Bismillaah
Sharh-ul-Usool-ith-Thalaathah : Lesson 27 Part A
Shaykh Saalih al-Fawzan | Dawud Burbank [Audio|English]
Imaam Muhammad ibn ‘Abdul-Wahhaab (rahimahullaah) said:
So the proof for the shahaadah (testification) is:

شَهِدَ اللَّهُ أَنَّهُ لَا إِلَٰهَ إِلَّا هُوَ وَالْمَلَائِكَةُ وَأُولُو الْعِلْمِ قَائِمًا بِالْقِسْطِ ۚ لَا إِلَٰهَ إِلَّا هُوَ الْعَزِيزُ الْحَكِيمُ

Allaah bears witness that none has the right to be worshipped but Him; and likewise the Angels and the people of knowledge bear witness. He Who maintains justice, none has the right to be worshipped but Him, the All-Mighty the All-Wise [3:18]33
[33]: Shaykh Saalih al-Fawzan’s Explanation:
His saying, He the Most High, “He testified“: meaning He judged and He decreed and He informed and He made clear and He made it binding.
So bearing witness from Allaah revolves around these five meanings: judging and decreeing and and informing and clarifying and making binding. So the meaning of, “He testified”, is He the Perfect and Most High decreed it upon His servants and He calls them to know of it and He informed them and He made it binding upon them that none has the right to be worshipped except Him.
“laa ilaaha”, (none had the right to be worshipped): this is a negating ‘laa’ which negates everything which is worshipped besides Allaah
“illaahu”, (except for Him): this affirms worship for Allaah alone.
And the meaning of, “annahu laailaaha illaahu”, (none has the right to be worshipped but him): it means there is nothing that is worshipped rightfully except  Allaah the Perfect and Most High. As for those who are worshipped besides Allaah, then worship of it is false because of His saying He the Most High:

ذَٰلِكَ بِأَنَّ اللَّهَ هُوَ الْحَقُّ وَأَنَّ مَا يَدْعُونَ مِن دُونِهِ هُوَ الْبَاطِلُ وَأَنَّ اللَّهَ هُوَ الْعَلِيُّ الْكَبِيرُ

That is because Allaah, He is the true God deserving all worship and those whom they call upon besides Him are futile and false and Allaah He is the Most High the Most Great [22:62]
He the Perfect and Most High testifies to His unity and the right to all worship and He is the most truthful One Who speaks and His bearing witness He the Perfect and Most High is the truest testification there can be because it comes from One Who is All-Wise, All-Aware, All-Knowing, he knows everything so therefore it is a testification which is true.
“And the Angels“: they testify that none has the right to be worshipped except Him and they are a species of beings whom Allaah created to worship Him. They are honourable Angels, honoured servants, Allaah created them to worship Him. They declare His perfection night and day, and they never slacken. And also Allaah created them to carry out His commands in the creation, He entrusted them with implementing whatever He commanded, He the Perfect and Most High, from the affairs of the creation. So every Angel from them is entrusted with a duty. And their testification is a true testification, because they are people of knowledge, and of ‘ibaadah(worship) and of ma‘rifah (awareness) of Allaah the Mighty and Majestic. And they are from the most excellent of the creation, along with the point of disagreement which is are the righteous humans more excellent than the Angels, or are the Angels more excellent than the righteous humans there being disagreement about that point.
“And the people of knowledge”: they are of two categories: the Angels, and the second category are the Possessors of Knowledge from mankind. And the Possessors of Knowledge do not testify except with something that is true, contrary to the case with those who are ignorant people, for their testification is not counted. And every species from the creation of Allaah bears witness for Allaah of His Unity and that none has the right to be worshipped but Him. And this is a case of showing the honour and nobility of the people of knowledge since Allaah joined their testification along with His testification, He the Perfect and Most High, and with the testification of His Angels. He counted the testification of the people of knowledge from the creation, and this shows their excellence and their nobility and their status, and they are testifying to the greatest matter that can be testified to, and it is at-Tawheed.
And what is meant by the Possessors of Knowledge – are the people of knowledge of the Legislation (i.e. Islamic knowledge), not as is said by some people that people of knowledge means the people of industry and agriculture, so those people, it is not said about them that they are People of Knowledge unrestrictedly, because their knowledge is limited in scope and is restricted, rather it is to be said, “this person is knowledgeable about arithmetic, this person is knowledgeable about engineering, this person is knowledgeable about medicine”, but it is not said about them that they are the People of Knowledge unrestrictedly. Because this term is not used unrestrictedly except for the people who have Islamic knowledge. And also most of those people are people who have only worldly knowledge, and amongst them are atheists whose knowledge mostly only increases them in ignorance concerning Allaah the Mighty and Majestic, and in self delusion and in atheism as you can see today in the disbelieving nations, that they are advanced with regards to industries and with regards to agriculture, however they are disbelievers. So how could it be said that they are the People of Knowledge, those whom Allaah has mentioned in His saying, “and the Possessors of Knowledge”. This is not at all feasible.
And likewise His saying:

إِنَّمَا يَخْشَى اللَّهَ مِنْ عِبَادِهِ الْعُلَمَاءُ

It is only those who have Knowledge amongst His slaves that fear Allaah [35:28]
What is meant is the scholars of Islamic knowledge, those who truly know Allaah and who truly worship Him and who fear Him. As for those people, then most of them do not fear Allaah, the Mighty and Majestic. Rather they disbelieve in Allaah and deny Him, and they claim that the world has no Lord and that rather nature brought it about and controls it, as is the case with the communists – they reject the Lord, the Perfect and Most High, even though they have worldly knowledge. So how then could we say – those people, they are the People of Knowledge? This is an error. So the term ‘Knowledge’ is not applied unrestrictedly except to its true people, and it is a noble title which cannot be applied to atheists and disbelievers, such that it is said, “they are the people of Knowledge”.
So the Angels and the possessors of Knowledge, they bear witness to Allaah’s Unity and sole right to worship. Therefore the saying of others besides them from the atheists and the people of shirkand the Sabeans, those who disbelieve in Allaah the Mighty and Majestic, is not counted. Those people, they are not counted, neither they nor their saying, because it is something contrary to the testification of Allaah and the testification of His Angels and the testification of those possessing knowledge from His Creation.
And His saying, “Qaa’imam bil-Qist”, (maintaining justice): this phrase is in the accusative case indicating a state along with, ‘He bore witness’ – meaning whilst establishing justice, He the Perfect and Most High. And the word, “al-Qist”, means al-‘adl (justice) – meaning Allaah the Perfect and Most High establishes justice in everything, and al-‘adl (justice) is the opposite of al-jawr (injustice), and He the Perfect and Most High is a just judge, nothing but justice comes from Him in everything.
“Laa ilaaha illahu”, (none has the right to be worshipped but Him): this emphasizes the first sentence.
“Al-‘Azeez-ul-Hakeem”, (the Almighty the All-Wise): these are two Names of Allaah the Mighty and Majestic, comprising two Attributes from His Attributes, and they are al-‘Izzah (Might) and al-Hikmah (Wisdom).
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