There Is No God But Allah
Many people insist that "There is no god but Allāh" is a wrong translation of لا إله إلا الله and that it must instead be translated as "There is no deity worthy of worship except Allāh" or something similar.
So, let's explain why that's very wrong.
First, we need to distinguish between translation and explanation.
The correct meaning of لا إله إلا الله is indeed that none has the right to be worshipped except Allāh. The scholars explain this repeatedly because people misunderstand the statement. But the fact that a statement requires explanation does not mean it was translated incorrectly.
The Arabic itself is misunderstood.
If misunderstanding were sufficient grounds to replace a translation, then we would have to replace the Arabic phrase as well.
That's not a good implication, is it.
The scholars never abandoned لا إله إلا الله and replaced it with لا معبود بحق إلا الله.
Instead, they retained the revealed wording and explained its correct meaning.
Why?
Because, again, explanation is one thing, and translation is another.
The Arabic phrase does not explicitly mention worship either. The concept is embedded within the word إله.
Likewise, the English word "god" refers to a being that is worshipped.
In both languages, the correct understanding requires knowledge and explanation.
The claim that modern people are too ignorant to understand "There is no god but Allāh" proves nothing.
An ignorant person will not automatically understand "There is no deity worthy of worship in truth except Allāh" either.
In fact, that expression introduces additional concepts such as "worthy" and "in truth", which themselves require explanation.
Explicitness is not the same as comprehension.
Making a sentence longer does not force people to understand it.
Furthermore, if the concern is that some people may distort the meaning, that problem exists regardless of wording.
Deviant groups have distorted the meaning of لا إله إلا الله itself. The Khawārij misused Qurʾānic statements.
Various sects have misused Islamic terminology throughout history. The solution was never to abandon the wording and invent replacements. The solution was to explain the truth and refute the false interpretation.
When the Khawārij misused "إن الحكم إلا لله", ʿAlī bnu Abī Ṭālib did not replace the phrase with different wording. He said:
"كلمة حق أريد بها باطل"
"A statement of truth by which falsehood is intended".
The wording remained. The false interpretation was corrected.
The goal of this literal translation - along with upholding the truth - is not simplicity.
My goal is to convey to English readers what exists on the Arabic side.
The Arabic phrase is concise, powerful, and requires explanation. The English phrase should preserve that same structure as much as possible. "There is no god but Allāh" does exactly that.
The fact that the statement requires explanation is not evidence against it. It is evidence that it functions in English much like the original functions in Arabic.
Therefore, while explanatory translations have their place when teaching the meaning of the shahādah, it is incorrect to claim that "There is no god but Allāh" is a wrong translation, or a translation that fails to convey the original phrase.
It is the direct, accurate translation of the Arabic wording. The correct meaning, as in Arabic itself, is then explained by the scholars.
الله يعيني وبس، هههه.
For more: https://t.me/correctAqeedah/12
Note: the repetitions are deliberate here.