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?

 

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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 Paradise,  and Hell shall be his abode.  And for such wrong doers there will be no one to help.

 

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 Straight Way,  but most people do not know this”.

 

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

 

 
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