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His is what the heavens and the earth contain. No
one can intercede with Him except by His permission.
He knows all about the affairs of men at present and
in the future. They can grasp only that part of this
knowledge which He wills. His Throne is as vast as
the heavens and the earth and the preservation of
both does not weary Him. He is the Exalted, the
Immense One. (2:255)
Worshipping God is to express reverence for one’s
God and Creator, a Being who truly deserves to be
held in awe. On the contrary, when man bows his head
before anyone else, he exalts one who is no better
than himself—and as such, having no right to be
worshipped. Adoration of God glorifies Him, while
worship of anything other than God degrades the
worshipper. Veneration of God makes man a realist,
while prostrating himself before a non-God turns him
into a creature of superstition. Bowing to God opens
the door to the realization of the truth, while the
worship of something other than God closes this very
door in man's face.
The focus of a monotheist is only one, while
idolatry has myriad objects of worship. That is why
the centre of attention and worship of a monotheist
is the one and only God. In all circumstances and
throughout his entire life, he makes the one and the
same God his all in all, but an idolator has no
central point on which to focus. That is why shirk,
that is, idolatry, is directed towards so many
different things—the stars, the earth, man, the
grave, the self, wealth, power, interests, children,
etc. This entire practice, coming under the heading
of worship of things other than God, has been openly
condemned by the Quran.
A monotheist is one who accords the supreme status
to the one and only God. He asks Him alone to meet
his needs. He does obeisance before Him; he trusts
Him implicitly and above all others, reserving for
Him the supreme status in all respects. Worship is
the ultimate stage in any relationship: that is why,
whatever its form, it must have God as its object.
Any gesture in the nature of adulation is not
permissible except when meant for God.
When an individual makes God the object of his
worship, he bows before an entity which really
exists. On the contrary, one who makes a non-God the
object of his worship, bows before something which
has no actual existence, even although he may have
set up before him some material image of his ‘god.’
While the former has found the true source of power,
the latter has simply associated himself with crass
superstitious notions which have no basis in logic.
God’s worshippers are graced with eternal blessings;
the worshippers of things other than God can expect
nothing but eternal deprivation |
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Answer:
Fundamental to the religious structure of Islam is
the concept of tawheed, or monotheism. As the seed
is to tree, so is tawheed to Islam. Just as the tree
is a wonderfully developed extension of the seed, so
is the religious system of Islam a multi-faceted
expression of a single basic concept. For monotheism
in Islam does not mean simply belief in one God, but
in God’s oneness in all respects. No one shares in
this oneness of God.
Anthropologists would have us believe that the
concept of God in religion began with polytheism;
that polytheism gradually developed with monotheism.
That is, the concept of tawheed was an evolutionary
feature of religion which emerged at a later stage.
But, according to Islamic belief,
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