Yusuf (Joseph)

40. “You do not worship besides Him but (mere) names which you have named, you and your fathers, for which Allah has not sent down any authority. Judgment belongs only to Allah. He has commanded that you worship none but Him. That is the right religion, but most people do not know.”

Those who are worshipped other than Him are not the substantial and real objects of worship. On the contrary, they are the products of man’s own imagination or that of his ancestors.

One’s ideas must be either based upon rational demonstration or they must have the traditions as their firm foundation. Therefore, one must not bow to any command other than those issued from Divine sources, for issuing commands and decrees are the sole prerogatives of Allah.

All laws are legally unstable, except Divine laws.

Ignorance and the lack of knowledge pave the way for idol worship. Most people who are ignorant suffer from conscious ignorance and are aware of their own lack of knowledge, or they suffer from unconscious ignorance thinking they know while in actual fact they do not know.

The honor and respect that we bestow upon powerful individuals and organizations, protocols, pomp meetings, supports, condemnations, and circumstance are nothing but fictitious titles and modern icons which we ourselves have created and have tried to relate to them instead of the Divinity as if they were realities.

In reality, however, this fact must be believed that “It is only He who is worthy of governing” so one must never surrender to icons and despots and bow to them. One must believe in monotheism in all its dimensions: in worship, in government, in culture, and in all things.

The verse says:

“You do not worship besides Him but (mere) names which you have named, you and your fathers, for which Allah has not sent down any authority. Judgment belongs only to Allah. He has commanded that you worship none but Him...”

This is the direct and sustaining Divine way of life. However, most people are not aware of this and owing to this lack of awareness, they deviate from the right path, going astray in idol worship and surrendering to non - Divine governments.

Consequently, they suffer tortures, deprivations, and disasters as a result of their choice of the wrong path of life. The verse says:

“…That is the right religion, but most people do not know.”