Devoting our worship and our religion to God alone is the
foundation of Submission. If our worship is not dedicated to
God alone, we commit idol worship, the only unforgivable
sin. If this practice continues till we die, we end up as
losers in the Day of Judgment (4:116.) All our
deeds, including the righteous ones, are in vein if we are
not devoting our worship to God alone.
Idol Worship Nullifies All Work
[39:65] It has been revealed to you,
and to those before you that if you ever commit idol
worship, all your works will be nullified,
and you will be with the losers.
The word "devotion" in the Arabic language (Ikhlaas and all
its derivatives) and in the English language indicates the
exclusive, dedicated and undivided attention with extreme
passion or affection. This strong and beautiful word
characterizes the worship and the religion of the true
submitters and believers as described by God:
[6:161] Say, "My Lord has guided me
in a straight path - the perfect religion of
Abraham, monotheism. He never was an idol
worshiper."
[6:162] Say, "My Contact
Prayers (Salat), my worship practices,
my life and my death,
are all devoted absolutely to GOD
alone, the Lord of the universe.
[6:163] "He has no partner.
This is what I am commanded to believe, and I am the first
to submit."
Chapter 112 in the Quran is called "Al-Ikhlaas" and
it states our proclamation of devotion to the One and the
Absolute God the sincere servants believe in and worship:
[112:1] Proclaim, "He is the One and
only GOD.
[112:2] "The Absolute GOD.
[112:3] "Never did He beget. Nor was
He begotten.
[112:4] "None equals Him."
By studying the Quran and looking up all the verses that has
this crucial word "Ikhlaas" and all its
derivatives, translated into devote/devotion/devoted to, we
learn on the other hand a certain pattern the transgressors
always follow. They pretend that they devote their worship
and imploring to God alone only when they face hardship, or
horrifying experiences. Once the terror is subsided, they go
back to Satan and the wicked, idolizing path they have been
always adopting by choice. They also try to find excuses
when confronted to uphold the truth. God teaches us that the
following imploring/devotion and utterances in 10:22 ,
29:65 and 37:169 is just the "lip service" of the
disbelievers:
[10:22] He is the One who moves you
across the land and sea. You get onto the ships, and they
sail smoothly in a nice breeze. Then, while
rejoicing therein, violent wind blows, and the waves
surround them from every side. This is when
they implore GOD, sincerely devoting their prayers to Him
alone: "If You only save us this time, we
will be eternally appreciative."
[10:23] But as soon as He
saves them, they transgress on earth, and oppose the truth.
O people, your transgression is only to the detriment of
your own souls. You remain preoccupied with this worldly
life, then to us is your ultimate return, then we inform you
of everything you had done.
[29:65] When they ride on a
ship, they implore GOD, devoting their prayers to Him. But
as soon as He saves them to the shore, they revert to
idolatry.
[37:168] "Had we received
the correct instructions from our parents,
[37:169] "we would have
been worshipers; devoted to GOD alone."
[37:170] But they
disbelieved, and they will surely find out.
Furthermore, this pattern of lying is followed all the way
till the Day of Judgment when they see the retribution
awaiting them. They will implore God alone and ask Him for a
reverse pass to come back to life and worship Him alone. God
teaches us that this is just mere lying and that as soon as
they return, they will go back to the same wicked path of
Satan and its constituents:
[6:27] If only you could see them
when they face the hellfire! They would say then, "Woe to
us. Oh, we wish we could go back, and never reject
our Lord's revelations, and join the believers."
[6:28] As a matter of fact, (they
only say this because) their secrets have been exposed.
If they go back, they will commit exactly the same
crimes.* They are liars.
To add more to the awesome mathematical proofs we have in
regard of the expression " Allah Wahdah," (God alone in
English,) and the word "Wahid," (One in English,) it turns
out that the word "Ikhlaas" and its derivatives (
devotion/devote/devoted) is mentioned in the whole Quran 31
times. 12 occurrences out of these 31 is either the
utterance of the disbelievers which is again mere lying (in
37:169, 10:22, and 29:65 ) or the word is simply referring
to entities other than God ( in 12:80, 38:46, 12 :54, 16:66,
2:94, 6:139, 7:32, 33:50, and 38:46.)
The other 19
occurrences are referring to devoting our worship,
our imploring, our religion, and ourselves absolutely to
God alone as believers and dedicated servants of Him alone:
1- [2:139] ..
To Him alone we are devoted."
2-
[4:146]..and devote their religion absolutely to GOD alone,
will be counted with the believers. ...
3- [7:29] ..
You shall devote your worship absolutely to Him alone. ...
4- [12:24] ..
We thus diverted evil and sin away from him, for he was one
of our devoted servants.
5- [15:40]
"Except those among Your worshipers who are devoted
absolutely to You alone."
6- [19:51]
Mention in the scripture Moses. He was devoted, and he was a
messenger prophet.
7- [37:40]
Only GOD's servants who are absolutely devoted to Him alone
(will be saved).
8- [37:74]
Only GOD's servants who are absolutely devoted to Him alone
(are saved).
9- [37:128]
Only GOD's servants who are absolutely devoted to Him alone
(are saved).
10- [37:160]
Only GOD's servants who are devoted to Him alone (are
saved).
11- [38:83]
"Except Your worshipers who are devoted absolutely to You
alone."
12- [39:2] ..
you shall worship GOD, devoting your religion to Him alone.
13- [39:3]
Absolutely, the religion shall be devoted to GOD alone. ..
14- [39:11]
Say, "I have been commanded to worship GOD, devoting the
religion absolutely to Him alone.
15- [39:14]
Say, "GOD is the only One I worship, devoting my religion
absolutely to Him alone.
16- [40:14]
Therefore, you shall devote your worship absolutely to GOD
ALONE, even if the disbelievers dislike it.
17-
[40:65]...You shall worship Him alone, devoting your
religion absolutely to Him alone...
18- [98:5]
All that was asked of them was to worship GOD, devoting the
religion absolutely to Him alone, ....
It is noteworthy that the sincere imploring devoted to God
alone in 31:32 is performed by both believers and
disbelievers. The incredible precision of words chosen by
God almighty in this verse indicates that only SOME
will revert after the retribution is subsided while the rest
were truly devoting their imploring to God alone.. .This
makes the total occurrence of this crucial word "Ikhlaas"/DEVOTION
in reference to God alone a perfect
19:
19- [31:32]
When violent waves surround them, they implore GOD,
sincerely devoting their prayers to Him alone. But
as soon as He saves them to the shore,
SOME of them revert.
None discards our revelations except those who are
betrayers, unappreciative.
Glory be to God, Lord of the universe.
[1:5] You alone we worship;
You alone we ask for help.
Peaceful Friday, salaam and may God bless you.
