8. IDOLATRY

The notion of Idolatry is seldom understood, even by Muslims. Why, for instance, should idolatry be regarded as the worst of all evils, greater than say, murder or even the mass killing in war? Even in the Old Testament the very first and highest commandment is against idolatry. But the Western World has abandoned the Ten Commandments. Though they retain those against murder and theft, these are regarded as crimes against a person or the State, not against Nature or God, and even then politically justifiable. The social, international and the planetary condition, therefore, shows continuing conflict and chaos. Islam restored the idea of Divine Commandments on the grounds that morality and order depend not only on self-interest and social organisation, but on psychological factors, on the nature of existence and the awareness of it - that they should be based on objective factors not subjective opinions and human whims.

It is a fundamental fact about existence that our arising, functioning and development depend on the materials, forces and laws of the Universe, that we interact with and are dependent on them, and that our welfare and development depends on how we behave, think and adjust to reality. The recognition of this fact, in thought, motivation and action, is denoted by the word ‘Islam’, surrender to Allah. The Islamic way of life which this leads to is called ‘Din’, that which we owe to Allah because He has given us Life. This requires us to live by the standards, Furqan , which have been set for us by Allah. That is, the nature of existence itself determines the rules of interaction.

If the exclusive submission to Allah is the supreme good then non-submission to Allah is the supreme evil. If life has no purpose, either or both objectively and subjectively, or the purpose is not served then life is worthless. Even if there is a subjective purpose it must have some objective justification. If there is no truth, then anything can happen. If there is truth, then unless we conform to it, we will suffer and be destroyed.

The word Idolatry implies three things

(a) that it is not Allah who is worshipped, adored or served.

(b) that something else, which by definition is less than Allah is worshipped or served instead.

(c) that this is due to ignorance, stupidity or mistakes.

Islam uses three notions for this:-

1. Kufr - Disbelief, ingratitude, refusal to admit ones debts and obligations.

2. Shirk - Associating partners, someone or something else with Allah as god. The worship, submission to or serving something else besides Allah. This could have three forms

(a) the worship of some object, person etc.

(b) polytheism, the worship of more than one god.

(c) notions where a godhead consisting of more than one god are implied such as the trinity.

3. Tughyan - arrogance, infidelity, rebellion or disloyalty to Allah.

Morality, self-restraint in accordance with a purpose in life, is based on accepting Allah. No self-restraint or morality can exist unless something other than oneself is recognised as an authority over us. It is, of course, possible to recognise the State, the Society, the Nation or Humanity as a whole as the supreme arbiter of what is good or evil. And, indeed, this is the position taken up by Humanitarianism. But humanity, too, is only a part of the whole of Life, of the Biosphere. This is part only of the planet Earth, which is only a small part of the whole Universe. And the Universe may only be one among many. Humanitarianism is clearly much too restricted. Nor does it answer the question why anyone should accept Humanity as the source of morality. There is no justification for accepting the values advanced by one person or group rather than some other person or group. All the different conflicting value systems would be as good or bad as any other.

The Islamic answer is:-

“That is because Allah, He is the truth, and that whereon they call instead of Him, it is the False, and because Allah, He is the High, the Great.” 22:62

“Allah, He is truth. Lo! He quickens the dead..” 22:6

“Whosoever goes right, it is only for the good of his own soul that he goes right, and whosoever errs, errs only to its hurt.” 17:15

“If He will He can remove you and cause what He will to follow after you, even as he raised you from the seed of other folk.” 6:134

Allah is Reality. We have to recognise reality for our own good. It is not possible to flout the truth without harming oneself. We have a built in need not to harm ourselves but to seek self-fulfilment. The forces which operate in us do not exist only in us, but in the whole Universe and we are dependant on them.

“And the soul and Him who perfected it and inspired it with conscience of what is wrong for it and what is right for it. He indeed is successful who causes it to grow, and he indeed is a failure who stunts it.” 91:8-10

We are part of humanity and the rest of the world, and dependant on it. The welfare of humanity becomes our welfare, and vice versa. This is not only true physically, but also socially and psychologically. We cannot harm anyone without at the same time harming that in ourselves which we have in common with all and which allows us to adjust and cooperate with others.

It should be observed that idolatry is not a crime or error committed against other individuals or against society but against ones own soul. It does not injure Allah at all, as the Quran points out. It carries its own punishment directly. Muslim communities have often in the past and even in recent times persecuted, threatened and even murdered what they considered to be heretics and blasphemers. It is particularly dangerous when their judgement of what is heresy and blasphemy is based on conjecture, misunderstanding, ignorance and unreasoning emotionalism. But this is not what the Quran recommends. Idolatry is a crime which a person commits against himself. He punishes himself by it.

“Proofs have come unto you from your Lord, so whosoever sees, it is for his own good, and whoso is blind is blind to his own hurt. And I am not a keeper over you... Had Allah willed, they had not been idolaters. We have not set thee as a keeper over them, nor art thou responsible for them.” 6: 105 and 108

Nature of Idolatry:-

Idolatry consists of the worship, service, submission, self-subjection, self-subordination, self-identification or attachment to anything which is not Allah. It, therefore, limits the individual mentally, emotionally and physically. It causes an imbalance in the individual because it places emphasis on something lesser at the expense of something greater.

Sources of Idolatry:-

Mistaking means for ends, techniques for goals, appearances and forms for the essence, the letter for the spirit, the vessel for the contents, parts for the whole are the ways to idolatry.

Forms of Idolatry:-

The idol could be an object, construction, person, group, idea, ideology, principle, illusion, fantasy, superstition, an institution, organisation, methodology, career, profession, firm or company.

Systems such Science or Logic are gods to some people, Art to others, technology to others still. Capitalism, Socialism, Communism or Democracy may become such idols.

It could be obsession, addiction, fascination, ambition, fixation.

It could be a person himself, his own ego, his lust, avarice or greed, his intellect, body, abilities, position, wealth, power or prestige.

It could be an image or idea a person has created of Allah in his own mind. It could be the appendages, emblems, instruments, rosaries, formulae of his own religion. The Quran, the Prophet, the Priesthood, the Mosque, the Kaaba, the Flag, Dogmas and Rituals can all become idols. Islam itself, the word or idea can be an idol. The fact is that these are means to an end, techniques, not ends in themselves. Only Allah alone is to be worshipped. Fanaticism is one form of idolatry since it consists of emotional attachment and even identification with some formula or idea, a threat to which is regarded as a threat to oneself. In fact, of course nothing can injure a person who has a true faith. A person with true faith would pity those whom he regarded as being misled and would be compelled by compassion to try to guide them or where this was not possible, simple ignore them. The particular feature of fanaticism is that it leads the individual to commit, in the name of religion, the very acts forbidden by the religion. It is a self-contradiction. Instead of raising the individual to a higher level it reduces him to a lower level where his reason is suspended and where his control is lost.

Consequences of Idolatry:-

A human being should be an integrated individual. That is, he should have a single centre of coordination and control. If he is not then he cannot be said to be an individual. He will be in a state of disintegration having several much more limited parts between which there will be conflict. There will be nothing in him which can arrive at a comprehensive world view or from which control over himself can be exerted. He is much more under the control of external forces. Much of his suffering can be attributed to inner contradictions. Since a great number of partial views are possible, then partial development also leads to social conflicts between people. The psychological development of a person depends on the existence within him of a focal point around which external and inner experiences can be organised.

The Spirit in man should be free. Idolatry imprisons it and renders it impotent. The sources of his creativity, initiative and responsibility become repressed. Consciousness, conscience and will become inactive. Man is reduced to a machine, although a sophisticated one. Like a computer he is programmed by his environment. He can be, and is, programmed and controlled by others. The government, the media of information, propagandists of all kinds control him. But the controllers are not free either. They, too are controlled by others. The whole Society, therefore, behaves like a purposeless robot. Though it has no purpose of its own, it may still serve the purposes of the planet as other animals do. The programming has nothing whatever to do with his own welfare. This is why human beings often, and probably almost always, act against their own real interests. Thus, to be free of Idolatry is to be fully free, to attain liberation.

The Cause of Idolatry:-

Loss of contact with the inner self leads to the feeling of emptiness and non-existence. Most fear and anxiety derives from this. It is the main reason why people seek something to which they can attach themselves and which will give them some feeling of significance, love and security. Whereas, in fact this source of significance controls them and reduces them to a status of a thing, a slave, yet it is difficult to give up because of the significance it bestows on the person. Instead, then, of giving up the idol, they rationalise or hide its true nature from themselves. They refuse to admit that it is an idol.

Prevention of Idolatry:-

The only way the effects of idolatry can be reversed is by replacing the Idol with Allah.

Some people claim that they do not wish to subordinate themselves to anything, not even God. This causes them to fall victim to idols made by themselves or others. In the nature of things it is impossible to exist without recognising something as supreme, because man is obviously only a small part of the Universe and dependant on his surroundings. There is no such thing as Atheism and Islam does not recognise it. It is merely a verbal device used to deny some particular idea of God in favour of some other idea which a person may not himself be conscious of, but his behaviour is certainly governed by it.

The nearest thing to complete independence is the submission to a completely formless God. Any image made of God constitutes a limitation. It limits the possibilities which we are willing to admit both for ourselves and the universe. This affects all our activities. A closed mind is like reducing the amount of light thrown on a subject. It is supposed that the mind can be so open that it becomes gullible and subject to superstition. But this implies a particular notion of God, and should not happen. Nothing should be attributed to God for which there is no proof. All other things are held as possibilities of various degrees.

Classification of Idolatry:-

I. Levels

1, Shirk-al-Akbar, Major Idolatry.

(a) Taking some creature, something limited, relative or subordinate for the Creator, the Supreme, the Absolute.

(b) Giving partners to Allah or raising something else to equality with Allah.

(c) Dividing Allah into parts.

2. Shirk-al-Asghar, Minor Idolatry. This was described by the Prophet as showing off, boasting etc.

3. Shirk-ar-Riyaa, Secret Idolatry. This was described by the Prophet as an action which was outwardly right, but inwardly wrong. as in the case of someone who embellishes his worship in order to impress others or does charitable works for selfish reasons. The motive is wrong.

II. Attitude of man towards Allah.

1. Rejecting or denying Allah, consciously or unconsciously. This amounts to accepting something else as supreme. From the Islamic point of view an awareness of Allah is built into man. This accounts for the prevalence of religion throughout the world. But the interpretation of this inner experience may, and has, become distorted owing to cultural conditioning and inner rationalisations, fantasies and suppression.

2. Changing the concept of Allah by (a) assigning intentions, qualities or actions to Allah, (b) reducing them (c) or distorting them. This amounts to lying about Allah, and therefore, about what is true or false about reality and existence. The correct attitude is either to try to discover and understand or to admit that one does not know or understand.

3. Ignoring Allah. This amounts to behaving in a mechanical or automatic manner without intelligence, purpose and control.

III. The condition of man.

(1) Idolatry of thought as found in scientific or philosophical thinking or in the superstitions of various religions. This could be due failures or mistakes in (a) conceptualisation (b) reasoning (c) application.

(2) Idolatry of motivation in which a person

(a) has values or seeks for goals which are not objective.

(b) tries to obtain help, protection or benefits from other than Allah.

(c) subordinates, attaches himself to or adores something other than Allah.

(3) Idolatry of action when

(a) the means are inappropriate.

(b) the means become the end.

(c) the techniques are faulty.

The use of talismans, amulets, charms, beads, spells, methods of divination, incantations, magic, sorcery, trickery etc. are inappropriate. The Prophet is reported as having refused a man’s oath of allegiance because he wore a talisman which obviously was a god to him, but accepted it when the man broke it. Ritualism makes the means into ends. Imitations of external actions without understanding, inattentive and haphazard actions or habitual rather than adaptative behaviour are forms of wrong techniques.

Forms of Idolatry prevalent among Muslims are hero-worship, the installation or carrying of pictures and erection of statues of saints and heroes, pilgrimages to the graves of saints, the use of rosaries, the use of the verses of the Quran as charms, the use of Islamic slogans and the name of Allah for political purposes and so on.

It is evident that a classification such as this enables a person to develop, become self-reliant and inwardly integrated by purifying and correcting his thinking, motives and actions. A community where alertness regarding these is sustained will run without conflicts and tensions in a much more harmonious manner.

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WHAT ISLAM IS NOT

Sometimes things can be made clearer by describing what a thing is not rather than what it is. This avoids the confusion caused by mistaking it for other things having some similarity.

It should be denied utterly, emphatically and vigorously that the nature or purpose of Islam are the following:-

1. Dogmatism and Dogmatization

2. Ritualism and Ritualization

3. Institutionalism and Institutionalization

4. The creation and maintenance of a Church Organization and a Priesthood

5. Ceremonialism and Ceremonialization.

6. Sloganism and Sloganisation.

7. Conventionalism and Conventionalisation.

8. Mental Conditioning and Brain washing.

9. Regimentation.

10. Persecution of sinners, heretics and dissidents.

11. Coercion of any kind, religious, political or economic.

12. The establishment of Tyrannies of any kind, political, cultural or psychological.

13. The establishment of Political Power

14. Exclusiveness of any kind.

15. The exclusive creation of economic prosperity, wealth and power.

16. The creation of popularity, renown or fame.

17. The formation of habits or attachments, mental, emotional or physical.

18. The establishment of fantasies, superstitions and illusions.

19. The formation of blind beliefs without understanding.

20. Hero worship and unintelligent imitation.

21. Bigotry, hypocrisy and self-righteousness.

All these are forms of Idolatry. But the terms used here need to be explained.

Prayer and the pilgrimage are obviously rituals. But they have a purpose and an inner intention. But if these are missing then we have ritualism. The reduction of religious techniques in this way is ritualisation. We are left with empty meaningless physical actions. Similar considerations apply to the other terms.

“It is not righteousness that ye turn your faces to the East or the West; but righteous is he who believes in Allah and the Last Day and the angels and the Scriptures and the Prophets; and gives his wealth, for love of Him, to kinsfolk and to orphans and the needy and the wayfarer and to those who ask, and to set slaves free; and observes the proper worship and pays the poor due; and those who keep their treaty when they make one, and the patient in tribulation and adversity and times of stress. Such are they who are sincere. Such are the God-fearing.” 2:177

“ O man, follow not that whereof thou hast no knowledge. Lo! The hearing and the sight and the heart - of each of these it will be asked (to give an account).” 17:36

“Follow that which is inspired in thee from thy Lord. There is no god save Him. And turn away from the idolaters.” 6:107

According to a Hadith the Prophet Muhammad once said:

“The first person to be judged on the Day of Resurrection will be a man who died as a martyr. After Allah has reminded him of the favour He showed him and the man acknowledges it, He will ask ‘ What did you do to show gratitude.’ The man will reply ‘ I fought for Thy cause till I was martyred.’ Allah will say: ‘You lie. You fought that people might call you brave, and they have done so.’ He will be dragged on his face and thrown into Hell.

“Next a person who had acquired knowledge, read and taught the Quran will be brought forward and asked the same question and he would also claim to have done this for Allah’s sake. Allah will say: ‘You lie. You acquired knowledge so that people might call you learned, and you read the Quran that they might call you pious. They have done so.’. He, too, would go to hell.

“Next a rich man was brought forward and asked the same question. He claimed to have given much in charity for Allah’s sake. Allah said to him: ‘You lie. You did it in order that people may call you generous, and they have done so.’ He, too, would go to hell.”

These particular cases are, obviously, meant to illustrate a general principle. Analogical reasoning can be used to multiply them. A religious action is one which is done for Allah’s sake.

Hebrewism requires obedience to the Divine Law because people are not capable of acting responsibly by themselves. Christianity requires behaviour to be governed by love on the grounds that he who acts from love will automatically fulfil the Law. But he who has no love must obey the principles of the law. Islam agrees with both. It denies, however, that people are already capable of love. Self-deception and rationalisation cause people to attribute good motives to themselves. Self-control, Knowledge, including self-knowledge and the knowledge of what virtue is are also required. Consciousness, conscience and will should be uncovered and developed and behaviour should flow from this. When this has happened then love will automatically arise.

It has to be emphasised that a priest, scholar or politician or any other person who uses Islam to obtain or maintain his self-interests, his power, prestige or wealth or prejudices cannot be called a Muslim because he has not surrendered to Allah but to his own lusts and desires. It has to be admitted that this is exactly what Islam has become for many people. In particular, Muslims have developed the unfortunate habit of taking the name of Allah in vain. For instance they tend to attribute some of their political movements to Allah and give them names containing the name of Allah. This is sheer blasphemy. They cannot possibly know that Allah supports the acts they perform in the name of such movements. Indeed, it can often be shown that such acts go directly against the instructions in the Quran.

It is necessary for those who call themselves Muslims to wake up, examine themselves, and to see how far these kinds of idolatry, all of them mentioned in the Quran and the Hadith, applies to them, and then to correct themselves.

Although it is perfectly true that the Quran speaks about the necessity for correct beliefs, it does not recommend blind beliefs anywhere but requires people to prove things for themselves. Correct knowledge is also required. The Quran is not to be “believed“ but to be used, as food is used, to nourish the soul. Above all belief without equivalent actions is useless.

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Human thought, motivation and actions can be of three forms:-

1. Sub-rational. These depend on inherent psychological mechanisms. They are instinctive and impulsive. We can distinguish between:-

(a) Reflex action and instincts,

(b) Automatic due to conditioning or habit.

(c) The results of fear, desires, fantasies, rationalisations, fixations and other mechanisms.

2. Rational. Intentional, conscious, deliberate and purposive actions. They are intelligent and, therefore, give greater powers than those of the sub-rational mind and correct the errors arising from it, but the limits of the conscious mind may also create errors.

3. Supra-rational. The working of higher forms of intelligence on experiences within the sub-conscious or unconscious mind. It is an ability to organize experiences into a unified self-consistent system. The skill with which a person catches a moving ball or carries out any craft does not depend on rational calculation, nor does the impulse of compassion or an act of wisdom. The words intuition, inspiration or revelations are used, according to degree, for such higher actions. These higher faculties are normally either undeveloped or have been repressed. However, the presence of these faculties can and has been demonstrated under hypnosis.

Actions can have:- (a) Direct results as in consuming food. (b) They may have indirect results as in earning a living in order to eat. (c) They may have side effects not contained in the purpose of the action. These must be taken into account by intelligent action.

When they are intelligent they have three kinds of purposes:-

(a) To produce some physical effect such as in crafts and manufacture, digging, gathering and eating food and so on.

(b) To produce social effects such as in communication, law, organisation, ceremonies, festivals and so on.

(c) To produce psychological effects such as stimulation, reinforcement, inhibition, reminding, consolidation, inner integration and so on.

The same action may have more than one of these purposes or aspects.

The effects are judged according to

(a) Value - How much an action is worth doing in relation to others. Some things are more valuable than others.

(b) Effectiveness - to what extent an action produces the desired result. Some things are more effective than others.

(c) Efficiency - how much effort is spent in producing how much result. Some things are more efficient than others.

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