THOSE WHO ASCRIBE EQUALS TO ALLAH IN HIS NAME AND IN THE NAME OF RELIGION

At the end of the previous chapter, we mentioned those idolaters who have departed from the essence of Islam and ascribed equals to Allah by inventing and imposing, in His name, various provisions and rules, as well as restrictions and injunctions, that have nothing to do with Islam. Such people change religion so that it accords with their own wishes and desires, interests and advantages, and turn it away from its true essence. They thus create a superstitious religion that they call “Islam”; however, its contents are totally different from those of the true religion revealed by Allah.
In this way, they lead not only themselves but also large numbers of other people into idolatry. People who are unaware of the essence of true Islamic moral values and of the Qur’an’s true teachings adopt this new distorted religion; even worse, they regard these “leaders” as religious law-givers who are independent of Allah. As a result, they knowingly embrace idolatry by deviating into ascribing equals to Him and deifying their misguided leaders, as earlier communities have done:

They have taken their rabbis and monks as lords besides Allah, and also the Messiah, the son of Maryam. Yet they were commanded to worship the Only One God. There is no deity but Him! Glory be to Him above anything they associate with Him! (Surat al-Tawba: 31)

The following verses describe this idolatrous community’s general logic and mindset:

In the same way, their idols have made killing their children appear good to many of the idolaters in order to destroy them and confuse them in their religion. If Allah had willed, they would not have done it; so abandon them and what they fabricate. They say: “These animals and crops are sacrosanct. No one may eat them, except those we wish”–as they allege–and animals on whose backs it is forbidden to ride, and animals over which they do not mention Allah’s name, inventing a falsehood against Him. He will repay them for the things they have invented. They say: “What is in the wombs of these animals is exclusively for our men and forbidden for our wives. But if it is stillborn, they can share in it.” He will repay them for their false depiction. He is All-Wise, All-Knowing. [As for] those who kill their children foolishly [and] without any knowledge and make what Allah has provided for them forbidden, inventing lies against Allah, such people are lost. They are misguided. They are not guided. (Surat al-An‘am: 137-140)

As the above verses show, idolaters have a great tendency to forbid Allah’s blessings and what He has made lawful by proclaiming their own rules in His name. Their strikingly generally prohibitive mentality distorts religion. The Qur’an particularly emphasizes those of their slanders and lies that are directed toward Allah. As can be seen from this, these people appear in Allah’s name and are active in His religion. The first verse tells us that they engender confusion in religious matters; the following verse says that they establish a completely different religion, one that Allah has not permitted and of which He does not approve:

Or do they have partners who have laid down a religion for them for which Allah has not given any authority? Were it not for the prior Word of Decision, the judgment between them would already have been made. The wrongdoers will have a painful punishment. (Surat ash-Shura: 21)

No matter how religious they may seem to be, no matter how many religious observances they perform, no matter how devout and conscious of Allah they may claim to be, they are no more than idolaters in His sight. The Qur’an reveals how idolaters have adhered to the same deviant conception and passed it on from one generation to another:

Those who associate others with Allah will say: “If Allah had willed, we would not have associated anything with Him, nor would our fathers [have done so], and we would not have made anything forbidden.” The people before them also lied in the same way until they felt Our violent force. Say: “Do you have some knowledge you can produce for us? You are following nothing but conjecture. You are only guessing.” (Surat al-An‘am: 148)

This verse states that idolaters follow their own conjectures and speculations, thereby leaving to one side the definitive facts that come from Allah. Other verses describe how they prefer their distorted ancestral religion to true Islam:

No, in fact they say: “We found our fathers following a religion, and we are simply guided [by following] in their footsteps.” Similarly, We never sent any warner before you [O Muhammad] to any city without the affluent among them saying: “We found our fathers following a religion, and we are simply following in their footsteps.” Ask: “What if I have come with better guidance than what you found your fathers following?” They reply: “We reject that with which you have been sent.” (Surat al-Zukhruf: 22-24)

Blindly determined to persist in their ancestral religion, idolaters refuse to listen to reason. This, as well as their conservative and biased mindset, is described in several verses, some of which read as follows:

When they are told: “Follow what Allah has sent down to you,” they say: “We are following what we found our fathers doing.” What, even though their fathers did not understand a thing and were not guided! (Surat al-Baqarah: 170)

When they are told: “Come to what Allah has sent down and to the Messenger,” they say: “What we found our fathers doing is enough for us.” What! Even if their fathers did not know anything and were not guided! (Surat al-Ma’idah: 104)

Whenever they commit an indecent act, they say: “We found our fathers doing it, and Allah commanded us to do it too.” Say: “Allah does not command indecency. Do you say things about Allah that you do not know?” (Surat al-A‘raf: 28)

So far, we have seen that these idolaters deviate from the true path because they do not take the Qur’an as their foundation. Instead, they prefer to implement their ancestors’ legacy, works, and handed-down knowledge. If their ancestors banned things that Allah made lawful, then they regard them as forbidden. But following the way of one’s ancestors has nothing to do with true religion. Those who fear and respect Allah and seek His approval are responsible only for abiding by the commands issued by the Qur’an and our Prophet (saas), not for preserving their ancestral traditions.

Idolaters who are members of a social class

A close examination of the verses dealing with idolaters reveals that some of these people constitute a social grouping with shared characteristics, beliefs, and structures and are distinct from the idolaters of other faiths:

As for the believers and those who are Jews, Sabaeans, Christians, Magians, and idolaters, Allah will distinguish between them on the Day of Rising. Allah is witness of all things. (Surat al-Hajj: 17)

The common feature of some of the groups mentioned here is that they are members of their own particular belief system. Clearly, what is being referred to here is a superstitious group that has adopted its own system of beliefs. But who are they?
We can find the answer to this question in pre-Islamic Arabia. This land’s Arab societies had adopted a system of belief and worship that deviated from the true faith brought by Prophet Ibrahim (as); they worshipped idols and yet did not deny Allah’s existence. Even though they knew of His existence, they regarded their various man-made idols as His equals and thus, over time, descended into idolatry. They even believed that these idols could intercede on their behalf in His sight:

Instead of Allah, they worship that which can neither harm them nor help them, saying: “These are our intercessors with Allah.” Ask: “Would you inform Allah of something about which He does not know either in the heavens or on Earth?” May He be glorified and exalted above what they associate with Him! (Surah Yunus: 18)

The Qur’an tells us that these idolaters went on pilgrimage, welcomed pilgrims, visited the Ka`bah, prayed, and spent money for His sake. In other words, they regarded themselves as devout, law-abiding individuals in His sight. However, since they did not worship Him alone and since they performed these actions within a idolatrous framework, they derived no benefit from them. No matter how devout, superior, or close to Allah they may have regarded themselves, Allah forbade them to enter the Masjid al-Haram (the Sacred Mosque):

O you who believe, the idolaters are unclean, so after this year they should not come near the Sacred Mosque (Masjid al-Haram). If you fear impoverishment, Allah will enrich you from His bounty if He wills. Allah is All-Knowing, All-Wise. (Surat at-Tawba: 28)

Since the Qur’an is addressed to people living at all times and all ages, we have to see how its wisdom can be applied in our own day. The verses concerned with the idolaters, the attitudes and mindsets of those who devised a new faith in the name of Islam, and of those who followed them and summoned others to do so, clearly describe such people. Therefore, those of our contemporaries who have a similar attitude and mindset, as well as those who practice an invented religion, match the verses’ general description. Indeed today, at a time when distorted beliefs proclaimed in religion’s name are widespread, those who impose rules and obligations, define what is lawful and prohibited, and those who follow such people constitute a idolatrous group that slanders Allah, abides by the ancestral religion instead of Allah’s religion, and say things about Him that they do not actually know.
In addition, these people proclaim that their religion is the true one and that they are the true believers. For that reason, they have distorted the true faith and turned to idolatry. Regardless of time and place, such people have always rejected the emissaries sent to return them to the true path and the true faith, and have regarded themselves as being devout and steadfast in faith. Some of them have even accused Allah’s emissaries of inventing lies against Allah (Surah Al‘Imran: 78 and Surah Saba’: 8). The same accusation was also hurled at our Prophet (saas), as recorded in Surat ash-Shura: 24.
Other verses also refer to these idolaters:

They are surprised that a warner should come to them from among themselves. The unbelievers exclaim: “This is a lying magician. Has he turned all the deities into One God? That is truly astonishing!” Their leaders went off, saying: “Carry on as you are! Hold fast to your deities. This is clearly something planned. We have not heard of this in the old religion. This is merely something contrived. Has the Reminder been sent down to him out of all of us?” They are in doubt about My Reminder. They have yet to taste My punishment. (Surah Sad: 4-8)

Having convinced themselves that they are on the true path, even on the Day of Judgment they will be unwilling to accept the fact that they were actually idolaters:

On the Day We gather them all together, We will ask those who associated others with Allah: “Where are the partner-deities for whom you made such claims?” Then they will have no recourse except to say: “By Allah, our Lord, We were not idolaters.” (Surat al-An‘am: 22-23)

As these verses show, what lies at the heart of “religious” people ascribing equals to Allah is their adherence to the rules that they themselves have invented in the name of religion, as opposed to those revealed by Allah. This is not the only reason why those who follow something other than the Qur’an as their guide fall into idolatry. Above all else, they go astray because they fail to recognize and appreciate Allah properly and thus make their own “deity” equal to Allah. In addition, their love and conception of Allah has nothing to do with what is described in the Qur’an. Therefore, the only way to appreciate Allah and understand His religion properly and correctly is to take the Qur’an as one’s guide:

On that Day, We will raise up among every community a witness against them from among themselves and bring you [O Muhammad] as a witness against them. We have sent down the Book to you, making all things clear and as guidance, mercy, and good news for the Muslims. (Surat an-Nahl: 89)