The object of worship is God ALONE. The Muslims, however, have been preoccupied with their idolization of the Prophet in much the same way as the Christians’ preoccupation with Jesus. The only difference being that the Muslims are not aware of their idolatry.
In the process of exalting and idolizing a dead, powerless, and totally unaware human being (see 39:30), the Muslims have disobeyed the Prophet, and forgot the only one who created them, the only one who is eternally in control, the only one who provides for them, the only one who terminates their life, the only one who will resurrect them, the only one who will call them to account, and the only one who will place them in Heaven or Hell.
The function of every messenger has been defined in Qur’an as delivering the message LA ILAHA ILLA ALLAH (there is no god except God) (see 21:25). Now, let us put things in perspective. Our Creator informs us that Qur’an is the only utterance by Muhammad to be upheld as THE ONLY SOURCE OF RELIGIOUS TEACHING (Quran 6:19 and 69:38-47). This is affirmed by the strongest oath in Qur’an:
“I swear by everything you see, and everything you do not see. (this certainly covers everything in the universe). This is the utterance of an honorable messenger. It is not the utterance of a poet; rarely do you believe. Nor is it the utterance of a soothsayer, rarely do you take heed. A revelation from the Lord of the universe. And, if he (Muhammad) ever uttered any other religious teachings, we would have punished him severely, and we would have cut the revelation to him. None of you could have protected him against us.” (Qur’an 69:38-47) .
Now that we see that Qur’an is decreed by God, through the Prophet’s mouth, as THE ONLY RELIGIOUS TEACHINGS UTTERED BY MUHAMMAD, let us examine the Muslims’ daily disobedience of the Prophet.
The wise and fortunate Muslim will readily give up his inherited customs and religious ideas in favor of God’s commandments that came out of the Prophet’s mouth. The unfortunate ones, on the other hand, would stubbornly adhere to what they found their parents and scholars doing:
“When told, ‘You shall follow these revelations of God,’ they say, ‘No, we only follow what we found our parents doing’” (Quran 31:21)
“Their inevitable destiny is Hell. That is because they found their parents astray, and they readily followed in their footsteps.” (Quran 37:68-70)
Here is a list of daily transgressions by the average Muslim against God and the Prophet:
(1) EXALTING THE PROPHET AGAINST HIS WILL
Verse 285 of Sura 2 states: “The messenger has believed in what was revealed to him from his Lord, and so did the believers. All of them believe in God, His angels, His scriptures, and His messengers, saying, ‘We make no distinction among His messengers.’ And they say, ‘We hear and we obey. Forgive us, our Lord, to You is
the final destiny.’”
It is of course deliberate, and extremely significant that the statement “WE HEAR AND WE OBEY” comes immediately after the statement “WE MAKE NO DISTINCTION AMONG HIS MESSENGERS.” For it is a glaring fact of life in the Muslim World that the Muslims have defiantly declared “WE HEAR, BUT WE DISOBEY.” It is a fact of life in the Muslim World that the Muslims commit gross distinctions among God’s messengers by exalting Muhammad over and above all the rest. They bestow extravagant attention on the Prophet Muhammad, while neglecting all other messengers of God. Certainly, if Moses were alive today, and he walked the streets of Cairo, Tehran, or Karachi, he will never hear any Muslim declare: “ASH-HADU ALLA ILAHA ILLA ALLAH, WA ASH-HADU ANNA MOSES RASOOLUL-LAH.” The same would be observed by the Prophet Jesus, or Jonah, or Saleh, or Lot, or Solomon, or any other messenger.
This blatant disobedience of the commandments that came out of the Prophet Muhammad’s mouth is so deeply engrained that the average Muslim is now literally unable to say “LA ILAHA ILLA ALLAH (there is no god except God) by itself, without adding the name of Muhammad somehow. Moreover, they readily flunk the Qur’anic criterion that distinguishes true Muslims from false Muslims:
“When God ALONE is advocated, the hearts of those who do not believe in the Hereafter shrink with aversion. But when others are mentioned besides God, they become happy.” (Quran 39:45)
WHO ARE WE?
During the last 14 centuries traditions, customs, superstitions and innovations have crept into Islam. Gradually, these distortions came to be vested with such religious solemnity that anyone who questions them finds HIMSELF regarded as the dangerous innovator and heretic. Islam today is a precious jewel that is buried under piles upon piles of man-made innovations. Our aim is to eradicate all distortions and present the jewel of Islam to the world.
THIS IS A SINCERE INVITATION FOR ALL MUSLIMS TO COME TO GOD AND HIS PROPHET MUHAMMAD, AND TO OBEY GOD AND HIS PROPHET MUHAMMAD.
By: Rashad Khalifa as Editor of Muslim Perspective, May, 1985
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