Page 106 - The Worst Slander: Idolatry

104 THE WORST SLANDER: IDOLATRY

comparable situation actually place their hopes in an inter-
mediary and imagine that the blessing came from it. Any
person who thinks this way has ascribed an equal to Allah.
Ascribing equals to Allah and giving thanks to Him are
mutually opposed actions. For example, Allah reveals that
the Prophet Abraham (pbuh) was not a idolater, but one
who gave thanks for Allah's blessings:

Abraham was a community in himself, exemplary, obe-
dient to Allah, a man of pure natural belief. He was not
one of the idolaters. He was thankful for His blessings.
Allah chose him and guided him to a straight path.
(Surat al-Nahl: 120-121)
As we have seen above with other emotions, gratitude
brings with it faith and purity when directed toward Allah
and gives rise to idolatry when directed to anything other
than Him. Giving thanks is exceedingly important, and thus
satan regards making human beings ungrateful as one
measure of his so called success. In the Qur'an Allah
reveals this warning from satan's own mouth:
He (satan) said: "By Your misguidance of me, I will lie in
ambush for them on your straight path. Then I will come
at them, from in front of them and behind them, from
their right and from their left. You will not find most of
them thankful." (Surat al-A'raf: 16-17)
So far, we have looked at only a few of the emotions that
can lead people into idolatry. While these are among the
most important and common ones, there are many others,
such as compassion, goodness, and kindness.
Imagine someone who is grieving over his young child's