Question : “I believe that God is a power that expands the entire world. But to comprehend God I cannot do as a layman. What is the wrong in taking an earthly object and worship by seeing the God in it. ” Radha Krishnan, India

Answer : “Verily, I am Allah! None has the right to be worshipped but Me, so worship Me, and perform al-Salaah [prayer] for My Remembrance.” [Ta-Ha 20:14]

Right to worship is fundamental to every human being, and anyone has the right to worship whoever he wills, and no one can curb that freedom from him or her.

Truly it is right that we cannot comprehend how the God looks like, or how is He.  But the thought that to worship the God, we cannot do it directly, and thus we need someone in the middle to do it for us. This is the problem here.

Islam says that you can understand the Creator. How you can understand Him. Understand that He is One. Understand that His names and attributes are protected from the limitation that we give to creations. Then only worship Him - your true Lord.

Islamic point of view is that - “A creation should not worshipped. Only the Creator should be worshipped.” How much great a creation is, he/it should not be worshipped.

“O mankind! Worship your Lord (Allaah), Who has created you and those before you so that you may become al-muttaqoon (the pious).” [al-Baqarah 2:21]

Why does Islam deny worshipping a creation.

Answer to this question is that only one thing worthy of our worship, is our Creator. This is because, worship doesn’t not just include few ritualistic activities. But, worship is based on the thoughts and prayers that arise from a human mind. Within our heart. Within our soul. Whenever I have a problem, I raise my hand towards the Creator. This is worship.

1) The person to whom I raise my hand should be able to hear my prayers. From where a man does his prayers, within his tongue or within his body, Quran says that it is Allah who will know about it.

2) It should be able to answer to my prayers. Quran says that it is Allah who can do it as well.

3) In my prayers, do we know what is good or bad for us. What we pray, it could be based on our limited knowledge of what we need. I pray something thinking it is good for me. But actually it could be bad for us.  Do I know it. No I don’t know it.  But our creator is someone who know this information exactly well.  Quran says that Allah is the one who can do this.

Can we think that we are giving our worship to God and then give it to someone else.

Truly this should also not be done. For eg, a position that we should give to our father. Thinking that we are actually giving it to our father, can we give to someone else. Will this be acceptable to our father .

Or imagine a wife who should give certain rights to her husband. Now the wife is telling - thinking that it is husband, I am giving it to others. Can this be accepted ?

If it is No, then how is it that the worship and prayers, that should be given to the God, be given to someone else. Be it be a person or an idol. The question is not about person or Idol. It is about something other than the true God. If I do my worship to it, will it be a right thing to do.

So Islam actually is against worshipping the creation. Even if that creation is Prophet Muhammad (SA), the person who does that goes out of Islam.

“Such is Allaah, your Lord! None has the right to be worshipped but He, the Creator of all things. So worship Him (Alone), and He is the Wakeel (Trustee, Disposer of affairs, Guardian) over all things.”[al-An’aam 6:102]

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