Only God should be worshipped because He is the Creator and
sustainer of all that exists. This Great Universe and everything that is
in it cannot be the product of chance, and could not have created itself.
Signs testifying that God is the only Creator can be seen throughout the
earth and in the very soul of each person. God said in the Qur’an: “It is
Allah who created the sky and the earth, and sent down from the sky
water by which He brought forth fruits for your sustenance. He
subjected for you the ships to sail upon the sea at His command, and He
subjected for you the rivers. And He subjected for you the sun and
moon in continuous cycles, and He subjected for you the night and day.
And He gave you all you asked Him for .” (14:32-34)
[5 Sahih Al-Bukhari (5827) and Sahih Muslim (94).]
In the Qur’an, God mentions Prophet Abraham’s search for truth as an
example of how those who follow God’s signs will be rightly guided to the
worship of Him alone; God said: “In this way I showed Abraham the
kingdom of the heavens and the earth so that he would have faith with
understanding and certainty. When the night covered him with
darkness, he saw a star and said: ‘This is my Lord’, but when it set, he
said: ‘I don’t like those that set.’ When he saw the moon rising up, he
said: ‘This is my Lord’, but when it set, he said: ‘Unless my Lord guides
me, I will certainly be among the people who went astray.’ When he
saw the sun rising up he said: ‘This is my Lord, this is the greatest of
all.’ But when it set, he said: ‘O my people! I am indeed free from what
you join as partners with Allah. Verily, I have turned my face towards
Allah who created the heavens and the earth and I reject those who
associate partners with Allah (in worship).”(6:75-79) Actually, in the
Qur’an God calls people to continuously look at the Universe, as this will
affirm the divine truth of His existence, His greatness and that He alone
should be worshipped.
God alone deserves our worship because only He can answer our
prayers. God says in the Qur’an: “And your Lord says: Call on Me and I
will answer your prayer.” (40:60) Hence, if a human being prays to an idol
and his prayers are answered, it is not the idol which actually answered his
prayers but God. Similarly, prayers to Jesus Christ, Buddha, Krishna, Saint
Christopher, Saint Jude or to Prophet Muhammad, are not answered by
them, but are answered by God. Consequently, prayer is an act of worship
which should be directed to God alone.
Indeed, prophets who are worshipped besides Him did not tell
people to worship them. Instead, the prophets warned their people against
doing just that. For example, Islam teaches that Prophet Jesus (mercy and
peace of God be upon him) was a human being who was created by God in
a miraculous way. He was born of a mother, Mary, without a father and he
worshipped God. He was not God, nor was he the son of God. He was
neither one of three manifestations of God as Christians say, nor was he the
son of a prostitute as the Jews say. He told his people (the tribes of Israel) to
worship God alone. He did not tell people to worship either himself or his
mother. Furthermore, Prophet Jesus (mercy and peace of God be upon him)
did not worship himself when he worshipped, rather he worshipped God.
However, those who claim to be the followers of Jesus Christ today worship
Jesus himself, claiming that he is God, and others also worship his mother
calling her ‘the mother of God.’! God says in the Qur’an that He will ask
Prophet Jesus (mercy and peace of God be upon him) on the Day of
Judgment: “O Jesus, son of Mary! Did you tell people: Take me and my
mother as gods besides Allah? Then he will say: Glory to you, I could
never say what I had no right to say. If I had said it, You would have
known it, You know what is within myself, but I do not know what is
within Yourself. Verily, You alone are the Knower of the unseen. I did
not say to them except what You commanded me; to worship Allah, my
Lord and your Lord, and I was a witness over them as long as I was
among them, but when You raised me up, You were the observer over
them, and You are the witness over all things.” (5:116 - 117)
God emphasizes in the Qur’an that Prophet Jesus (mercy and peace
of God be upon him) was neither killed nor crucified, but God raised him up
into the heavens in body and spirit and he will be returned to the earth
before the end of the world. Prophet Muhammad (mercy and peace of God
be upon him) stated that Prophet Jesus would rule the earth according to the
Islamic law, then he will die on earth like other human beings and will be
buried and resurrected like them on the Day of Judgment. Hence, Prophet
Jesus who was given life, was born from a woman’s womb and circumcised,
ate, slept, went to the toilet, grew up, prayed, and will die, should never be
taken as God as all these characteristics are not the attributes of God, but of
His creatures.
The New Testament states that Jesus Christ taught his followers to
pray to God saying: “Our Father6 who art in heaven, hallowed be your
name, your kingdom come, your will be done on earth as it is in
heaven.” (Luke 11:2 / Matthew 6:9-10) Also, he taught that only those who
submit to God would inherit paradise: “None of those who call me ‘Lord’
will enter the Kingdom of God, except one who does the will of my
Father in heaven.”(Matthew 7:21) Prophet Jesus also pointed out that he
himself submitted to the will of God: “I cannot do anything of myself. I
judge as I hear and my judgment is honest because I am not seeking my
own will but the will of Him who sent me.” (John 5:23)
In fact, there are many reports in the Gospels that show that Prophet Jesus
made it clear to his followers that he was not God. For example, when
speaking about the final hour, he said: “No one knows about that day or
hour, not even the angels in heaven, not the Son7, but only the Father.”
(Mark 13:32)
Buddha, was a reformer who introduced a number of humanistic
principles in the Hindu religion practiced in India. He did not claim to be
6 This is an example of the distortions that exist in the Gospel. " Father " should be
" God ".
7 This is another example of the distortions that exist in the Gospel. " Son " should be " the
slave ".
God, nor did he suggest to his followers that he be worshipped. Yet, today
most Buddhists have made him their God and they prostrate themselves
before idols representing his likeness. In brief, from the perspective of the
object worshipped, all religions today [except Islam] invite people to the
worship of creation!
God’s attributes point to the fact that God alone deserves
worship. He is One, without relatives; He has neither father, son, mother
nor wife. He is the Eternal Absolute. He neither gives birth, nor is He born,
and there is nothing like Him. He is perfect in His knowledge, in His power,
in His will, in His mercy and in all His other attributes. God is all-powerful
and perfect, while human beings are weak and imperfect. That is how He
defined Himself and how all prophets defined Him.
Another proof that God alone deserves to be worshipped can be
found within the human soul. Islam teaches that all human beings have
imprinted on their souls an awareness of God and a natural inclination
towards worshipping Him alone imprinted on their souls. In the Qur’an,
God explained that when He created Adam He caused all of Adam’s
descendants to come into existence and then He took a pledge from all of
them saying: “Am I not your Lord? To which they all replied: Yes, we
testify to it.” God then explained why He had all of humankind bear
witness that He is their Creator and only true God worthy of worship: “That
is in case you, humankind, may say on the Day of Resurrection: Indeed
we were unaware of this.” God further elaborated on this point saying: “It
is also in case you may say: It was our ancestors who made partners
with Allah, and we are only their descendants, will you then destroy us
for what those liars did?” (7:173) Hence, people who associate partners
with God in worship cannot claim on that day that they had no idea that
Allah was the only god who deserved to be worshipped.
Prophet Muhammad (mercy and peace of God be upon him) reported
that God said: “I created my slaves upon the right religion, but devils
made them go astray.”8 He also said: “Each child is born in a state of
Islam. Then his parents make him a Jew, Christian or a Zoroastrian.”9
Thus, Islam is the birthright of every human being, since every child is born
with a natural belief in the existence of God and an inborn inclination
towards worshipping Him alone. Just as the child submits to the physical
laws which God has imposed on the physical world, in the same way its soul
also submits naturally to the fact that God is the only Lord and Creator. But
if their parents are following a different path, the child is usually not strong
or aware enough to recognize the truth or resist the will of the parents. In
such cases, the religion which the child follows is one of custom and
[8 Sahih Muslim (2865).
9 Sahih AlBukhari (1385) and Sahih Muslim (2658).]
upbringing. But God, the Most Merciful and Compassionate, will not hold
him to account or punish him for following a false religion before he
reaches the age of reason and is exposed to the pure message of Islam.
SOURCE: DR. BILAL PHILIP
sustainer of all that exists. This Great Universe and everything that is
in it cannot be the product of chance, and could not have created itself.
Signs testifying that God is the only Creator can be seen throughout the
earth and in the very soul of each person. God said in the Qur’an: “It is
Allah who created the sky and the earth, and sent down from the sky
water by which He brought forth fruits for your sustenance. He
subjected for you the ships to sail upon the sea at His command, and He
subjected for you the rivers. And He subjected for you the sun and
moon in continuous cycles, and He subjected for you the night and day.
And He gave you all you asked Him for .” (14:32-34)
[5 Sahih Al-Bukhari (5827) and Sahih Muslim (94).]
In the Qur’an, God mentions Prophet Abraham’s search for truth as an
example of how those who follow God’s signs will be rightly guided to the
worship of Him alone; God said: “In this way I showed Abraham the
kingdom of the heavens and the earth so that he would have faith with
understanding and certainty. When the night covered him with
darkness, he saw a star and said: ‘This is my Lord’, but when it set, he
said: ‘I don’t like those that set.’ When he saw the moon rising up, he
said: ‘This is my Lord’, but when it set, he said: ‘Unless my Lord guides
me, I will certainly be among the people who went astray.’ When he
saw the sun rising up he said: ‘This is my Lord, this is the greatest of
all.’ But when it set, he said: ‘O my people! I am indeed free from what
you join as partners with Allah. Verily, I have turned my face towards
Allah who created the heavens and the earth and I reject those who
associate partners with Allah (in worship).”(6:75-79) Actually, in the
Qur’an God calls people to continuously look at the Universe, as this will
affirm the divine truth of His existence, His greatness and that He alone
should be worshipped.
God alone deserves our worship because only He can answer our
prayers. God says in the Qur’an: “And your Lord says: Call on Me and I
will answer your prayer.” (40:60) Hence, if a human being prays to an idol
and his prayers are answered, it is not the idol which actually answered his
prayers but God. Similarly, prayers to Jesus Christ, Buddha, Krishna, Saint
Christopher, Saint Jude or to Prophet Muhammad, are not answered by
them, but are answered by God. Consequently, prayer is an act of worship
which should be directed to God alone.
Indeed, prophets who are worshipped besides Him did not tell
people to worship them. Instead, the prophets warned their people against
doing just that. For example, Islam teaches that Prophet Jesus (mercy and
peace of God be upon him) was a human being who was created by God in
a miraculous way. He was born of a mother, Mary, without a father and he
worshipped God. He was not God, nor was he the son of God. He was
neither one of three manifestations of God as Christians say, nor was he the
son of a prostitute as the Jews say. He told his people (the tribes of Israel) to
worship God alone. He did not tell people to worship either himself or his
mother. Furthermore, Prophet Jesus (mercy and peace of God be upon him)
did not worship himself when he worshipped, rather he worshipped God.
However, those who claim to be the followers of Jesus Christ today worship
Jesus himself, claiming that he is God, and others also worship his mother
calling her ‘the mother of God.’! God says in the Qur’an that He will ask
Prophet Jesus (mercy and peace of God be upon him) on the Day of
Judgment: “O Jesus, son of Mary! Did you tell people: Take me and my
mother as gods besides Allah? Then he will say: Glory to you, I could
never say what I had no right to say. If I had said it, You would have
known it, You know what is within myself, but I do not know what is
within Yourself. Verily, You alone are the Knower of the unseen. I did
not say to them except what You commanded me; to worship Allah, my
Lord and your Lord, and I was a witness over them as long as I was
among them, but when You raised me up, You were the observer over
them, and You are the witness over all things.” (5:116 - 117)
God emphasizes in the Qur’an that Prophet Jesus (mercy and peace
of God be upon him) was neither killed nor crucified, but God raised him up
into the heavens in body and spirit and he will be returned to the earth
before the end of the world. Prophet Muhammad (mercy and peace of God
be upon him) stated that Prophet Jesus would rule the earth according to the
Islamic law, then he will die on earth like other human beings and will be
buried and resurrected like them on the Day of Judgment. Hence, Prophet
Jesus who was given life, was born from a woman’s womb and circumcised,
ate, slept, went to the toilet, grew up, prayed, and will die, should never be
taken as God as all these characteristics are not the attributes of God, but of
His creatures.
The New Testament states that Jesus Christ taught his followers to
pray to God saying: “Our Father6 who art in heaven, hallowed be your
name, your kingdom come, your will be done on earth as it is in
heaven.” (Luke 11:2 / Matthew 6:9-10) Also, he taught that only those who
submit to God would inherit paradise: “None of those who call me ‘Lord’
will enter the Kingdom of God, except one who does the will of my
Father in heaven.”(Matthew 7:21) Prophet Jesus also pointed out that he
himself submitted to the will of God: “I cannot do anything of myself. I
judge as I hear and my judgment is honest because I am not seeking my
own will but the will of Him who sent me.” (John 5:23)
In fact, there are many reports in the Gospels that show that Prophet Jesus
made it clear to his followers that he was not God. For example, when
speaking about the final hour, he said: “No one knows about that day or
hour, not even the angels in heaven, not the Son7, but only the Father.”
(Mark 13:32)
Buddha, was a reformer who introduced a number of humanistic
principles in the Hindu religion practiced in India. He did not claim to be
6 This is an example of the distortions that exist in the Gospel. " Father " should be
" God ".
7 This is another example of the distortions that exist in the Gospel. " Son " should be " the
slave ".
God, nor did he suggest to his followers that he be worshipped. Yet, today
most Buddhists have made him their God and they prostrate themselves
before idols representing his likeness. In brief, from the perspective of the
object worshipped, all religions today [except Islam] invite people to the
worship of creation!
God’s attributes point to the fact that God alone deserves
worship. He is One, without relatives; He has neither father, son, mother
nor wife. He is the Eternal Absolute. He neither gives birth, nor is He born,
and there is nothing like Him. He is perfect in His knowledge, in His power,
in His will, in His mercy and in all His other attributes. God is all-powerful
and perfect, while human beings are weak and imperfect. That is how He
defined Himself and how all prophets defined Him.
Another proof that God alone deserves to be worshipped can be
found within the human soul. Islam teaches that all human beings have
imprinted on their souls an awareness of God and a natural inclination
towards worshipping Him alone imprinted on their souls. In the Qur’an,
God explained that when He created Adam He caused all of Adam’s
descendants to come into existence and then He took a pledge from all of
them saying: “Am I not your Lord? To which they all replied: Yes, we
testify to it.” God then explained why He had all of humankind bear
witness that He is their Creator and only true God worthy of worship: “That
is in case you, humankind, may say on the Day of Resurrection: Indeed
we were unaware of this.” God further elaborated on this point saying: “It
is also in case you may say: It was our ancestors who made partners
with Allah, and we are only their descendants, will you then destroy us
for what those liars did?” (7:173) Hence, people who associate partners
with God in worship cannot claim on that day that they had no idea that
Allah was the only god who deserved to be worshipped.
Prophet Muhammad (mercy and peace of God be upon him) reported
that God said: “I created my slaves upon the right religion, but devils
made them go astray.”8 He also said: “Each child is born in a state of
Islam. Then his parents make him a Jew, Christian or a Zoroastrian.”9
Thus, Islam is the birthright of every human being, since every child is born
with a natural belief in the existence of God and an inborn inclination
towards worshipping Him alone. Just as the child submits to the physical
laws which God has imposed on the physical world, in the same way its soul
also submits naturally to the fact that God is the only Lord and Creator. But
if their parents are following a different path, the child is usually not strong
or aware enough to recognize the truth or resist the will of the parents. In
such cases, the religion which the child follows is one of custom and
[8 Sahih Muslim (2865).
9 Sahih AlBukhari (1385) and Sahih Muslim (2658).]
upbringing. But God, the Most Merciful and Compassionate, will not hold
him to account or punish him for following a false religion before he
reaches the age of reason and is exposed to the pure message of Islam.
SOURCE: DR. BILAL PHILIP
BOOK: IS ISLAM YOUR BIRTHRIGHT
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