Islam privileges an uncompromising belief in the
unicity of God as the true religion of people. In the Islamic tradition, the
personal name of God is ‘Allah’, and in the Arabic language, ‘Allah’ has no
plural, masculine or feminine form; the expression is never used for any other
object or being. ‘He is Lord of the heavens and earth and everything in between so
worship Him: be steadfast in worshipping Him. Do you know of anyone equal to
Him?’ (19:66)
‘Say, ‘He is God the One, God the eternal. He begot no one nor was He begotten. No one is comparable to Him.’ (112: 2-5)
‘Everything in the heavens and earth glorifies God––He is the Almighty, the Wise. Control of the heavens and earth belongs to Him; He gives life and death; He has power over all things. He is the First and the Last; the Outer and the Inner; He has knowledge of all things. It was He who created the heavens and earth in six Days and then established Himself on the throne. He knows what enters the earth and what comes out of it; what descends from the sky and what ascends to it. He is with you wherever you are; He sees all that you do; control of the heavens and earth belongs to Him. Everything is brought back to God. He makes night merge into day and day into night. He knows what is in every heart.’ (57: 2-8)
True believers are those who worship the true Living
God, invoking His greatness and mercy in great humility, in quest of His
pleasure and salvation: ‘Say, ‘Call on God, or on the Lord of Mercy– whatever names you call
Him, the best names belong to Him.’ [Prophet], do not be too loud in your
prayer, or too quiet, but seek a middle way and say, ‘Praise belongs to God,
who has no child nor partner in His rule. He is not so weak as to need a protector.
Proclaim His limitless greatness!’ (17:111-112)
‘Allâh, there is no
other, cannot be and will never be one worthy of worship but He. So let the
believers put their trust in Allâh.’ (64:14)
‘Put your trust in the
Living [God] who never dies, and celebrate His praise. He knows the sins of His
servants well enough: it is He who created the heavens and earth and what is
between them in six Days, and then established
Himself on the throne– He is the Lord of Mercy; He is the Best Informed.’ (25:59-60)
‘You who believe, be mindful of Allah, as is His
due, and make sure you devote yourselves to Him, to your dying moment’. (3: 103)
Tawhid: The Teaching of All Prophets
Islam recognizes that pure faith in God was the
core preaching of all prophets and messengers and saints since the dawn of
history.
‘And We sent not
before you any messenger except We revealed to him that, ‘There is no deity
except Me, so worship Me.’ (21: 26)
‘His Lord said to him,
‘Devote yourself to Me.’ Abraham replied, ‘I devote myself to the Lord of the
Universe,’ and commanded his sons to do the same, as did Jacob: ‘My sons, God
has chosen [your] religion for you, so make sure you devote yourselves to Him,
to your dying moment.’ Were you there to see when death came upon Jacob? When
he said to his sons, ‘What will you worship after I am gone?’ they replied, ‘We
shall worship your God and the God of your fathers, Abraham, Ishmael, and
Isaac, one single God: we devote ourselves to Him.’ (2:132-134)
‘Say, ‘We believe in
God and in what has been sent down to us and to Abraham, Ishmael, Isaac, Jacob,
and the Tribes. We believe in what has been given to Moses, Jesus, and the
prophets from their Lord. We do not make a distinction between any of the
[prophets]. It is to Him that we devote ourselves.’ (3:85)
‘…[all] they were
ordered to do was worship God alone, sincerely devoting their religion to Him
as people of true faith, keep up the prayer, and pay the prescribed alms, for
that is the true religion.’ (98: 6)
‘We endowed Luqman with
wisdom: ‘Be thankful to God: whoever gives thanks benefits his own soul, and
as for those who are thankless––God is self-sufficient, worthy of all praise.’ Luqman counselled his
son, ‘My son, do not attribute any partners to God: attributing partners to Him
is a terrible wrong.’
(31: 13-14)
Prophet Muhammad(sa) followed in the
footsteps of the ancient Prophets in inviting people to God:
‘Say: ‘As for me, my Lord
has guided me to a straight path, a right religion, the creed of Abraham, a hanif;
and he was not of the idolaters’. Say:
‘My prayer and my rituals, and my living, and my dying, are all for God, the
Lord of the Worlds. No associate has He. And to this, I have been commanded, and
I am the first of those who submit’. (6:161-4)
‘We have commanded
those who were given the Scripture before you, and We command you, to be
mindful of God. Even if you do ignore Him, everything in the heavens and the
earth belongs to Him, and He is self-sufficient, worthy of all praise. Yes, indeed, everything in the heavens and
the earth belongs to God, and He is enough for those who trust in Him. If He so
willed, He could remove you altogether and replace you with new people: He has
full power to do so. If some want the rewards of this world, the rewards of this world and
the next are both God’s to give: He hears and sees everything.’ (4: 132-135).
‘And your Lord has said, ‘Call on Me and I will respond to you. Surely those who disdain to worship Me shall enter Hell [utterly] humiliated’. (40:60)
‘And when My servants question you concerning Me, I am near; I answer the call of the caller when he calls to Me; so let them respond to Me, and let them believe in Me that they might go aright.’ (2:186)
‘He has prescribed for
you as a religion that which He enjoined upon Noah and that which We have
revealed to you, and that which We enjoined upon Abraham, and Moses, and Jesus
[declaring], ‘Establish religion and do not be divided in it’. Dreadful is for
the idolaters that to which you summon them. God chooses for it whomever He
will, and He guides to it whoever turns penitently.’ (42:14)
Polytheism
and Idolatry
The practice of elevating numerous deities as an
equivalent of God, or as His partner or spouse, or as the daughter or son of
God, or as ‘gods’ capable of performing intercession to the Lord for good
fortune, and doing ritual worship of such false gods, is absolutely rejected and
condemned as the gravest wrong (shirk) anyone could commit. Indeed, it is the
crime that Allah (swt) does not condone:
‘God does not forgive the joining of partners with Him: anything less than that He forgives to whoever He will, but anyone who joins partners with God has concocted a tremendous sin.’ (4:49)
‘Do not compare God with anyone’. (16: 75)
‘Worship God alone and shun the evil one’ (16:37)
‘Do not take two gods. He is only One God. So fear Me
alone.’ (16:54)
‘Do not set up another god besides God, or you will sit blameworthy, forsaken. And your Lord has commanded that you worship none save Him’. (17:23-24)
‘God does not forgive
the worship of others beside Him–though He does forgive whoever He will for
lesser sins– for whoever does this has gone far, far astray.’ (4:117)
Qur'an explicitly names the kind of false gods people followed in various times, in different lands. In the times of Hazrat Ibrahim (as), the people used to worship statues. In the times of Hazrat Musa (as), there were people who worshipped the cows. In Arabia, the Makkan pagans used to worship goddesses such as al-Lat, al-Uzza and Manat, and even heavenly bodies such as Sirius, sun and the moon. Apart from these entities, people also worshipped the devil, the jinns, fellow humans such as religious scholars - including long-dead servants of God like Jesus (as):
‘They take their rabbis and their monks as lords, as well as Christ, the son of Mary. But they were commanded to serve only one God: there is no god but Him; He is far above whatever they set up as His partners!’ (9:31)
Qur’an points to common sense and reasoning power of humans to call attention to the foolishness of following mere speculation. For, guesswork cannot take the place of the certainty of Truth, and it is only wise that people use their minds to reflect on the stupidity of false equivalence and shun idolatry.
‘They worship alongside God things that can neither harm nor benefit them, and say, ‘These are our intercessors with God.’ Say, ‘Do you think you can tell God about something He knows not to exist in the heavens or earth? Glory be to Him! He is far above the partner-gods they associate with Him!’ (10:19)
'As for the idols they set up beside GOD, they do not create anything; they themselves were created. They are dead, not alive, and they have no idea how or when they will be resurrected.'
Say [Prophet], ‘Praise
be to God and peace on the servants He has chosen. Who is better: God, or those they set up as partners with Him? Who
created the heavens and earth? Who sends down water from the sky for you– with
which We cause gardens of delight to grow: you have no power to make the trees
grow in them– is it another god beside God? No! But they are people who take
others to be equal with God. Who is it that made the earth a stable place to live?
Who made rivers flow
through it? Who set immovable mountains on it and created a barrier between the
fresh and salt water? Is it another god beside God? No! But most of them do not
know. Who is it that answers the distressed when they call upon Him? Who removes
their suffering? Who makes you
successors in the earth? Is it another god beside God? Little notice you take! Who
is it that guides you through the darkness on land and sea? Who sends the winds
as heralds of good news before His mercy? Is it another god beside
God? God is far above the partners they put beside him! Who is it that creates
life and reproduces it? Who is it that gives you provision from the heavens and earth? Is it another god beside God?’
Say, ‘Show me your evidence then, if what you say is true.’ (27: 60-65)
‘God is far above the
partners they set up alongside Him! How can they set up with Him these partners
that create nothing and are themselves created, that cannot help them at all, or even help themselves? … Those you [idolaters]
call upon instead of God are created beings like you. Call upon them, then, and
let them respond to you if what you say is true. Do they have feet to walk,
hands to strike, eyes to see, or ears to hear? Say [Prophet], ‘Call on your “partners”!
Scheme against me! Do not spare me! My protector is God: He has revealed the
Scripture, and it is He who protects the righteous, but those you call on
instead of Him cannot help you or even help themselves. If you [believers] call such people to guidance, they
do not hear. You [Prophet] may observe them looking at you, but they cannot see.
Be tolerant and command what is right: pay no attention to foolish people.’ (7:192- 200)
‘O
mankind! worship your Lord Who has created you as well as those before you,
that you might be secure against (all sorts of) calamities. (It is He) Who made
for you the earth a resting place, and the heaven an edifice for protection,
and caused water to pour down from the clouds. Then He brought forth therewith
a great variety of fruit for your sustenance. Therefore do not set up compeers
to Allâh, while you are people of knowledge!’
(2: 22-23)
Idolatry versus Pure Faith
In the Qur'anic perspective, idolatry is not just about the worship of statues and idols of dead people. There are many other forms of idolatry that one needs to be critically aware of: excessive attachment to one's wealth and possessions, women and children, property and status. Satanic temptations induce one to pursue evil desires/selfish inclinations at the cost of Divine commandments. Leading a Godless life [as against a life that is mindful of morals and scruples] is also an example of following the accursed Satan: ‘Do not be like those who forgot God and [eventually] God caused them to forget themselves’. (59:20)
A believer truly aspires to free oneself from the tentacles of evil in all its manifestations-within ourselves and in our surroundings, by seeking refuge in God:
‘Say [Prophet], ‘I
seek refuge with the Lord of daybreak against the harm in what He has created,
the harm in the night when darkness gathers, the harm in witches when they blow
on knots, the harm in the envier
when he envies.’ (113: 2-6)
‘Say, ‘I seek refuge with the Lord of people, the Controller of people, the God of people, against the harm of the slinking whisperer––who whispers into the hearts of people––whether they be jinn or people.’ (114:2-7)
By seeking to understand Divine commands on prudential conduct, and seeking to apply them in everyday life through good deeds, a believer can be an agent of positive influences in family, community and the wider society. Indeed, true faith in God enables one to lead a good life in this world, and it also grants one hope for Divine approval and salvation in the world to come:
'Those who believe, and do not pollute their belief with idol worship, have deserved the perfect security, and they are truly guided.' [6:82]
'As for those who discard the worship of all idols, and devote themselves totally to God alone, they have deserved happiness. Give good news to My servants.' [39:17]
Based on the contrasting fortunes of communities that have gone before us, the Qur'an warns us of the consequences that await us, for the beliefs we hold and the deeds we undertake- all of which are being recorded. The Qur'an urges us in the strongest terms to be mindful of God and guard against the evil of idolatrous worship and ritual practices in our lives:
‘By the flight of Time, man is [deep] in loss, except for those who believe, do good deeds, urge one another to the truth, and urge one another to steadfastness.’ (103: 2-4)
‘However eagerly you may want them to, most men will not believe. You ask no reward from them for this: it is a reminder for all people and there are many signs in the heavens and the earth that they pass by and give no heed to– most of them will only believe in God while also joining others with Him. Are they so sure that an overwhelming punishment from God will not fall on them, or that the Last Hour will not come upon them suddenly when they least expect it? Say, ‘This is my way: based on clear evidence, I, and all who follow me, call [people] to God– glory be to God!– I do not join others with Him.’ (12: 104-109)
'Say, ‘Shall I seek a Lord other than Allâh whilst He is the Lord of all things?’ And no soul does anything (evil) but only against itself; no soul that bears a burden shall bear the burden of another. Then to your Lord is your return and He will fully inform you about that (truth) wherein you have been disagreeing.' (6: 165)
May Allah (swt) protect us and our children from the evil of worshipping all types of false gods, Aameen, Summa Aameen Ya Rabbi'l Aalameen.