Mu' meneen Brothers and Sisters,

As Salaam Aleikum wa Rahmatullahi wa Barakatuh.  (May Allah's Peace, Mercy and Blessings be upon all of you)

One of our brothers/sisters has asked this question:

Dear Sir,

Your ardent attempts to answer the questions of Muslims with felicitious words and a beacon to adhere to your personal sentiments, which you justify with proclamation of a belief in One Allah, and that His messenger is Mohammed Rasulullah (SAW) and the revealed message came by way of the Quran, and the Quran only, which you promiscuoulsy quote out of context and in translation, are a un supplicated view of a crude return to the generics of monotheism. You speak of shirk, and thus reveal a paranoid fear of polytheism. I ask you in all earnestness, why not leave these peace loving Muslims, who have the kalema tus Shahadat with them, and put to better use your energies in converting Hindus and Buddists who are suffering in the plague of polytheism, and need your help perhaps most.

Will appreciate your response.

Regards.

(There may be some grammatical and spelling errors in the above statement. The forum does not change anything from questions, comments and statements received from our readers for circulation in confidentiality.)

Answer:

Why not convert the Hindus?

In the name of Allah, We praise Him, seek His help and ask for His forgiveness. Whoever Allah guides none can misguide, and whoever He allows to fall astray, none can guide them aright. We bear witness that there is no one (no idol, no person, no grave, no prophet, no imam, no dai, nobody!) worthy of worship but Allah Alone, and we bear witness that Muhammad (saws) is His slave-servant and the seal of His Messengers.

It is not that we have a paranoid fear of the heinous crime of ‘shirk’ for no reason, and indeed anyone who claims to be a muslim must have this fear. All the communities that were destroyed by Allah and whose stories are related in the Holy Quran, were destroyed because they committed this one most heinous of crimes: shirk (associating others with Allah)! This sin is so grave and so heinous in the sight of Allah, that He has declared in the Holy Quran that He will forgive anything He wills, except this one sin! This sin is so grave that Allah has declared Paradise ‘haraam’ for those who die as mushriks! This sin is so serious, that Allah has mentioned each and every manifestation of this sin in almost all the major Surahs of the Holy Quran!

Allah says in the Holy Quran Chapter 5 Surah Maidah verse 72:Whoever commits ‘shirk’ (invoking anything with Allah), Allah shall forbid for him Paradise, and Hell shall be his abode. And for such wrong doers there will be no one to help.

Allah says in the Quran: Chapter 4 Surah An-Nisa Verse 48:Shirk (associating other deities with Allah) is the only sin that Allah does not forgive, and He forgives, whomsoever He pleases, sins other than this. For whosoever associates any other partner with Allah, does indeed forge a big lie and commits the most heinous sin

Allah says in the Holy Quran Chapter 39 Surah Zumar verse 65-66:If you commit ‘shirk’ all your works will be rendered vain and you will be among the losers. Therefore, you should worship Allah Alone, and be among His grateful servants.

Shirk is the exact antonym and at the exact opposite end of the first and most fundamental principle of Islam, Tawheed (Islamic Monotheism). Inspite of all these warnings which are laid out clearly in the Holy Quran, it is unfortunate that some muslims are involved in this most heinous of sins, which will only guarantee them the everlasting torture of Hell Fire.

Your Suggestion: I ask you in all earnestness, why not leave these peace loving Muslims, who have the kalema tus Shahadat with them, and put to better use your energies in converting Hindus and Buddists who are suffering in the plague of polytheism, and need your help perhaps most.

We thank you for your suggestion and assure you that there is immense work being carried out by our brothers in the polytheistic religions of Hinduism, Buddhism, etc. where literally thousands have converted to Islam. But when we approach them and tell them that bowing down to ‘sadhus’ and ‘monks’ is a sin in the sight of God, they tell us that some muslims bow down to their priests and holy men! When we tell them that invoking and worshipping an idol or any structure is a sin in the sight of God, they tell us that some muslims invoke and worship the graves of their dead priests and holy men! When we ask them to stop invoking their hundreds of thousands of small gods and come to the invocation and worship of the One Creator, they tell us that some muslims invoke hundreds of their dead priests and holy men to get their prayers answered!

We genuinely find it difficult to explain to the polytheists why some muslims keep on repeating the ‘kalema tus shahaadat’ of ‘There is no god but Allah’, but are the foremost in bowing down to men and graves; are the foremost in worshipping and invoking their dead priests and holy men; and are foremost in their worship and invocation of graves, tombs, and shrines!

In my humble and personal opinion, I have seen that some Hindus and Buddhists are more receptive to the invitation and concept of Islamic monotheism, than some of the muslims who have made it an article of their faith to practice polytheism! Praise is due to Allah Alone, who has guided many a born Hindu or Buddhist to the Straight Path of Islam. And woe to those muslims indeed, who have the Holy Quran amongst them, but chose to ignore its commandments and practice polytheism! Woe to those muslims who proclaim the ‘kalema tus shahaadat’ day and night, but are deeply involved in the heinous sin of shirk!

Allah says in the Holy Quran Chapter 18 Surah Kahf verses 103-106:Tell them (O Mohamed), “Should We tell you who are the most unsuccessful people and miserable failures in regard to their deeds? They are those, all whose endeavors in the worldly life, had gone astray from the Right Way, but all along they were under the delusion that everything they were doing, was rightly directed! Those are the people who rejected the Revelations of their Lord and did not believe that they would ever go before Him. Therefore all their deeds were lost, for We shall assign no weight to them on the Day of Resurrection. Their recompense is Hell for the disbelief they showed, and for the mockery they adopted in regard to My Aayahs and My Messengers!”

Allah says in the Holy Quran Chapter 25 Surah Furqan verses 26-30:The Real Kingdom on that Day will belong only to the Merciful. And it will be a very hard Day for the disbelievers. The unjust man will bite at his hand and say, “Would that I had stood by the Messenger! Oh, woe to me! Would that I had not chosen so and so for a friend! For it was he, who had deluded me to reject the Admonition which had come to me. Shaitaan has proved indeed very treacherous to man.” And the Messenger will say, “O my Lord, my people had made this Quran the object of their ridicule.”

May Allah have mercy on the Ummah of Islam.

Whatever written of Truth and benefit is only due to Allah’s Assistance and Guidance, and whatever of error is of me. Allah Alone Knows Best and He is the Only Source of Strength.

Your brother in Islam,,

Burhan