Praise be to God! There is no other god except God.
Verse 3:18 in the Quran states the First Pillar of Islam (Submission) which is “God bears witness that there is no other god besides Him, and so do the angels and those who possess knowledge.”
This most crucial pillar has been distorted. Millions of Muslims have adopted Satan’s polytheistic version, and insist upon mentioning the name of Muhammad besides the name of God. However, the Quran’s great criterion in 39:45 stamps such Muslims as disbelievers: “When God ALONE is mentioned, the hearts of those who do disbelieve in the Hereafter shrink with aversion, but when others are mentioned with Him, they become satisfied.”
You might even notice this in practice. The idol worshipers who do not uphold the First Pillar of Islam as dictated in 3:18 are forbidden by God from uttering the correct Shahadah. They simply cannot say: “Ash-hadu Allaa Elaaha Ellaa Allah” by itself, without mentioning the name of Muhammad. Try it with any idol worshiper who claims to be a Muslim. Challenge them to say: “Ash-hadu Allaa Elaaha Ellaa Allah.” They can never say it. Since this is the religion of Abraham (2:130, 135; 3:95; 4:125; 6:161; 12:37-38; 16:123; 22:78;), the ONLY creed must be “LAA ELAAHA ELLAA ALLAH (there is no god except the One God)”.
A Gross Blasphemy
There is no greater blasphemy than distorting the Quran to idolize the prophet Muhammad against his will. Verse 19 of Sura “Muhammad” (47:19) states: “You shall know that there is no god except the one God.” Shown below is a photocopy of the regular logo of a Muslim publication THE REVIEW OF RELIGIONS (The London Mosque, 16 Gressenhall Road, London SW18 5QL,
England). Using the Quran’s calligraphic style, the publishers of THE REVIEW OF RELIGIONS added the phrase “Muhammad Rasool Allah” in such a way that gives a false impression that such is the Quranic statement of 47:19. What a blasphemy!
So, this calligraphy says “You shall know that there is no god besides the One God, Allah. Muhammad is a messenger of God.” This is quite a typical example of the distorted Islam.
Friday Sermon based on Appendix 13 of the Authorized English Translation of the Quran by Rashad Khalifa
Praise be to God! There is no other god except God.
The Prophet’s sole mission was to deliver Quran, the whole Quran, and nothing but Quran (3:20; 5:48-50, 92, 99; 6:19; 13:40; 16:35, 82; 24:54; 29:18; 42:48; 64:12).
Delivering the Quran was such a momentous and noble mission that the Prophet did not have any time to do anything else. Moreover, the Prophet was enjoined in the strongest words from issuing any religious teachings besides the Quran (69:38-47). He was even enjoined from explaining the Quran (75:15-19)— God is the only teacher of the Quran (55:1-2) and the Quran is the best Hadith (39:23 & 45:6).
These Quranic facts are manifested in the historical reality that the words and actions (Hadith & Sunna) attributed to the Prophet did not appear until the second century after his death. The Quran has prophesied the fabrication of Hadith and Sunna by the Prophet’s enemies (6:112-115). The Quran teaches us that it was God’s will to permit the invention of Hadith and Sunna to serve as criteria for exposing those who believe only with their lips, not in their hearts. Those who are attracted to Hadith and Sunna are proven to be false believers (6:113). Ironically, the books of Hadith report the Prophet’s orders to write down nothing from him except the Quran! For example, let me show you two such Hadiths taken from the Hadithists’ most reliable sources, Sahih Muslim and Is-haah Ahmad Ibn Hanbal:
Friday Sermon based on Appendix 12 of the Authorized English Translation of the Quran by Rashad Khalifa (1989)
Praise be to God! There is no other god except God.
Verse 39:68 in the Quran says that when the horn is blown, everyone in the heavens and the earth is struck unconscious, except those spared by God. Then it is blown a second time, whereupon they rise up.
The earth will shine with the light of God (39:69) as He comes to our universe, together with the angels (89:22). Since our universe is a temporary dominion for Satan, it cannot stand the physical presence of God (7:143). As the Almighty approaches, the stars will crash into one another (77:8, 81:2), and the earth will shatter under our feet (69:14, 89:21). These horrors will not worry the believers (21:103).
The High Heaven
Upon arrival of Almighty God, all the humans and jinns will be automatically stratified according to their degree of growth and development. Those who nourished their souls through worshiping God alone, believing in the Hereafter, and leading a righteous life will be strong enough to stay close to God; they will occupy the highest ranks.
The Lower Heaven
Those who developed their souls to a lesser degree, as well as those who die before the age of forty, will move downward to the Lower Heaven. They will go to the location where they can be as close to God as their degree of growth and development permits them to be.
The Purgatory
There will be people who nourished their souls just enough to spare them Hell, but not enough to enter the Lower Heaven. They are neither in Hell, nor in Heaven. They will implore God to admit them into the Lower Heaven (7:4650). God will have mercy on them, and will merge the Purgatory into the Lower Heaven.
Hell
A new, eighth universe will be created to house those who run away from God due to their weakness; they failed to nourish and develop their souls (69:17).
Friday Sermon based on Appendix 11 of the Authorized English Translation of the Quran by Rashad Khalifa (1989)
Praise be to God! There is no other god except God.
In the English speaking world, where the trinity doctrine is prevalent, some people are intrigued by God’s usage of the plural tense in the Quran. The overwhelming message of the Quran, where there is absolutely no compromise is that “GOD IS ONE” (2:133, 163; 4:171; 5:73; 6:19; 9:31; 12:39; 13:16; 14:48, 52; 16:22, 51; 18:110; 21:108; 22:34; 37:4; 38:65; 39:4; 40:16; 41:6; 112:1).
Whenever the first person plural form is used by the Almighty, it invariably indicates participation of other entities, such as the angels. For example, the revelation of this Quran involved participation of the angel Gabriel and the prophet Muhammad. Hence the use of the plural form in 15:9: “We revealed this scripture, and we will preserve it.” The plural form here simply reflects the fact that the angel Gabriel and the prophet Muhammad participated in the process of delivering the Quran.
Another example has to do with blowing the breath of life into Adam and Jesus. The creation of Adam took place in heaven and God directly blew into him the breath of life. Thus, the first person singular form is consistently used: “I blew into Adam from My spirit” (15:29, 38:72). The creation of Jesus, on the other hand, took place on earth, and Gabriel carried God’s “word” to Mary. The plural form is consistently used when referring to the creation of Jesus (21:91, 66:12).
When God spoke to Moses directly, without the mediation of angels, we see that God is speaking exclusively in the singular tense: “I am God. There is no other god besides Me. You shall worship Me alone, and observe the regular contact prayers (Salat) to commemorate Me.” (20:12-14).
Whenever the worship of God is mentioned, the singular tense is used (51:56).
Praise be to God! There is no other god except God.
One of the prevalent myths is that Muhammad was the founder of Islam.
Although Islam, total submission to God alone, is the only religion recognized by God since the time of Adam (3:19, 85), Abraham is reported in the Quran as the first user of the word “Islam” (Submission) and the one who called us “Muslims”, i.e., Submitters (22:78). Abraham’s exemplary submission to God is demonstrated by his famous willingness to sacrifice his only son, Ismail, when he thought that that was God’s command. As it turns out, such a command was in fact from Satan.
God Never Ordered Abraham to Sacrifice His Son
God is the Most Merciful. He never violates His own law (7:28). Any person who believes that the Most Merciful ordered Abraham to kill his son cannot possibly make it to God’s Heaven. Such evil thought about God is grossly blasphemous. Nowhere in the Quran do we see that God ordered Abraham to kill his son. On the contrary, God intervened to save Abraham and Ismail from Satan’s plot (37:107), and He told Abraham: “You believed the dream” (37:105). Undoubtedly, it was a dream inspired by Satan. God’s irrevocable law is: “God never advocates sin” (7:28).
Millat Ibrahim
Islam is called “Millat Ibrahim” (The Religion of Abraham) throughout the Quran (2:130, 135; 3:95; 4:125; 6:161; 12:37-38; 16:123; 21:73; 22:78). Moreover, the Quran informs us that Muhammad was a follower of Abraham (16:123).
Due to a general unawareness of the fact that Abraham was the original messenger of Islam, many so-called Muslims challenge God: “If the Quran is complete and fully detailed (as claimed by God), where can we find the number of Rak‘ahs (units) in each contact prayer (Salat)?” We learn from the Quran that all religious practices of Islam (Submission) were already established before the Quran’s revelation (8:35, 9:54, 16:123, 21:73, 22:27, 28:27). Verse 16:123 is direct proof that all religious practices in Islam were intact when Muhammad was born. Muhammad was enjoined to “follow the religion of Abraham.” If I ask you to buy a color TV, it is assumed that you know what a color TV is. Similarly, when God enjoined Muhammad to follow the practices of Abraham (16:123), such practices must have been well known.
Another proof of divine preservation of the Islamic practices given to Abraham is the “Universal Acceptance” of such practices. There is no dispute concerning the number of Rak‘ahs in all five daily prayers. This proves the divine preservation of Salat. The Quran’s mathematical code confirms the number of Rak‘ahs in the five prayers 2, 4, 4, 3, and 4, respectively. The number 24434 is a multiple of 19.
The Quran deals only with practices that were distorted. For example, the distorted ablution is restored in 5:6 to its original four steps. The tone of voice during the contact prayers (Salat) was distorted—many Muslims pray silently. This was corrected in the Quran, 17:110. The fasting during Ramadan was modified in the Quran to allow intercourse during the night (2:187).
Friday Sermon based on Appendix 9 of the Authorized English Translation of the Quran by Rashad Khalifa (1989)
Praise be to God! There is no other god except God.
To believe that anyone, other than God, can intercede on our behalf to have our sins forgiven or our wishes fulfilled, is to set up partners with God. This is idolatry. The Quran proclaims that “All intercession belongs to God” (39:44), and that there will be “no intercession on the Day of Judgment” (2:254).
The myth of intercession is one of Satan’s most effective tricks to dupe millions of people into idol worship. Millions of Christians believe that Jesus will intercede for them at God, and millions of Muslims believe that Muhammad will intercede on their behalf. Consequently, these people idolize Jesus and Muhammad.
The concept of intercession is utterly illogical. Those who believe in Muhammad’s intercession, for example, claim that he will ask God to forgive them and admit them into Paradise. They imagine Muhammad on the Day of Judgment choosing the candidates for his intercession. If you ask those who believe in intercession: “How will Muhammad recognize those who deserve his intercession?” they tell you, “God will tell him!” According to this concept, a person will go to Muhammad and request his intercession. Muhammad will then ask God whether this person deserves his intercession or not. God will inform Muhammad that the person deserves to go to Paradise. Muhammad will then turn around and tell God that the person deserves to go to Paradise! The blasphemy is obvious; those who believe in intercession make God a secretary of their idol Muhammad. God be glorified.
Since the Quran is the most accurate book, it acknowledges that everyone in Paradise will intercede on behalf of his or her loved ones: “Please God, admit my mother into Paradise.” This intercession will work if the person’s mother deserves to go to Paradise (2:255, 20:109, 21:28). Thus, intercession, though it will take place in this manner, is utterly useless.
We learn from the Quran that Abraham, God’s beloved servant, could not intercede on behalf of his father (9:114). Noah could not intercede on behalf of his son (11:46). Muhammad could not intercede on behalf of his uncle (111:1-3) or relatives (9:80). What makes anyone think that a prophet or a saint will intercede on behalf of a perfect stranger?! See verses 2:48, 123; 6:51, 70, 94; 7:53; 10:3; 19:87; 26:100; 30:13; 32:4; 36:23; 39:44; 40:18; 43:86; 53:26 & 74:48. Muhammad’s “intercession” is in verse 25:30, which says, “The messenger said, “My Lord, my people have deserted this Quran.”
Friday Sermon based on Appendix 8 of the Authorized English Translation of the Quran by Rashad Khalifa
Praise be to God! There is no other god except God.
We are in this world because we committed a horrendous crime, and this life is our chance to redeem ourselves, denounce our crime, and rejoin God’s kingdom.
It all began a few billion years ago when “a feud arose in the Heavenly Society” (38:69). One of the high-ranking creatures, Satan, entertained supercilious thoughts that his God-given powers qualified him to be a god besides God. He thus challenged God’s absolute authority.
In chapters 14, verses 13 through 15, of the book of Isaiah, we read, “You, Lucifer, said in your heart: “I will scale the heavens. Above the stars of God. I will set up my throne. I will take my seat on the Mount of Congregation, in the recesses of the North. I will ascend above the tops of the clouds; I will be like the Most High!”
Also, in chapters 4 of Mathew and Luke, we read, “The devil then took Jesus up a very high mountain and displayed before him all the kingdoms of the world in their magnificence, promising: “All these will I bestow on you if you prostrate yourself in homage before me.” At this, Jesus said to him, “Away with you, Satan! Scripture has it: ‘You shall worship the Lord your God; Him ALONE shall you adore.’ ”
So, not only was Satan’s idea blasphemous, it was wrong—only God, and no one else, possesses the qualifications and ability to be a god. Consequent to Satan’s blasphemy, a division occurred in the Heavenly Society, and all constituents of God’s kingdom became classified into four categories:
Angels: Creatures who upheld God’s absolute authority.
Animals: Creatures who rebelled but then accepted God’s invitation to repent.
Jinns: Creatures who agreed with Satan; that he is capable of being a “god.”
Humans: Creatures who did not make up their minds; they failed to make a firm stand with God’s absolute authority.
The Most Merciful
The angels expected God to banish the creatures who did not uphold His absolute authority (2:30). But God is Most Merciful; He decided to give us a chance to denounce our mistake, and informed the angels that He knew what they did not know (2:30). God knew that some creatures deserved a chance to be redeemed.
If you claim the ability to fly a plane, the best way to test your claim is to give you a plane and ask you to fly it. This is precisely what God decided to do in response to Satan’s claim. God created seven vast universes, then informed the angels that He was appointing Satan as a god on the tiny mote called “Earth” (2:30). The Quranic accounts related to appointing Satan as a temporary “god” (36:60) confirm the previous scripture.
God’s plan called for creating death (67:1-2), then bringing the humans and jinns into this world. Thus, they start over without any biases, and exercise full freedom to uphold God’s absolute authority or Satan’s polytheistic theory. To make this crucial decision, every human being receives a message from God advocating His absolute authority, as well as a message from Satan pushing his polytheistic principles.
To give us a headstart, the Most Merciful gathered all the human beings before Him, prior to sending us to this world, and we bore witness that He alone is our Lord and Master (7:172). Thus, upholding God’s absolute authority is a natural instinct that is an integral part of every human being.
After putting the rebels to death, the souls of humans and jinns were placed in a special depository. God then created the appropriate bodies to house the souls of jinns and humans during the test period. The first jinn body was made from fire, and Satan was assigned to that body (15:27). The first human body was created from earthly material, clay (15:26), and God assigned the first human soul to that body. The divine plan called for the angels to serve the humans on earth—guard them, drive the wind and rain for them, distribute provisions, etc. This fact is stated in the Quran allegorically: “Your Lord said to the angels, ‘Fall prostrate before Adam.’” Satan of course refused to have anything to do with serving the human race (2:34, 7:11, 17:61, 18:50, 20:116).
While Adam’s body remained on earth, the real person, the soul, was admitted into Heaven in the outermost universe. God gave Adam certain commandments, represented by the forbidden tree, and Satan was appointed as Adam’s companion to deliver to Adam his satanic message. The rest is history.
Every time a human being is born, a human person is assigned to the new baby from the depository of souls. God assigns the souls in accordance with His knowledge (28:68). Every soul deserves to be assigned to a certain body, and live under certain circumstances. God alone knows which souls are good and which souls are evil. Our children are assigned to our homes in accordance with God’s plan.
An independent jinn soul is also assigned to the new human being to represent Satan’s point of view. While the physical body of any jinn is reproduced from the parent jinns, the jinn soul is that of an independent individual. Jinns are descendants of Satan (7:27, 18:50). The assigned jinn remains with the human being from birth to death, and serves as the main witness on the Day of Judgment (50:23). A continuous debate takes place in our heads between the human soul and the jinn soul until both of them are convinced of one point of view.
The Original Sin
Contrary to common belief, the “Original Sin” was not Adam’s violation of God’s law when he ate from the forbidden tree. The original sin was our failure to uphold God’s absolute authority during the Great Feud. If the human person convinces his or her jinn companion to denounce that original sin, and uphold God’s absolute authority, both creatures are redeemed to God’s eternal kingdom on the Day of Judgment. But if the jinn companion convinces the human being to uphold Satan’s idolatrous views, then both creatures are exiled forever from God’s kingdom.
To promote his point of view, Satan and his representatives advocate the idolization of such powerless creatures as Muhammad, Jesus, Mary, and the saints. Since we are here due to our polytheistic tendencies, most of us are easy prey for Satan.
Satan’s incompetence as a “god” has already been proven by the prevalence of chaos, disease, accidents, misery, and war throughout his dominion (36:66). On the other hand, the human beings who denounce Satan, uphold God’s absolute authority, and refrain from idolizing powerless and dead creatures like Jesus and Muhammad, are restored to God’s protection—they enjoy a perfect life here in this world and forever.
Because our life in this world is a series of tests designed to expose our polytheistic ideas, idol worship is the only unforgivable offense (4:48, 116). The world is divinely designed to manifest our decision to uphold either God’s absolute authority, or Satan’s idolatrous views (67:1-2). The day and the night change constantly to test our willingness to uphold God’s laws by observing the Dawn Prayer and fasting during the hottest and longest days. Only those who are totally certain about God’s absolute authority are redeemed (26:89).
Praise be to God! There is no other god except God.
We learn from Verse 39:67 that God’s greatness is far beyond human comprehension—the verse states that all seven universes are “folded within God’s hand.”
We are taught in the Quran that our universe is the smallest and innermost of seven universes (41:12, 55:33, 67:5, & 72:8-12). Meanwhile, our scientific advances have shown us that our galaxy, the Milky Way, is 100,000 light years across, and that our universe contains a billion such galaxies and a billion trillion stars, plus countless decillions of heavenly bodies. Our universe is estimated to span about 93 billion light years.
If we take only a quintillion [1,000,000,000,000,000,000] of the stars and simply count them [from 0 to quintillion] one count per second, day and night, this will take 32 billion years (more than the age of the universe). That is how long it will take to just “count” them; but God “created” them. Such is the greatness of God.
We can appreciate the vastness of our universe if we imagine going on a space odyssey. When we leave the planet Earth towards the sun, at the speed of light, we reach the sun after 93,000,000 miles and 8 minutes. It will take us more than 50,000 years at the speed of light to exit our galaxy. From the outer limit of the Milky Way, our planet Earth is invisible. Not even the most powerful telescope can detect our tiny “Earth.”
We have to spend more than 2,000,000 years at the speed of light to reach our next-door galaxy. At least 10,000,000,000 years, at the speed of light, must be spent to reach the outer limit of our universe. From the outer limit of our universe, even the Milky Way is like a speck of dust in a large room.
The second universe surrounds our universe. The third universe is larger than the second, and so on. More accurately, our universe should be considered the seventh universe, surrounded by the sixth universe, which is surrounded by the fifth universe, and so on. Can you imagine the vastness of the first, outermost universe?
No number exists to describe the circumference of the first universe. This incomprehensible vastness is “within the fist of God’s hand.” From the outer limit of the outermost universe, where is the planet Earth? How significant is it? On the infinitesimal mote called Earth, such minuscule creatures as Mary, Jesus, and Muhammad lived. Yet, some people set up these powerless humans as gods!
God’s greatness is represented not only by the fact that He holds the seven universes in His hand, but also by the fact that He fully controls every atom, even subatomic components, everywhere in the greater universe (6:59, 10:61, & 34:3).
Praise be to God! There is no other god except God. In addition to being literal, the descriptions of Heaven and Hell throughout the Quran are also allegorical. And the Quran tells us so whenever such descriptions occur as independent statements, not within a general subject. See for example verses 2:24-26, 13:35, and 47:15. The word “Mathal” (allegory) is used in these verses. Linguistically, the word “Mathal” in these verses can be removed, and we still have perfect sentences. But it is there because the descriptions of Heaven and Hell are allegorical.
What Heaven and Hell are really like is far beyond our comprehension. Hence the need for allegory.
How can one describe, for example, the taste of chocolate to a person who never tasted chocolate? Allegory will have to be used. The person has to wait to actually taste chocolate in order to know what chocolate tastes like. Whatever allegory we use to describe the taste of chocolate can never approximate the real thing.
Heaven already exists, since Adam and Eve were placed in it during their days of innocence (2:35). We learn from Sura 55 that there are two “High Heavens”—one for the humans and one for the jinns—and two “Lower Heavens”—one for the humans and one for the jinns.
Hell is not created yet. It will be created on the Day of Judgment (69:17 & 89:23).
There are profound differences between the High Heaven and the Lower Heaven. Allegorically, the High Heaven has all kinds of fruit (55:52), while the Lower Heaven has a limited variety of fruits (55:68).
Allegorically, the pure spouses readily join their spouses in the High Heaven (55:56), while the dwellers of the Lower Heaven must go fetch their spouses (55:72).
Yet, even the Lower Heaven is an incredibly fantastic prize for those who are fortunate enough to escape Hell and end up in the Lower Heaven (3:185) — going to the Lower Heaven is a great triumph. People who depart this life before reaching their 40th birthday, and did not sufficiently develop their souls, will go to the Lower Heaven (46:15). The High Heaven is reserved for those who believed, led a righteous life, and developed their souls sufficiently.
According to verse 3:185, “Whoever succeeds in barely missing Hell, and is admitted into Heaven, has attained a great triumph.”
Praise be to God! There is no other god except God. We learn from 41:44 that the sincere believers have access to the Quran, regardless of their mother tongue. The disbelievers, on the other hand, are not permitted access to the Quran, even if they are professors of the Arabic language (17:45, 18:57, 41:44, & 56:79).
Arabic is the most efficient language in the world, especially when it comes to the precise statement of laws. Since the Quran is a Statute Book, it was crucial that such laws must be clearly stated. God chose Arabic for His Final Testament because of the obvious reason that it is the most suitable language for that purpose. Arabic is unique in its efficiency and accuracy. For example, the word “they” in English does not tell you if “they” are males or females. In Arabic there is a “they” for the males, “HUM,” and a “they” for the females, “HUNNA.” There is even a “they” for two males, “HUMAA,” and a “they” for two females, “HAATAAN.”. And the translators of the Quran end up appreciate this efficiency of the Arabic language, for example when translating verse 2:228. This verse enjoins the divorcee to give up her own wishes to divorce her husband, if she discovers that she is pregnant, and the husband wishes to reconcile—the welfare of the child takes a priority in this case. The efficiency of the Arabic language was extremely helpful in stating this law. Any other language would have made it almost impossible to point out whose wishes are to be superseded, at least not in such a few words as we see in verse 2:228.
The word “Qaalataa” of verse 28:23, for example, translates into four English words: “the two women said.” See, how efficient the Arabic language is.
Another possible reason for choosing Arabic is the fact that “He” and “She” do not necessarily imply natural gender. Thus, when God is referred to as “He,” this does not imply gender at all. God be glorified; He is neither male, nor female. The usage of “He” to refer to God in the English language, for example, has contributed to a false image of God. This was not helped by such distorted expressions as “Father” when referring to God. You never find such a reference to God in the Quran.
