Chapter two of the Quran, elaborates thus on polytheism: “Yet there are some who set up equals with God and adore them with the adoration due to God, but those who believe love God most. If only the wrongdoers could see—as they will see when they face the punishment—that all power belongs to God, and that God is severe in punishment” (2:165).
From this verse we learn what is meant by polytheism. It is to set up something equal to God, whether in a partial or total sense. Setting up an equal with God can be done with respect to a number of things, two of which have been mentioned in the Quran: love and power (2:165). According to one verse of the Quran, its third aspect is fear (9:18). Basically, these are the three things which are the signs of polytheism. With reference to all these three matters—love, power and fear—whoever sets up equals with God is a polytheist. According to the Quran, there are sometimes people who give themselves the same status as that of God. On this the Quran says: “Consider the one who has taken his own desire as a deity, whom God allows to stray in the face of knowledge, sealing his ears and heart and covering his eyes – who can guide such a person after God [has abandoned him]?” (45:23).
This can be expressed as an antithesis: monotheism means in every respect making God one’s sole concern, whereas polytheism means partly or totally including anyone or anything else in the godhead.
Whenever anyone discovers God in the capacity of One Who gave him existence out of nothing, Who gave him a sterling personality, Who placed him on a rare unique planet like earth, Who arranged for his life support system, etc. he starts regarding God as his own, and has immeasurably elevated feelings for God. This is the basis for man’s intense love for God.
Then when man discovers that all things he has are unilateral gifts of God, and that God can take away these things any time, and that every gift is linked with accountability, it makes him apprehensive that if he does not do justice to all these divine gifts, he will be taken to task. These produce that state within him which has been described in the Quran as akin to that of believers who: “stand in awe of none but God” (9:18).
Moreover, man discovers that, in this world, God alone is Omnipotent. No one has any similar power, even in a partial sense. God gives and God takes away. The certainty of this reminds us of our total helplessness. The believer can do nothing other than surrender himself fully before God.
Realization is another name for this discovery. When with this discovery such a person makes God his all in all, who lives in God’s remembrance, whose thinking is God-oriented, he is in terms of the shariah, a monotheist. On the contrary, one who has not made God his sole concern, but has rather made other things his concern, in terms of the shariah he is guilty of polytheism. The personality of the monotheist is an integrated personality, while the personality of a polytheist is a split personality.
According to the shariah, God is man’s real goal or purpose of life, other things are only his need. Both monotheism and polytheism relate to reality and not just to appearances.
