Albint_Almuslima
Im Proud 2 B Me!
The Meaning of ILAH
(taken from S.A.Ala Maududi's article : "Four Basic Terms")
Four Basic Qur'anic Terms
....And (they) were not ordered except to give their 'ibadah to one Ilah, only; there is no ilah except He, (and) He is free of (the taint of) what they attribute to Him by their shirk (that is, by associating others with Him in His exclusive qualities and attributes).
(9 : 31) Surat At-Taubah
Verily this brotherhood of the Prophets is a single brotherhod, and I am the Rabb of you all, wherefore give your 'ibadah to Me alone.
(21 : 92) Surat Al Anbiya'
Say to them (0 Prophet): Would you have me seek-for rabb any other than Allah, and He the Rabb of everything there is!
(6 : 164) Surat Al-An'am
....So, whosoever yearns to meet his Rabb, let him do good deeds, and let him not mix up his ibadah of Him with that of any other(s).
(18 : 110) Surat Al-Kahf
Do you wish for some deen other than Allah's, (and this despite the fact that to Him submits all there is in the Heavens and in or upon the Earth, willingly or unwilling, and all are to return unto Him?
(3 : 83) Surat Ali-Imran
Say (O Prophet): The Injunction laid upon me is to give my 'ibadah to Allah, and reserve my deen exclusively for Him.
(39 : 11) Surat Az-Zumar
Verily Allah is my Rabb, and is yours too; therefore, give your worship to Him alone-that (truly is the only real) straight path.
(3 : 61) Surat Ali-Imran
The verses quoted above are just by way of example, and not the only ones of their kind. Whosoever makes more than a cursory study of the Qur'an will soon realize that the entire contents revolve round these four terms only, and that the central idea of the whole Book is that: Allah is the Rabb, and the Ilah; No-one else possesses the qualities and attributes implied by these terms; Wherefore men should give their 'ibadah to Him and Him alone; and one's deen should be exclusively for Him with no share of it for any other.
Importance
It should however be obvious even from the quotations given that it is essential for proper comprehension of the teachings of the Qur'an fully to understand the implications of these four terms. The Qur'an will in fact lose its whole meaning for anyone who does not know what is meant by ilah or rabb, what constitutes 'iba'dah, and what the Qur'an means when it uses the word deen. He will fail to learn what Tawhid (belief in the One-ness of Allah in the fullest sense) is, or what constitutes its anti-thesis, that is, shirk (the attribution to others, either wholly or partially, of any of Allah's exclusive qualities or attributes).
It will not be possible for him to make his 'ibadah, or his deen, exclusive for Allah alone. And little better than such a completely ignorant man would be the one who has only a vague idea of what the terms imply, because in that case the whole teaching of the Qur'an will remain vague and incomplete for him, and both his belief and his conduct will fatally leave much to be desired. He will no doubt keep on reciting the words of the kalimah, and even explain that it means that there is no ilah but Allah, and yet, in practice, he will keep treating many another to be an ilah too. He will go through life proclaiming that there is no rabb but Allah, and yet for all that there will be many whom he will be treating as rabbs. He will protest, and affirm, with all seriousness and sincerity, that he does not give his 'ibadah to any but Allah, and will yet keep giving to others unknowingly. If anyone even so much as hints that he has any other deen, he would feel offended enough to come to blows with the accuser, and yet in practice, he will unwittingly be giving his allegiance to many another deens. No-one will ever hear him actually use the words Allah or rabb in respect of any but in the specific sense in which the words have been employed in the Qur'an, but he will be conducting himself as if he had many an ilah and many a rabb though without realizing this just like the person who never realized until he was specifically fold that he had been uttering prose all his life; If someone were to tell him in so many words that he was giving his 'ibadah to others, and thus committing shirk, he might resent this strongly and even quarrel violently, but according to the criteria applicable he will unconsciously have been living as a worshiper of others as an adherent of the deens of others, without ever suspecting that in fact was the case.
Why the Misapprehensions ?
The reason why the misapprehensions hinted at above have come into existence is a historical one. When the Qur'an was first presented to the Arabs they all knew what was meant by ilah or rabb as both the words were already current in their language.`They were not new terms, nor were any new meanings put upon them. They knew fully well what the connotations were and so, when it was said that Allah alone is the IIah, and the Rabb and that no-one has the least share in the qualities and attributes which the words denote, they at once comprehended the full import, understood completely without any doubt or uncertainty as to what specifically was being declared to pertain to Allah exclusively and what was being hence denied to others. Those who opposed the precept were very clear in their minds as to the implications of denying others than Allah to be ilahs or rabbs, in any sense, while those who accepted it knew equally well what they would have to give up by their acceptance and what they would forgo.
Similarly, the words 'ibadah and deen were in common use, and the people knew what was meant by 'abd, what state was implied by 'ubudiyyah (the state of being an 'abd) what kind of conduct was referred to when the word 'ibadah was used, and what was the sense of the term deen. So, when they were told to give up the 'ibadah of all others and reserve it exclusively for Allah, and give up all other deens and enter into the Deen of Allah only, they felt no difficulty in concluding what the Qur'anic da'wah (message) implied and the drastic revolution in their way of life it sought to bring about.
But as centuries passed, the real meanings of these terms gradually under went subtle changes so that, in course of time, instead of the full connotations, they came to stand for only very limited meanings or restricted and rather vague concepts. One reason was the gradual decline of interest in the Arabic language and the other that the words ceased to have the same meanings for the later generations of Muslims that they had for the original Arabs to whom the Qur'an had been revealed. It is for these two reasons that in the more recent lexicons and commentaries many of the Qur'anic words began to be explained not by their original sense but by what they had by then come to stand for, e.g., The word ilah, as used in respect of others than God, came to be synonymous with idols or gods; The word rabb came to mean only someone who brings up or rears or feeds another or provides for his worldly needs; 'Ibadah began to be understood as the performance of a set of rituals of "worship"; Deen began to mean a religion, or belief in some precepts; and the word Thaghut began to be translated to mean an idol or the Devil.
The result obviously was that it became difficult for people to get at the real message of the Qur'an. The Qur'an asks people not to regard any other than Allah as an ilah. People thought that since they had actually given up the worship of idols or of others regarded as gods, they had fulfilled the requirements, although in practice they have in fact gone on treating others as gods, but without the least suspicion crossing their minds that they were actually doing so. The Qur'an had asked that men should not acknowledge any other than God as rabb. The people thought that since they did not profess anyone else to be a rabb, they had complied with the full requirements of the concept of Tawhid. True enough, their oral professions or even their own understanding of their beliefs and actions, denoted that for them Allah was the one and only Rabb, but they little realized that by their actions they were instead according to many another too the status of rabb.
They protested that they no longer worshiped the idols, that they uttered curses on the Devil, and prostrated themselves before Allah only, and so here too they were doing all that the Qur'an required of them. And yet, how far they were from that! All they did was to give up the idols shaped by the hands of men, but not any of the other Thaghuts, and as for 'ibadah, here too, except for the formalities generally associated with worship, they continued giving it to many others besides Allah. The same has been the case with deen. To reserve it exclusively for Allah -came to mean to profess only the "religion of Islam," and not any of the other religions known as such, and this was all that was required and whosoever did this had satisfied the criterion of exclusiveness, although when looked at from the wider connotation of the word deen the majority fall far, far short of the criterion.
The Consequences
This being the case, is it any wonder that, through the mist that has come to surround the precise sense of the four terms in question, more than three-fourths of the teachings of the Qur'an, or rather, the real spirit thereof, have become obscured, and this is the main cause of the shortcomings that are to be seen in peoples' beliefs and acts despite the fact that they have not formally given up the faith of Islam but are still in its fold. It is therefore of utmost importance that in order to have a full and complete understanding of the Qur'anic teachings and of their central idea, one should know, as a fundamental to being a good Muslim, what these terms really mean.
Although I have given explanations of these terms in many earlier writings, they are not enough to remove all the misconceptions in peoples' minds, nor are they likely to satisfy everybody because, in the absence of full semantic explanations based on recognized Arabic usage, and quotations from the Qur'an itself, I might be taken as expressing my own opinion only, an opinion which in any case will not appeal to those who differ with me on other issues. I shall therefore endeavor, in the forthcoming discussions, to extensively quote the dictionary sense of the words, and not say anything which I cannot base either on recognized usage, or the Qur'an. The order I shall follow will be Ilah, Rabb, Ibadah, and Deen.
ILAH
Dictionary Meanings
The root of this word consists of the three letters, alif, lam, and ha and the connotations of various derivations, as one finds in lexicons are as follows:
[FONT=Verdana, Arial, Helvetica]Became confused or perplexed.[/FONT]
[FONT=Verdana, Arial, Helvetica]Achieved peace and mental calm by seeking refuge with someone or establishing relations with him.[/FONT]
[FONT=Verdana, Arial, Helvetica]Became frightened of some impending mishap or disaster, and someone gave him the necessary shelter.[/FONT]
[FONT=Verdana, Arial, Helvetica]Turned to another eagerly, due to the intensity of his feelings for him.[/FONT]
[FONT=Verdana, Arial, Helvetica]The lost offspring of the she-camel rushed to snuggle up to its mother on finding it. Became hidden, or concealed. Also, got elevated.[/FONT]
[FONT=Verdana, Arial, Helvetica]Adored, offered worship to.[/FONT]
[FONT=Verdana, Arial, Helvetica]If we reflect upon these original meanings, we can gain the necessary idea of how the verb came to mean the act of worship and the noun to denote the object of worship. There are four considerations to bear in mind in this connection:
[FONT=Verdana, Arial, Helvetica]The Pre-Islamic Concept [/FONT]
[FONT=Verdana, Arial, Helvetica]Having discussed the various literal senses of the word, let us now see what the pre-Islamic concepts of ilah were, and which of these the Qur'an strove to reject: [/FONT]
[FONT=Verdana, Arial, Helvetica]And they have taken for their ilahs others than Allah, that they may according to their reckoning be a source of strength to them (or that coming under their protection may confer security).[/FONT]
[FONT=Verdana, Arial, Helvetica](19 : 81) Surat Maryam [/FONT]
[FONT=Verdana, Arial, Helvetica]And they have taken others than Allah as their ilahs hoping that they might be helped when needed.[/FONT]
[FONT=Verdana, Arial, Helvetica](36:74) Surat Yaasin [/FONT]
[FONT=Verdana, Arial, Helvetica]From these two verses we learn that the Arabs of the Jahiliyyah (the pre-Islamic period of Ignorance) believed that those whom they regarded as ilahs were their patrons, would come to their rescue in time of danger or difficulty, and that by placing themselves under their protection they rendered themselves safe from fear, molestation or harm. [/FONT]
[FONT=Verdana, Arial, Helvetica]And when the Decree of your Lord had gone forth (and the time came for its execution), the ilahs they used to invoke instead of Allah proved of no avail to them and contributed only to their doom.[/FONT]
[FONT=Verdana, Arial, Helvetica](11 : 101) Surat Hud [/FONT]
[FONT=Verdana, Arial, Helvetica]And those whom the people call to instead of Allah have not created aught, but are themselves creatures. Dead they are, and not alive, and they know not when they would be raised from their state, the real ilah is the One and Only Ilah.[/FONT]
[FONT=Verdana, Arial, Helvetica](18 : 20-21) Surat Al-Kahf [/FONT]
[FONT=Verdana, Arial, Helvetica]Invoke not; or pray to, any ilah along with Allah. There is no ilah but He.[/FONT]
[FONT=Verdana, Arial, Helvetica](28 : 88) Surat Al-Qasas [/FONT]
[FONT=Verdana, Arial, Helvetica]....And those who, instead of praying to Allah, pray to His supposed associates do but follow suppositions and idle guesses.[/FONT]
[FONT=Verdana, Arial, Helvetica](10:66) Surat Yunus [/FONT]
[FONT=Verdana, Arial, Helvetica]These verses point to three aspects. The first is that the Arabs used to address their prayers to those whom they regarded as their ilahs and invoke them in times of distress or for fulfilment of any of their needs. The second is that these ilahs included not only Jinns, angels, and gods, but dead humans too, as one can see from the second of the above verses. The third is that they believed that these ilahs could hear their prayers and could come to their rescue. [/FONT]
[FONT=Verdana, Arial, Helvetica]It seems desirable to clear up one point, at this stage, about the nature of the prayer made to the ilah or ilahs and the help or succour sought of them. If I feel thirsty, and call to my servant to give me some water, or am unwell and call for a doctor for treatment, my summons to them does not constitute du'a, that is, it has no similarity to a prayer sent up to a deity, nor does this make either the servant or the doctor into an ilah. Both these are common, in everyday happenings, with nothing of the supernatural about them. However, if I should, while feeling thirsty or unwell, call to some saint or god instead of the servant or a doctor, that obviously would amount to treating the saint or god as an ilah and to my addressing a du'a to him. Addressing a prayer to a saint confined to his grave hundreds or even thousands of miles away clearly indicates that I believe him--though dead--to be possessed of the power to listen to a prayer at such a distance or to otherwise being aware of things so far off or, if one may use the appropriate Arabic words, to be both samee and baseer. My action would clearly imply belief in their exercising such a way over the realm of creation as to be able to have water reach me or to make me recover from my illness. In the case of a god, my prayer would mean that I believe him to possess power over water and over health and sickness, and to therefore arrange, by supernatural means, to fulfill my needs. Thus, the basis on which a prayer is addressed to someone includes necessarily a concept of his being possessed of some supernatural authority and power. [/FONT]
[FONT=Verdana, Arial, Helvetica]And, verily, We did destroy the places of which you see ruins about you, and We showed them Our signs in diverse ways that they might turn (away from their wrong ways to Us). So why did not those whom they had made their ilahs, and presumed to have access to Us, help them in their hour of doom? Far from helping, they abandoned them and made themselves scarce, exposing the hollowness of their falsehoods and fabrications.[/FONT]
[FONT=Verdana, Arial, Helvetica](46 : 27, 28) Surat Al-Ahqaf [/FONT]
[FONT=Verdana, Arial, Helvetica]And wherefore should I not give my worship to Him who created me and to Whom all of you will return? Should I take for myself ilah other than Allah Who, should He Who is also Ar-Rahman wish me any harm, will avail me naught by their intercession, nor will they be able to come to my rescue?[/FONT]
[FONT=Verdana, Arial, Helvetica](36 : 22-23) Surat Yaasin [/FONT]
[FONT=Verdana, Arial, Helvetica]And those who have taken others than Allah as protectors or helpers say, "We do not worship them except that they may bring us closer to Him." Allah will decide for them on the Day of Judgement regarding that in which they differ.[/FONT]
[FONT=Verdana, Arial, Helvetica](39 : 3) Surat Az-Zumar [/FONT]
[FONT=Verdana, Arial, Helvetica]And they worship other than Allah those who have power neither to harm nor benefit them, and they say that they are their intercessors with Him.[/FONT]
[FONT=Verdana, Arial, Helvetica](10 : 18) Surat Yunus [/FONT]
[FONT=Verdana, Arial, Helvetica]What we learn from these verses is, firstly, that it was not that the Arabs believed their ilahs to account for the whole of divinity among themselves or that there was no Supreme Being over and above them. They quite clearly believed in the existence of such a Being for whom they employed the special Proper name of ''Allah." As for their ilahs, their belief consisted essentially of the concept that they enjoyed some share in the divinity of the Supreme God, that their word carried some weight with Him, and that their intercession could result in some gains or ward off some harm or loss. It was on these grounds that they regarded them as ilahs besides Allah and, considering their precept and practice, we may say that it was the belief about someone to have power to intercede with God, the act of addressing of prayers to him for help, the performing of certain devotions indicative of respect and reverence and adoration, and the making of offerings, that constituted in their terminology, the treating of Him as ilah. And God said: "Do not make two ilahs; there is but one ilah; So, fear Me alone."[/FONT]
[FONT=Verdana, Arial, Helvetica](16:51) Surat An-Nahl [/FONT]
[FONT=Verdana, Arial, Helvetica]And (Ibrahim said to them): I fear not those you associate with God. Any harm can come to me only if He should will it, and not otherwise (through any or all of your supposed gods).[/FONT]
[FONT=Verdana, Arial, Helvetica](6 : 81) Surat Al-An'am [/FONT]
[FONT=Verdana, Arial, Helvetica](And said Hud's people to him
All we think of you is that you are under the curse of someone or other of our ilahs.[/FONT]
[FONT=Verdana, Arial, Helvetica](11 : 54) Surat Hud [/FONT]
[FONT=Verdana, Arial, Helvetica]According to these verses, the Arab belief about their ilahs was that if they should give them any cause for offence or should otherwise be deprived of their favors and attentions, they would suffer epidemics, famine, lose of life and property, or other calamities. [/FONT]
[FONT=Verdana, Arial, Helvetica]They made their religious scholars and rabbis their rabbs instead of Allah, and Jesus son of Mary too into one, although they had been told to worship but one ilah only, besides Whom there is no ilah at all.[/FONT]
[FONT=Verdana, Arial, Helvetica](9 : 31) Surat At-Tawba [/FONT]
[FONT=Verdana, Arial, Helvetica]Have you noticed the men who has made his selfish desires his ilah? Can you assume any responsibility about such a one?[/FONT]
[FONT=Verdana, Arial, Helvetica](25 : 43) Surat Al-Furqan [/FONT]
[FONT=Verdana, Arial, Helvetica]And in this wise did the supposed gods of pagans make infanticide appear an approved act in their eyes.[/FONT]
[FONT=Verdana, Arial, Helvetica](6 : 138) Surat Al-An'am [/FONT][FONT=Verdana, Arial, Helvetica]What! Have they partners in godhood who have established for them some religion without sanction from Gods?[/FONT]
[FONT=Verdana, Arial, Helvetica](42 : 21) Surat Al Shura'h [/FONT]
[FONT=Verdana, Arial, Helvetica]Here we have yet another concept of ilah very different from those dealt with above. Here there is no element of the supernatural. The ilah here is some human being, or man's own selfish ego or selfish desires. No prayers are offered to it, nor is it regarded as being in a position to will any harm or benefit to someone nor is it looked to for help or succour. It is an ilah in the sense that its dictates are accepted and obeyed to such extent that that which it declares to be permitted or prohibited is treated as such, and it is deemed to have an inherent right to make us do or not do certain things, with no higher or superior authority whose approval might be necessary for its orders or which might be appealed to against them. [/FONT]
[FONT=Verdana, Arial, Helvetica]The first verse we have quoted here (9:31) speaks of religious scholars and rabbis having been made into ilahs. We get a very lucid explanation of this in Hadith. Hazrat 'Adi bin Hatim once asked the Holy Prophet, on whom be peace, about the verse, and in reply the Prophet told him that whet was characterized as taking as ilahs was the practice of accepting as permitted or prohibited anything pronounced as such by the scholars or rabbis, without caring to ascertain what God had actually said about it. [/FONT]
[FONT=Verdana, Arial, Helvetica]As for the second verse, (25:43) the meaning is clear enough. He who obeys only the dictates of his selfish desires or inclinations or, rather regards his personal views as the only law, in effect makes his self his ilah instead of God. [/FONT]
[FONT=Verdana, Arial, Helvetica]The last two verses use the word shuraka which we have translated as supposed gods or partners, in godhood, but although the word ilah has not been used, the implication clearly is that to treat any beings, etc., as shuraka amounts, in effect, to believing them to have a share in divinity. The import of these verses is that those who regard any custom or rule or practice as permissible although it has no divine sanction, are guilty of treating the originators of the custom, etc., as having a share in divinity, i. e., of treating them as ilahs. [/FONT]
[FONT=Verdana, Arial, Helvetica]The Criterion for Godhood [/FONT]
[FONT=Verdana, Arial, Helvetica]There is a clear logical inter-connection between all the different concepts of ilah set out above. Whosoever regards any other person or being to be his helper or patron in the supernatural sense, or capable of solving his problems or fulfilling his needs, of hearing and granting his prayers, or of doing him harm or good, does so only because he believes that Person or being to enjoy some measure of authority in the management of the universe. [/FONT]
[FONT=Verdana, Arial, Helvetica]Similarly, if a person's avoidance of certain actions or performance of others is governed by the hope or fear that they would win him the pleasure or displeasure of some other person or being, he does so obviously because of belief that that person or being possesses some kind of supernatural authority in shaping the affairs of men. As for him who believes in God and yet turns to others for the fulfilment of his needs, he too can do so only because he believes them to have some share in God's authority. And, lastly, no different is the case of the person who accords the status of law to the commandments of someone other than God, and binds himself to obey the injunctions or prohibitions of that someone, for he in effect thereby accords him supreme authority. We can therefore safely conclude that the essence of godhood is authority, whether it is conceived as sovereignty of a supernatural kind over the whole universe, or on the basis that man is bound by God's law in his worldly life and that all of His injunctions are to be complied with because they emanate from Him.[/FONT]
(taken from S.A.Ala Maududi's article : "Four Basic Terms")
Four Basic Qur'anic Terms
....And (they) were not ordered except to give their 'ibadah to one Ilah, only; there is no ilah except He, (and) He is free of (the taint of) what they attribute to Him by their shirk (that is, by associating others with Him in His exclusive qualities and attributes).
(9 : 31) Surat At-Taubah
Verily this brotherhood of the Prophets is a single brotherhod, and I am the Rabb of you all, wherefore give your 'ibadah to Me alone.
(21 : 92) Surat Al Anbiya'
Say to them (0 Prophet): Would you have me seek-for rabb any other than Allah, and He the Rabb of everything there is!
(6 : 164) Surat Al-An'am
....So, whosoever yearns to meet his Rabb, let him do good deeds, and let him not mix up his ibadah of Him with that of any other(s).
(18 : 110) Surat Al-Kahf
Do you wish for some deen other than Allah's, (and this despite the fact that to Him submits all there is in the Heavens and in or upon the Earth, willingly or unwilling, and all are to return unto Him?
(3 : 83) Surat Ali-Imran
Say (O Prophet): The Injunction laid upon me is to give my 'ibadah to Allah, and reserve my deen exclusively for Him.
(39 : 11) Surat Az-Zumar
Verily Allah is my Rabb, and is yours too; therefore, give your worship to Him alone-that (truly is the only real) straight path.
(3 : 61) Surat Ali-Imran
The verses quoted above are just by way of example, and not the only ones of their kind. Whosoever makes more than a cursory study of the Qur'an will soon realize that the entire contents revolve round these four terms only, and that the central idea of the whole Book is that: Allah is the Rabb, and the Ilah; No-one else possesses the qualities and attributes implied by these terms; Wherefore men should give their 'ibadah to Him and Him alone; and one's deen should be exclusively for Him with no share of it for any other.
Importance
It should however be obvious even from the quotations given that it is essential for proper comprehension of the teachings of the Qur'an fully to understand the implications of these four terms. The Qur'an will in fact lose its whole meaning for anyone who does not know what is meant by ilah or rabb, what constitutes 'iba'dah, and what the Qur'an means when it uses the word deen. He will fail to learn what Tawhid (belief in the One-ness of Allah in the fullest sense) is, or what constitutes its anti-thesis, that is, shirk (the attribution to others, either wholly or partially, of any of Allah's exclusive qualities or attributes).
It will not be possible for him to make his 'ibadah, or his deen, exclusive for Allah alone. And little better than such a completely ignorant man would be the one who has only a vague idea of what the terms imply, because in that case the whole teaching of the Qur'an will remain vague and incomplete for him, and both his belief and his conduct will fatally leave much to be desired. He will no doubt keep on reciting the words of the kalimah, and even explain that it means that there is no ilah but Allah, and yet, in practice, he will keep treating many another to be an ilah too. He will go through life proclaiming that there is no rabb but Allah, and yet for all that there will be many whom he will be treating as rabbs. He will protest, and affirm, with all seriousness and sincerity, that he does not give his 'ibadah to any but Allah, and will yet keep giving to others unknowingly. If anyone even so much as hints that he has any other deen, he would feel offended enough to come to blows with the accuser, and yet in practice, he will unwittingly be giving his allegiance to many another deens. No-one will ever hear him actually use the words Allah or rabb in respect of any but in the specific sense in which the words have been employed in the Qur'an, but he will be conducting himself as if he had many an ilah and many a rabb though without realizing this just like the person who never realized until he was specifically fold that he had been uttering prose all his life; If someone were to tell him in so many words that he was giving his 'ibadah to others, and thus committing shirk, he might resent this strongly and even quarrel violently, but according to the criteria applicable he will unconsciously have been living as a worshiper of others as an adherent of the deens of others, without ever suspecting that in fact was the case.
Why the Misapprehensions ?
The reason why the misapprehensions hinted at above have come into existence is a historical one. When the Qur'an was first presented to the Arabs they all knew what was meant by ilah or rabb as both the words were already current in their language.`They were not new terms, nor were any new meanings put upon them. They knew fully well what the connotations were and so, when it was said that Allah alone is the IIah, and the Rabb and that no-one has the least share in the qualities and attributes which the words denote, they at once comprehended the full import, understood completely without any doubt or uncertainty as to what specifically was being declared to pertain to Allah exclusively and what was being hence denied to others. Those who opposed the precept were very clear in their minds as to the implications of denying others than Allah to be ilahs or rabbs, in any sense, while those who accepted it knew equally well what they would have to give up by their acceptance and what they would forgo.
Similarly, the words 'ibadah and deen were in common use, and the people knew what was meant by 'abd, what state was implied by 'ubudiyyah (the state of being an 'abd) what kind of conduct was referred to when the word 'ibadah was used, and what was the sense of the term deen. So, when they were told to give up the 'ibadah of all others and reserve it exclusively for Allah, and give up all other deens and enter into the Deen of Allah only, they felt no difficulty in concluding what the Qur'anic da'wah (message) implied and the drastic revolution in their way of life it sought to bring about.
But as centuries passed, the real meanings of these terms gradually under went subtle changes so that, in course of time, instead of the full connotations, they came to stand for only very limited meanings or restricted and rather vague concepts. One reason was the gradual decline of interest in the Arabic language and the other that the words ceased to have the same meanings for the later generations of Muslims that they had for the original Arabs to whom the Qur'an had been revealed. It is for these two reasons that in the more recent lexicons and commentaries many of the Qur'anic words began to be explained not by their original sense but by what they had by then come to stand for, e.g., The word ilah, as used in respect of others than God, came to be synonymous with idols or gods; The word rabb came to mean only someone who brings up or rears or feeds another or provides for his worldly needs; 'Ibadah began to be understood as the performance of a set of rituals of "worship"; Deen began to mean a religion, or belief in some precepts; and the word Thaghut began to be translated to mean an idol or the Devil.
The result obviously was that it became difficult for people to get at the real message of the Qur'an. The Qur'an asks people not to regard any other than Allah as an ilah. People thought that since they had actually given up the worship of idols or of others regarded as gods, they had fulfilled the requirements, although in practice they have in fact gone on treating others as gods, but without the least suspicion crossing their minds that they were actually doing so. The Qur'an had asked that men should not acknowledge any other than God as rabb. The people thought that since they did not profess anyone else to be a rabb, they had complied with the full requirements of the concept of Tawhid. True enough, their oral professions or even their own understanding of their beliefs and actions, denoted that for them Allah was the one and only Rabb, but they little realized that by their actions they were instead according to many another too the status of rabb.
They protested that they no longer worshiped the idols, that they uttered curses on the Devil, and prostrated themselves before Allah only, and so here too they were doing all that the Qur'an required of them. And yet, how far they were from that! All they did was to give up the idols shaped by the hands of men, but not any of the other Thaghuts, and as for 'ibadah, here too, except for the formalities generally associated with worship, they continued giving it to many others besides Allah. The same has been the case with deen. To reserve it exclusively for Allah -came to mean to profess only the "religion of Islam," and not any of the other religions known as such, and this was all that was required and whosoever did this had satisfied the criterion of exclusiveness, although when looked at from the wider connotation of the word deen the majority fall far, far short of the criterion.
The Consequences
This being the case, is it any wonder that, through the mist that has come to surround the precise sense of the four terms in question, more than three-fourths of the teachings of the Qur'an, or rather, the real spirit thereof, have become obscured, and this is the main cause of the shortcomings that are to be seen in peoples' beliefs and acts despite the fact that they have not formally given up the faith of Islam but are still in its fold. It is therefore of utmost importance that in order to have a full and complete understanding of the Qur'anic teachings and of their central idea, one should know, as a fundamental to being a good Muslim, what these terms really mean.
Although I have given explanations of these terms in many earlier writings, they are not enough to remove all the misconceptions in peoples' minds, nor are they likely to satisfy everybody because, in the absence of full semantic explanations based on recognized Arabic usage, and quotations from the Qur'an itself, I might be taken as expressing my own opinion only, an opinion which in any case will not appeal to those who differ with me on other issues. I shall therefore endeavor, in the forthcoming discussions, to extensively quote the dictionary sense of the words, and not say anything which I cannot base either on recognized usage, or the Qur'an. The order I shall follow will be Ilah, Rabb, Ibadah, and Deen.
ILAH
Dictionary Meanings
The root of this word consists of the three letters, alif, lam, and ha and the connotations of various derivations, as one finds in lexicons are as follows:
[FONT=Verdana, Arial, Helvetica]If we reflect upon these original meanings, we can gain the necessary idea of how the verb came to mean the act of worship and the noun to denote the object of worship. There are four considerations to bear in mind in this connection:
- Foremost among the factors which engender a sentiment of some degree of adoration for some one is a person's own state of being in distress or need. He cannot even conceive of worshiping someone unless he has reason to believe that someone to be in a position to remove his distress, to fulfil his needs, to give him shelter and protect him in time of danger, and soothe his troubled heart.
- It goes without saying that the above belief is accompanied by a belief also in the superiority of the other in status, power, and strength.
- It is also a matter of fact that where any of the needs of a human being are met under the ordinary process of give and take, which takes place perceptibly before one's own eyes, it leads to no sense of reverence, much less of adoration, for the other. For example, if I should be in need of money and, having applied for, and been given a job, am paid for it, since the whole transaction would take place within the full ken of my senses, and I would be fully aware of the circumstances or the reason for giving me the money, I would experience not the slightest desire to offer my employer any adoration. That sentiment arises only when there is some element of mystery surrounding the personality, the power, or the ability of the other to fulfil peoples' needs or to influence events. That is why the word chosen to denote an object of worship includes in its meanings the senses of mystery, perplexity, and superiority in status, etc.
- Lastly, it is only natural that if one believes another to be in a position to fulfill one's needs, to provide shelter and protection, to soothe a disturbed heart and fill it with peace and calm, one turns eagerly to that person as a matter of course.
[FONT=Verdana, Arial, Helvetica]The Pre-Islamic Concept [/FONT]
[FONT=Verdana, Arial, Helvetica]Having discussed the various literal senses of the word, let us now see what the pre-Islamic concepts of ilah were, and which of these the Qur'an strove to reject: [/FONT]
[FONT=Verdana, Arial, Helvetica]And they have taken for their ilahs others than Allah, that they may according to their reckoning be a source of strength to them (or that coming under their protection may confer security).[/FONT]
[FONT=Verdana, Arial, Helvetica](19 : 81) Surat Maryam [/FONT]
[FONT=Verdana, Arial, Helvetica]And they have taken others than Allah as their ilahs hoping that they might be helped when needed.[/FONT]
[FONT=Verdana, Arial, Helvetica](36:74) Surat Yaasin [/FONT]
[FONT=Verdana, Arial, Helvetica]From these two verses we learn that the Arabs of the Jahiliyyah (the pre-Islamic period of Ignorance) believed that those whom they regarded as ilahs were their patrons, would come to their rescue in time of danger or difficulty, and that by placing themselves under their protection they rendered themselves safe from fear, molestation or harm. [/FONT]
[FONT=Verdana, Arial, Helvetica]And when the Decree of your Lord had gone forth (and the time came for its execution), the ilahs they used to invoke instead of Allah proved of no avail to them and contributed only to their doom.[/FONT]
[FONT=Verdana, Arial, Helvetica](11 : 101) Surat Hud [/FONT]
[FONT=Verdana, Arial, Helvetica]And those whom the people call to instead of Allah have not created aught, but are themselves creatures. Dead they are, and not alive, and they know not when they would be raised from their state, the real ilah is the One and Only Ilah.[/FONT]
[FONT=Verdana, Arial, Helvetica](18 : 20-21) Surat Al-Kahf [/FONT]
[FONT=Verdana, Arial, Helvetica]Invoke not; or pray to, any ilah along with Allah. There is no ilah but He.[/FONT]
[FONT=Verdana, Arial, Helvetica](28 : 88) Surat Al-Qasas [/FONT]
[FONT=Verdana, Arial, Helvetica]....And those who, instead of praying to Allah, pray to His supposed associates do but follow suppositions and idle guesses.[/FONT]
[FONT=Verdana, Arial, Helvetica](10:66) Surat Yunus [/FONT]
[FONT=Verdana, Arial, Helvetica]These verses point to three aspects. The first is that the Arabs used to address their prayers to those whom they regarded as their ilahs and invoke them in times of distress or for fulfilment of any of their needs. The second is that these ilahs included not only Jinns, angels, and gods, but dead humans too, as one can see from the second of the above verses. The third is that they believed that these ilahs could hear their prayers and could come to their rescue. [/FONT]
[FONT=Verdana, Arial, Helvetica]It seems desirable to clear up one point, at this stage, about the nature of the prayer made to the ilah or ilahs and the help or succour sought of them. If I feel thirsty, and call to my servant to give me some water, or am unwell and call for a doctor for treatment, my summons to them does not constitute du'a, that is, it has no similarity to a prayer sent up to a deity, nor does this make either the servant or the doctor into an ilah. Both these are common, in everyday happenings, with nothing of the supernatural about them. However, if I should, while feeling thirsty or unwell, call to some saint or god instead of the servant or a doctor, that obviously would amount to treating the saint or god as an ilah and to my addressing a du'a to him. Addressing a prayer to a saint confined to his grave hundreds or even thousands of miles away clearly indicates that I believe him--though dead--to be possessed of the power to listen to a prayer at such a distance or to otherwise being aware of things so far off or, if one may use the appropriate Arabic words, to be both samee and baseer. My action would clearly imply belief in their exercising such a way over the realm of creation as to be able to have water reach me or to make me recover from my illness. In the case of a god, my prayer would mean that I believe him to possess power over water and over health and sickness, and to therefore arrange, by supernatural means, to fulfill my needs. Thus, the basis on which a prayer is addressed to someone includes necessarily a concept of his being possessed of some supernatural authority and power. [/FONT]
[FONT=Verdana, Arial, Helvetica]And, verily, We did destroy the places of which you see ruins about you, and We showed them Our signs in diverse ways that they might turn (away from their wrong ways to Us). So why did not those whom they had made their ilahs, and presumed to have access to Us, help them in their hour of doom? Far from helping, they abandoned them and made themselves scarce, exposing the hollowness of their falsehoods and fabrications.[/FONT]
[FONT=Verdana, Arial, Helvetica](46 : 27, 28) Surat Al-Ahqaf [/FONT]
[FONT=Verdana, Arial, Helvetica]And wherefore should I not give my worship to Him who created me and to Whom all of you will return? Should I take for myself ilah other than Allah Who, should He Who is also Ar-Rahman wish me any harm, will avail me naught by their intercession, nor will they be able to come to my rescue?[/FONT]
[FONT=Verdana, Arial, Helvetica](36 : 22-23) Surat Yaasin [/FONT]
[FONT=Verdana, Arial, Helvetica]And those who have taken others than Allah as protectors or helpers say, "We do not worship them except that they may bring us closer to Him." Allah will decide for them on the Day of Judgement regarding that in which they differ.[/FONT]
[FONT=Verdana, Arial, Helvetica](39 : 3) Surat Az-Zumar [/FONT]
[FONT=Verdana, Arial, Helvetica]And they worship other than Allah those who have power neither to harm nor benefit them, and they say that they are their intercessors with Him.[/FONT]
[FONT=Verdana, Arial, Helvetica](10 : 18) Surat Yunus [/FONT]
[FONT=Verdana, Arial, Helvetica]What we learn from these verses is, firstly, that it was not that the Arabs believed their ilahs to account for the whole of divinity among themselves or that there was no Supreme Being over and above them. They quite clearly believed in the existence of such a Being for whom they employed the special Proper name of ''Allah." As for their ilahs, their belief consisted essentially of the concept that they enjoyed some share in the divinity of the Supreme God, that their word carried some weight with Him, and that their intercession could result in some gains or ward off some harm or loss. It was on these grounds that they regarded them as ilahs besides Allah and, considering their precept and practice, we may say that it was the belief about someone to have power to intercede with God, the act of addressing of prayers to him for help, the performing of certain devotions indicative of respect and reverence and adoration, and the making of offerings, that constituted in their terminology, the treating of Him as ilah. And God said: "Do not make two ilahs; there is but one ilah; So, fear Me alone."[/FONT]
[FONT=Verdana, Arial, Helvetica](16:51) Surat An-Nahl [/FONT]
[FONT=Verdana, Arial, Helvetica]And (Ibrahim said to them): I fear not those you associate with God. Any harm can come to me only if He should will it, and not otherwise (through any or all of your supposed gods).[/FONT]
[FONT=Verdana, Arial, Helvetica](6 : 81) Surat Al-An'am [/FONT]
[FONT=Verdana, Arial, Helvetica](And said Hud's people to him
All we think of you is that you are under the curse of someone or other of our ilahs.[/FONT][FONT=Verdana, Arial, Helvetica](11 : 54) Surat Hud [/FONT]
[FONT=Verdana, Arial, Helvetica]According to these verses, the Arab belief about their ilahs was that if they should give them any cause for offence or should otherwise be deprived of their favors and attentions, they would suffer epidemics, famine, lose of life and property, or other calamities. [/FONT]
[FONT=Verdana, Arial, Helvetica]They made their religious scholars and rabbis their rabbs instead of Allah, and Jesus son of Mary too into one, although they had been told to worship but one ilah only, besides Whom there is no ilah at all.[/FONT]
[FONT=Verdana, Arial, Helvetica](9 : 31) Surat At-Tawba [/FONT]
[FONT=Verdana, Arial, Helvetica]Have you noticed the men who has made his selfish desires his ilah? Can you assume any responsibility about such a one?[/FONT]
[FONT=Verdana, Arial, Helvetica](25 : 43) Surat Al-Furqan [/FONT]
[FONT=Verdana, Arial, Helvetica]And in this wise did the supposed gods of pagans make infanticide appear an approved act in their eyes.[/FONT]
[FONT=Verdana, Arial, Helvetica](6 : 138) Surat Al-An'am [/FONT][FONT=Verdana, Arial, Helvetica]What! Have they partners in godhood who have established for them some religion without sanction from Gods?[/FONT]
[FONT=Verdana, Arial, Helvetica](42 : 21) Surat Al Shura'h [/FONT]
[FONT=Verdana, Arial, Helvetica]Here we have yet another concept of ilah very different from those dealt with above. Here there is no element of the supernatural. The ilah here is some human being, or man's own selfish ego or selfish desires. No prayers are offered to it, nor is it regarded as being in a position to will any harm or benefit to someone nor is it looked to for help or succour. It is an ilah in the sense that its dictates are accepted and obeyed to such extent that that which it declares to be permitted or prohibited is treated as such, and it is deemed to have an inherent right to make us do or not do certain things, with no higher or superior authority whose approval might be necessary for its orders or which might be appealed to against them. [/FONT]
[FONT=Verdana, Arial, Helvetica]The first verse we have quoted here (9:31) speaks of religious scholars and rabbis having been made into ilahs. We get a very lucid explanation of this in Hadith. Hazrat 'Adi bin Hatim once asked the Holy Prophet, on whom be peace, about the verse, and in reply the Prophet told him that whet was characterized as taking as ilahs was the practice of accepting as permitted or prohibited anything pronounced as such by the scholars or rabbis, without caring to ascertain what God had actually said about it. [/FONT]
[FONT=Verdana, Arial, Helvetica]As for the second verse, (25:43) the meaning is clear enough. He who obeys only the dictates of his selfish desires or inclinations or, rather regards his personal views as the only law, in effect makes his self his ilah instead of God. [/FONT]
[FONT=Verdana, Arial, Helvetica]The last two verses use the word shuraka which we have translated as supposed gods or partners, in godhood, but although the word ilah has not been used, the implication clearly is that to treat any beings, etc., as shuraka amounts, in effect, to believing them to have a share in divinity. The import of these verses is that those who regard any custom or rule or practice as permissible although it has no divine sanction, are guilty of treating the originators of the custom, etc., as having a share in divinity, i. e., of treating them as ilahs. [/FONT]
[FONT=Verdana, Arial, Helvetica]The Criterion for Godhood [/FONT]
[FONT=Verdana, Arial, Helvetica]There is a clear logical inter-connection between all the different concepts of ilah set out above. Whosoever regards any other person or being to be his helper or patron in the supernatural sense, or capable of solving his problems or fulfilling his needs, of hearing and granting his prayers, or of doing him harm or good, does so only because he believes that Person or being to enjoy some measure of authority in the management of the universe. [/FONT]
[FONT=Verdana, Arial, Helvetica]Similarly, if a person's avoidance of certain actions or performance of others is governed by the hope or fear that they would win him the pleasure or displeasure of some other person or being, he does so obviously because of belief that that person or being possesses some kind of supernatural authority in shaping the affairs of men. As for him who believes in God and yet turns to others for the fulfilment of his needs, he too can do so only because he believes them to have some share in God's authority. And, lastly, no different is the case of the person who accords the status of law to the commandments of someone other than God, and binds himself to obey the injunctions or prohibitions of that someone, for he in effect thereby accords him supreme authority. We can therefore safely conclude that the essence of godhood is authority, whether it is conceived as sovereignty of a supernatural kind over the whole universe, or on the basis that man is bound by God's law in his worldly life and that all of His injunctions are to be complied with because they emanate from Him.[/FONT]
