ভূমিকা

Shiavault - a Vault of Shia Islamic Books Discursive Theology Volume 1 Lesson 11: The Divine Unity in Worship Calling to the worship ( ‘ibādah ) of One and Only God and abandoning the worship of false deities is one of the most important objectives of all the prophets of God ( ‘a ), as the Holy Qur’an thus says: ﴿ وَلَقَدْ بَعَثْنَا فِي كُلِّ أُمَّةٍ رَّسُولاً أَنِ اعْبُدُواْ اللّهَ وَاجْتَنِبُواْ الطَّاغُوتَ ﴾ “Certainly We raised an apostle in every nation [to preach:] ‘Worship Allah, and keep away from the Rebel’.” [^1] The Muslim schools of thought have a consensus of opinion on worship as exclusive to God alone, but some sects (such as the Wahhābīs) have committed mistakes in interpreting worship.

That is, only the Being who possesses the abovementioned Attributes is worthy of worship, and since the said Attributes can only be found in God, it follows that worship is due to Him alone, and now we shall quote examples of Qur’anic verses in this regard: Sūrat al-Fātiḥah first mentions the Lordship and Mastership of God and then declares that worship is exclusive to God alone: ﴿ الْحَمْدُ لِلَّهِ رَبِّ الْعَالَمِينَ ٭ الرَّحْمَنِ الرَّحِيمِ ٭ مَالِكِ يَوْمِ الدِّينِ ٭ إِيَّاكَ نَعْبُدُ وَإِيَّاكَ نَسْتَعِينُ ﴾ “All praise belongs to Allah, the Lord of the Worlds, the All-beneficent, the All-merciful, Master of the Day of Retribution.

You [alone] do we worship, and to You [alone] do we turn for help.” [^2] In a universal invitation, the human beings have been summoned to the worship of God who has created all the human beings: ﴿ يَا أَيُّهَا النَّاسُ اعْبُدُوا رَبَّكُمُ الَّذِي خَلَقَكُمْ وَالَّذِينَ مِنْ قَبْلِكُمْ ﴾ “O mankind! Worship your Lord, who created you and those who were before you.” [^3] The apostles and prophets of God ( ‘a ) are reminded that Godhood ( ulūhiyyah ) is exclusive to God alone.