Party of God, Party of Satan

In the Name of God, Most Gracious, Most Merciful

[30:30] Therefore, you shall devote yourself to the religion of strict monotheism. Such is the natural instinct placed into the people by God. Such creation of God will never change. This is the perfect religion, but most people do not know.
[30:31] You shall submit to Him, reverence Him, observe the Contact Prayers (Salat), and - whatever you do - do not ever fall into idol worship.

[3:95] Say, "God has proclaimed the truth: You shall follow Abraham's religion - monotheism. He never was an idolater."

[10:105] I was commanded: "Keep yourself devoted to the religion of monotheism; you shall not practice idol worship.
[10:106] "You shall not worship beside God what possesses no power to benefit you or harm you. If you do, you will be a transgressor."

[3:18] God bears witness that there is no god except He, and so do the angels and those who possess knowledge. Truthfully and equitably, He is the absolute god; there is no god but He, the Almighty, Most Wise.
[3:19] The only religion approved by God is "Submission." Ironically, those who have received the scripture are the ones who dispute this fact, despite the knowledge they have received, due to jealousy. For such rejectors of God's revelations, God is most strict in reckoning.

[42:13] He decreed for you the same religion decreed for Noah, and what we inspired to you, and what we decreed for Abraham, Moses, and Jesus: "You shall uphold this one religion, and do not divide it." The idol worshipers will greatly resent what you invite them to do. God redeems to Himself whomever He wills; He guides to Himself only those who totally submit.

[21:25] We did not send any messenger before you except with the inspiration: "There is no god except Me; you shall worship Me alone."

[16:36] We have sent a messenger to every community, saying, "You shall worship God, and avoid idolatry." Subsequently, some were guided by God, while others were committed to straying. Roam the earth and note the consequences for the rejectors.

In the light of the above powerful and flawless, divine proclamations, Monotheism is God's only message to humanity. It has been delivered through all of His messengers: humans, angels & scriptures. The story of monotheism has been outlined and narrated by the Most Gracious, in His divine words; a defined beginning, a defined journey and a defined, final destination with Him where real peace and righteousness exist. A defined beginning when we questioned His absolute authority - then, the scenario of Adam, his wife and Satan had begun to move us all on earth for a second chance. A defined journey that is outlined by commands, ethics, teachings and obligatory rites. A defined destination, eloquently and allegorically portrayed, of eternal bliss, peace and beauty. The party that lives and dies on the straight path of monotheism is the party of God; the winners.

[5:56] Those who ally themselves with God and His messenger, and those who believed, belong in the party of God; absolutely, they are the victors.

[10:62] Absolutely, God's allies have nothing to fear, nor will they grieve.
[10:63] They are those who believe and lead a righteous life.
[10:64] For them, joy and happiness in this world, as well as in the Hereafter. This is God's unchangeable law. Such is the greatest triumph.

[10:25] God invites to the abode of peace, and guides whomever He wills in a straight path.

[24:52] Those who obey God and His messenger, and reverence God and observe Him, these are the triumphant ones.

Anything that is not from God as far as religious guidance is concerned, is from Satan- no one else. He is on earth only to challenge the message of God, shatter monotheism and dupe the majority into disbelief: idol worship, hypocrisy or atheism. All three forms are detailed in Quran and all three lead to Hell, if maintained until death, since they fundamentally oppose the monotheistic path.

However, Satan's harm that often afflicts believing communities is mostly idol worship (12:106). Satan introduces all kinds of schemes and traps to meet the needs and logic of various candidates. He is clever in sugar-coating his venom. But we understand from Quran that only those who choose him would fall preys and take him as their lord and master (15:41-42).

The Arabic word used for idol worship in Quran is "shirk". The root for that word simply means taking part in and sharing. In the context of Quran, that root is explicitly used when entities besides God are considered as lords/idols or take part in issuing religious laws additional to the ones God has issued. Quran teaches us that humans have been idolizing statues, angels, saints and prophets. Personal opinions, ego and inherited traditions at times introduce innovated laws that have never been authorized by God. This too is an idol worship practice. Another aspect expressed in Quran for idol worship is when other entities besides God preoccupy our mind and control our life that we become obsessed with, rather than devoting our life and worship to God alone (11:15-16, 7:189-191, 9:34-35). The minor, major or full authority assumed over us by any of the above is what defines the pollution of idol worship.

Logically speaking, all forms of disbelief, including the epidemic of idol worship nullify all the righteous deeds. Why would the righteous deeds be of any benefit to the soul of a disbeliever who is destined to Hell by choosing disbelief? Such is the party of Satan; the losers.

[58:19] The devil has possessed them, and has caused them to disregard God's message. These are the party of the devil. Absolutely, the party of the devil are the losers.

[39:65] It has been revealed to you, and to those before you that if you ever commit idol worship, all your works will be nullified, and you will be with the losers.

[2:161] Those who disbelieve and die as disbelievers, have incurred the condemnation of God, the angels, and all the people (on the Day of Judgment).

[4:145] The hypocrites will be committed to the lowest pit of Hell, and you will find no one to help them.

[9:125] As for those who harbored doubts in their hearts, it actually added unholiness to their unholiness, and they died as disbelievers.

[7:147] Those who reject our revelations and the meeting of the Hereafter, their works are nullified. Are they requited only for what they committed?

[4:18] Not acceptable is the repentance of those who commit sins until death comes to them, then say, "Now I repent." Nor is it acceptable from those who die as disbelievers. For these, we have prepared a painful retribution..

[3:90] Those who disbelieve after believing, then plunge deeper into disbelief, their repentance will not be accepted from them; they are the real strayers.

Once again, in the light of the above powerful and flawless, divine proclamations, who do we belong to? Party of God or the party of Satan? Doesn't this sound like a basic and crucial question? Isn't really worth asking since the party we belong to truly defines our eternity? Isn't worth it to stand true to our souls for once and reevaluate our actions, our motives, our practices and our stands, to make sure that we are really with the party of God- not that of God and.. and... and... plus this and that? Isn't worth it to examine ourselves all the time and make sure we are not just mimicking our proclamation of Faith/Shahadah 9 times a day? Isn't worth the effort to be rid of any pollution that only qualifies to the party of Satan, and kicks the souls, completely, out of God's mercy and forgiveness?

Praise God for the black and the white of His words ; perfection, clarity and manifest contrast, so no one would ever argue, complain or continue the useless, cheap efforts and attempts of deceiving the Most Gracious and the believers:

[98:6] Those who disbelieved among the people of the scripture, and the idol worshipers, have incurred the fire of Gehenna forever. They are the worst creatures.
[98:7] Those who believed and led a righteous life are the best creatures.

[56:8] Those who deserved bliss will be in bliss.
[56:9] Those who deserved misery will be in misery.
[56:10] Then there is the elite of the elite.
[56:11] They are those who will be closest (to God).

[3:104] Let there be a community of you who invite to what is good, advocate righteousness, and forbid evil. These are the winners.
[9:67] The hypocrite men and the hypocrite women belong with each other - they advocate evil and prohibit righteousness, and they are stingy. They forgot God, so He forgot them. The hypocrites are truly wicked.

[9:71] The believing men and women are allies of one another. They advocate righteousness and forbid evil, they observe the Contact Prayers (Salat) and give the obligatory charity (Zakat), and they obey God and His messenger. These will be showered by God's mercy. God is Almighty, Most Wise.
[8:73] Those who disbelieved are allies of one another. Unless you keep these commandments, there will be chaos on earth, and terrible corruption.

If we consider and viciously promote sources besides Quran while mimicking the proclamation and the prayers of faith, imploring God day and night, we have written out the destiny of disbelief, by our own hands, as our fate. Please reflect again on the party of God & party of Satan in the light of these verses:

[18:100] We will present Hell, on that day, to the disbelievers.
[18:101] They are the ones whose eyes were too veiled to see My message. Nor could they hear.
[18:102] Do those who disbelieve think that they can get away with setting up My servants as gods beside Me? We have prepared for the disbelievers Hell as an eternal abode.
[18:103] Say, "Shall I tell you who the worst losers are?
[18:104] "They are the ones whose works in this life are totally astray, but they think that they are doing good."
[18:105] Such are the ones who disbelieved in the revelations of their Lord and in meeting Him. Therefore, their works are in vain; on the Day of Resurrection, they have no weight.
[18:106] Their just requital is Hell, in return for their disbelief, and for mocking My revelations and My messengers.
[18:107] As for those who believe and lead a righteous life, they have deserved a blissful Paradise as their abode.
[18:108] Forever they abide therein; they will never want any other substitute.

Peaceful Friday, salaam and God bless.