Monotheism in the Quran
part 10
The society in monotheism is that institution where the Supreme Ruler is Allah and in which all the people are treated equally according to the commands of Allah, and all are equal in the eyes of law, and where personal prejudices, self-aggrandizement and mutual discord and disensions are eradicated. Hence, the meaning of monotheism that has been elaborated above is correct in its completeness and vastness.
Taking this as a standard, we should now see as to which one amongst us, or which form of society, is truly based on monotheism and in what manner and by what means we can reach our goal.
The Holy Prophet said, "qulu, la ila ha il lal lah tuflihu'' (Say, there is no god but Allah, you will attain prosperity and salvation). We should not take this saying lightly, because in this hadith of the Holy Prophet the ultimate result of the belief in monotheism is prosperity and salvation. The Holy Qur'an tells us that our final objective is prosperity, and we see that according to the Holy Qur'an the essence of our worship of Allah is piety. The Holy Qur'an says:
Men, worship Your Lord who created you and those, who lived before you, so that you may become pious. (Surah al-Baqarah, 2:21)
Piety is not the ultimate goal but it is the means to success and prosperity. The Holy Qur'an says:
Men of reason, have fear of Allah so that you may attain eternal happiness. (Surah al-Ma'ida, 5:100)
Please give your good attention to the following wordings: According to Qur'anic words "sakhkhara lakum" and "khalaqa lakum" which mean that the entire Universe has been created for us and we have been created for the worship of Allah, so that we tread on the path of Allah. Worship of Allah is meant for piety and piety is the starting point of eternal happiness. And according to Mufradatul Qur'an by Raghib Isfahani happiness means success and triumph. Therefore, our life is for us and we are for the worship of Allah. Worship is for piety and piety is for eternal happiness. Hence, the subtle meaning of happiness can be well understood. In other words it means victory over restrictions, restraints and overpowering the internal as well as external enemies.
In the days when I was explaining the meaning of La ilaha il lal lah ( there is no god but Allah) I made on the black-board a sketch of a seed which after being embedded in the soil germinates and becomes a green seedling. There I had said that in order to get rid of the soil, that seed performs the following three functions in its germination.
(i) Spreading its root in the soil.
(ii) Deriving nourishment from the soil.
(iii) Separating itself from the sand particles.
After illustrating this example, I had said that if man wishes to achieve freedom, he should also adopt the following three functions:
(i) He should possess such belief and ideology which is based on reason.
(ii) He should achieve maturity of thought from all possible sources for his betterment.
(iii) He should eliminate all possible hurdles and obstructions so as to embrace the belief in Allah.
If anyone ignores any of these three functions he will ever remain in a condition of misfortune. If his beliefs are not firm and are not based on knowledge and if he does not take advantage of his abilities, he will not be able to dispel his opponents and ultimately will be perished like that seed which is embedded in the soil and is not capable of performing its three functions and gets disintegrated in the dust.
Factors Which Distract Man From the Belief in Allah
The following are the reasons which distract man from the belief in Allah:
(i) Despotism and Tyranny: One of the reasons of going astray is the fear of the people who are in power. The Holy Qur'an narrates about Fir'aun thus:
Fir'aun said: If you will take a god beside me, I will most certainly make you one of the imprisoned. (Surah ash-Shu'ara 26:29)
Therefore, out of sheer fear, people started worshipping and bowing before him.
(ii) Love and Faith: Sometimes the love of a certain thing causes man to forget Allah and he pins all his hopes on that thing or person. He considers him to be all in all. The Holy Qur'an says:
They obeyed the rabbis and the monks and worshipped the Messiah, son of Maryam, as they should have worshipped Allah. (Surah Tawbah, 9:31)
These self-appointed scholars used to declare things permissible by Allah as prohibitive and the prohibitive ones as permissible and because of their faith in them people used to obey them.
(iii) Forlorn Hopes: Sometimes people in the hope of receiving help and honour believed in gods besides Allah. Thus the Holy Qur'an says:
They chose idols besides Allah in the hope of receiving help from them. (Surah Ya Sin, 36:74)
They have sought honor from other gods instead of Allah! (Surah Maryam, 19:81)
In order to distract the people from the straight path of monotheism they used to lure them with their pleasant and enchanting talks, forlorn hopes and tall promises and sometimes they used to frighten them also.
Source: imamalmahdi.com
Other Links:
The Islamic Hijab
Dhikr: Remembrance of Allah
Monotheism (Advantage of Discussion about the Outlook on Universe)
Monotheism, the First Principle of Divine Outlook on Universe
Monotheism (What is Natural Disposition?)
