Page 120 - The Worst Slander: Idolatry

SMASHING THE IDOLS

I dolatry is a lifestyle common to those who grow

up in societies that do not know the true reli-
gion. Heedless of Allah, they ignorantly adopt
their society's false deities and thereby ascribe equals to
Allah without a second thought. As a result, most people
never imagine that their deeds actually constitute rebellion
against Allah and that He will punish them severely for their
ignorance. Furthermore, they find those strange who call
them to Islam and to abandon that which they have made
equal to Him.
Makkah's leading idolaters at the time of our Prophet
(May Allah bless him and grant him peace) reacted in exact-
ly that same way. They believed in Allah's existence, but
equated almost all of their worldly affairs with other, minor
and false deities, idols. Trade, love, war, and agriculture – all
had their own false deities. This idolatrous order seemed
perfectly natural to them, and thus they were stunned when
our Prophet (May Allah bless him and grant him peace)
rejected it and called upon them to believe in Allah alone.
Allah reveals this in the Qur'an:
They are surprised that a warner should come to them
from among themselves. The non-believers exclaim:
"This is a lying magician. Has he turned all of the deities