Hata hivyo, ni dhahiri hata kutokana na nukuu zilizotolewa kwamba ni muhimu sana kuelewa kikamilifu maana za maneno haya manne ili kuelewa vizuri mafundisho ya Qur'ani. Kwa hakika, Qur'ani itapoteza maana yake yote kwa yeyote asiyejua maana ya ilaah au rabb, kinachounda 'ibadah, na maana ambayo Qur'ani inakusudia inapotumia neno deen. Atashindwa kujifunza Tawhid (imani ya Umoja wa Allah kwa maana kamili) ni nini, au kinachopingana nayo, yaani shirk (kuwahusisha wengine, kwa ukamilifu au kwa sehemu, na sifa au tabia yoyote ambayo ni ya Allah peke yake).

It should however be obvious even from the quotations given that it is essential for proper comprehension of the teachings of the Qur'ān fully to understand the implications of these four terms. The Qur'ān will in fact lose its whole meaning for anyone who does not know what is meant by ilaah or rabb, what constitutes ’ibadah, and what the Qur'ān means when it uses the word deen. He will fail to learn what Tawhid (belief in the One-ness of Allah in the fullest sense) is, or what constitutes its anti-thesis, that is, shirk (the attribution to others, either wholly or partially, of any of Allah’s exclusive qualities or attributes).

Haitawezekana kwake kufanya ’ibadah yake, au dini yake, iwe ya Allah peke yake. Na bora kidogo tu kuliko mtu asiyejua kabisa ni yule ambaye ana wazo lisilo wazi la maana ya maneno haya, kwa sababu katika hali hiyo mafundisho yote ya Qur'ān yatabaki kuwa yasiyo wazi na yasiyokamilika kwake, na imani yake pamoja na mwenendo wake vitaacha kwa hakika mengi ya kutamanika. Bila shaka ataendelea kusoma maneno ya kalimah, na hata kueleza kwamba maana yake ni kwamba hakuna ilaah isipokuwa Allah, lakini kivitendo ataendelea kumtendea wengine wengi kama ilaah pia. Atapita maishani akitangaza kwamba hakuna rabb isipokuwa Allah, na pamoja na hayo kutakuwepo wengi ambao atawatendea kama rabb. Atapinga na kuthibitisha, kwa uzito wote na uaminifu wote, kwamba hatoi ’ibadah yake kwa yeyote ila Allah, lakini bado ataendelea kuwapa wengine bila kujua. Mtu yeyote akidokeza hata kidogo kwamba ana dini nyingine, atajisikia kukosewa kiasi cha kutaka kugombana na mshtaki, ilhali kivitendo bila kujua ataendelea kutoa utiifu wake kwa dini nyingine nyingi.

It will not be possible for him to make his ’ibadah, or his deen, exclusive for Allah alone. And little better than such a completely ignorant man would be the one who has only a vague idea of what the terms imply, because in that case the whole teaching of the Qur'ān will remain vague and incomplete for him, and both his belief and his conduct will fatally leave much to be desired. He will no doubt keep on reciting the words of the kalimah, and even explain that it means that there is no ilaah but Allah, and yet, in practice, he will keep treating many another to be an ilaah too. He will go through life proclaiming that there is no rabb but Allah, and yet for all that there will be many whom he will be treating as rabbs. He will protest, and affirm, with all seriousness and sincerity, that he does not give his ’ibadah to any but Allah, and will yet keep giving to others unknowingly. If anyone even so much as hints that he has any other deen, he would feel offended enough to come to blows with the accuser, and yet in practice, he will unwittingly be giving his allegiance to many another deen.

Hakuna mtu atakayewahi kumsikia akitumia maneno Allah au rabb kwa heshima kwa yeyote isipokuwa kwa maana maalum ambayo maneno hayo yametumika katika Qur'ani. Lakini ataishi kwa mwenendo kama vile alikuwa na ilaah wengi na rabb wengi, ingawa hatambui hili, kama yule mtu ambaye hakujua kamwe hadi alipoambiwa waziwazi kwamba amekuwa akisema nathari maisha yake yote. Ikiwa mtu angemwambia kwa maneno wazi kwamba anampa ’ibadah yake wengine, na hivyo kufanya shirki, anaweza kuchukizwa sana na hata kugombana vikali, lakini kwa vigezo vinavyotumika ataikuwa ameishi bila kujua kama mwabudu wa wengine, mfuasi wa dini za wengine, bila hata kushuku kwamba hali ndivyo ilivyokuwa.

No one will ever hear him actually use the words Allah or rabb in respect of any but in the specific sense in which the words have been employed in the Qur'ān, but he will be conducting himself as if he had many an ilaah and many a rabb though without realising this, just like the person who never realised until he was specifically told that he had been uttering prose all his life. If someone were to tell him in so many words that he was giving his ’ibadah to others, and thus committing shirk, he might resent this strongly and even quarrel violently, but according to the criteria applicable he will unconsciously have been living as a worshipper of others as an adherent of the deens of others, without ever suspecting that in fact was the case.