Page 46 - The Worst Slander: Idolatry

44 THE WORST SLANDER: IDOLATRY

Given the above, people today should not distance
themselves from the Qur'an and invent excuses for turning
away from Islamic moral values.
First and foremost, someone who ascribes equals to
Allah in an unwise manner has adopted as a law-giver some
thing or person other than Allah. This supposed "equal" to
Allah could be the person himself or herself, family mem-
bers or ancestors, friends, employer, society, and even the
founders and followers of various philosophies and ideolo-
gies. Looked at from this viewpoint, people who follow a
path other than the revelations by Allah have chosen, either
consciously or not, idolatry. Regardless of what they call
themselves (e.g., agnostic, atheist, Christian, Jew, or
Muslim), they are idolaters. Even if they perform the five
daily prayers, fast, and perform many Islamic observances,
they are still idolaters if even one of their thoughts or value
judgments conflicts with the Qur'an, if they abandon Allah's
commands, or if they try to please others instead of Him.
Since they have adopted some other entity besides Allah as
a law-maker.
Someone who ascribes partners to Allah does not have
to think "this is also a deity" or say "I have adopted this as
a deity alongside Allah and worship this, too," (Surely Allah
is beyond that), for idolatry is first of all in the heart and then
reflected in deed. As the Qur'an makes clear, people's pref-
erence for any other entity than Allah causes them to
become idolaters. However, such people generally do not
deny Allah's existence; in fact, many of them refuse to
admit that they are idolaters at all. Having smothered their