Unity of the Divine
Colossal, shimmering bronze statues of Buddha tower over terraced paddies and awed rice farmers in a Cambodian valley. In downtown Tokyo, a bell is rung in the hope of summoning a god at a Shinto shrine. A hapless chicken meets his fate in a South Bronx basement, not to provide drumsticks, but to satisfy the bloodlust of a Yoruban god. In a botanica in New York’s El Barrio, brightly painted plaster casts of saints crowd shelves amid the pungent aromas of herbs and incense, Caribbean Catholicism’s thin veil over an ancient African religion.
Polytheism, the belief that there are many gods, once dominated the ancient world. Even now, one-third to one half of the world’s population still claim allegiance to polytheistic faiths. We live, however, in a country where the vast majority claim adherence to Christianity which, along with Judaism and Islam, professes to be a monotheistic religion. Monotheism, the flip-side of paganism, is the belief that there is but one and only one God. Even a nominally religious Christian believes that there is only one God and is averse to the open worship of multiple deities.
Monotheism, the purest and most sublime notion of Godhead, was not meant to remain exclusively in the world of ideas but to be reflected in the lives of people. Yet this belief, as it is understood by modern Christian society, has done little to prevent it from gradually slipping into an abyss of spiritual and moral degeneration. A closer look at the true meaning of monotheism should provide answers to this apparent paradox.
The True Meaning of Monotheism
The cornerstone of the Islamic faith is concisely expressed in the sentence la ilaha illallah (there is no deity but Allah). This Arabic phrase is known as the kalimah. It is important to analyze this phrase in order to understand the fundamental difference between Islamic monotheism and other variants. Literally, the phrase means that there is no ilah but Allah. The word ilah is loosely translated as god but there are other significant implications.
The word ilah not only means god but it refers to any being, authority, social custom, or institution which you feel has authority over you or to which you owe obedience. For example, it is pretty clear that an idol worshipper who sacrifices a chicken to appease one god, lights candles and incense to another to ward off evil spirits, and then offers prayers and offerings to yet another to obtain fame and fortune has a lot of ilahs in his life. He is offering to other ilahs acts of worship and obedience when the only one deserving of acts of worship and obedience is the One God. So for him, the phrase la ilaha illallah (there is no ilah but Allah, the One True God) does not apply.
Similarly, when you ask of someone a thing which only the One True God can grant, such as forgiveness and salvation from Hell, then you treat whoever you ask as an ilah. Directing prayers to people who haven’t been on the earth for thousands of years like Siddartha Gautama Buddha, Jesus Christ (may Allah’s peace be upon him) and his venerable mother Mary (may Allah have mercy on her) definitely fall into this category. In the Islamic view, those priests who believe they can forgive sins in effect are trying to usurp the power of forgiveness which belongs to the only God. If you have been wronged, no one can stand in your place to forgive the wrongdoer. As it is your sole right to forgive a wrong done to you, it is solely God’s right to forgive disobedience to His commands.
The Arabs worshipped 360 gods at the time of the Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) but claimed they did so only to gain nearness to the Supreme God, Allah.
The pagan Arabs believed that Allah was the Supreme Lord and only worshipped other gods as intermediaries yet Allah called them polytheists and heathens for doing so. Those of you who light candles, make offerings, and pray to the images of saints or others in the hope that they can do things for you or serve as a go-between with God should think about this.
Polytheism, the belief that there are many gods, once dominated the ancient world. Even now, one-third to one half of the world’s population still claim allegiance to polytheistic faiths. We live, however, in a country where the vast majority claim adherence to Christianity which, along with Judaism and Islam, professes to be a monotheistic religion. Monotheism, the flip-side of paganism, is the belief that there is but one and only one God. Even a nominally religious Christian believes that there is only one God and is averse to the open worship of multiple deities.
Monotheism, the purest and most sublime notion of Godhead, was not meant to remain exclusively in the world of ideas but to be reflected in the lives of people. Yet this belief, as it is understood by modern Christian society, has done little to prevent it from gradually slipping into an abyss of spiritual and moral degeneration. A closer look at the true meaning of monotheism should provide answers to this apparent paradox.
The True Meaning of Monotheism
The cornerstone of the Islamic faith is concisely expressed in the sentence la ilaha illallah (there is no deity but Allah). This Arabic phrase is known as the kalimah. It is important to analyze this phrase in order to understand the fundamental difference between Islamic monotheism and other variants. Literally, the phrase means that there is no ilah but Allah. The word ilah is loosely translated as god but there are other significant implications.
The word ilah not only means god but it refers to any being, authority, social custom, or institution which you feel has authority over you or to which you owe obedience. For example, it is pretty clear that an idol worshipper who sacrifices a chicken to appease one god, lights candles and incense to another to ward off evil spirits, and then offers prayers and offerings to yet another to obtain fame and fortune has a lot of ilahs in his life. He is offering to other ilahs acts of worship and obedience when the only one deserving of acts of worship and obedience is the One God. So for him, the phrase la ilaha illallah (there is no ilah but Allah, the One True God) does not apply.
Similarly, when you ask of someone a thing which only the One True God can grant, such as forgiveness and salvation from Hell, then you treat whoever you ask as an ilah. Directing prayers to people who haven’t been on the earth for thousands of years like Siddartha Gautama Buddha, Jesus Christ (may Allah’s peace be upon him) and his venerable mother Mary (may Allah have mercy on her) definitely fall into this category. In the Islamic view, those priests who believe they can forgive sins in effect are trying to usurp the power of forgiveness which belongs to the only God. If you have been wronged, no one can stand in your place to forgive the wrongdoer. As it is your sole right to forgive a wrong done to you, it is solely God’s right to forgive disobedience to His commands.
The pagan Arabs, among whom the Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) first appeared over 1500 years ago, were well aware that Allah was the Creator of all things and the Supreme Power of the universe.
“Say: ‘Who is it that gives you all sustenance from the sky and earth, governs sight and hearing, brings forth life from dead (matter) and death from the living, and plans the affairs of man?’ They will all say, ‘Allah’.”Al Qur’an, Surah Yunus 10:31“If you asked them who created them, they would surely say, ‘Allah’.”Al Qur’an, Surah Az Zukhruf 43:87
The Arabs worshipped 360 gods at the time of the Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) but claimed they did so only to gain nearness to the Supreme God, Allah.
“We only worship them so that they may bring us closer to Allah.”Al Qur’an, Surah Az Zumar 39:3
The pagan Arabs believed that Allah was the Supreme Lord and only worshipped other gods as intermediaries yet Allah called them polytheists and heathens for doing so. Those of you who light candles, make offerings, and pray to the images of saints or others in the hope that they can do things for you or serve as a go-between with God should think about this.
These are some of the most obvious examples of ilahs other than Allah that can creep into religious worship. Now let us see how hidden ilahs can dominate nearly every aspect of our society and culture by delving deeper into the implications of the word.
Hidden Polytheism
The pagan Arabs were well aware of the significance of the phrase la ilaha illallah. They knew that the word ilah meant more than a mere idol, that the statement no ilah but Allah meant that there was nothing worthy of authority, obedience, and worship but Allah. This meant that all their laws, social and moral customs, and forms of rule which were not consonant with Allah’s dictates as expressed in the Qur’an and the example of His Prophet (peace be upon him) were no longer valid in the eyes of those who converted to this belief. They rightly saw this as a threat to their way of life because this kalimah declared that only the One True God, Lord and Master of the universe, and King of all creation had the right to legislate for mankind.
All systems of life which did not govern by the laws of the Creator were declared illegitimate. Whatever Allah declared legal was legal and whatever He declared illegal was illegal and the only sources for these laws were the Qur’an, His last revelation to mankind and the example of His last prophet, Muhammad (peace and blessing be upon him).
The presumed legitimacy of their way of life crumbled before this bold declaration as Allah proclaimed that only a way of life of total submission to His will, the actual meaning of the word Islam, would be acceptable to Him.
The struggle that followed inflicted torture and atrocities on those who completely submitted to Allah’s will, the true meaning of the word Muslim. After 23 years of tremendous trial, tribulation, and bloodshed, the pagan Arabs could not extinguish the flame of truth which burned in these Muslims’ hearts. During this period, Allah revealed to His Prophet (peace be upon him) in the Qur’an a complete way of life covering all spheres of life: social, moral, spiritual, political, juridical and economic.
Then, with victory in sight, Allah made this stirring proclamation:
Monotheism and You
Even in these modern times, there are still millions who openly worship Allah’s created things, taking as gods rivers, stones, trees, lightning and thunder, planets, the sun, the moon, stars, and inventions of their own imaginations. Even human beings are worshipped and prayed to as do the Christians with Jesus and his mother (may peace be upon them both) and Buddhists who deify the great Indian sage Siddartha Gautama Buddha.
But you, also, may be obeying and worshipping more ilahs than you imagine. If you believe that your government can make legal what Allah has made illegal such as the consumption of wine and pork and collecting interest, then it has become an ilah you worship beside Allah. If you believe that it’s okay for a woman to stand soaking wet on a public beach in July in what amounts to little more than her underwear, then you have allowed society to dictate what is an acceptable social norm completely disregarding Allah’s will regarding norms of dress and decency. And if a flirtatious wink from your neighbor’s wife has you diving under the sheets with her, then you have taken your lust as your ilah, seeking to please it with the same fervor and eagerness which should be reserved for the Creator of all things.
As a result of this approach to life, millions of alcoholics and drug addicts haunt our society rending our social fabric by increasing our divorce rates and accelerating the breakdown of the family. Social and economic injustice has fostered the growth of despair in inner cities and the rise of crime and urban decay. Tens of thousands of women each year endure the horror of sexual assault both on the streets and in their homes causing physical and incalculable psychological damage. And sexually transmitted diseases, like the super-STD AIDS, proliferate in pandemic proportions at a terrible price in human misery.
Starting with families, then moving on to neighborhoods, communities, and the society at large, the truth of Allah’s revelation to mankind needs to be conveyed by word and personal example in order that people be given the opportunity to halt the degeneration of their way of life.
Only by both believing and practicing true monotheism can we save our society from a free-fall over the precipice toward spiritual and moral destruction.
Hidden Polytheism
The pagan Arabs were well aware of the significance of the phrase la ilaha illallah. They knew that the word ilah meant more than a mere idol, that the statement no ilah but Allah meant that there was nothing worthy of authority, obedience, and worship but Allah. This meant that all their laws, social and moral customs, and forms of rule which were not consonant with Allah’s dictates as expressed in the Qur’an and the example of His Prophet (peace be upon him) were no longer valid in the eyes of those who converted to this belief. They rightly saw this as a threat to their way of life because this kalimah declared that only the One True God, Lord and Master of the universe, and King of all creation had the right to legislate for mankind.
All systems of life which did not govern by the laws of the Creator were declared illegitimate. Whatever Allah declared legal was legal and whatever He declared illegal was illegal and the only sources for these laws were the Qur’an, His last revelation to mankind and the example of His last prophet, Muhammad (peace and blessing be upon him).
The presumed legitimacy of their way of life crumbled before this bold declaration as Allah proclaimed that only a way of life of total submission to His will, the actual meaning of the word Islam, would be acceptable to Him.
“Truly, the way of life with Allah is Islam (submission to His will).”Al Qur’an, Surah Al Imran 3:19
The struggle that followed inflicted torture and atrocities on those who completely submitted to Allah’s will, the true meaning of the word Muslim. After 23 years of tremendous trial, tribulation, and bloodshed, the pagan Arabs could not extinguish the flame of truth which burned in these Muslims’ hearts. During this period, Allah revealed to His Prophet (peace be upon him) in the Qur’an a complete way of life covering all spheres of life: social, moral, spiritual, political, juridical and economic.
Then, with victory in sight, Allah made this stirring proclamation:
“This day have those who reject faith given up all hope of your way of life. Yet fear them not but fear Me. This day have I perfected your way of life for you, completed My favor upon you, and have chosen Islam (submission to My will) as your way of life.”Al Qur’an, Surah Al Maida 5:3
Monotheism and You
Even in these modern times, there are still millions who openly worship Allah’s created things, taking as gods rivers, stones, trees, lightning and thunder, planets, the sun, the moon, stars, and inventions of their own imaginations. Even human beings are worshipped and prayed to as do the Christians with Jesus and his mother (may peace be upon them both) and Buddhists who deify the great Indian sage Siddartha Gautama Buddha.
But you, also, may be obeying and worshipping more ilahs than you imagine. If you believe that your government can make legal what Allah has made illegal such as the consumption of wine and pork and collecting interest, then it has become an ilah you worship beside Allah. If you believe that it’s okay for a woman to stand soaking wet on a public beach in July in what amounts to little more than her underwear, then you have allowed society to dictate what is an acceptable social norm completely disregarding Allah’s will regarding norms of dress and decency. And if a flirtatious wink from your neighbor’s wife has you diving under the sheets with her, then you have taken your lust as your ilah, seeking to please it with the same fervor and eagerness which should be reserved for the Creator of all things.
As a result of this approach to life, millions of alcoholics and drug addicts haunt our society rending our social fabric by increasing our divorce rates and accelerating the breakdown of the family. Social and economic injustice has fostered the growth of despair in inner cities and the rise of crime and urban decay. Tens of thousands of women each year endure the horror of sexual assault both on the streets and in their homes causing physical and incalculable psychological damage. And sexually transmitted diseases, like the super-STD AIDS, proliferate in pandemic proportions at a terrible price in human misery.
“Corruption has spread over land and sea because of what men’s hands have done. That He may make them taste the fruit of their deeds and perhaps they may turn away from evil.”Al Qur’an, Surah Ar Rum 30:41
“Surely Allah does not change the condition of a people until they change that which is in their own hearts.”Al Qur’an, Surah Ar Ra’d 13:11
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