السلام عليكم ورحمة الله وبركاته
An Explanation of the Truth of Monotheism
Author: Shaikh Salih al-Fawzaan
Source: Trans. M.S. Dabas - from : direct link
PART 1
Praise be to Allah, the Almighty, the Cherisher and Sustainer of the Universe, and peace and blessings be upon our Prophet Muhammad, last of the Prophets, and upon all those who adhere to his example until the Day of Judgement.
Faith is the foundation upon which the whole structure of nations is based. Therefore, the progress of each nation is dependent upon the maintenance of its faith and ideology. Thus, all Prophets (peace be upon them) have called for true faith. Every Prophet told his people from the very beginning, "Worship Allah, the Almighty. You have no other god but Him". (1) "We assuredly sent amongst every people an Apostle, (with the command), Serve Allah and eschew evil". (2) This is because Allah the Almighty created all people to worship Him alone and set up no associate to Him. "I have only created jinns and men that they may worship Me". (3)
Worship is the exclusive right of Allah owed to Him by His creation mankind. Prophet Mohammed (peace be upon him) once said to Muath ibn Jabal (may Allah be pleased with him): "Do you know what duties and rights people have towards Allah'? The duty of mankind towards Allah is to worship Him and attribute no partner to Him. The right of mankind is that Allah will not torture those who do not attribute any partner to Him" .(4) This right of worship is the foremost right of Allah owed to Him by His people. "Your Lord has decreed that you worship none but Him." (5) "Say : Come, I will recite to you what Allah has really forbidden to you : Join not any-thing as equal with Allah". (6)
This right has priority over all other rights because it is the foundation upon which all other precepts of the religion (of Islam) are based.
Therefore, the Prophet (peace be upon him) during the thirteen years of his preaching in Makkah, constantly called upon people to observe this right of Allah and forbid any partner to Him. The Holy Quran in most of its verses, has confirmed this concept and negated any resemblance to Him. Every Muslim in his five daily prayers pledges to Allah to observe this right by saying, "You alone do we worship and only Your assistance do we seek". (7)
This great right is referred to as the singleness of worship, deity or objective and purpose. This monotheism is ingrained in man's nature. The Prophet (peace be upon him) said "Every child is born with a (pure) innate character. His parents may turn him to become a Jew, a Christian or Mazdist" (8). Therefore, believing in the oneness of Allah is innate and original, whereas idolatry is spurious and unnatural. Man will deviate from the right path only because of false upbringing and surroundings. Allah the Almighty stated in the Holy Quran "Mankind was one single nation, and Allah sent messengers with glad tidings and warnings; and with them He sent the Book, in truth, to judge between people in matters wherein they differed". (9) Simarly, He, the Almighty, also stated in they Holy Quran "Mankind was but one nation, but differed later". (10)
Moreover, Ibn Abbas (May Allah be pleased with him) said, "Ten centuries lapsed from Adam to Noah (peace be upon them and all people adhered to Islam during that perished". (11) Ibn-ulQaiyim, the learned scholar, commented on this by saying "This interpretation (by Ibn Abbas) of the above verse is correct."(12) He cited examples from the Holy Quran to support this idea an confirmed it in his commentary, "The Meaning of the Quran".
The first incident of polytheism took place among the people of Noah when they exceeded the limits of respect for their saints and started worshipping them despite exhortation by their Prophets. As it is stated in the Holy Quran "And they have said (to each other), abandon not your gods : abandon neither Wadd for Suwa, neither Yaguth not Yauq". (13) Bukhari quoted Ibn Abbas as saying that "The above names were those of pious men among the people of Noah. When these pious men died, Satan suggested to the people of Noah that they erect statues of those pious men in their homes and call the statues by these pious men's names. Thus, people did so, but did not worship the statues. The statues, however, in later generations become idols to be worshipped." (14)
Ibn-ul-Qaiyim said "Noah's people were led to idolatry because they aggrandized their dead by sculpturing their images. Such is the case with most idolaters." (15) Some were made to worship stars, as they believed that stars are influential elements in the universe. Later, they built shrines, appointed gate keepers and custodians and fixed offerings and rites for the stars. The same method still continues, apparently originating from the Sabians, the people of Abraham. Abraham (peace be upon him) argued with his people pointing out to them the falsehood of idolatry. He silenced them with arguments and shattered their idols. Consequently, his people demanded that he be set on fire.
"We noticed that some people made statues of the moon, thinking that the moon controlled the world and, thus, deserved worship. The Magians, adherents of Mazdaism, worship fire; they make many shrines for it and appoint caretakers who do not allow the flame to die out for a single moment. Some groups worship water, believing that it is the origin and source of everything. Other groups worship animals, like horses or cows. Others have worshipped men, alive or dead, while still others have worshipped jinn, trees or angel.(16)
From the above, we can learn the following
1 - Hanging pictures on walls and setting up statues and sculptured images lead people to idolatry because excessive exaltation of these pictures and statues develops into a belief that they bring good and prevent harm, as evidenced in the example of thepeople of Noah.
2 - Satan is bent on deceiving mankind. He will try every trick to exploit man's sentiments. When Satan observed among the people of Noah their emotional liking forpious people, he tempted them to exceed their love and finally made them placethose people's statues in their dwellings in order to make them stray from the rightpath.
3 - Not only does Satan try to deceive the present generation, he also keeps his eye onthe future generations. When he could not plunge the present generation of thepeople of Noah into idolatry, he anticipated the coming generation to be misled and set a trap for it.
4 - Negligence must not be shown toward evil, but it must be eradicated and all its doorsmust be closed.
5 - The presence of diligent and learned men is a blessing because Satan can deceive the people after the learned men among them had passed away.
KINDS OF BELIEF IN THE ONENESS OF ALLAH
Belief in the Oneness of Allah is of two kinds
1) belief in the Oneness of Allah in the sense that He, alone, has created the whole universe, and
2) belief that He, alone, manages its affairs. He, alone, causes life and death, and He, alone, brings good and drives away evil.
Such belief in the Oneness of Allah is universal and fundamental and there can be no disputes over it. Even' idolaters themselves confessed it as mentioned in the Holy Quran, "Say : who is it that sustains you (in life) from the sky and from earth? Or who is it that has power over hearing and sight? And what is it that brings the living from the dead and the dead from the living? And who is it that rules and regulates all affairs? They will soon say, Allah. Say : Will you not then show piety to Him'' (17)
There are similar verses in the Holy Quran which clearly state that idolaters have been admitting to this kind of Oneness of Allah but yet, they have denied the Oneness of Allah in the sense of worship. Idolaters knew that this requires that Allah the Almighty be worshipped alone, and that He, alone, be invoked for any need or assistance. This is clearly reflected in the article of faith, ''There is no god but Allah". This means that all worship is owed only to Allah, alone. Therefore, when the Prophet (peace by upon him) asked the pagans of Makkah to say these words, they refused by saying, "Has he made the gods (all) into one ilaah (god)? Truly this is a strange thing!" (18) The idolaters realized that whoever uttered these words would nullify homage to all except Allah. These words would prove that worship is owed to Allah Alone. A close look at the Arabic word "ilah" means one who is venerated and worshipped. Worship includes all visible or invisible words or deeds for the pleasure of Allah. Therefore, whoever said these words, and continued to invoke other than Allah, would surely contradict himself. Hence, we notice both kinds of belief in this oneness of Allah are correlated.
Thus a person who believes in the Oneness of the Creator and Sustainer of the universe has to worship Him alone and refrain from associating any partner with Him of any sort whatsoever. All the prophets asked their people to submit themselves to Allah alone. Allah Almighty said, "That is Allah, your Lord!. There is no god but He, the Creator of all things. Then worship Him, and He has power to dispose of all affairs." (19) He, the Almighty has also stated in the Holy Quran "If indeed, you ask them who is it that created the heavens and the earth, they would be sure to say, 'Allah'. Say : See you then the things that you invoke besides Allah? Can they, if Allah wills some penalty for me, remove His penalty ? Or if He will some grace for me, can they keep back His grace ?" (20) This acknowledgment of Allah's unity as the only Cherisher and Sustainer of the universe is deeply rooted in the nature of mankind No one disputes it. Even idolaters admit this fact. No one is known among the various sects of the world to have negated this fact except the atheists, who believe in the materialistic doctrine. They say that the world proceeds by itself without anyone to rule or regulate its affairs. Allah the Almighty has said, "And they (the atheists) say : What is there but our life in this world ? We shall die and we live, and nothing but time can destory us." So Allah said to them, "But of that they have no knowledge : they merely conjecture" (21) It is evident that their denial of Allah is based on a mere assumption and they have no proof. Hypothetical conclusions do not help in guiding to the right path. Therefore, they had no answer to the word of Allah. Allah said, "Were they created of nothing, or were they themselves the creators ? or did they create the heavens and the earth ? No, they have no firm belief." (22)
They also have no answer for the statement of Allah, the Almighty in the Holy Quran "Such is the creation of Allah : Now show Me what is there that others besides Him have created." (23) "Say : Do you see what it is you invoke besides Allah ? Show me what it is they created on earth, or have they a share in the heavens?" (24) Those who pretend to deny this unity of Allah in fact confess it in their hearts as Pharoah did. Allah Almighty said, "Moses said to Pharoah, "You know well that these things have been sent down by none but the Lord of the heavens and the earth." (25) Allah, the Almighty stated also about Pharoah and his people "And they rejected those signs in iniquity and arrogance , though their souls were convinced there of." (26)
He, the Almighty said about previous nations : "Remember, also, the Ad and the Thamud (people) Clearly will appear to you from (the traces) of their buildings (their fate) Satan made their deeds alluring to them and kept them back from the path, though they were gifted with the intelligence and skill." (27)
Thus we notice that there has never been any group denying the Oneness of Allah in the sense that He alone is the Creator and Sustainer of the universe.
Magians (adherents of Mazdaism) believe in two gods, light as creator of virtue and darkness as creator of vice. They believe that the original one is light and darkness is casual resulting of it, and that light is superior to darkness.
Similarly, Christians who believe in the trinity agree that the Creator of the world is one. They say that "God, the father" is superior, but they cannot prove the separate gods. We conclude that the Oneness of Allah as Creator and Sustainer of the world is unanimously accepted. Very seldom do we hear of a group making others as separate to Allah in this particular sense.
Footnotes:
1. H.Q. A’raf (Heights) 7:59.
2. H.Q. NahI (Bce) 16 : 36.
3. H.Q. Zanyat (winds that Scatter) 5 : 56.
4. Sahih Bukhari 13/300 (Arabic Edition). and Muslim, 30
5. H.O. Isra (The Children of Israel) 17:23
6. H.Q. Anarn (Cattle) 6:151.
7. H.O. Fatiha 1: 5.
8. Sahih Muslim No. 2047 (Arabic Edition).
9. H.Q. Baqarah (Cow) 2 : 23.
10. H.O. Yunus (Jonah) 10 :19.
11. Ibn Kathir, Meaning of the Holy Ouran 1: 250.
12 Ihn-u1- Oaiyyim : Ighathatul-Lahfan 2 : 201.
13. H.Q. Nuh (Noah) 71: 23.
14. Sahih Bukhari 6 : 133.
15. Ibn-ul-Qaiyim, Ighathatul-Lahfan 2 : 202.
16. Ibid : 2 : 218, 219,229, 230,231,233.
17. H.Q. Yunus 10 : 31.
18. H.O. Sad (The letter sad) 38 : 5.
19. H.Q. Aam (Cattle) 6 :102.
20. H.Q. Zumar (The Crowds) 39 : 38.
21. H.Q. Jathiyah (Bowing the Knee) 45 : 24.
22. H.Q. Tur (Mount) 52 : 35-6.
23. H.Q. Luqman (The wise) 31:11.
24. H.Q. Ahqaf (Winding Sand Tracts) 46 :4.
25. H.Q. Isra (The Children of Israel) 17 :102.
26. H.Q. Naml (Ants) 27 :14.
27. H.Q. Ankabut (Spider) 29 : 38.