Fawzān explains (p. 46):

فَمَنْ يَكْفُرْ بِالطَّاغُوتِ وَيُؤمِن بِاللَّهِ فَقَدِ اسْتَمْسَكَ بِالْعُرْوَةِ الْوُثْقىٰ

{So whoever disbelieves in al-Ṭāghūt (everything that is pleased to be worshipped besides Allāh) and believes in Allāh; he has grasped the firmest handhold…}

[al-Baqarah (2): 256]

Thus, His statement فَمَن يَكفُر بِالطّاغوتِ {whoever disbelieves in al-Ṭāghūt} is the meaning of first pillar: لا إِلهَ.

His statement: وَيُؤمِن بِاللَّهِ {and believes in Allāh} is the meaning of the second pillar: إِلَّا الله .

al-Waṣābī (p. 33) mentions two verses conveying the same meaning:

{And worship Allāh and do not associate anything with Him}

[al-Nisāʾ (4): 36]

The affirmation in this āyah is in the words {And worship Allāh}. The negation is in the words {and do not associate anything with Him}.

{And your Lord has ordained that you worship none except Him}

[al-Isrāʾ (17): 23]

The affirmation in this āyah is in the words {except Him} and the negation is {that you worship none}.

In conclusion, Lā ilāha illa Allāh (there is none worthy of worship except Allāh) is built upon 2 pillars: [1] Negation and [2] Affirmation. The negation is found in Lā ilaha (there is none worthy of worship) and the affirmation is found in illa Allāh (except Allāh). The negation indicates that you disbelieve in and reject everything that is worshipped apart from or along with Allāh. The affirmation indicates that you believe only Allāh alone is deserving of worship. Without these two pillars, one’s statement of Lā ilāha illa Allāh is not accepted. Just as there are pillars for the Lā ilāha illa Allāh, there are also pillars for Muḥammad Rasūl Allāh, which is the next section you should read.

Bibliography

al-Fawzān, Ṣāliḥ b. Fawzān b. ʿAbd Allāh. ʿAqīdat al-Tawḥīd wa Bayān Mā Yuḍaduhā aw Yanquṣuha Min al-Shirk al-Akbar wa al-Aṣghar wa al-Taʿṭīl wa al-Biḍaʿ wa Ghayr Dhālik. al-Riyāḍ: Maktabat Dār al-Minhāj, 1432.

al-Qaḥṭānī, Saʿīd b. ʿAlī b. Wahf. ʿAqīdat al-Muslim fī Ḍawʾ al-Kitāb wa al-Sunnah. 2 vols. al-Riyāḍ: n.p., 1429/2008.

al-Qāsim, Dr. ʿAbd al-Muḥsin. “al-Uṣūl al-Thalāthah wa Adillatuhā.” Mutūn Ṭālib al-ʿIlm: al-Mustawā al-Awwal. al-Riyāḍ: n.p., 1430/2009. 33 – 63.

al-Waṣābī, Muḥammad b. ʿAbd al-Wahhāb b. ʿAlī al-Yamanī al-ʿAbdalī. al-Qawl al-Mufīd fī Adillat al-Tawḥīd. Ṣanʿāʾ: Maktabat al-Irshād, 1427/2006.