Idolatry extends beyond the worship of statues or rulers. It encompasses the adoration of wealth, status, and popularity – false deities devoid of inherent power to bestow happiness or inflict harm.
Author: Dr. Najmuddin Hasan
‘There is no god, but God (Allāh)’ is the first of two parts of the verbal Declaration of Faith that brings a person into the fold of Islām (submission).
Islām is the submission to the One God, the All-Knowing, the All-Powerful, and the Ever-present. He is present with us as we write this and present with you as you read. By wholly submitting to the One Eternal, Everlasting Creator, one is truly free of all other attachments and servitude to the created, transient, and temporary world. In the Qur’ān, God attributes to Himself qualities or names, ninety-nine in total, to describe His Nature to man for man’s approach to God, though He is ultimately beyond all description.
“There is nothing like unto Him,1 and He is the Hearing, the Seeing.”[1]
Amongst these names not already mentioned are ‘The Absolute’, ‘The Infinite’, ‘The Pure’, ‘The Peace’, ‘The Almighty’, ‘The Originator’, ‘The Compeller’, ‘The Ever-Dominant’, ‘The Provider’, ‘The Just’, ‘The Wise’, ‘The Strong’, ‘The Loving’, ‘The Generous’, ‘The Truth’, ‘The Steadfast’, ’The Living’, ‘The Kind’, ‘The Forgiving’, ‘The Avenger’, ‘The Creator’, ‘The Benefactor’, ‘The One who ordains harm’. The definite article with these qualities signifies that God Himself is the Source of all these attributes. The specific name ‘The Infinite’ can be understood here as ‘The Unlimited’.
As each moment of our existence offers an opportunity to recognise God through His creations – His signs to us. His creation also tempts man to the illusion of it having independence and autonomy, thereby leading to idolatry.
Prophet Mohammad sala Allahu ‘alayhi wasalam said:
“O Abu Bakr, there is idolatry among you more hidden than the crawling of an ant.” Abu Bakr said, ‘Is there idolatry other than to make a god alongside Allah?’ The Prophet said, ‘By the One in whose hand is my soul, there is idolatry more hidden than the crawling of an ant. Shall I not tell you something to say to rid you of it, both minor and major? Say: O Allah, I seek refuge in You that I associate partners with You while I know, and I seek Your forgiveness for what I do not know.’”[2]
Here we aim to expound upon the subtle, veiled manifestations of idolatry.
To Deny an Attribute of God is to Deny God
During his early years, the Prophet Ibrahim ‘alayhi asalam confronted those around him for revering finite entities. In his challenge to them, he professed to revere a star as his god. However, it eventually set and proved it was not everlasting. He shifted his professed reverence to the Moon. Yet, upon the moon setting, he redirected himself to the Sun, the ‘greatest’ of them all. Ultimately, the sun set, and this demonstrated that God is Infinite, Perfect, and Beyond human description. His challenge affirmed that anything with limitations cannot be considered as God.
“When the night grew dark upon him he beheld a star. He said, ‘This is my Lord.’ But when it set, he said, ‘I love not things that set.’ And when he saw the moon uprising, he exclaimed, ‘This is my Lord.’ But when it set, he said, ‘Unless my Lord guide me, I surely shall become one of the folk who are astray.’ And when he saw the sun uprising, he cried, ‘This is my Lord! This is greater!’ And when it set he exclaimed, ‘O my people! Lo! I am free from all that you associate (with Him). Lo! I have turned my face toward Him Who created the heavens and the earth, as one by nature upright, and I am not of the idolaters.'”[3]
Conversely, to deny any of God’s qualities is to immediately deny God altogether. Recognising that God is All-Powerful and Ever-Present, while denying that He is All-Knowing, for instance, is not only erroneous but also a failure to acknowledge the true nature of God’. In other words, you cannot accept some of his qualities and deny the rest.
Modern Christians will call God Loving, but deny his Justice. In certain religious contexts, the All-Forgiving nature of God is denied, implying that the entity referred to as ‘God’ is not truly God. By imposing limitations on God, one remains ignorant of His true nature. In this regard, any attempt to insult God is futile, as the moment a limitation is imposed, the entity ceases to embody the concept of God.
There are ‘atheists’ born within Christendom who deny the existence of the ‘Christian’ god, specifically the anthropomorphic representation of god developed by post Renaissance Europe. These simultaneously recognise that there must be a Higher All-Knowing, All-Powerful, Ever-Present Supernatural Reality in Control of all. This illustrates that those who often call themselves atheists are in fact just ignorant of God.
Within Hinduism, a multitude of deities are revered, yet the concept of Brahman as the Ultimate Uncreated Reality, encompassing omniscience, omnipotence, and omnipresence, stands as the singular and paramount entity. Consequently, the term “god” in the Hindu context aligns more closely with angelic spirits or jinns in monotheistic traditions, or possibly represents personifications of Brahman’s attributes.
Nevertheless, whether viewed as angelic spirits or as personifications of Brahman’s attributes, such elaborations ultimately result in a sense of distance and detachment from God Himself, leading to attachment to the transient, created realm, rather than to the Eternal and Absolute Reality. Among the responsibilities of a Muslim is to inform non-Muslims about the reality of God.
There are numerous aspects of idolatry, such as attributing the qualities of God to created entities, the deification of inanimate objects, the deification of human beings, animals, and concepts, to mention just a few.
The Prophet Ibrahim ‘alayhi asalām was the son of a tradesman in statues. These statues were bought by people and taken as idols – false gods. As a young man, Ibrahim ‘alayhi asalām challenged his father and the people of his town as to the falseness of idolatry, he would retort to his people:
“Why do you worship these created things that can neither benefit nor harm you?’’[4]
Here Humans are giving stone statues the ability to benefit or harm which belong to God alone.
Deification of Human Beings and Animals
Idolatry was not just confined to stone statues. Some people at the time worshipped the king – a normal, created and limited human being, inherently weak, and doomed to age and death. They attributed to their king, godlike abilities in defiance and negation of intelligence, reason, and common sense. They felt thankful to the king for not killing them when he himself could not prevent his own death. He himself was prone to disease, his body could be broken, his health could be destroyed by the tiniest of pathogens, his mind was limited and he would eventually decay with age and die.
Equivalently in the modern day, many deify tiny, little men like Elon Musk or the CEO of a company. This is not just false, it harms, enslaves, and destroys the human soul reducing man to little more than a machine or worker ant.
Deification of Human Aspirations
Idolatry extends beyond the worship of statues or rulers. It encompasses the adoration of wealth, status, and popularity – false deities devoid of inherent power to bestow happiness or inflict harm. Regarding these entities as sources of contentment constitutes a form of idolatry. Even exalting virtues such as ‘mortal love’ as independent of divine love, and believing it capable of bestowing eternal contentment, qualifies as idolatry. When human love and compassion exist within the bounds established by divinity, they are pure and beneficial. However, when viewed as self-sufficient entities, they lead humanity toward chaos and ruin.
In conclusion, idolatry encompasses various forms, including the deification of physical objects and worldly aspirations. It is crucial to acknowledge God’s attributes fully and understand the limitations of created entities. Monotheism emphasises the Oneness and Uniqueness of God, urging detachment from transient forms.
Muslims have a responsibility to convey the reality of God and foster understanding about how idolatry manifests in the modern work. By scrutinising subtle forms of idolatry, individuals can cultivate a deeper comprehension of monotheism. Rejection of idolatry testifies to the acknowledgment of the Absolute and Infinite nature of God. Devotion to God’s attributes enables liberation from destructive temporal attachments.
References:
[1] Qur’ān 42:11
[2] Sahih, mentioned in Al-Adab Al-Mufrad on the authority of Maqil b. Yasar rady Allāhu ‘anh
[3] Qur’ān 6:76-79
[4] Qur’ān 21:66
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