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Who deserves to be Worshiped ?

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7. ALLAH AND HIS CREATION<br />

Islam emphasizes that Allah and His creation are distinct entities. Allah is not part of<br />

His creation, nor does He intermix with it. His creation is neither equal <strong>to</strong> Him in<br />

His attributes nor a part of Him. Indeed, Allah is the Most High; He is above all His<br />

creation, above the heavens and above His Throne, as He has informed us about<br />

Himself in the Quran and in the previous scriptures.<br />

This might seem obvious, but people’s worship of creation instead of the Crea<strong>to</strong>r<br />

is, <strong>to</strong> a large degree, based on ignorance or negligence of this fact. The erroneous<br />

<strong>be</strong>lief that the essence of Allah is everywhere in His creation, or that He is a part of<br />

His creation, is used <strong>to</strong> justify the worship of Allah’s creation. Philosophical idol<br />

worshippers justify their idolatry by saying that they do not actually worship the<br />

s<strong>to</strong>ne or metal object; they only worship Allah, <strong>Who</strong> <strong>be</strong>comes concentrated in it<br />

during their rituals of worship. They claim that the s<strong>to</strong>ne idol is only a focal point<br />

for Allah’s essence and is not Allah itself! Anyone who accepts the concept of Allah<br />

<strong>be</strong>ing present in any way within His creation will <strong>be</strong> obliged <strong>to</strong> accept this argument<br />

<strong>to</strong> justify idolatry.<br />

Setting aside such motivations as financial gains or fame, people’s claims <strong>to</strong><br />

divinity have largely manifested based on the mistaken <strong>be</strong>lief that it is<br />

possible for Allah <strong>to</strong> <strong>be</strong> present in humans. Taking this <strong>be</strong>lief one step further,<br />

they claim that Allah is more present in them than in others, and people<br />

should therefore submit <strong>to</strong> them and worship them as Allah’s incarnate or as<br />

Allah concentrated within their person. Similarly, those who have asserted<br />

that others were gods have found fertile ground among those who accept the<br />

false <strong>be</strong>lief of Allah’s presence in human <strong>be</strong>ings.<br />

As far as the doctrine of incarnation held by late Christians is concerned, it<br />

was developed after Jesus’ departure. It was incorporated in<strong>to</strong> Christianity<br />

from paganism. In the mythology that preceded Christianity, it can <strong>be</strong> seen<br />

how some heroes were considered <strong>to</strong> <strong>be</strong> gods.<br />

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