Sababu ya kuwepo kwa upotoshaji uliotajwa hapo juu ni ya kihistoria. Qur'ani ilipowasilishwa kwa Waarabu mara ya kwanza, wote walijua maana ya neno ilaah na rabb kwa sababu maneno yote mawili tayari yalikuwa yanatumika katika lugha yao. Hayakuwa maneno mapya, wala maana mpya hazikuwekwa juu yake. Walijua vizuri maana zake na maana zake za ziada. Hivyo, pale ilipotamkwa kwamba Allah peke yake ndiye Ilaah na Rabb, na kwamba hakuna yeyote mwenye sehemu hata ndogo katika sifa na tabia ambazo maneno hayo yanaashiria, waliielewa mara moja maana yake kamili. Walifahamu bila shaka yoyote wala kutokuwa na uhakika ni nini hasa kilichotangazwa kuwa cha Allah peke yake, na ni nini kilichokanushwa kwa wengine. Wale waliopinga msimamo huo walikuwa wazi akilini mwao juu ya maana ya kukataa kwamba wengine isipokuwa Allah jalla jalaluhu ni ilaah au rabb kwa namna yoyote ile, na wale waliokubali walijua sawasawa watakachopaswa kuacha kwa kukubali kwao na watakachokosa.

The reason why the misapprehensions hinted at above have come into existence is a historical one. When the Qur'ān was first presented to the Arabs they all knew what was meant by ilaah or rabb as both the words were already current in their language. They were not new terms, nor were any new meanings put upon them. They knew fully well what the connotations were and so, when it was said that Allah alone is the Ilaah, and the Rabb and that no one has the least share in the qualities and attributes which the words denote, they at once comprehended the full import, understood completely without any doubt or uncertainty as to what specifically was being declared to Pertain to Allah exclusively and what was being hence denied to others. Those who opposed the precept were very clear in their minds as to the implications of denying others than Allāh جل جلاله to be ilaahs or rabbs, in any sense, while those who accepted it knew equally well what they would have to give up by their acceptance and what they would forgo.

Vivyo hivyo, maneno ’ibadah na deen yalikuwa yanatumika sana, na watu walijua maana ya ’abd, hali ya ’uboodiyyah (hali ya kuwa ’abd), aina ya mwenendo uliokusudiwa neno ’ibadah lilipotumika, na maana ya neno deen. Kwa hiyo, walipoambiwa waache ’ibadah ya wengine wote na kuitenga kwa Allah peke yake, na waache deen zote nyingine na waingie katika Deen ya Allah peke yake, hawakupata shida yoyote kuelewa ile da’wah (ujumbe) ya Qur'ani inamaanisha nini, na mapinduzi makubwa katika namna yao ya maisha iliyokusudia kuleta.

Similarly, the words ’ibadah and deen were in common use, and the people knew what was meant by ’abd, what state was implied by ’uboodiyyah (the state of being an ’abd) what kind of conduct was referred to when the word ’ibadah was used, and what was the sense of the term deen. So, when they were told to give up the ’ibadah of all others and reserve it exclusively for Allah, and give up all other deens and enter into the Deen of Allah only, they felt no difficulty in concluding what the Qur'ānic da’wah (message) implied and the drastic revolution in their way of life it sought to bring about.

Lakini karne zilipopita, maana halisi za maneno haya polepole zilibadilika kwa namna ndogo ndogo, hata baada ya muda, badala ya maana zake kamili, yakaanza kusimama kwa maana chache sana au dhana finyu na zisizo wazi sana. Sababu moja ilikuwa kupungua taratibu kwa shauku katika lugha ya Kiarabu, na sababu nyingine ni kwamba maneno hayo yaliacha kuwa na maana zile zile kwa vizazi vya baadaye vya Waislamu kama zilivyokuwa kwa Waarabu wa mwanzo ambao Qur'ani ilishushwa kwao. Ni kwa sababu hizi mbili ndipo katika kamusi na tafsiri za hivi karibuni maneno mengi ya Qur'ani yalianza kufafanuliwa si kwa maana yake ya asili, bali kwa kile yalichokuwa yamekwisha kusimamia, kwa mfano, • Neno ‘ilaah’, kama lilivyotumika kuhusu wengine badala ya Mungu, likawa sawa na sanamu au miungu.

But as centuries passed, the real meanings of these terms gradually underwent subtle changes so that, in course of time, instead of the full connotations, they came to stand for only very limited meanings or restricted and rather vague concepts. One reason was the gradual decline of interest in the Arabic language and the other that the words ceased to have the same meanings for the later generations of Muslims that they had for the original Arabs to whom the Qur'ān had been revealed. It is for these two reasons that in the more recent lexicons and commentaries many of the Qur'ānic words began to be explained not by their original sense but by what they had by then come to stand for, e.g., • The word ‘ilaah’, as used in respect of others than God, came to be synonymous with idols or gods.

Neno ‘rabb’ lilikuja kumaanisha tu mtu anayemlea, anayemtunza au kumlisha mwingine, au anayemtimizia mahitaji yake ya kidunia.

• The word ‘rabb’ came to mean only someone who brings up or rears or feeds another or provides for his worldly needs.

'Ibadah' ilianza kueleweka kama utekelezaji wa seti ya ibada za kiibada.

• ‘Ibadah’ began to be understood as the performance of a set of rituals of worship.

"Deen" ilianza kumaanisha dini, au imani ya baadhi ya misingi.

• ‘Deen’ began to mean a religion, or belief in some precepts.

Na neno "Taghoot" likaanza kutafsiriwa kumaanisha sanamu au Shetani.

• And the word ‘Taghoot’ began to be translated to mean an idol or the Devil.

Matokeo yake yalikuwa kwamba ikawa vigumu kwa watu kuifikia ujumbe halisi wa Qur'ani. Qur'ani inawataka watu wasimfanye yeyote isipokuwa Allah kuwa ilaah. Watu walidhani kwamba kwa kuwa walikuwa wameacha kuabudu sanamu au wale waliofanywa kuwa miungu, basi walikuwa wametimiza masharti, ingawa kwa vitendo walikuwa bado wanawatendea wengine kama miungu, bila hata chembe ya shaka kuingia akilini mwao kwamba walikuwa wanafanya hivyo. Qur'ani ilikuwa imewataka watu wasikubali yeyote isipokuwa Mwenyezi Mungu kuwa rabb. Watu walidhani kwamba kwa kuwa hawakumtambua mtu mwingine yeyote kuwa rabb, walikuwa wametimiza kikamilifu mahitaji ya dhana ya Tawhid.

The result obviously was that it became difficult for people to get at the real message of the Qur'ān. The Qur'ān asks people not to regard any other than Allah as an ilaah. People thought that since they had actually given up the worship of idols or of others regarded as gods, they had fulfilled the requirements, although in practice they have in fact gone on treating others as gods, but without the least suspicion crossing their minds that they were actually doing so. The Qur'ān had asked that men should not acknowledge any other than God as rabb. The people thought that since they did not profess anyone else to be a rabb, they had complied with the full requirements of the concept of Tawhid.

Kweli kabisa, kukiri kwao kwa mdomo, hata uelewa wao wenyewe wa imani na matendo yao, vilionyesha kwamba kwao Mwenyezi Mungu ndiye Rabb pekee, lakini hawakutambua kwamba kwa matendo yao, walikuwa wakimpa wengine wengi pia hadhi ya rabb.

True enough, their oral professions or even their own understanding of their beliefs and actions, denoted that for them Allah was the one and only Rabb, but they little realised that by their actions they were instead according to many another too the status of rabb.

Walidai kwamba hawaabudu tena masanamu, kwamba wanalaani Shetani, na kwamba wanasujudu kwa Allah peke yake, na hivyo hapa pia wanafanya yote ambayo Qur'ani inawataka kufanya. Lakini, hawako mbali kiasi gani na hayo! Walichofanya ni kuacha masanamu yaliyochongwa kwa mikono ya wanadamu, lakini si mataghūti mengineyo. Na kuhusu ’ibadah, hapa pia, isipokuwa taratibu za kawaida zinazohusishwa na ibada, waliendelea kuitoa kwa wengine wengi zaidi ya Allah. Hali kadhalika imekuwa kwa dini. Kuitenga kwa Allah peke yake kulimaanisha kukiri tu ‘dini ya Kiislamu,’ na si mojawapo ya dini nyingine zinazojulikana kama hizo, na hilo ndilo lililohitajika tu, na yeyote aliyefanya hivi alikuwa ametimiza kigezo cha kutengwa kwa Allah peke yake, ingawa likitazamwa kwa maana pana zaidi ya neno ‘dīn’, wengi wao wako mbali sana na kigezo hicho.

They protested that they no longer worshipped the idols, that they uttered curses on the Devil, and prostrated themselves before Allah only, and so here too they were doing all that the Qur'ān required of them. And yet, how far they were from that! All they did was to give up the idols shaped by the hands of men, but not any of the other taghoots. And as for ’ibadah, here too, except for the formalities generally associated with worship, they continued giving it to many others besides Allah. The same has been the case with deen. To reserve it exclusively for Allah came to mean to profess only the ‘religion of Islam,’ and not any of the other religions known as such, and this was all that was required and whosoever did this had satisfied the criterion of exclusiveness, although when looked at from the wider connotation of the word ‘deen’, the majority fall far, far short of the criterion.