Title of Sermon: Indeed, Your God Is Allah (Why Is Allah the True God?)
Elements of Sermon:
Allah is the true deity.
What are the attributes of the true deity?
Desires: The most dangerous of idols.
All praise is due to Allah, who created the heavens and the earth and made the darkness and the light. Yet those who disbelieve equate others with their Lord. I bear witness that there is no deity worthy of worship except Allah, alone, with no partner—a testimony of a Muslim who affirms His Oneness, even if the polytheists dislike it. And I bear witness that Muhammad is His servant and Messenger, through whom Allah opened deaf ears and blind eyes. May Allah's peace and blessings be upon him, his family, and his companions until the Day of Resurrection.
To proceed: Fear Allah, O servants of Allah, as He deserves, and be conscious of Him in private and public:
يَا أَيُّهَا الَّذِينَ آمَنُوا اتَّقُوا اللَّهَ حَقَّ تُقَاتِهِ وَلَا تَمُوتُنَّ إِلَّا وَأَنْتُمْ مُسْلِمُونَ
“O you who believe, fear Allah as He should be feared and do not die except as Muslims.” [Aal Imran: 102]
O servants of Allah,
A man came to the Prophet ﷺ and asked, "O Messenger of Allah, to what do you call?" He replied, “I call to Allah alone. He is the One who, if harm befalls you and you call upon Him, He removes it. If you are lost in a barren land and you call upon Him, He guides you back. And if famine strikes and you call upon Him, He brings forth provision for you.” (Reported by Ahmad)
How many false gods have people taken besides Allah!
Humans have deified other humans, worshiped the sun and the moon, and prostrated to idols and stones. These are merely names they and their forefathers have invented—Al-Lat, Al-‘Uzza, and Manat, the third one.
Man, deluded by devils on earth, strays in confusion, searching for a deity far from his innate nature and divine revelation.
Is it not astonishing how humanity has turned away from Allah?
How could they attribute divinity to illusions and conjectures instead of their living, eternal Lord?
How could their minds accept to worship beings like themselves, who have no power to harm or benefit, and no control over death, life, or resurrection?
O servants of Allah! Allah has proclaimed to His creation:
إنَّمَا إِلَهُكُمُ اللَّهُ الَّذِي لَا إِلَهَ إِلَّا هُوَ
“Indeed, your God is Allah, besides whom there is no deity.” [Taha: 98]
And He said:
وَمَا مِنْ إِلَهٍ إِلَّا اللَّهُ الْوَاحِدُ الْقَهَّارُ
“And there is no deity worthy of worship except Allah, the One, the Prevailing.” [Sad: 65]
This is the ultimate truth: There is no deity worthy of worship but Allah.
This grand declaration is the foundation upon which the heavens and the earth stand. It is for this truth that Allah created all creation, sent messengers, revealed scriptures, established laws, and divided humanity into believers and disbelievers, the righteous and the wicked. It is for this truth that the markets of Paradise and Hellfire operate—one group destined for Paradise and another for the blazing Fire.
The Prophet ﷺ said, “No one testifies sincerely from their heart that there is no deity worthy of worship but Allah and that Muhammad is the Messenger of Allah except that Allah prohibits the Fire for them.” (Reported by Bukhari)
Allah alone is the true deity, deserving of worship by all creation. Divinity is an attribute that belongs exclusively to Him. Any deity besides Allah is false. Allah alone is the one whom hearts should truly revere, worship, submit to, love, humble themselves before, glorify, fear, and hope in.
Why does Allah alone deserve to be worshiped?
Because He is Allah. The name "Allah" encompasses all the attributes of true divinity.
To be a true deity, one must possess the attributes of the true God.
What are the attributes of the true God? Listen to the speech of the true King about the true God:
آللَّهُ خَيْرٌ أَمَّا يُشْرِكُونَ * أَمَّنْ خَلَقَ السَّمَاوَاتِ وَالْأَرْضَ وَأَنْزَلَ لَكُمْ مِنَ السَّمَاءِ مَاءً فَأَنْبَتْنَا بِهِ حَدَائِقَ ذَاتَ بَهْجَةٍ مَا كَانَ لَكُمْ أَنْ تُنْبِتُوا شَجَرَهَا أَإِلَهٌ مَعَ اللَّهِ بَلْ هُمْ قَوْمٌ يَعْدِلُونَ * أَمَّنْ جَعَلَ الْأَرْضَ قَرَارًا وَجَعَلَ خِلَالَهَا أَنْهَارًا وَجَعَلَ لَهَا رَوَاسِيَ وَجَعَلَ بَيْنَ الْبَحْرَيْنِ حَاجِزًا أَإِلَهٌ مَعَ اللَّهِ بَلْ أَكْثَرُهُمْ لَا يَعْلَمُونَ * أَمَّنْ يُجِيبُ الْمُضْطَرَّ إِذَا دَعَاهُ وَيَكْشِفُ السُّوءَ وَيَجْعَلُكُمْ خُلَفَاءَ الْأَرْضِ أَإِلَهٌ مَعَ اللَّهِ قَلِيلًا مَا تَذَكَّرُونَ * أَمَّنْ يَهْدِيكُمْ فِي ظُلُمَاتِ الْبَرِّ وَالْبَحْرِ وَمَنْ يُرْسِلُ الرِّيَاحَ بُشْرًا بَيْنَ يَدَيْ رَحْمَتِهِ أَإِلَهٌ مَعَ اللَّهِ تَعَالَى اللَّهُ عَمَّا يُشْرِكُونَ * أَمَّنْ يَبْدَأُ الْخَلْقَ ثُمَّ يُعِيدُهُ وَمَنْ يَرْزُقُكُمْ مِنَ السَّمَاءِ وَالْأَرْضِ أَإِلَهٌ مَعَ اللَّهِ قُلْ هَاتُوا بُرْهَانَكُمْ إِنْ كُنْتُمْ صَادِقِينَ
“Is Allah better, or what they associate with Him? Is He [not best] who created the heavens and the earth and sent down for you rain from the sky, whereby We caused gardens of joyful beauty to grow? You could not have caused their trees to grow. Is there a deity with Allah? No, but they are a people who ascribe equals [to Him]. Is He [not best] who made the earth a stable abode and placed within it rivers and made for it firmly set mountains and placed between the two seas a barrier? Is there a deity with Allah? No, but most of them do not know. Is He [not best] who responds to the desperate one when he calls upon Him and removes evil and makes you inheritors of the earth? Is there a deity with Allah? Little do you remember. Is He [not best] who guides you through the darknesses of the land and sea and who sends the winds as good tidings before His mercy? Is there a deity with Allah? High is Allah above whatever they associate with Him. Is He [not best] who begins creation and then repeats it and who provides for you from the heaven and the earth? Is there a deity with Allah? Say, ‘Produce your proof, if you should be truthful.’” [An-Naml: 60-64]
What a profound declaration! What a compelling proof! Listen to the words of Allah as He says:
قُلْ مَنْ يَرْزُقُكُمْ مِنَ السَّمَاءِ وَالْأَرْضِ أَمَّنْ يَمْلِكُ السَّمْعَ وَالْأَبْصَارَ وَمَنْ يُخْرِجُ الْحَيَّ مِنَ الْمَيِّتِ وَيُخْرِجُ الْمَيِّتَ مِنَ الْحَيِّ وَمَنْ يُدَبِّرُ الْأَمْرَ فَسَيَقُولُونَ اللَّهُ فَقُلْ أَفَلَا تَتَّقُونَ * فَذَلِكُمُ اللَّهُ رَبُّكُمُ الْحَقُّ فَمَاذَا بَعْدَ الْحَقِّ إِلَّا الضَّلَالُ فَأَنَّى تُصْرَفُونَ * كَذَلِكَ حَقَّتْ كَلِمَتُ رَبِّكَ عَلَى الَّذِينَ فَسَقُوا أَنَّهُمْ لَا يُؤْمِنُونَ * قُلْ هَلْ مِنْ شُرَكَائِكُمْ مَنْ يَبْدَأُ الْخَلْقَ ثُمَّ يُعِيدُهُ قُلِ اللَّهُ يَبْدَأُ الْخَلْقَ ثُمَّ يُعِيدُهُ فَأَنَّى تُؤْفَكُونَ * قُلْ هَلْ مِنْ شُرَكَائِكُمْ مَنْ يَهْدِي إِلَى الْحَقِّ قُلِ اللَّهُ يَهْدِي لِلْحَقِّ أَفَمَنْ يَهْدِي إِلَى الْحَقِّ أَحَقُّ أَنْ يُتَّبَعَ أَمَّنْ لَا يَهِدِّي إِلَّا أَنْ يُهْدَى فَمَا لَكُمْ كَيْفَ تَحْكُمُونَ
"Say, ‘Who provides for you from the heavens and the earth? Or who owns hearing and sight? And who brings the living out of the dead and brings the dead out of the living? And who arranges [every] matter?’ They will say, ‘Allah.’ So say, ‘Then will you not fear Him?’ So that is Allah, your true Lord. And what is beyond the truth except error? So how are you averted? Thus the word of your Lord has come into effect upon those who defiantly disobeyed—that they will not believe. Say, ‘Are there of your ‘partners’ any who begins creation and then repeats it?’ Say, ‘Allah begins creation and then repeats it, so how are you deluded?’ Say, ‘Are there of your ‘partners’ any who guides to the truth?’ Say, ‘Allah guides to the truth. So is He who guides to the truth more worthy to be followed, or he who guides not unless he is guided? Then what is [wrong] with you—how do you judge?’" [Yunus: 31-35]
And He, the Exalted, says:
اللَّهُ الَّذِي جَعَلَ لَكُمُ الْأَرْضَ قَرَارًا وَالسَّمَاءَ بِنَاءً وَصَوَّرَكُمْ فَأَحْسَنَ صُوَرَكُمْ وَرَزَقَكُمْ مِنَ الطَّيِّبَاتِ ذَلِكُمُ اللَّهُ رَبُّكُمْ فَتَبَارَكَ اللَّهُ رَبُّ الْعَالَمِينَ * هُوَ الْحَيُّ لَا إِلَهَ إِلَّا هُوَ فَادْعُوهُ مُخْلِصِينَ لَهُ الدِّينَ الْحَمْدُ لِلَّهِ رَبِّ الْعَالَمِينَ
"It is Allah who made for you the earth a place of settlement and the sky a structure and formed you and perfected your forms and provided you with good things. That is Allah, your Lord; then blessed is Allah, Lord of the worlds. He is the Ever-Living; there is no deity except Him, so call upon Him, [being] sincere to Him in religion. [All] praise is [due] to Allah, Lord of the worlds." [Ghafir: 64-65]
The true deity must possess attributes of perfection that necessitate divinity.
He must be the Creator, not a created being; the Provider, not one provided for; the Sovereign, not one owned; the All-Prevailing, not overpowered.
He must be the First, before everything, and the Last, after everything. The Most Apparent, above everything, and the Most Intimate, closer than anything.
The true deity must be One without partner, match, or child.
He must be Ever-Living, never dying; Self-Sustaining, never sleeping.
The true deity must be exalted, great, all-hearing, all-seeing, all-aware, and all-knowing. He must be rich, powerful, praiseworthy, and glorious. He must be forgiving, merciful, near, and responsive.
He must do as He wills, with none able to revoke His decree or challenge His judgment. The true deity must be a genuine Lord, owning everything, able to do all things, managing the affairs of His servants, providing for them, answering their prayers, and guiding them to the right path. No affair distracts Him from another, nor does one creation divert Him from another.
The true deity must be free from all defects and shortcomings: He neither sleeps nor dies, neither errs nor forgets, neither tires nor falters, neither oppresses nor oversteps bounds. He neither wanes nor vanishes.
These attributes of perfection belong solely to Allah, the Sovereign, the Living, the Self-Sustaining, who has the most beautiful names and the loftiest attributes, exalted above every imperfection.
Reflect: Did you see how Ibrahim, the close servant of Allah, stood before his people after smashing their idols and said:
أَفَتَعْبُدُونَ مِنْ دُونِ اللَّهِ مَا لَا يَنْفَعُكُمْ شَيْئًا وَلَا يَضُرُّكُمْ * أُفٍّ لَكُمْ وَلِمَا تَعْبُدُونَ مِنْ دُونِ اللَّهِ أَفَلَا تَعْقِلُونَ
“Do you worship besides Allah that which does not benefit you at all or harm you? Uff to you and to what you worship besides Allah. Then will you not use reason?” [Al-Anbiya: 66-67]
Or consider the astonishment of the hoopoe bird when it observed a people prostrating to the sun instead of Allah, saying:
أَلَّا يَسْجُدُوا لِلَّهِ الَّذِي يُخْرِجُ الْخَبْءَ فِي السَّمَاوَاتِ وَالْأَرْضِ وَيَعْلَمُ مَا تُخْفُونَ وَمَا تُعْلِنُونَ * اللَّهُ لَا إِلَهَ إِلَّا هُوَ
“[Why do they not] prostrate to Allah, who brings forth what is hidden within the heavens and the earth and knows what you conceal and what you declare—Allah—there is no deity except Him?” [An-Naml: 25-26]
And have you not heard how Allah refuted the lies of those who deified Christ and his mother alongside Allah:
مَا الْمَسِيحُ ابْنُ مَرْيَمَ إِلَّا رَسُولٌ قَدْ خَلَتْ مِنْ قَبْلِهِ الرُّسُلُ وَأُمُّهُ صِدِّيقَةٌ كَانَا يَأْكُلَانِ الطَّعَامَ انْظُرْ كَيْفَ نُبَيِّنُ لَهُمُ الْآيَاتِ ثُمَّ انْظُرْ أَنَّى يُؤْفَكُونَ * قُلْ أَتَعْبُدُونَ مِنْ دُونِ اللَّهِ مَا لَا يَمْلِكُ لَكُمْ ضَرًّا وَلَا نَفْعًا وَاللَّهُ هُوَ السَّمِيعُ الْعَلِيمُ
“The Messiah, son of Mary, was not but a messenger; [other] messengers have passed on before him. And his mother was a supporter of truth. They both used to eat food. Look how We make clear to them the signs; then look how they are deluded. Say, ‘Do you worship besides Allah that which holds for you no [power of] harm or benefit while it is Allah who is the Hearing, the Knowing?’” [Al-Ma’idah: 75-76]
How can a god be in need of food, unable to cause harm or bring benefit? Exalted is Allah far above what they fabricate!
May Allah bless me and you with the Qur’an, and benefit us from its verses and wise reminders. I seek forgiveness from Allah for myself and for you, so seek His forgiveness; indeed, He is the Forgiving, the Merciful.
Second Sermon
Praise be to Allah, and blessings and peace upon the Messenger of Allah, his family, companions, and all who follow him. To proceed:
Servants of Allah:
Indeed, the deities that have been worshiped—and continue to be worshiped—besides Allah are numerous. The most dangerous among them—indeed, the very root of all forms of shirk (associating partners with Allah) and tyranny on the face of the earth—is the worship of desires. When souls pursue falsehood and cloak it with a fabricated sanctity, erecting priests and caretakers to defend it, calling people to accept it as truth, and enacting worldly laws to justify and impose it, despite it being pure falsehood and blatant lies. Allah says:
أَفَرَأَيْتَ مَنِ اتَّخَذَ إِلَهَهُ هَوَاهُ وَأَضَلَّهُ اللَّهُ عَلَى عِلْمٍ وَخَتَمَ عَلَى سَمْعِهِ وَقَلْبِهِ وَجَعَلَ عَلَى بَصَرِهِ غِشَاوَةً فَمَنْ يَهْدِيهِ مِنْ بَعْدِ اللَّهِ أَفَلَا تَذَكَّرُونَ
“Have you seen the one who takes his desire as his god, and Allah sends him astray knowingly and seals his hearing and his heart and places over his vision a veil? So who will guide him after Allah? Then will you not be reminded?” [Al-Jathiyah: 23].
Allah even termed the obedience of rabbis and priests in permitting the unlawful and forbidding the lawful as worship of them besides Him. He says:
اتَّخَذُوا أَحْبَارَهُمْ وَرُهْبَانَهُمْ أَرْبَابًا مِنْ دُونِ اللَّهِ وَالْمَسِيحَ ابْنَ مَرْيَمَ وَمَا أُمِرُوا إِلَّا لِيَعْبُدُوا إِلَهًا وَاحِدًا لَا إِلَهَ إِلَّا هُوَ سُبْحَانَهُ عَمَّا يُشْرِكُونَ
“They have taken their rabbis and their monks as lords besides Allah, and [also] the Messiah, the son of Mary. And they were not commanded except to worship one God; there is no deity except Him. Exalted is He above whatever they associate with Him.” [At-Tawbah: 31].
When Adi ibn Hatim—who was a Christian before embracing Islam—questioned the Prophet ﷺ about this, saying, “We did not worship them,” the Prophet ﷺ replied:
“Did they not forbid what Allah had made lawful, and you then forbade it? And did they not permit what Allah had made unlawful, and you then permitted it?” He said, “Indeed, we did.” The Prophet ﷺ said, “That is their worship.” (Narrated by Al-Tabarani).
Allah is the Ultimate Truth, guiding to the Straight Path, commanding justice and righteousness, and forbidding immorality, evil, and transgression. He has made permissible all good things and forbidden all impurities. His words are complete in truth and justice, and His laws are mercy and ease. Thus, He is the Just Judge, to whom belongs creation and command. Allah says:
أَفَغَيْرَ اللَّهِ أَبْتَغِي حَكَمًا وَهُوَ الَّذِي أَنْزَلَ إِلَيْكُمُ الْكِتَابَ مُفَصَّلًا وَالَّذِينَ آتَيْنَاهُمُ الْكِتَابَ يَعْلَمُونَ أَنَّهُ مُنَزَّلٌ مِنْ رَبِّكَ بِالْحَقِّ فَلَا تَكُونَنَّ مِنَ الْمُمْتَرِينَ * وَتَمَّتْ كَلِمَتُ رَبِّكَ صِدْقًا وَعَدْلًا لَا مُبَدِّلَ لِكَلِمَاتِهِ وَهُوَ السَّمِيعُ الْعَلِيمُ
“Then is it other than Allah I should seek as judge while it is He who has revealed to you the Book explained in detail? And those to whom We gave the Scripture know that it is sent down from your Lord in truth, so never be among the doubters. And the word of your Lord has been fulfilled in truth and justice. None can alter His words, and He is the Hearing, the Knowing.” [Al-An’am: 114-115].
O Allah, grant victory to Islam and honor the Muslims. Destroy the criminals and send tranquility into the hearts of those striving in Your cause. Relieve the oppressed among Your servants and raise high the banner of the religion through Your might, O Powerful, O Almighty.
O Allah, grant us security in our lands, guide our leaders and those in charge of our affairs, and make our authority among those who fear You, follow Your guidance, and seek Your pleasure.
Our Lord, grant us good in this world and good in the Hereafter, and protect us from the punishment of the Fire.
