From a God who thinks like a man, to a man who thinks like Allah!

For centuries after centuries, mankind has found solace in the idea of idolizing and deifying an all-powerful being with whom refuge can be sought against the many calamities and events that leave mankind helpless and impotent.

This process of deification and seeking salvation and success from an outside source, has led mankind to turn towards numerous concepts of god/s with the hope of having their dreams and desires met. As such, various objects that were thought to be powerful enough to have the capacity to meet their demands were deemed as gods, and hence began the period of idolatry.

At first, the gods were identified from among certain stones, plants and animals on earth. However, once their mortal nature was recognized, and as Prophets and Rasuls came time and time again pointing to the absurdity of deifying these earthly objects, man gave up on earthly gods and turned his gaze towards the heavens. This time, deifying certain heavenly objects or stars with specific influences as gods.

Whenever man encountered an object or event that he could not solve or comprehend, it became a mysterious power for him, to which he eventually associated a concept of godhood. This concept of an earthly or heavenly god falls into direct contradiction with scientific knowledge and is nothing but postulation. The Quran rejects this assumption that goes against verified knowledge with its ‘kalima-i tawhid’ (The Word of Unity), ‘there is no god’.

Man imprisoned himself in a cocoon when he idolized fire and heavenly bodies, all in supposition of a ‘god’. In time and with conditionings from the environment, he began to lead a life completely devoid of contemplation. Enslavement was the price of this ignorance; he became a slave to his gods and this dependence became his reassurance.

Of course, this only led to the hardening of his cocoon, burrowing him further into darkness!

When Muhammad (saw) announced to be Allah’s Rasul in Mecca, there were 360 different gods inside the Kaaba alone. That is, 360 idols! Mankind was finding solace in deifying 360 idols that represented 360 different gods, each with a different role.

They were not able to discern that such earthly or heavenly gods could not exist, simply because they had no idea of the vastness of the universe they were in!

They thought that god sat on a star up in space and watched over our world, sometimes interfering in our affairs, and sometimes quietly observing to examine us, all eventually to place those of his liking in heaven and cast the rest into hell.

Mankind has done a lot of nonsense in the name of pleasing earthly or heavenly gods. In fact, in Hadhrat Omar’s words, they would make an idol to resemble their god with a cookie, then they would worship and deify this cookie-idol and then, with much appetite, they would sit and eat it! Even worse, they would bury their 8-year old daughters alive just to ingratiate themselves with their illusory gods!

God denotes the existence of a deity beyond the individual. A deity that bestows the wishes of individuals in exchange of being praised, glorified, and exalted!

A God that gives commands with which you must comply in order to earn his favor, so that he places you in his paradise and blesses you with plenty in the world. For if you oppose him by following your own free mind and free will, he will become your enemy and punish you by subjecting you to various sufferings!

While mankind was caught up in the deification of false and primitive gods, Muhammad (saw) received a revelation that announced him as Allah’s Rasul, after which he strived strenuously to stop people from deifying gods. He told them:

THERE IS NO GOD. THERE IS ONLY ALLAH.

This reality has been termed as the ‘kalima-i tawhid’ (the Word of Unity).

So what exactly does the Word of Unity mean?