Some of the Unique Qualities of Allah the Almighty (2/3)

Those Who Worship Other Than Allah and Die in Their Disbelief Will Have Eternal Punishment in the Hell-Fire:

“Verily, Allah forgives not that partners should be set up with Him in worship, but He forgives anything else, to whom He pleases and whoever sets up partners with Allah in worship, he has indeed invented a tremendous sin.” (Qur’an, Surah An-Nisa’, 4: 48)

“…Verily, whosoever sets up partners in worship with Allah, then Allah has forbidden Paradise for him.” (Qur’an, Surah Al-Ma’idah, 5: 72)

“And your Rabb (Only Creator and Sustainer) says: ‘Call (invoke) on Me I will answer your (invocation): Verily, those who are too arrogant to worship Me will surely find themselves in Hell in humiliation.’” (Qur’an, Surah Ghafir, 40: 60)

“...But those who reject Allah and deny Our Signs, they are the companions of Hell-Fire.” (Qur’an, Surah Al-Hadid, 57: 19)

The above Verses are just few of the many enlightening Verses in the Qur’an that show how Allah the Only True God stresses His Unique Divinity. The Qur’an consistently guides mankind to the Oneness of Allah: Who Alone is our God, Creator and Provider and Who Alone deserves all praises and beautiful attributes. After reading the above compilation of Qur’anic Ayat (Verses) and you are a non-Muslim, contemplate and ask yourself the following sensible questions: Is there anyone, besides Allah the Almighty, who claims to be the Only God full of praises? Can you think of anyone, other than Allah the Exalted, who claims to be Alone, free of all wants, Who begets not nor is He begotten, and none is comparable unto Him? Has anyone, except Allah, ever claimed to be the Only God and Creator of the whole mankind and all that exist in this world? Is there anyone, besides Allah, who declares Himself as the True God and that whatever they invoke besides Him is falsehood? Has anyone, except Allah, ever claimed and affirmed to be the Only God and commanded us to worship Him? Is it not that only the True God has the power to tell us the following supreme commandments:

“…The Command is for none but Allah: He has commanded that you (mankind) worship none but Him. That is the right religion but most men understand not.” (Qur’an, Surah Yusuf, 12: 40)

“Verily, I am Allah: There is no god but I: So worship Me (only), and perform regular prayers for My remembrance.” (Qur’an, Surah Ta-Ha, 20: 14)

“I have created not the jinn and men except that they should worship Me (Alone). I seek not any provision from them nor do I ask that they should feed Me. Verily, Allah is the All-Provider, Owner of Power, Most Strong.” (Qur’an, Surah Adh-Dhariyat, 51: 56-58)

Worship in Islam is not confined to the five daily prayers or to other pillars of Islam such as the shahadatain (two testimony of faith), Zakat (obligatory charity), sawm Ramadan (fasting in the month of Ramadan), and Hajj (pilgrimage in Makkah for those who can afford it). It is a comprehensive term, which covers every deed that pleases Allah the Most Merciful. Shaikh-ul-Islam Ibn Taimiyah (may Allah have mercy in him) explained the meaning of worship as follows:

Al-Ibaadah (worship) is a comprehensive term that encompasses everything that Allah loves and is pleased with of statements and actions, outward and inward. Therefore, prayer, zakaat, fasting, pilgrimage, true speech, fulfilling trusts, being kind to parents, keeping the ties of kin, fulfilling promises, ordering good, eradicating evil, making Jihad against the disbelievers and hypocrites, being good to one’s neighbor, orphans, poor, wayfarers and owned beings of humans and animals, supplications, remembrance of Allah, reading the Qur’an and so forth are all examples of acts of worship. Similarly, loving Allah and His Messenger, having fear of Allah, turning unto Allah, making one’s religion pure for Allah alone, being patient with what He has decreed, thanking Him for His bounties, being pleased with His Preordainment, putting one’s trust in Him, hoping for His mercy, fearing His punishment and so forth are all forms of worship. (‘Abdullah Bin Jarullah Al-Jarullah, 1996.)

In short, worship in Islam covers any righteous deed that pleases Allah the Rabb (Only God and Sustainer). Such worship must be done sincerely for Allah alone. Allah the Exalted has commanded us to worship Him with sincerity as shown in the following Qur’anic injunctions:

 “Say, ‘Verily, I am commanded to serve Allah with sincere devotion.’”(Qur’an, Surah Az-Zumar, 39: 14)

“Call then upon Allah with sincere devotion to Him even though the Unbelievers may detest it.” (Qur’an, Surah Ghafir, 40: 14)

 “And they have been commanded no more than this: to worship Allah, offering Him sincere devotion, being True (in Faith); establish regular prayer; and to give Zakat. And that is the Religion Right and Straight.” (Qur’an, Surah Al-Baiyyinah 98: 5)

In line with the above commandments, Allah’s Messenger (sallAllahu ‘alaihi wa sallam) teaches us (also through his Sunnah or authentic Ahadeeth) to be sincere to Allah in the performance of our deeds. In this way, we attain Allah’s rewards. The Prophet (sallAllahu ‘alaihi wa sallam) stresses that every deed is rewarded according to our intention:

 ‘Umar Ibn Al-Khattab (radhyAllahu ‘anhu) said, “I heard Allah’s Messenger (sallAllahu ‘alaihi wa sallam) saying, ‘The reward of deeds depends upon the intentions and every person will get the reward according to what he has intended. Thus he whose migration was for Allah and His Messenger, his migration had been for Allah and His Messenger and he whose migration was to achieve some worldly benefit or take some woman in marriage, his migration had been for that for which he migrated.’”(Reported by Bukhari, Vol. 1, Hadeeth 1 and Muslim 3, Hadeeth 4692)

Utban Ibn Malik Al- Ansari (radhyAllahu ‘anhu) who was one of the men of the tribe of Bani Salim narrated: “Allah’s Messenger (sallAllahu ‘alaihi wa sallam) came to me and said, ‘If anybody comes on the Day of Resurrection who has said ‘La ilaha illal-lah,’ (‘There is no God but Allah’) sincerely, with the intention to win Allah’s Pleasure, Allah will make the Hell-Fire forbidden for him.’”(Reported by Bukhari, Vol. 8, Hadeeth 431)

Allah the Almighty will never guide non-Muslims if they do not believe in the absolute Oneness of Allah -- the Only True God, worthy of our worship. All their good deeds will be in vain if they continue associating partners with Allah and join others in worship with Him. Allah the Exalted says:

“This is the Guidance of Allah. He gives that guidance to whom He pleases, of His servants if they were to join other gods with Him, all that they did would be vain for them.” (Qur’an, Al-An'am, 6: 88)

“And indeed it has been revealed to you (O Muhammad), as it was to those (Allah’s Messengers) before you: If you join others in worship with Allah, (then) surely (all) your deeds will be in vain, and you will certainly be among the losers.” (Qur’an, Az-Zumar, 39: 65)

It is for their own salvation that they should accept the invitation to Islam and turn to Allah the Most Merciful, Most Forgiving for repentance. They should refrain from associating partners in worship with Allah the Most Forgiving. Allah, the Most Forgiving, forgives all sins except the association of partners with Him. He says:

“Allah forgives not that partners should be set up with Him; but He forgives anything else, to whom He pleases; to set up partners with Allah is to devise a sin most heinous indeed.” (Qur’an, Surah An-Nisa’, 4: 48)

Likewise, the Prophet (sallAllahu ‘alaihi wa sallam) tells us in the following authentic Hadeeth:

‘Abdullah (radhyAllahu ‘anhu) narrated that Allah’s Messenger (sallAllahu ‘alaihi wa sallam) said, “Anyone who dies worshipping others along with Allah will definitely enter the Fire.” I said, “Anyone who dies worshipping none along with Allah will definitely enter Paradise.” (Reported by Bukhari, Vol. 2, Hadeeth 330, 6, Hadeeth 24 and Muslim 168)

(Continued)