Jamal Badawi – Monotheism 5 – Forms Of Shirk Cont Divine Attributes

			Salam Alaikum
		

			Peace be upon you all. And welcome to another episode of Islamic focus. This is going to be our
fifth episode on Islamic teachings and Islamic dictates. And more specifically, it's going to be our
fourth episode on the concept of monotheism and God, God capital G Allah in Islam. Our guest today
is Dr. Jamal whether we and Salaam Alaikum doctors and man was
		

			I was wondering if you could give us a very close as usual capsule capsule summary.
		

			Okay, last time we were continuing with the explanation of the Muslim creed, which says basically
there is no deity but Allah, God, capital G. And Muhammad is His Messenger. We explained also that
Allah is the Arabic term for God capital G as the sole creator and Sustainer of the universe. We
discussed briefly or continued the discussion as to why the static period starts with negation,
rather than affirmation. And we try to indicate that there have been lots of human errors throughout
history and trying to have this proper knowledge about God. And as such, it's very important to
point out to this shortcoming so that we don't fall or lapse into them again.
		

			And so far, we have discussed the six specific types of negations. First was idolatry, or worship of
items.
		

			worship of forces of nature, like stars, the moon, the sun, three polytheism, or several Gods
believe in several gods. Firstly, was the dualism or belief in one God for good and one for, for
evil.
		

			Firstly, we discuss the worship of other beings like spirits, Satan, worship, or worship even of
		

			magicians and people who practice sorcery, and sixthly. The last negation we discussed was the
worship of other human beings, whether because they are ancestors or worship of other people who are
pious people,
		

			great holy men, or even and sometimes in some cases, great prophets and messengers. And we try to
indicate that all the great messengers of Allah are to be proud to be servants of Allah, that
includes all the great prophets, especially Noah, Abraham, Moses, Jesus and Mohammed that all of
them should really feel proud rather than being demoted when they are two servants of Allah. And
which I finally to clarify that all these forms of worship or interceding gods, if you will, our
forms which are not quite consistent with the Islamic pure monotheism right out.
		

			The word worship as we've used so far, was worship in the sense of dedication. Is there another
sense that worship may be taken
		

			to me and sort of another meaning to the word worship in an Islamic context? This is an interesting
question, because in fact, you could have a whole series on the concept of worship and ascend what
does it really mean but to limit myself to specifically your question as it relates to worship of
other human beings.
		

			According to Islam, blind obedience to other human beings. The refraining from using our Allah given
intellect and human faculties in searching for the truth, is some kind of form of worship of those
individuals. Perhaps I could illustrate this by a little story that happened 1400 years ago, during
the lifetime of Prophet Muhammad.
		

			At that time, one passage was revealed in the Quran, namely 931 chapter nine, verse 31. And that
		

			passage reads, talking about people who followed their religious leaders prior to Islam, they have
taken as loads besides Allah, their clergy, that's priest and anchorites.
		

			So one of the companions of the Prophet
		

			by the name of adding Abraham who had some knowledge or background about Christianity came to the
Prophet. Yeah. And he came to him and he said, O Messenger of Allah. It is not true that those
people really worship their, their priests or anchorites. Or
		

			so the Prophet asked him, he said, didn't some of those religious leaders make unlawful things that
God made lawful? said yes. Right. Didn't they take authority by also making lawful things which God
made unlawful? He said, Yes. He said, Well, that's their worship, which really conveyed the message,
that you don't have to bow down before a human being to be called that you're worshiping, or they
find him. But this blind obedience, this
		

			like I said, limiting one's use of God given capability of intelligence, of thinking of searching,
is one form actually of of worshipping of those individuals. And interesting that you might say that
this story is only 1400 years old, it's too remote back in history. But I consider it very relevant
to our today's
		

			generation and problems, doesn't stop the needle.
		

			Now, how about obedience to a dictator, let's say, Would this still come under the concept of
worship?
		

			Well, it would still fall under the worship of other human beings.
		

			Indeed, some people misunderstand or misinterpret the various liberation movements that take place
for themselves, the history of Islam. And many times, they try to separate between what might be
considered as social reform or political uprising, on one hand, versus just purely religiously
motivated type of uprisings.
		

			And the fact of the matter as far as Islam is concerned, is that
		

			obedience again to dictators, just like obedience to clergy, or anybody else, without thinking,
constitute a form of human worship. And that the
		

			the this type of obedience is a kind of acceptance of the authority of dictators above the authority
of God. Like I might have indicated before, in Islam, there is nothing called one compartment, that
you should render unto Caesar another compartment that you should render unto God, everything should
be under unto God unto Allah, the creator.
		

			This kind of struggle that you find in the history of the Muslim people against dictatorship, past
and present,
		

			is a continuous, ongoing process, which actually is based on Quranic injunctions even more
specifically, in the Quran, we read chapter five verses for 47 through 50, that those who do not do,
		

			in accordance with what Allah has revealed are regarded as unbelievers in one passage, as oppressors
and another passage as ribbons and the third passage, and it is interesting to notice that this
passage in the Quran, it simply says, Whoever does not rule in accordance with what Allah has
revealed, it does not exempt even a Muslim. In other words, a person may pay lip service to faith, a
person may claim to be even a Muslim, as a ruler, whereas his acts, his behaviors are contrary to
Islam are contrary to the revelation of Allah. So even that person, even though he might nominally
be called a Muslim, would definitely be going against that. And that's the case quite frankly, with
		

			the majority of rulers in Muslim countries today, whether they have the titles of kings or chefs,
our president or just titles to mislead people. And indeed, in many cases, it's totalitarian regime.
It's dictatorship contrary to the terms and conjunctions and systems of government.
		

			Okay, so far we have been limiting the concept of worship, to worship, worshiping extra personal
beings or phenomena. How about worshiping oneself and self worship, vanity and pride?
		

			How does Islam at least know that even that was not left out? In the comprehensive coverage of this
aspect of monotheism and in the Quran?
		

			It is regarded actually like you said as worship of other merchants,
		

			it might take a variety of forms. Let me focus on two.
		

			In some cases, it may even take the form of self deification. The Quran for example, narrates the
story of
		

			The Pharaohs during the time of Prophet Moses May peace be with him.
		

			When as the Quran says in
		

			chapter 79, verses 23 and 24, that the pharaoh collected his men or his people and made a
proclamation saying, I am your Lord, Most High. This is perhaps the ultimate of human arrogance,
that a human being claimed to be the the final and the ultimate authority to say what is to be done
or what is not to be done.
		

			But self worship also takes another subtle form, a hidden form that most of us would fall into in
some form or the other, but that's to a different degrees. And that is when we take our own desires
in our own opinions, and place that as the ultimate source of guidance, the ultimate source of
values to guide us in our lives, even though it may contradict with clear and decisive divine
injunctions. In fact, there is a specific, more than one verse But it just caught one verse or
passage in the Quran that deals with that particular issue. And 2543 it says, Have you seen him who
takes his or her law desires or whims for his or her God? Will you be a guardian over him or her? In
		

			other words, it's just regarded the term used in the Quran, Allah, how his God or his Lord, so
instead of saying, Allah, or God is my Lord, I say, my desires, what I want, what I think, is that I
is my ultimate source. I put aside whatever Revelation says, I, in my humble opinion, I consider
this form of aberration or self worship as one of the most serious aberrations in our age. Many
times we are tempted to say, well, material is everything.
		

			Let's put aside spiritual moral teachings, divine revelation that's just on the side as far as your
service, my objective, I can use it. If not, I just put it aside. And we normally hear that
statement made quite frequently. I know what's good for me, I know what's best for me. Sometimes
even we go again, is the clear and decisive injunction of Allah. Even when we destroy ourselves,
drinking drugs and all other aberrations and still destroy ourselves, they I know what's good for
me. What's best for me? Again, like I said, placing what we think is right, what we think is good
for the Supreme Court, and the supreme and above what got himself tell us what
		

			should be okay, in the negation part of our creed, I think there is one
		

			concept still left be a little bit esoteric, but I think it should be included here. And we should
mention something about it. And that is the concept of pencils, and what God exists in everything
and everywhere. How does Islam view that idea? I think this kind of arguments, and mixes as a
philosophy between two different things.
		

			On one hand,
		

			to say that we can see the power of God, we can see in a metaphoric sense allegorically the hands of
God, and his compassion, and by looking into the creation, which he has created, is one aspect.
		

			And to argue that, because God created everything, and his power is manifest and everything, then
God must be inside, or in or incarnated in everything, I think this too, should not be mixed. From
the Muslim standpoint, and this relates to one of the earlier series that we said that the Quran
implores us encourages us indeed, to look into ourselves to look into our environment to look into
the universe of flowers.
		

			And by finding the functioning and operation, all of these things, we are bound to find out that
there must be a designer must be a compassionate, all powerful creator, behind all that. But this
doesn't mean that he is in the sun or he is in the moon. For another hearing this to this kind of
		

			aberration is simply carrying
		

			the powers of God or cutting the arguments too far extremes in some kind of extreme, which is not
acceptable.
		

			Great. So I think that takes care of the negative parts of our creed. And it's time now to start
looking at the affirmative attitudes of a lot on my seventh standpoint. And I was wondering if one
could possibly define a law so to speak, if the term applies? Well,
		

			there's a problem when you use the term
		

			define
		

			Because
		

			anything that is definable
		

			by definition, must be limited must be finite.
		

			Allah or God is infinite, then he could not be subject to any definition, because definition is
limiting the difference something is to establish limitation and God is beyond limitation. This is
one, one thing, but the problem perhaps could be addressed by making a distinction between two
things again,
		

			on one hand, the essence or nature
		

			of Allah or God, and secondly, the attributes, divine attributes of Allah. Now, let me explain what
I mean by that, when we talk about the essence of Allah, the nature of Allah, we can say that his
nature or his essence is so sublime,
		

			so transcendent that our human minds, no matter how intelligent, maybe, isn't capable of totally
grasping his essence, or his nature, however, as far as attributes of Allah, or attributes of God
this are or could be, within reasonable reach within at least reasonable understanding as far as our
human comprehension goes.
		

			And I say relatively because, again, when you talk about attributes of the infinite, the Henson
discipline attributes totally from the essence, but at least the conceptual distinction could be
quite useful. Sometimes people would wonder how could we see it to understand the essence of God and
only know about his attributes are manifestations of art. But what we forget when we make this
argument is that even in physical, tangible things, sometimes you are not really able to define the
essence, electricity,
		

			atomic energy,
		

			many of us, you can explain a great deal about electricity, how it works, or atomic energy, but can
you really describe the essence of electricity, the essence of atomic energy?
		

			So we can't even reach that a human being, you can't describe a human being say, Hey, is that all
that big, he weighs that much his face looks nice. So that's fine. But can you even with the best
knowledge of psychology and psychiatry understand the essence of a human being? Can you understand
your own essence, as a human being? So what I'm saying here is that even in physical and tangible
things in this universe, we are not capable to penetrate our understanding, to understand fully
their essence, how about understanding the essence of discipline, being outside the infinite becomes
a metaphysical problem becomes a very difficult problem.
		

			Material a matter of fact, even when we limit ourselves to using attributes rather than the essence,
we found ourselves faced with another problem. And I was wondering if you could comment on that. And
the problem is, if we talk about Allah being finite ourselves and being limited ourselves and being
relative ourselves, we have to use relative terms, terms that are understandable within our own
		

			vocabulary, so to speak. So we start using terms that have human connotations. How do we reconcile
those two when we say that God sees God hears? These are all terms that we understand very much in
our own human context of perception? How do we bridge that gap? When we start writing those terms in
the front so long? I think you're quite right when you pointed to the fact that no word no in any
human language, Arabic, English, whatever, can really be totally accurate in conveying something
even about the attributes of deity of Allah.
		

			However, in his infinite mercy, Allah has communicated with us in a way that we could understand. So
like you said, again, using terms which might not have exactly the same human or material meaning,
but it would be useful though the distance are used to give us some understanding or some perception
		

			about God, not all God about God Himself. However, we find that the Quran also warn us, that God
Himself, in his own words in the Quran warns us against
		

			taking these words in a very literal or very
		

			physical meaning that you understand as human beings, perhaps, to make the point less abstract. Let
me give a few citations from the Quran, the history, the point, the first one, later chemistry that
is, there is nothing whatever, like unto him, God and He is the one that hears and sees all things
that's in chapter 42.
		

			Verse 11.
		

			In another moving passage, six, one or three, no vision, can grasp him. But he grasps or his grasp
is over all vision. He is above all comprehension, yet is acquainted with all things. And maybe I
can repeat one citation that was made in a previous program because it's very crucial, the very
famous chapter 112 of the Quran towards the end,
		

			say it says, say that is say, or Mohammed to people, He is Allah, the One and Only Allah, the
eternal, the absolute, he gets not, nor is he begat him. And notice the last verse, and there is
none like unto him, nothing comparable, no peers. So whenever we use the term, for example, like
		

			God, or Allah hears and see us, it doesn't mean that he needs eyes to see with, it doesn't need ears
to hear with, even we as human beings, sometimes you'll see all the time with your eyes. If I asked
you to close your eyes for a second, and just imagine the shape of your TV sets or your couch, you
can see it even when you're closing your eyes, you see it in your own imagination. So even as
humans, we don't see everything with AI. But of course, when you talk about
		

			Allah or God, we're not really making competitive is simply saying that he does not need the
physical or biological organs in order to be able to see or hear.
		

			Now, it's clear that we are trying to put a or emphasize the dissimilarity between gods and his
creatures.
		

			Which brings us to a touchy question very relevant and important one, however, and that is, how does
the Muslim
		

			reconcile himself or view the biblical statements referring to God, having created man in his own
image? How do we view that statement? How do we actually understand that accepted or lack of
acceptance? Whatever you're referring to the the first chapter in Genesis, why is that? God says
let's create man in our image after our likeness. But that's what's your favorite. What a Muslim see
is to problem with, with this type of statements or any similar statements like that. First of all,
that as we indicated before, Allah or God, capital G does not have any image because he's not
physical. And as was cited before Lysa, Camus, Leisha, there is nothing whatsoever that you can
		

			think of, or you know, or experiences which is comparable to Allah because it is comparable to
anything that's physical or material, then he's limited, he's finite. This is one, one thing to keep
in mind.
		

			So from the Muslim standpoint, it is erroneous to reduce the infinite to any finite form, including
even finite type of image as a result of this, or the way people interpreted this kind of biblical
statement, has been throughout history to imagine or make a drawing nikka texture of God, if you
will, in a human form. In a recent issue of the Time Magazine,
		

			dealing again with the new theological arguments about God,
		

			the magazine reproduced for paintings for pictures
		

			that people imagined as belongs to God, mostly Christian artists, including Michelangelo, the
Sistine Chapel. Right, exactly. And in all of them, invariably, it's a figure of choruses of a man,
relatively older men, with beards, and the tip would vary, but it's basically an image of a man
because again, apparently, this people would go back and read the Genesis and say, all right, God
created man in his own likeness, or in His own image. So God must look like a physical This is not
acceptable to them. In fact, this kind of configuration of deity of Allah raises a number of
questions. When you look at this picture in the time, for example, you you're entitled to ask a
		

			number of questions. Number one, why a picture of a man not a woman? All of them have been knowing
that you could say it's a woman. Why a picture of why it's not a black for example, or yellow?
		

			Why that picture shows a feature of a face which is mostly Greco Roman, rather than Chinese
Japanese, African or some someone else see you up in a whole can of worms once you reduce got two
sets an image which is quite limited in by by its very nature. Fortunately for the Muslim, this
problem never is really of my Christian friends. For example, asked me what
		

			When you think about about Allah or God, capital G, do you have any mental picture of him something
similar to this painting? I said, No, I need not. The spiritual image is much more valuable, more
important and more befitting. Again, I'm using image again in a very allegoric, at Cisco, Cisco has
any picture in mind, because he's unlimited. How could you have an image? Exactly. Sometimes it
seems tempting to say why you think about something abstract. Maybe when you reduce it to physical,
you can identify with it. But that, again, is a very serious error also, because you're limiting,
you're destroying the whole notion of the transcendence and this similarity of God to his, his
		

			creatures.
		

			Now, keeping these precautions in mind, can you explain to us some of the more specific divine
attributes of a law that are used by Muslims in the Quran? Well, obviously, of course, when you talk
about attributes of Allah, he's talking about the Creator. So creation, perhaps would come as one of
the foremost attributes
		

			of Allah or God.
		

			This can be explained best by referring even directly to the Quran.
		

			For example, in six, one or two, it says, that is Allah, your Lord, there is no god but He is the
Creator of all things. All things, no partner, no helpers.
		

			In the Quran, we also find that creation and sovereignty
		

			go hand in hand. So not just create and leave like some philosophers believe that God created the
universe and then forgot about forgot about it, or we do not at all and Islam. In the Quran we did
Allah Allah will sulk while I'm that's in 753. Is it not his to create and to govern, or Command
also in 4212, to him, that is to Allah belonged the keys of the heavens and the s.
		

			This is one aspect of one fundamental attributes, if you will,
		

			was, I think at this point, I'd have to
		

			stop because we have about only one minute left. And I'll ask a doctor to join us again next week.
And we'll continue with the attributes, the positive attributes, the affirmative attributes of Allah
in Islam. And we hope ladies and gentlemen that we'll see you next week. Until then, please if you
have any questions whatsoever, whether on the episodes or their contents, or even on Islam in
general, don't hesitate to write us on Assam infocus Post Office Box 116 darkness in Nova Scotia.
Until we meet you next time. God bless you saramonic loss