God’s Message
Cont’d from page 2
So God is the only one who guides people. No one can do any guiding
unless it is in accordance with God’s will. Yet God has a
system for guiding people. He sends His messengers and prophets
as guiding teachers with inspirations from Him to deliver His message:
to teach people the rites of the religion, to establish the truth,
and to get rid of the falsehood. Those who follow the truth from
their Lord are the guided ones. Unfortunately, those who scorn God’s
revelations, and are consequently sent astray by God, can never
find a guiding teacher (18:17).
The information contained in the appendices and footnotes in the
translation of the Quran by Dr. Khalifa is no more than the explanation
of the verses, and the miracle of the Quran through his research.
Dr. Khalifa himself stated in the appendices that he did not bring
anything new. All the information he brought up was already in the
Quran. This is a blessing from God for those who appreciate it since
it has been made readily available to us.
There is nothing wrong in reading the footnotes, appendices or
any other religious publications for that matter, as long as we
don’t lose our perspective where the real source of guidance
is coming from and where the real source of information is. It is
not what we read, hear or watch to get more insight about our faith,
but it is what we do with that information and how we apply it to
our lives in a manner pleasing to God.
If we form an opinion based on what we read or hear outside of
the scripture, we should not expect others to follow it by forcing
the issue.
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God has detailed what we need to know
in the Quran. Anything beyond that is left up to us and to draw
our conclusions. However, if other people’s opinions end up
being different than ours, we have to respect them. If we think
people are arriving at wrong conclusions, we need to be able to
discuss with them amicably. If these opinions do not have serious
ramification on the rites of our faith and our submission to God,
they should be left alone, and not be made an issue. We are all
responsible for saving our necks. We are supposed to enjoin each
other to do the right things without forcing others to comply with
our understandings.
Idol Worship
We learn from the Quran that idol worship is an unforgivable sin
if it is maintained until death (4:48). Idol worship is a gross
injustice to the Almighty (31:13). We also learn that idol worship
is not limited only to the worship of idols or statues. It may come
in different forms, and can be very subtle. There are many examples
in the Quran. We could easily idolize money, business, family, children,
or any other loved ones. Our ego may become an idol. If we give
priority to anything over God, and we feel that anything or anybody
beside God can benefit or harm us, we fall into idol worship. So
idol worship is not something to be taken lightly (30:31). It is
a very serious offense. It is one of the ways Satan derails us from
the straight path of God.
There is no doubt that there will be people who will fall into
idol worship one way or another, through idolization of the messengers
and saintly people, through idolization of their opinion, or through
worshiping their ego. The community has to deal with them if God
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exposes their case. However, we have
to be very careful not jumping to conclusions, calling names or
making generalized and all-inclusive statements to put down others.
Often people are sincere and may take corrective actions when reminded
amicably of their wrong. God tells us to remind each other, perhaps
the reminder will benefit (87:9).
Although we are part of the larger submitter community, we are
not all alike in terms of our faith in God and how we go about putting
what we believe into practice. The disagreements or the differences
we might have in understanding certain matters should not distract
us from the path of worshipping God alone. When the disagreements
happen, we should try to listen to each other, rather than fight.
We should also know when it is time to say “peace” when
the discussions are exhausted. We should remember not to fall into
Satan’s trap of wronging our souls. We all know that unfair
accusations and suspicions towards other submitters are gross sins
(49:12). None of us wants our souls subject to such sins to satisfy
our egos. Ultimately everyone is responsible to God for his or her
own neck (5:105). Furthermore, unless God has mercy on us and protects
us, there is no guarantee that we may not be following our own opinions,
or the opinions of the scholars, thus falling into the very idol
worship we despise in others, without perceiving (18:103-104).
Abdullah
Therefore, continue on the path you have been enjoined
to follow, together with those who repented with you, and do not
transgress. He is Seer of everything you do. [11:112]
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