{ وَقَضَىٰ رَبُّكَ أَلَّا تَعْبُدُوا إِلَّا إِيَّاهُ وَبِالْوَالِدَيْنِ إِحْسَانًا}
{And your Lord has decreed that you worship none but Him. And that you be dutiful to your parents.}
[17:23]
This
is a question that every single Muslim and Muslimah should be able to
answer with no problem. But as we begin to ponder on the answer to this
question, we find some difficulty in putting it into words. Doesn’t this
bother you? How long have we been Muslim? How is it that so many of us
find so much difficulty explaining why we worship Allah alone?
As
far as those that are actually able to answer this question, many times
it is only due to the fact that we have memorized an answer. But is
this really enough? Shouldn’t the answer be understood and located
securely in our hearts, and not just something that is memorized? Well,
this is what we want to discuss in this article.
When
we talk about Allah, we understand that He has certain actions that
only He is able to carry out. Obviously, we can’t name all of them here,
as this is an article and not a book. We do though, want to list a few
of them, because once we understand these things, it becomes crystal
clear as to why we single out Allah in His worship.
The
first of these actions is that of creation. Allah is the only One that
has the ability to bring things into existence from absolutely nothing.
This is something that is easy for Allah. It is as simple as saying be
an it is. We see this is mentioned in His book when He says,
{ اللَّـهُ خَالِقُ كُلِّ شَيْءٍ ۖ وَهُوَ عَلَىٰ كُلِّ شَيْءٍ وَكِيلٌ}
{Allah is the Creator of all things, and He is the Wakil (Trustee, Disposer of affairs, Guardian, etc.) over all things.}
[39:62]
We see from this that the whole situation of bringing something into
existence from nothing is very easy for Allah. Who do you know that has
this ability? That’s right, absolutely no one. This is impossible for
the creation to do. This is something that can only be done by The Ever
Powerful, The Creator of everything. The One who alone reserves the
ability to do this, shouldn’t He have the right to be singled out in
worship?
The
second thing that we want to discuss is the ability to be able to
provide for all of creation, everything that it needs with out it
diminishing anything from his dominion. There is only one entity that
hold everyone and everything provisions and has no problem providing. We
many-times, look at it as difficult to give to those that we are
responsible for, or at the very least tiresome. Mind you, that our
responsibility is limited to only a few individuals. Have you sat than
thought about the fact that something is giving us the provisions that
we are providing for others. Not only does Allah give us, but all of
those people and things that we know of, as well as all we do not know
of, Allah provides for them all that they need. This is easy for Allah.
Is the one that is able to do this so easily not the one that has the
right to be worshiped alone? The Quran and the Sunnah is full of proofs
and evidences about this fact. Listen to what Allah said,
{ وَمَا مِن دَابَّةٍ فِي الْأَرْضِ إِلَّا عَلَى اللَّـهِ رِزْقُهَا وَيَعْلَمُ مُسْتَقَرَّهَا وَمُسْتَوْدَعَهَا ۚ كُلٌّ فِي كِتَابٍ مُّبِينٍ}
{And no (moving) living creature is there on earth but its provision is due from Allah. And He knows its dwelling place and its deposit (in the uterus, grave, etc.). all is in a Clear Book (Al-Lauh Al-Mahfuz – the Book of Decrees with Allah).}
[11:6].
The
next thing that we should all take into consideration is the fact that
Allah is the organizer of the affairs of all of creation, without
exception. Subhanna Allah. Look at how much trouble we have trying to
keep our own situations in order (when in actuality it is Allah that
places things in order for us). Look at how many people go crazy and do
all sorts of wild things to get things situated.
Now let’s step it up one notch. Do you see how hard these people have it, that
have to plan out and organize the situation for the entirety of their
family, business or organization. ? Do you see how confused and tired
these people become? This is definitely a difficult job. Look at all
that needs to go into running a small town, city or state. There is no
way that one person can do this all by themselves. How much more does
this carry true for the entirety of the world? But Allah does it with
ease. It takes no effort from Him. Subhanna Allah. Let’s take a look at
what Allah says about this. There is a verse that our Scholars use many
times to discuss the fact that even the disbelievers from the time of
Muhammad (صلى الله عليه و سلم) bore witness to the fact that Allah is
The Provider and The Organizer of the affairs of the whole of the world.
Let’s take a look at this verse.
{قُلْ مَن يَرْزُقُكُم مِّنَ السَّمَاءِ وَالْأَرْضِ أَمَّن يَمْلِكُ السَّمْعَ وَالْأَبْصَارَ وَمَن يُخْرِجُ الْحَيَّ مِنَ الْمَيِّتِ وَيُخْرِجُ الْمَيِّتَ مِنَ الْحَيِّ وَمَن يُدَبِّرُ الْأَمْرَ ۚ فَسَيَقُولُونَ اللَّـهُ ۚ فَقُلْ أَفَلَا تَتَّقُونَ}
{Say (O Muhammad SAW): “Who provides for you from the sky and from the earth? Or who owns hearing and sight? And who brings out the living from the dead and brings out the dead from the living? And who disposes the affairs?” They will say: “Allah.” Say: “Will you not then be afraid of Allah’s Punishment (for setting up rivals in worship with Allah)?”}
[10:31]
So
in conclusion: We see that Allah is unmatched in terms of His
abilities, control and ownership over everything. There is nothing like
Him what-so-ever. Nothing is more powerful nor has a say beyond that
which He decrees. So is it not befitting that we make Him the sole focus
of our worship? Is it befitting that we honor something other than
Allah by worshiping them, and we already understand that Allah is the
one that created us and everything we could possibly imagine, that He
is the one that owns everything and gives it to whom He pleases. Then
how can we come behind understanding this and justify worshiping other
than Allah? The answer is simply – we can not.
May
Allah keep us from being of those people that leave off singling out
Allah in all of our worship. May Allah keep us guided upon the straight
path. May Allah make easy for us all of our affairs. May Allah pardon us
all for our sins. Ameen Ameen Allahuma Ameen.
resource : Arabic virtual academy
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