(III) God Alone Is Entitled To Worship
Islam lays much greater emphasis on how belief in God translates
into righteous, obedient life and good morals rather than proving His existence
through theological intricacies. Hence, the Islamic motto is that the primary
message preached by the prophets was surrender to God’s will and His worship
and not so much the proof of God’s existence:
“And We never sent any Messenger before you (O Muhammad) without
having revealed to Him: none has the right to be worshipped but I, therefore you
shall worship Me (Alone).” (Qur'an 21:25)
God has the exclusive right to be worshipped inwardly
and outwardly, by one’s heart and limbs. Not only can no one be worshipped apart
from Him, absolutely no one else can be worshipped along with Him. He
has no partners or associates in worship. Worship, in its comprehensive sense
and in all its aspects, is for Him alone.
“There is no true god worthy of worship but He, the Most Merciful,
the Most Compassionate.” (Qur'an 2:163)
God’s right to be worshipped can not be over emphasized.
It is the essential meaning of Islam’s testimony of faith: La ilah illa
Allah. A person becomes Muslim by testifying to the divine right to
worship. It is the crux of Islamic belief in God, even all of Islam. It was
the central message of all prophets and messengers sent by God - the message of
Abraham, Isaac, Ishmael, Moses, the Hebrew prophets, Jesus, and Muhammad, may
the mercy and blessings of God be upon him. For instance, Moses declared:
“Hear, O Israel; The Lord our God is one Lord.”
(Deuteronomy 6:4)
Jesus repeated the same message 1500 years later when he
said:
“The first of all the commandments is, ‘Hear, O Israel; the Lord our God is one Lord.’” (Mark 12:29)
And reminded Satan:
“Away from me, Satan! For it is written: Worship
the Lord your God, and serve Him only.” (Matthew 4:10)
Finally, the call of Muhammad some 600 years after
Jesus reverberated across the hills of Mecca:
“And your God is One God: there is no god but He…” (Qur'an 2:163)
They all declared clearly:
“…Worship God! You have no other god but Him…” (Qur'an 7:59, 7:65,
7:73, 7:85; 11:50, 11:61, 11:84; 23:23)
What Is Worship?
Worship in Islam consists of every act, belief,
statement, or sentiment of the heart which God approves and loves; everything
that brings a person closer to His Creator. It includes ‘external’ worship
like the daily ritual prayers, fasting, charity, and pilgrimage as well as
‘internal’ worship such as faith in the six articles of faith, reverence,
adoration, love, gratitude, and reliance. God is entitled to worship by the
body, soul, and heart, and this worship remains incomplete unless it is done
out of four essential elements: reverential fear of God, divine love and
adoration, hope in divine reward, and extreme humility.
One of the greatest acts of worship is prayer, invoking
the Divine Being for aid. Islam specifies that prayer should only be directed
to God. He is deemed in total control of every man’s destiny and able to grant
his needs and remove distress. God, in Islam, reserves the right of prayer for
Himself:
“And do not invoke, along with God, anything that can neither
benefit you nor harm you, for behold, if you do it, you will surely be among the
evildoers!” (Qur'an 10:106)
Giving anyone else - prophets, angels, Jesus, Mary,
idols, or nature- a portion of one's worship, which is essentially due only to God,
such as prayer, is called Shirk and is the most enormous of sins in
Islam. Shirk is the only unforgivable sin if not repented from, and it denies
the very purpose of creation.
(IV) God Is Known By His Most Beautiful Names and Attributes
God is known in Islam by His beautiful Names and
Attributes as they appear in revealed Islamic texts without the corruption or denial
of their obvious meanings, picturing them, or thinking of them in human terms.
“And the Most Beautiful Names belong to God, so call on Him by
them…” (Qur'an 7:180)
Therefore, it is inappropriate to use First Cause,
Author, Substance, Pure Ego, Absolute, Pure Idea, Logical Concept, Unknown,
Unconscious, Ego, Idea, or Big Guy as divine Names. They simply lack beauty
and that’s not how God has described Himself. Instead, Names of God indicate
His majestic beauty and perfection. God does not forget, sleep, or get tired.
He is not unjust, and has no son, mother, father, brother, associate, or helper.
He was not born, and does not give birth. He stands in need of none as He is
perfect. He does not become human to “understand” our suffering. God is The Almighty
(al-Qawee), The One Incomparable (al-‘Ahad), The Acceptor of
Repentance (al-Tawwaab), The Compassionate (al-Raheem), The Ever-Living
(al-Hayy), The All-Sustaining (al-Qayyum), The all-Knowing (al-‘Aleem),
The All-Hearing (al-Samee’), The All-Seeing (al-Baseer), The Pardoner
(al-‘Afuw), The Helper (al-Naseer), The Healer of the Sick (al-Shaafee).
The two most frequently invoked Names are “The Compassionate”
and “The Merciful.” All but one of the chapters of Muslim scripture begin with
the phrase, “In the Name of God, the Most-Merciful, the Most Gracious.” The
phrase is used, one might say, by Muslims more commonly than the names Father,
Son, and Holy Spirit are heard in Christian invocations. Muslims
begin in the Name of God and remind themselves of God’s Compassion and Mercy every
time they eat, drink, write a letter, or perform anything of importance.
Forgiveness is an important dimension of human
relationship with God. Human beings are realized to be weak and prone to sin,
but God in His tender mercy is willing to forgive. The Prophet Muhammad said:
“God’s mercy outweighs His wrath.” (Saheeh Al-Bukhari)
Along with the divine names “The Compassionate” and “The
Merciful,” the names “The Forgiver” (al-Ghafur), “The Oft-Forgiving” (al-Ghaf-faar),
“The Acceptor of Repentance ” (at-Tawwaab) and “The Pardoner” (al-Afuw)
are among the most used in Muslim prayers.
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