The Believers’ Shahadah

Before we humans were banished to this earth, God Most Merciful gave us crucial information we would need to redeem ourselves.  Thus we are born with instinctive knowledge about God:

[7:172]  Recall that your Lord summoned all the descendants of Adam, and had them bear witness for themselves: “Am I not your Lord?” They all said, “Yes. We bear witness.” Thus, you cannot say on the Day of Resurrection, “We were not aware of this.”

[7:173]  Nor can you say, “It was our parents who practiced idolatry, and we simply followed in their footsteps. Will You punish us because of what others have innovated?”

[7:174]  We thus explain the revelations, to enable the people to redeem themselves.

The major commandments are very clear in the Quran:

[4:36]  You shall worship GOD alone - do not associate anything with Him…

[13:36] ...Say, “I am simply enjoined to worship GOD, and never associate any idols with Him. I invite to Him, and to Him is my ultimate destiny.”

We took a covenant with God to uphold these commandments.  Otherwise, the devil is the other alternative.

[36:60]  Did I not covenant with you, O Children of Adam, that you shall not worship the devil? That he is your most ardent enemy?

[36:61]  And that you shall worship Me alone? This is the right path.

[36:62]  He has misled multitudes of you. Did you not possess any understanding?

[5:7]  Remember GOD's blessing upon you, and His covenant that He covenanted with you: you said, “We hear and we obey.” You shall observe GOD; GOD is fully aware of the innermost thoughts.

How did we go wrong?

Satan, our most ardent enemy, has once again caused multitudes of humans to disregard our Creator’s soul-saving advice. 

He has whispered to us that there is no harm in associating others with God as “we are merely acknowledging and giving respect to God’s messengers.” Whom should we believe?  God, Lord of the Universe, or Satan who duped us before and caused our eviction from Paradise?

[7:19]  “As for you, Adam, dwell with your wife in Paradise, and eat therefrom as you please, but do not approach this one tree, lest you fall in sin.”

[7:20]  The devil whispered to them, in order to reveal their bodies, which were invisible to them. He said, “Your Lord did not forbid you from this tree, except to prevent you from becoming angels, and from attaining eternal existence.”

[7:21]  He swore to them, “I am giving you good advice.”

[7:22]  He thus duped them with lies. As soon as they tasted the tree, their bodies became visible to them, and they tried to cover themselves with the leaves of Paradise.

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