In a verse of the Qur'an Islam offers the following...

In a verse of the Qur'an Islam offers the following suggestion to the people of the Book: قُلْ يَا أَهْلَ الْكِتَابِ تَعَالَوْا إِلَىٰ كَلِمَةٍ سَوَاءٍ بَيْنَنَا وَبَيْنَكُمْ أَلَّا نَعْبُدَ إِلَّا اللَّهَ وَلَا نُشْرِكَ بِهِ شَيْئًا وَلَا يَتَّخِذَ بَعْضُنَا بَعْضًا أَرْبَابًا مِنْ دُونِ اللَّهِ ۚ فَإِنْ تَوَلَّوْا فَقُولُوا اشْهَدُوا بِأَنَّا مُسْلِمُونَ "Say: 'People of the Scripture come now to a word common between us and you, that we worship none but God, and that we associate not aught with Him, and do not some of us take others as Lord s.

apart from God.' And if they turn their backs, say: 'Bear witness that we are Muslims."' (3:64) However, the Qur'an considers people's obedience to the true believers as an obedience to God , and in a few verses it introduces the executive powers of the Islamic community (the Prophet and those who are in authority, i.e. Ulil amr[^1].

The Spirit of Monotheism: Negation of Servitude to False Deities Scrutinizing about some other verses of Qur'an will much more clarify the effect of monotheism and its monotheistic procedure on individual life and social organizations. According to the Qur'an, the refusal to worship false gods does not necessarily imply that one is a monotheist. In order to be considered a monotheist, one has to negate the obedience to the opponents of God as well.

This point is so much evident in the Qur'an that those who obey false gods are called idolaters. In this way worshipping God which is the meaning and the spirit of monotheism can be called the exclusive obedience and servitude to God. Thus, the obedience to and the worshipping of false gods being in the form of an individual's commands, public rules, social organization or so forth is considered idolatry. This is…

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