In contrast to them, however, Muslims—even if in practice they call upon others besides Allah—do not, in belief, regard anyone other than Allah as His partner in creation, provision, or management of beings. Rather, they consider anyone other than Allah to be in need of His permission in good and evil, and they acknowledge the statement “There is no god but Allah,” and affirm the Prophets and what has been revealed to them, and believe in the Hereafter and the Day of Judgment. Therefore, comparing them to the polytheists in the time of the Prophet is unfair and impossible except through gross carelessness and willful disregard. Of course, as has become clear, calling upon those other than Allah in their absence—regardless of the justification—is considered abandoning what is preferable and is not befitting of Muslims; for what is preferable in every situation is to call upon Allah, who is More Hearing, More Merciful, and More Granting than everyone else—to the extent that with Him present, there is no need to call upon anyone other than Him, even if it is a sacred created being.

[The Oneness of Allah in Tashri‘]

The second dimension is tashri‘, in the sense of legislating rulings for beings, since it is contingent upon perfect knowledge of all of them and all their benefits and harms, in order to determine the obligations and prohibitions necessary for their prescriptive guidance toward their perfection. Such knowledge, however, exists only with their Creator; as He has said: ﴿هُوَ الَّذِي خَلَقَ لَكُمْ مَا فِي الْأَرْضِ جَمِيعًا ثُمَّ اسْتَوَى إِلَى السَّمَاءِ فَسَوَّاهُنَّ سَبْعَ سَمَاوَاتٍ ۚ وَهُوَ بِكُلِّ شَيْءٍ عَلِيمٌ﴾[1]; “He is the One who created everything on the Earth for you, then He turned to the sky and arranged it into seven equal skies; and He has full knowledge of everything,” and: ﴿أَلَا يَعْلَمُ مَنْ خَلَقَ وَهُوَ اللَّطِيفُ الْخَبِيرُ﴾[2]; “Does He who created not know? While He is the Subtle, the Aware.” Therefore, it is clear that no one except Him has the authority to make something lawful or unlawful for something else. This is because making something lawful or unlawful for something else requires knowledge of both and of their suitability or unsuitability for one another—and this is impossible except for their Creator; as He has said: ﴿قُلْ أَرَأَيْتُمْ مَا أَنْزَلَ اللَّهُ لَكُمْ مِنْ رِزْقٍ فَجَعَلْتُمْ مِنْهُ حَرَامًا وَحَلَالًا قُلْ آللَّهُ أَذِنَ لَكُمْ ۖ أَمْ عَلَى اللَّهِ تَفْتَرُونَ﴾[3]; “Say: ‘Have you seen the provision that Allah has sent down to you, some of which you have made unlawful and some lawful?!’ Say: ‘Did Allah give you permission, or do you fabricate lies against Allah?!’”