Allah--ta`ala--has said: "I have not created jinn and
mankind except to serve Me . . . And to every people We sent a
prophet to convey to them that they ought to serve Allah and
avoid at-taghot. . . . Your Lord has decreed that you shall
serve none but Him, and show kindness to your parents . . .
Serve Allah and do not associate aught with Him . . . Come, let
me tell you what your Lord has forbidden you; namely, that you
do not associate aught with Him." (Qor'an 51:56, 16:36, 17:23,
4:36, 6:151-153)
Ebn Mus`od said: "Whoever wishes to ascertain the will of
the Prophet Mohummed--salla 'llaho `alayhi wasallam--a will on
which the Prophet had set his seal, let him read the following
words of Allah: 'Come, let me tell you what your Lord has
forbidden you, namely, that you do not associate aught with Him
. . . And that is My straight path." (Qor'an 6:151-153)
Mo`ad ebn Jabal related: "I was riding behind the
Prophet--salla 'llaho `alayhi wasallam--when he said to me: 'O
Mo`ad! Do you know what is due to Allah from His creatures, and
what is due them?' I responded: 'Allah and His Prophet know
best.' He continued: 'What is due to Allah from His creatures
is to serve Him alone and never to associate any other being
with Him. What is due them is not to punish any person who does
not associate aught with Him.' I said: 'O Prophet of Allah, may
I not then give the glad tidings to the people?' He replied:
'No! Do not reassure them lest they rely on the promise and
lapse in their service to Him.'" The foregoing hadith is
reported in the two Sahihs.
-- FURTHER ISSUES --
1. The wisdom of creating jinn and mankind.
2. That service to Allah consists of tauhid. For, in the
opposite of tauhid [i.e., associationism or polytheism]
lies alienation from Allah.
3. That whoever does not fulfill the requirements of tauhid
has not served Allah. For, only in tauhid may the meaning
of the verse be sought: "Nor will you serve the god whom
I serve." (Qor'an 109:3)
4. The wisdom of sending prophets.
5. That the message of prophecy has reached all the members
of every people on earth.
6. That the religion of all the prophets is one and the same.
7. Important: That service to Allah is not complete except
with the denunciation of at-taghot. Here lies the
meaning of the verse, "Whoever denies at-taghot . . ."
(Qor'an 2:256)
8. That generally, at-taghot is anything served other than
Allah.
9. That the fathers have attached great importance to the
above mentioned three unequivocal (mohkamat) verses from
Sorat al-An`am (Qor'an 6:151-153), a fact which subsumes
ten other problems, first of which is the prohibition of
shirk or associationism.
10. The unequivocal verses of Sorat al-Esra' (Qor'an 17:22-39),
and their implications, which are eighteen in number.
The first is in the verse, "And do not set up with Allah
another god, lest you be doomed to guilt and defeat." The
last is the verse, "And do not set up with Allah another
god lest you be consigned to Hell, guilty and vanquished."
(Qor'an 17:39) Allah, sobhanaho, has called our attention
to the gravity of these problems, in the verse, "That is
wisdom which your Lord has revealed to you." (Qor'an 17:39)
11. The implication of the verse in Sorat an-Nesa', which is
known as the verse of the ten duties of man, the start of
which is: "And serve Allah alone. Do not associate
aught with Him." (Qor'an 4:36)
12. Attention should be paid to the will of the Prophet of
Allah--sa`aws--at his death.
13. Our duty to Allah.
14. Our right with Allah if we fulfill our duty to Him.
15. This last problem is unknown to most of the Prophet's
companions.
16. Permissibility of keeping this matter secret in order to
maximize men's service to Allah.
17. Worthiness of passing the glad tidings to the Moslem.
18. Fear of reliance on the promise of Allah's great mercy.
19. Responding to questions without knowledge of the answer,
"Allah and His Prophet know best."
20. Possibility of granting knowledge to some and not to others.
21. The Prophet's modesty in mounting a donkey wih a second
rider.
22. Legitimacy of two persons riding on the beast of burden.
23. The virtue of Mo`ad ebn Jabal.
24. The great importance of this matter.