Surah Fatir, Ayah 3

The Evidence of Tawhid

Allah shows His servants that they should worship Him Alone, for just as He is Independent in His power of creation and provision, so He should be worshipped Alone with no partners or associates such as idols and false gods. So Allah says:

لاَ إِلَـهَ إِلاَّ هُوَ فَأَنَّى تُؤْفَكُونَ

(La ilaha illa Huwa. How then are you turning away (from Him)) meaning, `how can you turn away from Him after this has been made clear and this proof has been made obvious, but you still worship idols and false gods' And Allah knows best.

The word: رَّ‌حْمَةٍ (rahmah: mercy) appearing in verse 2: مَّا يَفْتَحِ اللَّـهُ لِلنَّاسِ مِن رَّ‌حْمَةٍ فَلَا مُمْسِكَ لَهَا (Whatever blessing Allah opens for the people, there is none to hold it back,) is general at this place. It includes blessings of one's religion in this world along with those of the Hereafter, such as, faith, knowledge, rightly guided conduct as well as the mission of a prophet and the station of a Waliyy or man of Allah. And it also includes material blessings in the present world, such as, provisions, means, comfort, health, wealth, property, recognition and things like that. The meaning of the verse is quite obvious. It is being said here that the person for whom Allah Ta’ ala intends to open the doors of His mercy, there is no one who can stop it.

God created angels to carry messages and execute orders. But, Satan misled people to believe that the angels had a distinct identity of their own and that they could be the source of bringing blessings in this world and salvation in the Hereafter. So, some communities drew imaginary pictures of them, giving them names ‘Lat’ and ‘Manat’ and started worshipping them. Some communities treated them with the reverence due to gods and goddesses. In the present age, reverence for the ‘law of nature’ is the modern version of a similar misconception. But the fact is that both the angels and the law of nature are subject to the will of One God alone.