Why is joining others to worship Allh considered grave sin. Are believers limited to individual worship?
Mu' meneen Brothers and Sisters,
As Salaam Aleikum wa Rahmatullahi wa Barakatuh.
(May Allah's Peace, Mercy and Blessings be upon all of you)
One of our brothers/sisters has asked
this question:
Why is
joining others to worship Allh considered grave sin. Are believers
limited to individual worship?
(There may be some grammatical and spelling
errors in the above statement. The forum does not change anything from
questions, comments and statements received from our readers for circulation in
confidentiality.)
Answer:
Individual or
collective worship
In the name of Allah, We praise Him, seek His
help and ask for His forgiveness. Whoever Allah guides none can misguide,
and whoever He allows to fall astray, none can guide them aright. We bear
witness that there is none worthy of worship but Allah Alone, and we bear
witness that Muhammad (saws) is His slave-servant and the seal of His
Messengers.
Allah Says in the Holy Quran Chapter 27 Surah Naml verses
59-64:
59 Say: ‘Praise be to Allah and Peace on His servants whom He has
chosen (for His Message). (Who) is better? Allah or the false deities they associate with Him?
60 Or Who has created the heavens and the earth; and Who sends you
down rain from the sky? Yea, with it We cause to grow well-planted orchards
full of beauty and delight. It is not in
your power to cause the growth of the trees in them. (Can there be other)
deities besides Allah? Nay! They are a people who swerve from justice.
61 Or Who has made the earth firm to live in; made rivers in its midst;
set thereon mountains immovable; and made a separating bar between the two
bodies of flowing water? (Can there be other)
deities besides Allah? Nay! Most of them know not.
62 Or Who listens to the (soul) distressed when it calls on Him
and Who relieves its suffering and makes you (mankind) inheritors of the earth?
(Can there be other) deities besides Allah?
Little it is that ye heed!
63 Or Who guides you through the depths of darkness on land and
sea and Who sends the winds as heralds of glad tidings going before His Mercy? (Can there be other) deities besides Allah? High is Allah above what
they associate with Him!
64 Or Who originates creation then repeats it, and Who gives you
sustenance from heaven and earth? (Can there be other)
deities besides Allah? Say "Bring forth your argument if ye are telling
the truth!"
Your
Question: Why is joining others to worship Allh considered grave sin. Are
believers limited to individual worship?
Respected brother, it is neither collective nor individual
worship which is prohibited or considered a grave sin in Islam, for both are
absolutely lawful and permissible……but it is the joining of other deities in
worship with The One and Only Lord Creator which is singled out as the absolute
biggest sin, crime and abomination in Islam.
Such is the gravity, enormity, and severity of this one
sin of associating other gods or deities in worship with Allah Subhanah, that
The Lord Most Majestic Most Supreme has Himself categorically Declared this
crime as absolutely unforgivable in the Hereafter!
Allah
says in the Quran: Chapter 4 Surah An-Nisa Verse 48
Shirk (associating other deities with Allah) is the only sin that
Allah does not forgive, and He
forgives, whomsoever He pleases, sins other than this. For whosoever associates any other partner
with Allah, does indeed forge a big lie and commits the most heinous sin
Allah says in the Holy Quran Chapter 5 Surah
Maidah verse 72:
Whoever commits ‘shirk’ (associating
other deities with Allah), Allah shall forbid for him
There is absolute allowance in Islam for the believers to
worship their Lord Creator alone in isolation during their voluntary prayers,
and collectively in congregation with the other believers during their
obligatory prayers.....thus it is not the joining with other believers in
worshipping their Lord Creator which is prohibited in the least; but what is
categorically forbidden and prohibited in Islam is the joining, associating,
invoking, or the worship of anything other than the Lord Most Majestic, Most
Supreme Alone.
Allah Subhanah Alone is the One and Only Lord, God,
Creator, Sustainer, Cherisher, Owner, and Master of absolutely everything in
existence….and thus He and He Alone deserves to be called upon, invoked, and
worshipped!
This concept of the Absolute Oneness and Unconditional
Uniqueness of the Lord Creator is what is known as ‘Tauheed’ in Islam….and it
is this concept of ‘tauheed’ which is the absolute pivot of the deen or
religion of Islam.
Allah says in the Holy Quran Chapter 6 Surah
Anaam verse 19:
(O Prophet (saws)) Ask them, “Whose testimony is
most reliable?” Say (O Prophet (saws)),
“Allah is a Witness between me and you, and this Quran has been revealed to me
so that I should thereby warn you and all whom it may reach. What?
Will you really testify that there are other deities besides Allah?” Say, “As for me, I will never testify such a
thing.” Say, “Indeed, He (Allah)
Alone is The (One and Only) Deity, and I feel disgusted with the ‘shirk’ you
practice!”
Allah says in the Holy Quran Chapter 12 Surah
Yusuf verses 39-40:
(And Prophet Yusuf (a.s) said), “O my fellow
prisoners, say, which is better? Various lords or The One Omnipotent Allah? The lords (deities) whom you worship other
than Allah are nothing more than mere names that you and your forefathers have
invented; for Allah has sent down
absolutely no authority for them.
Sovereignty belongs to none but Allah.
He (Allah) has Commanded that you shall not worship anyone but Him
Alone. This is the Right and
If one trusts, obeys, and follows the guidance and
commands of Allah and His Messenger (saws),
one can be assured of never ever being misled; but if one believes, obeys and follows any
other guidance, other than that of Allah and His Messenger (saws), one can be
assured of being led astray.
Whatever written of Truth and benefit is only
due to Allah’s Assistance and Guidance, and whatever of error is of me
alone. Allah Alone Knows Best and He is
the Only Source of Strength.
Your brother and
well wisher in Islam,
Burhan
