Four Basic Terms

1.1.     Four Basic Terms

Ilah, Rabb, Deen and ’Ibadah, are four terms basic to the whole teaching of the Qur’an. Through- out its pages,

it stresses again and again that Allah Almighty is the Rabb and the Ilah ;that there is no ilah but He, nor is there any other rabb, nor does He share with anyone else the qualities and attributes implied by these terms. He, and He alone should therefore be accepted as one’s Ilah and Rabb, and no-one else should in the least be believed to possess the attributes which these words imply. It also demands that we should give our ibadah to Him and Him alone, and not to anyone else, and make our deen exclusive to Him and reject all other deens ! And to every Messenger We ordained before you (O Prophet), the message which We gave for himself and for others) was none other than that ”There is no Ilah but

Myself, and therefore give your ’ibadah to Ms alone. ”(Quran 21:31)

....,And (they) were not Ordered except to give their ’ibadah to one Ilah, only ; there is no ilah except He, (end) He is free of (the taint of) what they attribute to Him by their shirk (that is, by associating others with Him in His

exclusive qualities and attributes). (Quran 9:31)

Verily this Brotherhood of the Prophets is single Brotherhood, and I am the Rabb of you all, wherefore give your ’ibadah to Me alone. (Quran 21:92)

Say’ to them (0 Prophet) : Would you have me seek-for rabb any other then Allah, and He the Rabb of everything

there is ! (Quran 6:164)

So, whosoever yearns to meet his Rabb, let him do good deeds, and let him not mix up his ibadah of Him with that

of any other(s). (Quran 18:110)

And indeed we raised a Messenger in every people that they should give their ’ibadah to Allah, and abstain severely from giving it to taghoot. [Literally, this word can apply to a person who commits any kind of transgression. In the sense in which it is used in the Qur’an it denotes a person who transgresses the limits prescribed by his status as a creation of God, who sets himself up as a god and makes the people treat him as such. There are three degrees of transgression or rebellion of a human being vis-a-vis God. The first is that, so far as the principle of the thing is concerned, a person believes in obedience to God to be the right course, but when it comes to deeds, he disobeys. This is known as fisq ... The second is that he should give up obedience to God as a matter of principle and either do as he pleases or obey someone else (in the sense in which one owes obedience to God). This is Kufr. The third is that not only does he rebel against God, denying Him and His right to lay down the law for man but also begins to make his own law prevail in the land. It is the person who reaches this third stage who is a Taghoot and no person can be a Mu’min of Allah in the real sense unless he repudiates Taghoot. Maududi (Note by the Translator: From the point of view as last explained all those ”Muslim” heads of state who deliberately substituted any portion of Islamic by non-Islamic law fall naturally to the category of Taghoots, no matter how much they might protest their devotion to Islam and their professed desire for the glory of Muslims, though in the latter case the glory, actually sought is only that of their own notion and the means advocated are often either a return to their pre-Islamic culture or the adoption of the present day decadent Western culture. Abu Asad)] (Quran 16:30)

Do you wish for some deen other than’ Allah’s, (and this despite the fact that to Him submits all there is in the

Heavens and in or upon the Earth, willingly or unwilling, and all are to return unto Him? (Quran 3:83)

Say (O Prophet) :The Injunction laid upon me is to give my ’ibadah to Allah, and reserve my deen exclusively

for Him. (Quran 38:11)

Verily Allah is my Rabb, and is yours too; therefore, give your worship to Him alone-that (truly is the only real)

straight path. (Quran 3:61)


In next post one by one will discuss all the four terms