Mohammad Bayazeed Khan Panni
It is indisputable that the Din-ul-Huq is founded on Tawheed. As there is no Islam without Tawheed, it is of the utmost importance. Unfortunately this Tawheed is now misunderstood by the populace known as Muslims - Tawheed is now understood as belief and faith in Oneness of Allah and worshipping Him. Though the words Tawheed and Wahdaniyat (Oneness, unity of Allah) both originates from the same root, they don’t mean the same thing. Wahdaniyat means Oneness of Allah and Tawheed means sovereignty and unconditional obedience to that one Allah and Allah only. The Mushriq, polytheist Arabs among whom the last Messenger of Allah was sent had believed in only one Allah but did not obey Him, they conducted their personal, social and collective lives by laws, rules and regulations made by themselves and overseen by the Qurayesh, the priests of the House of Allah, the Qaba. Their Faith in One Allah, one Creator was no less strong than that of the present populace that claims and believes themselves as Mo’men and Muslim though they worshiped idols. But since obedience to that Creator was absent among the then Arabs the faith was useless, and consequently their lives were full of injustices, unrest, turmoil, insecurity and blood shed, the Fasad and Safaqutdima[1] and hence the Messenger was sent to make them obedient to the Creator Allah which he did, and as inevitable result the society transformed into a society full of security, justice happiness and peace (Islam). Even to-day Christians, Jews and Hindus believe in One Creator, in spite of worshipping Trinity, son of God and idols. They believe in One Creator but do not obey Him, do not conduct their collective lives according to His orders and laws, so they are de-facto Moshreqs (Polytheists) and Kafers (disbelievers).
Present day Muslims do not understand and realize that the pre-Islamic stone and wooden idols have transformed into Democracy, Socialism, Fascism, Monarchy etc. and they are obeying these instead of Allah. Each of these ‘cracies’ and ‘isms’ is a way, a system of life, a Din, as against Islam, Din ul Huq. The only difference between these and Islam is these manmade Dins cover only parts of human life, some with emphasis on political, some on economic, some on social aspects, but not the whole life while the Din-ul-Huque covers every aspect of human life from very personal to collective life even to the extend of whole mankind. Present day Muslims are obeying the dictates of these ‘craceis’ and ‘isms’ in their collective lives along with the Christians, Jews, Hindus and Buddhists, as the pre-Islamic Arabs obeyed their Qurayesh leaders representing the idols. Present day Muslims do not realise that Democracy has taken the place of the idol Hubal, Socialism place of Laat, Communism place of Manah, Nationalism place of Uzza, Dul kaffayan in place of Monarchy etc. and by doing so they have become as Moshreqs and Kafers as the Arabs among whom the last Messenger of Allah was sent to re-establish the Tawheed (sovereignty) and not Wahdanyat (unity, oneness) only which those Arabs already believed in. No, this so-called Muslim populace is worse Moshreq and Kafer than those Arabs because those Arabs did not believe any of their idols as their Allah, the Creator and Sustainer but they worshipped those believing that by worshipping those they will attain nearness (Qurbiyah) of Allah [As for those who choose other guardians besides Him, (saying): We worship them only because that they may bring us nearer to Allah.’ (Qur’an, Sura Zumar-3)] and those idols will solicit to Allah for them [They worship besides that which can neither harm nor help them, they say: They will intercede with Allah.” (Qur’an Sura Yunus-18)] That means that the ultimate purpose of their idols worshipping was Allah Himself. But the present day idols do not have even that- there is no place of Allah in any cracies or isms, in fact these are completely oblivious to the existence of Allah. So the present day Shirk (Polytheism) and Kufr (Disbelief) practiced by the populace claiming to be Mo’men and Muslim is much worse than the Shirk (polytheism) and Kufr (Disbelief) of the Arabs among whom the last Messenger of Allah was sent.
It is very important to fully understand how and why this present populace, which claims to be Mo’men, Muslim and Ummat-e-Mohammadi is not any of these and is de-facto Moshreq (Polytheist) and Kafer (disbeliever). I am fully aware of the gravity of calling the present one and a half billion people de-facto Moshreq and Kafer. But I would request my readers to react only after reading and thinking about the reasons I am putting forward for such opinion. Here I would only submit that if this populace is really Mo’men etc. then many Ayats (verses) of the Qur’an including the no. 55 of Sura Noor [Allah has promised those among you who believe and do righteous good deeds, that He will certainly grant them succession in the land as He granted it to those before them.] are rendered wrong, which, of course, is impossible and absurd.
Islam’s foundation is Tawheed, the sovereignty of Allah. It’s Kalema (Word) is La Elaha ‘ella’ Allah. This is the Kalema (Word) which remains as the foundation of the Din-ul-Huq since Adam (a.s) till Mohammad (s.a.s) and has never been changed to any word other than the word Elah. Allah has many names, said to be over one hundred, all meaning His attributes, but no one of the one hundred twenty four or two hundred twenty four thousand Messengers of Allah was sent with any of His names other than the Elah as the Kalema (Word). This Kalema has never been La Ma’bud ella Allah (there is none to be worshipped other than Allah) or La Khaliq ella Allah (there is no Creator other than Allah) or La Rab ella Allah (there is no Sustainer other than Allah) etc. That is, though Allah is all of these, He is the only One to be worshipped, the Sustainer, the Creator etc. the Kalema, the foundation of Islam has always been none of these but La Elaha ella Allah. Without believing and professing, proclaiming which no one can become a Mo’men, a believer.
The real meaning of the word used in the Kalema i.e. Elah is “He who is to be obeyed”. Through the centuries, somehow, this meaning of the word Elah has been changed from obedience to worship. As the meaning of the word Hedayah (Guidance, direction) of the original Islam has been changed into Taqwa (carefulness), Aqidah into Iman, so has the meaning of the word Elah changed from obedience to worship. At present all over the world, it is taught in the Madrasahs (religious schools) established by the Christians, that the meaning of the Kalema (Word) is that there is none to be worshipped other than Allah. Even in the English translations of the Qur’an all over the world the Kalema is translated this way- La Elaha ella Allah (there is none to be worshipped other than Allah). The fault and misnomer of this is very clear. The Arabic word which means “He who is to be worshipped” is Ma’bud. So if the present translation of the Kalema is retranslated into Arabic it becomes “La Ma’bud ella Allah” which never has been the Kalema (Word) of Islam from Adam (as) to Mohammad s.a.s; no non Muslim can be converted to Islam by proclaiming La Ma’bud ella Allah, he must pronounce La Elaha ella Allah to become a Muslim. The result of this unfortunate change of the meaning of the word Elah in the Kalema of Islam itself, the populace called “Muslim” has been dislodged from the very foundation of Islam and hence is no more Mo’men (believer).
Besides being thrown out from the orbit of Islam i.e. becoming de-facto dis-believer, (Moshreq and Kafer) there has been other grave consequences. The result of the change, misnomer of the word Elah has changed the very Aqida of this populace about the Kalema. The Aqida, which if wrong, renders all the amal (acts of piety) and the Iman (Faith) itself futile. In its Aqida now there is no importance of obeying Allah, now it is enough to worship Him. This Aqida has got deep into the Psyche of the sub-conscious mind of this populace. Result is that all over the world there is no group of people, no state which obeys Allah’s orders in their collective lives which is much more important and vital than the personal, but saturate the heaven and earth with tremendous amount of vain worshiping that does not invoke His forgiveness or mercy and all the humiliation, defeat, insult, torture by other nations on this populace continues unabated.
That the word Elah denotes obedience and not worshiping is clear in the Qur’an in many places. Take Ayat (verse) No. 17 in Sura (Chapter) Fatah where Allah is saying- “And whoever obeys Allah and His Messenger, He will make him enter the gardens (Paradise)”. Here Allah is setting no pre-condition to the obeying, no worshipping, no Salah (prayers) no Zakah (tax---to the national fund), no Hajj (pilgrimage), no Saom (self-restrain, fasting) not to speak of other minor piety and promising Paradise just for obeying Allah and His Messenger. Or take Ayat (verse) No. 69 of Sura (Chapter) Nesa. In this Ayat Allah is saying- “Whoever obeys Allah and the Messenger they will be in company of those on whom Allah has bestowed His grace- the Messengers, the truthfuls, the Martyrs and the righteous”. Here also there is no pre-condition but only obeying, and where is the place where the august company will be but the Paradise? No where in the Qur’an Allah has promised Paradise, and the company of whom He has showered His grace i.e. His Messengers, the truthfuls, the Martyrs in His way and the righteous, to the worshippers or any other kind of people. So the meaning of the Kalema (The Word) can not be worshipping, it has to be obeying. At the very first, one must commit himself to obey and then obey the order to worship Him. Obeying must come first, then worshipping. Ponder over the Ayat No.25 of Sura Ambia where Allah is saying – “There is no Elah except Allah- so worship Him.” If worshipping is the main point then the Ayat should have been- “There is none to be worshipped other than Allah- so obey Him” which in Arabic would be La Ma’bud ella Allah, fa attabeu hu.
But it is not there in the Qur’an in that way. Allah has used two distinctly different words, Elah and Ma’bud, whose meanings are quite different. The Elah comes first then the worship and He is using the word “So, or hence” clearly indicating that one should worship Him because He is Elah (He who is to be obeyed), should worship because He has ordered to do so. Allah has no where said that obey Him because He is to be worshipped. That is why the Kalema (The Word) of this Din (way of life) is La Elaha ella Allah i.e. there is none to be obeyed other than Allah, and the present day understanding and translation of Elah into He who is to be worshipped is wrong.
That the prevailing translation of the Kalema–La Elaha ella Allah as ‘There is none to be worshipped other than Allah’ is wrong is proved by a Hadis by the Messenger of Allah in which he has predicted five things to happen in the Later Times (Akheri Zamana).
One- Islam will remain a name only.
Two- The Qur’an will remain in its letters only.
Three- Mosques will overflow with worshippers (Musullis), but there will be no Hedayah (Guidance) there.
Four- The Olema (learned people) of my Ummah (nation) in those days will be the worst living thing under the sky.
Five- The Fitnah (trouble, unrest, conflict) created by them will eventually return upon them.
Here the Messenger is clearly mentioning two different things- the Musullis of course gather in mosques for worshipping, and the Messenger is saying – there will be no Hedayah (Guidance) there. This Hadis makes clear that worshipping (Ebadat) and Hedayah (Tawheed, Sovereignty) are two different things; the point I have been trying to make clear in the previous pages. This lack of Hedayah (Guidance) in the worshippers is the direct result of translating Elah (He who is to be obeyed) into Ma’bud (He who is to be worshipped).
Not only this, other points in the Hadis Islam being not really Islam, the Qur’an being only in letters not being applied and effective in this nation’s life, its Olema being the worst living being under the sky and the Fetnah created by them turning back upon them like a boomerang all because of this changing the meaning of word ‘obedience’ into ‘worshipping’ into Kalema itself.
Moreover, if the meaning of the word Elah is “He who is to be worshipped” then what about obeying Him? Among the over one hundred names of Allah there is none, which means “He who is to be obeyed” if we take the meaning of Elah to be “He who is to be worshipped”. If Elah means “He who is to be worshipped” then Allah need not to be obeyed, as there is no other name which means that He who is to be obeyed. And that is exactly what has happened in this populace called Muslims. Nowhere in the world this populace which claim of being Mo’men obey Allah in matters of collective lives, the law, the penal code, the economy, the social and political matters. They do not care about what Allah has to say about their collective life in the Qur’an and the Messenger in the Hadis, they obey the Jews and Christians in those matters. They obey His orders only in matters of personal life and yet claim to be very excellent Mo’mens and Muslims. They do not understand that by doing so they have been thrown out of the Kalema (The Word) and hence from Islam itself, as there is no Islam without the Kalema.
The second reason is that this populace of one and a half billion, which believes that it is not only Muslim but also Mo’men and Ummat-e-Mohammadi, is not any of these, but is de-facto Moshreq (Polytheist) and Kafer (disbeliever).
Keeping in mind as background the present miserable, despicable condition of this populace called Muslim, will you ponder over these facts?
1. It is stated in Qur’an by Allah that- and He is addressing us- who claim to be Mo’men and Muslim. “If you are Mo’men I shall give you authority over this earth”.[2] Obviously authority here means power and ability to do things you want. My question to the claimants of this populace is that do you have any authority over the earth? The hard fact is that far from having the authority you are defeated, humiliated, dishonored, you are being kicked about by every other nations in every corner of the earth, all other nations look at you with contempt, disdain and hate, other nations attack and occupy your nation-states (though there is no concept of nation states in real Islam, so it is a Sherk), all these are a far, far cry from what Allah promised you if you are Mo’men. So, if Allah is true to His promise, you are not Mo’men, and not being Mo’men is definitely being Moshreq and Kafer; and if your claim of being Mo’men and Muslim is right then of necessity Allah is not true to His promise. That Allah’s promise is true is proved by the history of this nation, when it was a nation (Ummah). An Ummah of half a million people, half a million including children, old and women; almost fully illiterate, ignorant of the outside world, one of the poorest, probably the poorest people on Earth, when became Mo’men i.e. denied everybody, every authority, every sovereignty except Allah, Allah, true to His promise made them the most powerful Ummah (Nation) on earth, before whom knelt the world with awe and respect. Now you decide which one is true; your claim or Allah’s promise is true. By your claim of being Muslim, Mo’men you are implying that Allah is not true to his promise, or is unable to be so.
2. Allah, in His Qur’an says- those who don’t judge by what He has revealed are, Fasiqs (disobedient), Zalims (wrong-doers) and Kafers (disbelievers) (Qur’an, Maida- 44, 45, 47). In these Ayats (verses) the word judge means not only to judge in a court of law, but to conduct whole life, both personal and collective, by the revelation, i.e. the Qur’an. Now this claimant of being Mo’men, Muslim and Ummat-e-Mohammadi is no more an Ummah, a nation, but is divided geopolitically into more than fifty Nation-states, and since being occupied and enslaved by European Christians, Jews and Idolaters, do not judge their affairs by “what I have revealed” i.e. the Qur’an and hence have become Fasiqs (disobedient), Zalims (wrong-doers) and Kafers (disbelievers). This populace now judge their actions of collective lives by what has been taught by the Jews and Christians and by the law, rules and regulations enacted in their Nation-State parliaments, not by what has been revealed by Allah (Qur’an, Maida- 44, 45, 47).
No where in the world there is a single Muslim nation-state which judges by i.e. obeys what Allah has revealed i.e. the Qur’an, except the Saudi Arabia in West Asia, where only some crimes and offences are punished by the Shariah laws. The criterion of being Mo’men is absent there too as I shall show later in this book Insha’Allah.
3. Allah, in His Qur’an (Qur’an- Fatah- 22-23, Ale-Imran- 111) has said that, “Whenever there will be a clash, fight, battle between Mo’men and Kafer, the Kafer would show their backs (run away defeated).” As reason He is saying that that is because they (Kafers) do not have any guardian or helper (the Guardian and Helper being on the side of the Mo’mens). That this will happen every time, whenever there will be clash and fight is stated in the next Ayat (verse) where He is saying this is “His Sunnah (way of doing things, practice) a Sunnah which was always there in the past and a Sunnah never to be changed” (Qur’an, Fatah 23). Now when we look at the first 60-70 years of the history of this Ummah (nation) we see the truth of this Sunnah of Allah. Outnumbered by thousands, starving, poorly armed, illiterate Mo’mens routing far bigger, well-equipped, well-trained armies of the Super-powers of the then world in battle after battle. But we also see the claimant of being true Mo’men defeated in battle after battle by those very people who were once routed, and finally being enslaved and ruled by them. We do not see any victory by the claimants of being Muslims in the last thousand years and very recently in Afghanistan and Iraq. If Allah’s Sunnah is unchangeable, as He claims in the Ayat 23 of Sura Fatah then this populace is not Mo’men in His eyes, He is not with them, and He is not their guardian.
So, as you can see it is not I who is saying that this populace of one and a half billion people who claim to be not only Mo’men and Muslim but also Ummat-e-Mohammadi, is de-facto Moshreq and Kafer, but Allah Himself is saying that. I am only pointing it out.
4. “And don’t become weak and faint or be saddened” says the Lord, Allah to us, “you shall be victorious, if you are Mo’mens” in the Qur’an (Qur’an, Al-Imran 139). We are not victorious in any fight in last several centuries; so if Allah’s words are true than we are not Mo’men (Believers) and not being Mo’men necessarily means being either Moshreqs or Kafers.
5. Allah assures us that to help believers is incumbent upon Him (Qur’an, Rum 47). When European Christian nations militarily attacked and overran, occupied the whole ‘Muslim’ world and enslaved the people who believed and still believe that they are very excellent Mo’men, Muslim and Ummat-e-Mohammadi, where was the help from Allah which He says is incumbent on Him?
Has he given false assurance? No, it’s unthinkable that He would. The answer is simple- His assurance is for Mo’men (Believer) not for Mushriqs and Kafers.
6. “Allah is the protecting guardian of the Mo’men” (Qur’an, Bakarah- 257). The same question arises again. Where was His protection, His guardianship, when the Nation He has described as the greatest, best among mankind (Qur’an, Ale-Imran 110) was defeated militarily, enslaved, their people killed, women raped, their houses burned, there mosques were destroyed or changed into offices and clubs? That is past; where is His promised protection, His guardianship, His help now which He has described as incumbent, must on Him when the nation-states of the claimants of being Mo’men, Muslim and Ummat-e-Mohammadi is being bombed into rubble, their women raped, their young men are captured, taken away to far distant prisons, where they are tortured inhumanly, made naked and compelled them to do sexual acts among themselves besides various other humiliating, dishonorable, abhorrent acts. Here also if this populace is Mo’men and Muslim, Allah has failed to protect them.
7. In many places in the Qur’an Allah has indicated signs by which Mo’men can be known. One of these is Ayat No. 29 of Sura Fatah. Here He is stating that Mo’men are “severe, hard on Kafers (disbelievers) and merciful, kind among themselves.” If we look at this populace of one and a half billion people who claim to be Mo’men in the light of the Ayat we see that this whole populace is Kafer (unbeliever) because we see exactly the opposite of what Allah has said about the indications, signs of the Mo’men. We see this populace loves the Kafers with all their hearts, grovels at their feet, attacks fellow Muslims on the enemy’s instigation, obey them in most matters and fights among themselves on the slightest of issues, be it political, economic, even religions, [(Shia-Sunni, between Mazhabs Firqas (sects) etc. and different Tariqas (mystic processes)] and Nation States.
These are only seven concrete reasons to understand that this populace of one and a half billion is not Mo’men or Muslim and far from being Ummat-e-Mohammadi. Yet out of sheer ignorance the people of this populace sincerely believe themselves to be what they are not and do their utmost to perform prayers, pilgrimage, pay the Zakah and fast for months. In their ignorance they do not understand that all these, besides all other Nafal (extra acts of piety, merit) are futile, waste. The definition of a Munafeq (Hypocrite) is- who professes one thing and believes and does another. By this definition, this so-called Muslim populace is also Munafeq, besides being kafer and moshreq, as it professes sovereignty of Allah but lead their lives under sovereignty of people, of Kings, Amirs of individuals and certain class of people, accept and adopt laws, economic, political, social system made by them, rejecting those given by Allah and His Messenger.
What has happened and happening to the present ‘Muslim’ populace is because in the eyes of Allah it is no more Mo’men or Muslim, it is de-facto not only Moshreq and Kafer but also Munafeq. So He has no obligation about it, He is no more its Wali (Protecting Guardian), He has no responsibility to help it. His Nafrat (Contempt) and Gadab (Wrath) is now on this populace in way of the defect, humiliation, injustices meted out to it by the rest of the peoples of the world, in way of abuse, taunt, disdain and ridicule by them who once looked up at them with awe and respect. All because of these basic reasons. This populace has changed the obedience to Allah of the Kalema into worshipping Him and now disobeys Him in every matter except in worshipping and obeys the system of the Jews and Christians by doing so this populace is no more in Islam.
Here we must clearly understand what is Tawheed and what is Din and the difference between these two. Tawheed is the foundation and the Din is the superstructure, building on it. Tawheed is denying every other sovereignty, and every other authority except Allah and obey Him in everything. In short to obey Him in every facet of life, every subject every matter where He has something to say. We, both individually and collectively, are free to chose our actions in matters where He or His Messenger is silent about (Qur’an, the Messenger does not say anything except what He has inspired with) He does not speak out of his own fancy. This is no other than an inspired revelation. (Qur’an-Sura An Najm-3-4)]
This is the foundation, premise, and the Din is the super-structure on this foundation and that is the Shariah, do’s and don’ts, goods and evils, legal and illegal, prohibited and permitted, rights and wrongs based on the foundation of the Tawheed, sovereignty of Allah. These two things to-gather is the House of Islam. These two are symbiotic, two things riveted together inseparably. Beginning with Adam (as) Allah has sent Messenger after Messenger in every place where people lived [And verily, We have sent among every Ummah (community, nation) a messenger. (Qur’an, Sura An Nahl, Ayat-36)] Whenever they went astray, away from Tawheed i.e. the Guidance, He has sent His Messenger, always with the Tawheed and the building of the Shariah on it. The size and the shape of the buildings have been different with every Messenger depending on the place, time and people concerned but the foundation has always, without exception, been the same, the Tawheed, the sovereignty of Allah, La Elaha ella Allah (There is none to be obeyed other than Allah) and the then Messenger’s name has been added after it. In this process, since Adam (as) there has been sent one hundred and twenty-four thousand (in another Hadis we get the number to be two hundred and twenty-four thousand) Messengers to bring back people to Tawheed, the Guidance who had been misled by Eblis (Lucifer) and Shaitan (Satan), as challenged at the creation of Adam (a.s.)
While all of them were Messengers all were not equal in responsibility and rank. Some were sent for a large area with large population, some smaller with less number of people involved and some still smaller area and smaller population. Many have been sent for certain tribes like Bani Esraels. We get in the Hadis that a Messenger has been sent even for a family only.
Since after fall of this Ummah and after being enslaved by the European Christian powers, there has grown a tendency, out of sheer inferiority complex, to put up the Ayat No 84 of Sura Al Imran of the Qur’an to prove that all Messengers are equal. Say, “We believe in Allah and what is revealed to us; in that which was revealed to Ibrahim (Abraham), Ismail (Ishmael), Ishaq (Isaac), Ya’qub (Jacob) and the tribes and what was given to Musa (Moses), Isa (Jesus) and the messengers from their Lord. We make no distinction between one another among them and to Him we have submitted.” By the words “no difference (La nufarreque)” in the Ayat they mean all the messengers are equal. This meaning is wrong. By the words “No difference” Allah is saying that it is not that one is Messenger and the other or the others are not. He is saying all are My Messengers, no difference in that, there is no question of their ranks here, only being Messenger or not being Messenger. As for the difference in ranks Allah is making it clear in Ayat No. 55 of the Sura Bani Israel in the Qur’an that there is difference in honor and ranks among His Messengers. [We have exalted some Messengers above others.]
Now, living in the depth of darkness Christians believe that Jesus is the only truth, believing in him is the only way of salvation, the rest, Mohammad (s.a.s.), Buddha (a.s), Krishna (a.s.), Mohavir (a.s.) etc. are all imposters. Most of Hindus believe that Krishna (a.s.) is an incarnation of God, all others are frauds, Buddhist believe that Buddha is the only way to Nirvana, rest great teachers are all wayward. Jews have no doubt that Jesus was nothing but an illegitimate child of Mary, and founder of all other Dins (so called religions) are cheats and frauds, they being the only “Chosen people” by God. In Ayat 18 of the Sura Al Maedah Allah is making it clear that – No, they all are My Messengers. [The (both) the Jews and the Christians say, “We are the children of Allah and His beloved ones.” Say, “Why then does He punish you for your sins? Surely you are mortals of His own creation. He forgives whom He will, and punishes whom He pleases. He has control over the heavens and earth and all that lies between them. All shall return to Him.”] In another place Allah has said, “Say to (them): If the home of the Hereafter with Allâh is indeed for you specially and not for others, of mankind, then invoke death if you are truthful.” (Sura Baqarah, Ayat 94). In the Day of Judgment, the followers of the present day Christianity, Judaism, Hinduism, Buddhists will be stunned, speechless, staring blank when they will see all the Messenger of Allah, Mohammad (s.a.s.), Musa (a.s) (Moses), Isa (a.s) (Jesus), Nooh (a.s) (Noah), Buddha (a.s), Solaiman (a.s) (Solomon), Daud (a.s) (David), Yaqub (a.s) (Jacob) (a.s) etc. and thousand others are embracing and lovingly calling each other brother (except of course Adam (a.s) and Ibrahim (a.s) who will be called father by other Messengers). Then in the language of Qur’an – “…their eye will be bulging.” (Sura Ibrahim, Ayat 42)
Ebadat – Worshipping
To understand Tawheed more clearly we have to understand what is meant by Ebadat (worship). It is not difficult to understand obedience; it is to obey His orders, whatever the orders are. But to understand Ebadat we have to go a bit deeper. The very first thing to do is to understand the meaning of the Ayat 56 in Sura Dhariyat where Allah is saying - “I have not created the Jinn (invisible beings) and men to any end other than that they may worship (Ebadat) Me.” Before going into the subject I must state here that I shall omit the matter of the Jinn totally as I have no knowledge about it, and shall deal only with the human being, the Man. Since Allah has said in His Qur’an about the Jinn, I believe in its existence, but I have no further knowledge about them than that Jinns are made of fire and I do not need it either. I am too pre-occupied with the very serious matter of the Mankind and the Ummah in particular, its fall, its disgrace and the present despicable state of it to think about the Jinn. So I am discussing only about us, the Mankind.
If you want a definition of Ebadat - then I can put it like this: - Ebadat is to do that work for which a thing is created, manufactured. The Sun is worshipping by radiating heat and light for which it has been created, fire is worshipping by burring, water by wetting, electricity by lighting bulbs, by running all electrical appliances, earth by producing plants, crops etc.These are their worshipping, to do what they are created for. These are created by Allah, and the same thing is applicable to things manufactured by Man. You put the switch on and the bulb lights up, and by this it is worshipping, doing the job it is manufactured for; you drive your car and go places, the car is doing the job it had been manufactured for and is worshipping. That means that to worship is to serve, to serve is to worship.
It is very significant that after creating Adam (a.s) and blowing into him from His own soul, Allah ordered all the Malayek (Angels) to perform Sajda i.e. to prostrate themselves before Adam (a.s) [And when I have formed him fully and breathed into him from My spirit, fall down before him in prostration. (Qur’an-Al Hijr-29)] This is a very remarkable matter, because to prostrate before someone other than Allah necessarily means worshipping him. And Allah, who is so uncompromising about His own sovereignty is ordering all Malayeks (Angels) trillions upon trillions of than, to prostate themselves i.e. worship not Him but somebody else, i.e. Adam (a.s). In Islam it is strictly prohibited to prostate (Sajda) before anybody, anything except only Allah, not even His Messengers, as prostrating before any body means worshipping him and it is Shirk (Polysheism) and Kufar (Disbelief) to worship any other than Allah. So what does it mean to prostrate before Adam (a.s)?
The reason of Allah’s ordering the Malayek (Angels) is that He has created the Malayeks (Angels) for serving not Him, but His special, most honored creation Man and serving means worshipping. He says in His Qur’an, I have subjected everything to Man for his service. (And has subjected to you all that is in the heavens and all that is in the earth; it is all as a favour and kindness from Him. (Sura Jathya, Ayat- 13). He has even mentioned particular things He has created for the service of His most honored creation, the Man. In Qur’an He says He has put the Sun and the moon and the sea at the service of Man i.e. to worship him. [He has made the night and the day, and the sun and the moon subservient to you; the stars also serve you by His leave. (Qur’an: Sura Nahl-12), It is He who has subjected to you the oceans, so that you may eat of its fresh fish and bring up from it ornaments with which to adorn your persons. And you see the ships ploughing their course through it. (Qur’an: Sura Nahl-14]
Now, if Ebadat, worship is service, then how we, Mankind worship, serve Him for which He has created us? [And I have not created the Jinn (invisible beings) and men to any end other than that they may worship (Ebadat) Me. (Qur’an: Sura Dhariyat-56)] The answer lies in the word He used when He wanted to create Adam (a.s), the Man. He used the word Khalifah [When your Lord said to the Angels: I am placing on the earth one that shall be My Khalifah (Qur’an: Sura Baqarah-30)] which means a vicegerent, a representative, an agent. A vicegerent, a representative, an agent, of necessity, must have some authority and power of the person who appoints the agent, without which his appointment is pointless. He must have a power of Attorney to perform works on behalf of the person who gives the appointment. This Allah did by blowing into Adam (a.s) i.e. Mankind from His soul [And when I have formed him fully and breathed into him of My spirit, fall down before him in prostration. (Qur’an-Al Hijr-29)], and that empowered Man with all the attributes, powers, qualities and authorities of the Donor albeit in infinitesimal quantity. Vicegerents, representatives are always provided with power and authority to perform duties which the donor would have performed himself had he not appointed his agent.
So what is the job we Mankind is supposed, expected to do on His behalf in this world? To do that is serving Him i.e. worshipping Him. What is His work? Do not forget He said “on the earth” [When your Lord said to the Angels: I am placing on the earth one that shall be My Khalifah. (Qur’an: Sura Baqarah-30)] when He informed the Malayekes (Angels) His intention to Create Adam (a.s.) i.e. Mankind. That means He said I do my work in the whole of the vast creation but I will put somebody else to do what I do, My vicegerent “on the earth” as an exception and hence I have empowered him by blowing into him from My soul, My power of Attorney. Now, what is that work that He does?
The one of the main works He does is he governs, rules, administrates His stupendous creation, the universe by the laws and regulations He has set, enacted Himself. To do that on the earth on His behalf is the Ebadat, the worshipping, the service which Adam (a.s) i.e. Mankind has been created for. [And I have not created the invisible beings (Jinn) and men to any end other than that they may worship (Ebadat) Me. (Qur’an: Sura Dhariyat-56)] Those who do not perform this Ebadat, are not performing the main Ebadat for which Mankind have been created, however loudly they proclaim their Iman, establishes Salah (prescribed prayers), pay Zakah (prescribed taxes), perform Hajj (prescribed Pilgrimage) and keep Saom (restrain themselves) besides all others pious acts. As I have already stated that a vicegerent’s, representative’s duty is to do what the Master would have done Himself had he not appointed his vicegerent and that would be the service, the Ebadat, the worship, and that, in this case is to govern, administrate the affairs of Mankind in this world by the laws, rules, regulations enacted by Allah. To establish prescribed prayers, to pay taxes, to perform Hajj or fasting is not the main Ebadat as Allah does not establish prayers, does not pay taxes, does not perform pilgrimage or fasts. To do these is to obey Him, as He has ordered to do these acts and He has ordered to do these and many others things because these are necessary for the main Ebadat i.e. to govern, administrate on His behalf.
The very first duty of a vicegerent is to proclaim that he would obey none except him whose vicegerent is he; without this proclamation, announcement he can not become a vicegerent, a representative, an agent. That is why the Kalema (word) is La Elaha ella Allah i.e. there is none to be obeyed other than Allah. Then the vicegerent starts the service (Ebadat) for which he is created and that is to do what the Creator would have done Himself had He not created the vicegerent, and that is to govern the affairs of Mankind with the laws, rules and regulation enacted, formed by the Creator. This service is the worshipping for which Mankind has been created [And I have not created the invisible beings (Jinn) and men to any end other than that they may worship (Ebadat ) Me. (Qur’an: Sura Dhariyat-56)] and the vicegerent does this service because he has been ordered to do so, [There is no Elah except Allah- so worship Him. (Qur’an: Sura Ambia-25)] by Him whose representative he is.
If I have been able to write what I want to, then it should be clear to my readers that Allah has created the Angels for the serving i.e. worshipping Mankind, not Himself, as He does not need the service of the Angels, He is Samad, He who needs nothing, absolutely nothing, is free of all wants. He does not need the air, the fire, the water, the electricity, the sun or the moon etc. which are all Angels, and that is why He ordered the Angels i.e. all the natural forces to prostate themselves before Adam, eventually the Mankind, i.e. to worship, serve the Mankind, not Him. So it boils down to the fact that the Malayeks, the natural forces are created to serve i.e. worship Man; and Man (and the Jinn) has been created to serve i.e. worship Allah. We, Mankind are Ma’bud (to be worshipped) of Malayeks and Allah is our, Mankind’s Ma’bud. The only difference is that while the Malayeks are serving, worshipping Mankind as ordered by Allah which has started from the Sajda (prostration) by the Malayeks (Angels) by His order. [Your Lord said to the Angels: ‘......kneel down and prostrate yourselves before him’. All the Angels prostrated themselves. (Qur’an: Al Hijr-29-30)] They are in Sajda now and will remain so till the Last Day. That is they are continually and ceaselessly serving Mankind as ordered by Him and will keep on serving till the Last Day.
Here it is to be noted that the Malayeks obeyed Allah’s order i.e. submitted to His sovereignty (Wahdanyah) and started serving mankind each of them in a different way as ordered by Allah. They obey Him but do not serve Him, because He doesn’t need any service from anything, anybody.
Now the question arises, why and how mankind worship or serve Him? Allah has sent mankind to this earth with power of attorney to govern and administrate themselves by the system He has given to Man, the way He would have done Himself had He not appointed him as His Khalifah (vicegerent). To do it properly is to serve (worship) Him. For example, when you appoint a lawyer to fight a case in a court of law on your behalf, you give him a power of attorney. When he fights this case in the court he is serving you. This is the Ebadat that He demands from His Khalifah, agent, representative, vice-gerent, the Mankind.
Throughout its history Mankind periodically has slipped from the Guidance from Allah through His Messengers, the Seratul Mustaqim (the Straight Path), and awed by the power and might of the natural forces have started to worship these. Lost from the Aqida (Concept) of Tawheed (the sovereignty of Allah) they saw that they could not survive without the light, heat of the Sun, so started worshipping it; they saw that they could not live without air, so since air did not have a form, they gave it an imaginary form in stone or wood and started worshipping it. This they did with all the natural forces. Thus were born the gods and goddesses, in reality the natural forces, Man started worshipping their servants. The idolater Hindu, standing half submerged in the Ganges and with folded hands worshipping sun does not understand that what he is worshipping is actually his servant which has been created by the great Creator of the Universe for serving, worshipping him.
My identifying the Angels with idolaters’ gods and goddesses will perhaps be objected and opposed even by English reading people as it had raised a storm of protests among the Alims and Molla’s when I wrote this in my book E Islam Islam e Noy (This Elsam in not Islam At All) in Bangali. The Alems and Mollas whose idea of Malayeks is same as the Christians, a being with wings who fly around with missions entrusted to them by Allah. They think the Angels are above Mankind. In the old days people were incapable of a concept on percept more than that and that perception (Aqida) is prevailing today. Though, I think, what I have written about the Malayeks (Angels) and the gods and goddesses being the same thing should be convincing for the western educated people, whose mind are more open, broader and enlightened than the narrow minded Alims and Mollas and the Christian clergy. I am putting down two main points for their observation.
1. The number:-
The number of gods and goddesses in all idolater religion is huge. In Hindu religion (In reality, there exists no religion by the name of ‘Hindu’; there is no mention of this term in the Baed of Veda, Uponishad, Geeta or Puran. In all probability, it is a derivation of the word ‘Indus’ or ‘Sindhu’ and can be traced back to the Asia Minor of Turkey in particular. The actual name of the religion practiced in this subcontinent is ‘Sanatan’ meaning ‘Ever-lasting, Eternal’ identical to the Qur’an’s name of the Din-ul-Qaiyemah, ever-lasting, true-religion e.g. Tawheed. (Sura Room, Ayat 43, Sura Baiyenat, Ayat 5, Sura Yusuf, Ayat 40) the number of them is 330 million. In Christianity which is not fully idolatrous but believes in the Angels the number of the Angels is also taken to be in the millions. According to Reverend Albertus Magnus of thirteenth century the correct number of the Angels is 339 million 920 thousand and four, about 70 million more than the idol, i.e. Angle worshipping Hindus. The last four of the reverend’s account seem to be the four main Angels, (Gabriel, Michel, Uriel, Raphael) In Shinto religion the number of the gods and goddesses are minimum 8 million. Islam has surpassed all other religions (Din) in the matter of the number of the Angels. Writes the Encyclopedia of Islam in Bengali- the number of the Malayeks (Angels) is above the figures of Arithmetic (Islami Encyclopedia- Bengali, Islamic Foundation, Vol. 18, P 275). When the Messenger of Allah went to Meraj (Ascension to heaven, to Allah) he visited the Baitul Ma’mur Mosque where thousands of Malayeks were entering it through a door and after performing Salah (prayer) going out of another. Being asked by the Messenger of Allah about their number, Jibrael (Gabriel) answered that whose who once prayed there will not get another chance (though the process of it has started from the time of the creation and will continue till the end of the time).
2. Performance:-
The sphere of action of both the Malayeks (Angels) and the gods and goddesses are same. In the idolater’s religion each god and goddesses is believed to be in charge of a certain natural force and has been named accordingly. In Hindu religion they have tried to name as many natural forces as they could think off with a name of a god or a goddess, like fire, air, water, earth, sun, moon etc. and hence ran into millions as there are no ends to the natural forces. So did the Greco-roman for every natural force they could think of like Hindu gods or goddesses for fire, air, water, sea, sun and moon and so on.
In Islam there are Malayeks for different natural forces, like air, fire, water and so on, though unlike the idolatrous religion does not make gods and goddesses out of then. But the very commitment of the natural forces to Angels makes it clear that Angels and natural forces are the same thing. For example the Angle Mikail is entrusted with the management and control of the climate, weather and hence the vegetation on the earth. The number of the Angels and the gods and goddesses and the kind of works entrusted to them make it clear that these are the same thing and these are made to serve i.e. worship us, the Mankind and that has been ensured by Allah by His order to perform Sajda (prostrate themselves) to Adam (a.s) at the very beginning of the creation and the Angels, trillions upon trillions of them have prostrated themselves before Mankind and have not raised their heads and will not, till the last man on earth.
So, now we can see clearly the difference between worshipping and obeying. The present day (!) prevailing all over the Muslim world of the Kalema La Elaha Ella Allah is proclaiming that Allah is one and He has no partner. If this meaning of the Kalema is correct then it is enough for being a Mo’men to believe that Allah is alone, is one and has no partner. This belief does not bind the Mo’men to obey the orders of that one Allah. Then Allah remains in the heavens as an inert idle with no activities. Then why should mankind worship Him? If you say we worship Him because he has ordered us to do so,[3] then you are admitting that order comes first and then worshipping by obeying His order. And that is what the Kalema is—there is none to be obeyed other than Allah.
To make this subject clearer let us go back to the time of creation of Man for a short while. It is widely known that prior to the creation of Adam (a.s) the Eblis worshipped Allah so much that there was hardly any rival in the creation, so much so that he being a Jinn he was raised to the rank of the Malayeks due to his worshipping. It is a very interesting fact that in spite of being absolutely uncompromising in the matter of sherq, saying in the Qur’an that, “I shall forgive whom I please but it is a promise from me that I shall never forgive sherq.[4] He ordered His innumerable Malayeks to prostate themselves before Adam i.e. worship him a clear act of sherq. All Malayeks obeyed except the Eblis who disobeyed. Eblis’ tremendous amount of worshipping was wasted, he was called a Rajim (rejected), Qafer (disbeliever), cursed by Allah and thrown out of His presence all because of a single act of disobedience; all his Ebadats were turned into dust, just because he became disobedient, he didn’t obey the Lord, Allah. The innumerable Malayeks prostrated themselves before Adam (a.s) made out of clay and committed an apparent act of sherq just because they were ordered to do so, and they obeyed their Lord. Here we see the clear distinction of obeying and worshipping. The obeying is much more important than worshipping. It should be understood that Eblis was not a disbeliever (Kafer) in Allah, not a polytheist (Moshreq), nor a hypocrite (Munafeq), he openly declared his disobedience to Allah, but by just disobeying a single order he became a Faseq (disobedient), and became Kafer (disbeliever), Jalem (wrong-doer) and cursed.
That Allah is one, has no partner, is Almighty, is not only believed by the Eblis, it is in his knowledge, because he has seen Allah and talked with Him. No human being can have that as strong a faith about the existence and oneness of Allah as the Eblis. So if the Kalema is belief in the existence and oneness of Allah, than who can be stronger believer in the Kalema than the Eblis? So there is no doubt that the meaning of the Kalema La Elaha ella Allah is neither belief in the oneness of Allah, nor in worshipping Him but to belief that—there is none to be obeyed other than Allah.
This misunderstanding of the kalema is the main reason of the misguidance of this populace which claims and believes themselves Mo’men and Muslims, and the consequent result of the present day pitiable, despicable humiliating condition.
Unless and until this populace does not revert back to the real meaning of the kalema, its pitiable state will keep worsening.
What has been the result of changing the meaning of Elah (He who is to be obeyed) into Ma’bud (He who is to be worshipped) is that, today this 1500 million strong populace is extremely busy with all sorts of worshipping the Fard (most obligatory), Wajeb (obligatory), Sunnah (the things that the messenger of Allah used to do), Nafl (not obligatory), Mustahab (good works) etc. But disobeying Allah in their collective lives rejecting His laws, penal codes, economic policy and system, political and social system and replacing them with those things from Jews and Christians and enacting themselves. The populace is unable to understand that by doing so it has become disbeliever (Kafer), wrong-doer (Jalem) and disobedient (Faseq),[5] all the attributes applicable to the Eblis. Moreover, this populace has now posses two more attributes than the Eblis; these are polytheism and hypocrisy. The Eblis never committed sherq and hypocrisy. This populace commits sherq by obeying Allah in their personal lives and disobeying in the collective lives, and commits hypocrisy by proclaiming La Elaha Ella Allah i.e. the sovereignty of Allah by mouth, going to mosques for prayers, paying Zakah, performing Hazz and fasting in the month of Ramadan and many other pious acts but having faith in different forms of cracies, isms in heart and conducting their collective affairs by those. That is why this populace is cursed by Allah.
Once there was nothing except the Face of Allah (Wajhu). As there everything will vanish except the face of Allah, the Mighty,[6] so there was only His face before the creation. This face is His very existence which contains all His attributes. Of all the attributes and powers only His Uluhiyah (the being who is to be obeyed) and His power of seeing and hearing were active. Rest all the attributes were latent. For example, before this creation He was not Ma’bud (he who is to be worshiped) because there was none to worship Him, He was not Rabb (Sustainer) as there was nothing to sustain, He was not Creator as there was nothing that He created, He was not Razzak (provider of earthly needs) as there was none to provided for, He was not Rahman (Merciful) as there was nothing to bestow mercy on, He was not Hafez (Protector) as there was nothing to protect, He was not Malek (Possessor) as there was nothing to posses. In short He had no attribute except being the Elah (He who orders with infinite might, power, infinite knowledge, infinite mercy, infinite everything that His attributes indicates). He was All-knowing, All-seeing and All-hearing. Then He created this vast creation by ordering Kunn--Be and everything came into existence including the Malayek and He became the Creator, the Sustainer, the Rahman, the Hefez, the Malek etc. Everything in this stupendous creation is a malayek (angle); the sea, the air, the fire, the electricity, the sun, the moon, the star, the river, the mountain, trees, the animals all the natural forces are Malayeks. But Allah was not Ma’bud yet. That is why the number of Malayeks is uncountable and innumerable. He was not Ma’bud because none of these creations worshiped Him i.e. they did not serve Him. Because He is Samad, He does not need anybody’s service. This is proved by the Qur’an where Allah is saying, I want to place My vicegerent on earth. In reply to it all the Malayeks said, Will You place therein those who will make mischief therein and shed blood, - while we glorify You with praises and thanks and sanctify You.” He (Allâh) said: “I know that which you do not know. Sura Baqarah, Ayat 30)” Here they did not say, are we not enough for your worship i.e. for your service? Instead they said, are we not enough for Hamd and Tasbih? So it is clear that they did not worshiped Allah, they did Hamd and Tasbih only. Secondly, in another Ayat Allah is saying, “I have not created the Jinn (invisible beings) and men to any end other than that they may worship (Ebadat) Me.” Here He did not include the Malayek. He mentioned only Man and Jinn as His worshiper (Ebad). When He created Jinn He became Ma’bud. Though He became Ma’bud of the Jinn, Jinn was not His Khalifah and nor He blew His soul into the Jinn. Unlike the Malayek who have no free-will the Jinn was given free-will i.e. to obey or not to obey Allah’s orders. The differences we find between Mankind, the Jinns and the Malayek are,
1) Man has been appointed Allah’s Khalifah on earth with free-will to obey or not to obey Allah’s orders and has been entrusted with power of attorney by way of blowing from His own soul,
2) Jinn has not been appointed His Khalifah on earth and hence He has not blown from His soul into the Jinn, but was given free-will i.e. to obey or not to obey Allah’s orders,
3) Malayeks that is the natural forces of the creation are not appointed Khalifah, nor Allah has not blown from His soul into them, nor have they been given any free will.
After creating Adam (as) He blew into him from His soul which made Adam a being having all the attributes of Allah in Him. Then He ordered all the Malayeks to prostrate before Adam which means that the whole creation was ordered to serve Adam i.e. to worship him. All the Malayeks obeying Allah’s order and prostrated themselves before Adam and by doing so made themselves servants (Ebad) of Adam and Adam their Ma’bud. And since then they have not raised their heads and will remain so till the last human being will remain on earth. The Eblis who had free will disobeyed Allah’s order and did not prostrate himself before Adam due to egotism for being made of fire and not of mud like Adam.[7] Allah due to this disobedience and arrogance which made him a Kafer (rejecter), Allah expelled (Rajim) him from His Presence.
So it is now clear that before creation He was Ma’bud of none, but He was Elah, whose order was all-prevailing. He became Ma’bud only after creating the Jinn and then Mankind. So Kalima cannot be consisting with something which is not eternal. Allah was and is and will be Elah (he who is to be obeyed) eternally, but He became Mabud’ only after creating Jinn and Mankind and will not remain Ma’bud after the Qeyamat. So the Kalema cannot be consisting with Ma’bud, which is temporary and not eternal. But His attribute Elah is eternal. So the Kalima must be La Elaha Ella Allah (There is none to be obeyed other than Allah) and not “La Ma’bud Ella Allah (There is none to be worshiped other than Allah).
If I have been able to make my point clear to the readers it should be understood that performing sajdah (prostrating) means worshiping which means serving. By ordering Malayeks prostrate themselves before Adam (as.) Allah put all of them i.e. all the natural forces to his service. Hence mankind is Ma’bud of the Malayeks and Allah is the Ma’bud of mankind.
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