السلام عليكم ورحمة الله وبركاته
PART 2
But acknowledgement of Allah as the sole Sustainer of the world is not enough to become a Muslim. It is essential that this belief be substantiated with practice, i.e. to worship Allah, Alone, without invoking others for help. Pagans, particularly Arab infidels, acknowledge Allah as the sole Creator and Sustainer, but they can not be regarded as Muslims unless they substantiate this belief with practice, i.e., to worship Allah alone. If we look into the verses of the Holy Quran, we see that they call for the Oneness of Allah in worship. The various verses of the Quran tell us that unbelievers acknowledge Allah as the Only Sustainer of the universe, but their deeds do not conform to their belief. Therefore, they are admonished to confirm the oneness of Allah in their worship and in their deeds. Allah Almighty said, "O you people ! Adore your Guardian Lord Who Created you and those who came before you that you may have the chance to learn righteousness; Who has made the earth your couch, and the heavens your canopy : and sent down rain from the heavens; and brought forth there-with fruits for your sustenance; then set not up rivals unto Allah when you know (the truth)" (28) which was the first command to people in the Holy Quran by Allah, the Almighty.
We often find in the Holy Quran a call to the Oneness of Allah in worship. Simultaneously, the Holy Quran clarifies all doubts cast around this Oneness. In every chapter, virtually in every verse, this call for the Oneness of Allah is repeated. This is because the Holy Quran continuously informs its reader about Allah, His Names, His Attnbutes and His Characteristics, all reflecting his Oneness as the Creator and Sustainer, or when the Holy Quran calls people to worship Him alone and refrain from worshipping anything or anyone besides Him. This is the Oneness in worship. Then the Holy Quran informs people about Allah's grace in this life and His subsequent reward in the Hereafter for those who adhere to this Oneness totally. It also warns people about the punishment for idolaters in this world and the Hereafter. The Holy Quran also outlines the laws and commands of Allah, since Allah, alone, is the sole legislative power. This is the true manifestation of the Oneness of Allah.
This Oneness, with all its implications, is contained in the saying, "There is no god but Allah." It negates divine power from all and confirms it with Allah, the One and Only God. This, also, implies a "pledge of allegiance" to Allah and rejection of any partner to Him in any form. The Holy Qur an mentions the statement of Abraham (peace be upon him), "I do indeed clear myself of what you worship. I worship only Him who made me and He will certainly guide me." (29) Such has been the course of all the prophets who were sent by Allah. Allah the Almighty said "We assuredly sent amongst every people an apostle with the command, Serve Allah and eschew evil." (30) He, the Almighty also said "Whoever rejects evil and believes in Allah has grasped the most trustworthy hand-hold that never breaks". (31) Therefore, whoever has said "There is no god but Allah" has disavowed himself from worshipping anything other than Allah, and he has committed himself to worshipping Allah solely. In saying these words, he undertakes a pledge. "Then anyone who violates his oath, does so to the harm of his own soul. And anyone who fulfils what has been covenanted to Allah, Allah will soon grant his a great reward." (32)
It is clear now that "There is no god but Allah" is a declaration to worship the one and only God, e.g. Allah because (Allah) means deity, and therefore no one deserves to be worshipped except Allah. And whoever has uttered these words knowing their meaning and acting upon that meaning (negating idolatry and confirming the Oneness of Allah as the sole Creator as well as the only one to be worshipped), in addition to having adopted them in letter and spirit, can be regarded as a true Muslim. One who has uttered these words and practised their meanings in public, but without accepting them in his heart, is a hypocrite. One who uttered these words with his tongue, but acted against their meaning through committing idolatry, is an unbeliever, even if he uttered these words more than once as in the case of those who adorn tombs, for although they utter these words they do so without understanding their meaning.
Thus, these words leave no impact on their actions. You hear them say, "There is no god but Allah", but you also hear them calling "O Abdul Qadir", or "O Badawi", or other pious individuals. They invoke the dead for help when faced with adversity. The idolators of old times were better informed of the meaning of these words, i.e. commitment to the Oneness in worship of Allah, the Almighty, than those people who adorn the tombs and graves of pious people. When the Prophet (peace be upon him) asked the idolators to say "La Ilaha ilallah : (There is no god but Allah),they realized that these words of commitment to Oneness clearly meant that they must abandon idolatry and worship Allah alone. Therefore, the idolators' answer was : "Has he made the gods (all) into one ilaah (god)?" (33) About the people of Hud, the Quran says, "They said, You came to us, that we may worship Allah alone and give up the cult of our fathers?" (34) The people of Saleh said, "Do you forbid us the worship of what our fathers worshipped?" (35)
About the people of Noah, the Holy Quran relates, "And they have said (to each other), Abandon not your gods : abandon neither Wadd nor Suwa, neither Yaguth or Yauq no Nasr." (36) This is how the unbelievers understood the meaning of (There is no god but Allah) - that it means to give up deities and come forward to worship Allah only. That is why they refused to utter these words of Monotheism, for there could not be any compromise with their adoration of Lat, Uzza or Manat, the well known idols. But, amazingly, those who adore graves today do not realize this contradiction. They utter these words and continue their adoration of the dead.
Thus, we notice that some people interpret "God" as the one capable of invention, creation and origination. In this context, the meaning of "There is no god but Allah" will be that no one is capable of creation except Allah. This is one of the worst mistakes because it goes no farther than what the unbelievers had already acknowledged. We notice that idolators and others had affirmed that no one is capable of invention, creation, sustenance and causing life or death except Allah. (37) This statement of the unbelievers is illustrated in a previously mentioned Quranic verse. However, they could not become Muslims by this confession because this alone does not fulfil the requirement of the testimony of faith, "There is no god but Allah".
ATTRIBUTING ASSOCIATES TO ALLAH IN WORSHIP
We have indicated earlier the first occurrence in which people placed humans or other objects in positions to share with Allah His sole right to be worshipped. Such practice unfortunately continues to the present; this is polytheism which is of two kinds. The first is greater idolatry which is committed by Muslims by performing deeds, such as slaughtering in the names of other persons or deities than Allah, or by adoring others in any form that will make them dearer than, or even equal to Allah the Almighty. The second is idolatry of a lesser degree which makes one's faith inferior, and which may sometimes place one outside of the Islamic faith. This applies to those taking oaths in the name of other persons or deities than Allah, or uttering words like, "by the life of so and so, or by the sun, moon or stars, etc."
Such polytheism has developed among people because they have distanced themselves from the Book of Allah and the Prophet's traditions. They are determined to imitate their ancestors even though they have strayed from the right path of Allah. They exalt some of the dead saints or pious people to the extent of worship. For example, they build shrines on these deceased saints' graves. All of this happens because such people are not aware of the facts of their religion, Islam. As Umar ibn AI-Khattab (may Allah be pleased with him) stated, "The bonds of Islam will indeed breakdown, one after the other, if one who has grown up in Islam has not known about the pre-Islamic paganism." Many people are misled due to circulation of various doubts of stories and heresies which they inadvertently consider as authentic evidences to justify their deeds. Some of these doubts are similar to those previously raised by idolaters of past people and generations. Here are some examples of such doubts and suspicions
FIRST : A common suspicion of past and contemporary people is that they have inherited these practices from their ancestors. About them, Allah the Almighty said, "Just in the same way, whenever We sent a Warner (i.e. a messenger who calls to the worship of Allah the Almighty) before you to any people, the wealthy ones among them said, "We found our fathers following a certain religion, and we will certainly follow in their footsteps." (38)
Those who cannot produce any proof for their plea resort to this type of invalid argument. That, of course, is reasonable. How can they be sure that their ancestors were right ? Then again, why should they blindly follow their ancestors' footsteps ? Allah Almighty said, "When it is said to them, follow what Allah has revealed, they say, No! We shall follow the way of our fathers. What! Even though their fathers were void of wisdom and guidance" (39) Also, "Even if their fathers knew nothing and were astray?" (40) To follow the footsteps of fathers is commendable if they were on the right path. Concerning Joseph (peace be upon him), Allah, the Almighty said "And I follow the ways of my fathers, Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob : Never could we attribute any partners whatsoever to Allah; that comes of the grace of Allah to us and to mankind, yet most men are ungrateful." (41) Allah also said, "And those who believe and whose families follow them in faith, to tiem shall We join their families." (42)
Suspicion was always raised by people in answer to the call of Prophets. The people replied to the call of Noah (peace be upon him), as we notice in the Holy Quran "We sent Noah to his people; he said, "O my people worship Allah, you have no other god but Him. Will you not fear Him ? The unbelievers among his people said, "He is no more than a man like yourselves; his wish is to assert his superiority over you If Allah had wished to send messengers, He could have sent down angels. Never did we hear such a thing as he says among our ancestors of old." (43)
The unbelievers wanted to take the practice of their ancestors against the commands of Allah which were presented to them by their Prophets (peace be upon them). As Allah the Almighty stated in the Holy Quran : The people of Saleh said, "Do you forbid us the worship of what our fathers worshipped?" (44) The people of Shu'aib said, as Allah pointed out in the Holy Quran "Does your religion of prayers command you that we leave whatever our forefathers used to worship?" (45) The people of Abraham, after they were silenced by argument, said, as stated in the Holy Quran "...We worship idols and we remain constantly in attendance on them. (Abraham) said, ‘Do they listen to you when you call on them or they do you good or harm?’ They said, Nay, but we found our fathers doing." (46) Pharoah said to Moses, as Allah demonstrated in the Holy Quran : "... What then is the condition of previous generations." (47)
Who were before you and did the same thing by following the footprints of their parents. Look what happened to them.Thus, unbelievers have been opposing the truth with weak and foolish arguments.
SECOND : A suspicion raised by the pagans of Quraish and others to justify their deeds of idolatry was the issue of divine predestination. Allah the Almighty said in the Holy Quran: "Those who give partners to Allah will say' If Allah had wished, we should not have given partners to Him, nor would our fathers, nor should we have had any taboos." (48)
In another verse, Allah the Almighty stated in the Holy Quran "The worshippers of false gods say' If Allah had so willed we should not have worshipped aught but Him, neither we nor our fathers, nor should we have prescribed prohibition other than His." (49)
Again in another verse, Allah the Almighty stated in the Holy Quran: "They say : If it had been the will of Allah, Most Gracious, we should not have worshipped such deities." (50)
Concerning the above verse (51) and concerning the predestination of man, Al-Hafiz Ibn Kathir, the well known scholar explained in his commentary of the Holy Quran, that Allah the Almighty detailed the suspicions of pagans. Commenting on their plea that Allah knows what they are doing, thus, they are predestined and have no control over their actions and that since Allah is capable of inspiring them with faith and preventmg them from associating partners with Him, but He did not do so, which indicated that Allah was pleased with their actions, Ibn Kathir said, "This is an invalid argument because if Allah had so willed, He would not have passed His wrath on them; He would also not have destroyed them or warned them of the severest punishment through His messengers who were sent to those particular people. Allah the Almighty said in the Holy Quran : "Do you have any knowledge that Allah is pleased with what you are doing ? If so (then you produce it) why are you hiding it ? You show it to Us. You are only following conjecture. This is only your imagination telling you those things (you are just telling lies)."
Notes :
28. H.Q. Baqarah (Cow) 2 21-2.
29. H.O. Zukhruf (Gold Adornments) 43 26-7.
30. H.Q. Nahi (Bee) 16 : 36.
31. H.Q. Baqarah (Cow) 2 :256.
32. H.Q. Fath (Victory) 48 :10.
33. H.Q. Sad (The letter Sad) 38 : 5.
34. H.Q. Ataf (Reights) 7 : 70.
35. H.Q. Hud 11: 62.
36. H.Q. Nuh (Noah) 71: 23.
37. As reported by Philosophers. See also "Risalat-ut.Tawhid" of Md. Abduh.
38. H.Q. Zakhruf (Gold Adornments) 43 :23.
39. H.Q. Maidah (The Table) 5 :104.
40. H.Q. Baqarah (Cow) 2 :170.
41. H.Q. Yousuf (Joseph) j9 38.
42. H.Q.Tur (Mount)52 :21.
43. H.Q. Muminun (The Believers) 23 23-4.
44. H.Q. Hud 11: 62.
45. H.Q. Hud 11: 87.
46. H.Q. 5huaraa (The Poets) 26 : 70-74.
47. H.Q.Taha 20:51.
48. H.Q. Anam (Cattle) 6 :148.
49. H.Q. Nahi (Bee) 16 35.
50. H.Q. Zukhruf (Gold Adornments) 43 : 20.
51. Ibn Kathir, Tafsir. 2 :186.
وعليكم السلام ورحمة الله وبركاته