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Shiavault - a Vault of Shia Islamic Books Wahabism At The Crossroads Section 6: Irrational and Incorrect Perception of six Qur'anic Terms The main focus of this creed is on the issue of Monotheism and Polytheism [^1] obtained from the beliefs of Ibn Taymiah Damishqi.

Mohammed ibn Abdul-Wahhab in the Kashf-ul-Shūbahāt discourse presents his case in this regard, the summary of which is as follows: The Monotheism that Islam has promoted is Oneness in Worship , because the polytheistic Arabs believed in the Oneness of a Creator and declared that the whole universe was the creation of God: {وَلَئِن سَأَلْتَهُم مَّنْ خَلَقَ السَّمَاوَاتِ وَالْأَرْضَ لَيَقُولُنَّ خَلَقَهُنَّ الْعَزِيزُ الْعَلِيمُ} "If you ask them, 'Who created the heavens and the earth?' they will surely say, 'The All-mighty, the All-knowing created them'." [^2] And elsewhere He says: {قُلْ مَن يَرْزُقُكُم مِّنَ السَّمَاءِ وَالأَرْضِ أَمَّن يَمْلِكُ السَّمْعَ والأَبْصَارَ وَمَن يُخْرِجُ الْحَيَّ مِنَ الْمَيِّتِ وَيُخْرِجُ الْمَيِّتَ مِنَ الْحَيِّ وَمَن يُدَبِّرُ الأَمْرَ فَسَيَقُولُونَ اللّهُ فَقُلْ أَفَلاَ تَتَّقُونَ} "Say, 'Who provides for you out of the sky and the earth?

Who controls [your] hearing and sight, and who brings forth the living from the dead and brings forth the dead from the living, and who directs the command? They will say, 'Allah'. Say, 'Will you not then be wary [of Him]?" [^3] According to these Verses the Arab polytheists, considered the one and only God as the Creator of the universe and the Benefactor for servants and the Superintendent and Contriver of the world. Then what was their polytheism in?

Their only problem was with the Oneness in Worship , meaning that they worshipped idols and some of the righteous personalities. In other words the Arab polytheists never repudiated the Oneness of the Creator, Benefactor and Lord of the worlds, but they were polytheistic in God's worship and thus Islam called them to the worship of the only One God.

The idea of Polytheism denotes man's invoking an entity other than the One God and taking refuge in that entity for resolving difficulties (for instance when he calls upon the Messenger of God or Imam Ali ), as the holy Quran states: {...فَلَا تَدْعُوا مَعَ اللَّهِ أَحَدًا} "So do not invoke any one along with God" [^4] If somebody seeks intercession from the Prophet of Islam (S) or any one of the Islamic prime-leaders and righteous personalities, this act of his is polytheism!

His life and wealth is admissible to the monotheists!

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