The central idea upon which Islam is based is contained in the formula "La ilaha ilallah" (There is no god but Allah). Since Allah means "that which alone is worthy of worship, then this formulae can also be translated as "There is nothing worth worshipping but that which is Worthy of worship". Allah is One, Indivisible and Unique, the ultimate self-existing Reality, the source of all things. Therefore, He is alone worthy of praise and worship.

The formula tells not merely that this is the objective Truth, but is also an acknowledgement that we recognise this truth and that it is an ideal and goal by which we abide because this is conducive to our own welfare and development. These three are inter-dependent. Worship means to adore, reverence, serve, and subordinate ourselves to. We recognise something greater than ourselves on which we are dependent and we align and identify ourselves with it in order to expand. The idea and experience of Allah is intimately connected with the idea of our own self. The one has the same relationship with the Universe as our self has with our bodies.

The reason for this is that:-

The human soul is derived from the Spirit. This may be regarded as the Universal Consciousness in which the soul is a local organisation.

Consider the following verse:-

This could be taken as definition of the soul - that which makes the difference between waking and sleeping - the seat of consciousness, of the hearing, sight and hearts. Note, however, that the concept of soul does not contain the difference between sleep and death. This may be defined as life.

It is the soul that returns to Allah from whence it came.

Morality, self-restraint in accordance with a purpose in life, is based on accepting Allah. No self-restraint, morality, higher goal or striving for self-improvement or self-transcendence can exist unless something other than oneself is recognised as greater than ourselves, and an authority over us. Without this there can be no deliberate conscious action, no progress and development but only accidental and conflicting changes. It is, of course, possible to recognise the State, the Society, the Nation or Humanity as a whole as the supreme arbiter of what is good or evil. And, indeed, this is the position taken up by Humanitarianism. But humanity, too, is only a part of the whole of Life, of the Biosphere. This is part only of the planet Earth, which is only a small part of the whole Universe. And the Universe may only be one among many. Human beings have both good and evil in them to various degrees. Humanitarianism is clearly much too restricted. Nor does it answer the question why anyone should accept Humanity as the source of morality. There is no justification for accepting the values advanced by one person or group rather than some other person or group. All the different conflicting value systems would be as good or bad as any other.

The highest goal for man is, then, the worship of Allah, and all other purposes and goals must be subordinate or means to this end. It follows, therefore, that the greatest of evils is idolatry. It is the only unforgivable sin. All others can be forgiven because it is Allah who forgives them. That is, the spiritual harm that the sinful action does can only be rectified through the Spirit of Allah. Indeed, a sin is defined as that which does harm to the soul.

Idolatry consists of the worship, service, submission, self-subjection, self-subordination, self-identification or attachment to anything that is not Allah. It, therefore, limits the individual mentally, emotionally and physically. It causes an imbalance in the individual because it places emphasis on something lesser at the expense of something greater.

Worship means to serve, adore, be controlled by something one recognises as greater than oneself, on whom one is dependent and from whom one hopes to acquire benefits, mercy, forgiveness, favours, resources powers, protection, physically, mentally or spiritually.

An idol can be an object, representation, image or idea in the mind that is limited and is worshipped. All and everything on which we are dependent, which affect us or which we desire can be idols.

Idolatry is not judged superficially by outer actions but by motives and inner states. The Quran tells us:-

The person who appears to be committing idolatry is not, therefore, condemned absolutely. He will be judged by whether he is lying or not. Idolatry is a question of motives and these inner states cannot be judged by others, but only God. There is, of course, the temptation or the danger that the object used as a focus will become an idol, so that the means become the ends. That is why Muslims are forbidden to use anything as a symbol for God who is unlimited. All such symbols would create false fantasies and impose limitations.

There are, however, certain symbolic rituals in Islam such as praying towards the Kaaba or circumambulating it during the pilgrimage that some superficial thinkers have mistaken for idolatry. But when something is done in obedience to God it cannot be idolatry. However, people can turn it into an automatism or do it for show or some other reason. This would be idolatry. On the other hand such judgements are usually based, not on an impartial, intelligent or objective basis, but on conjecture, prejudices, self-justification, or to establish their own superiority or some other ulterior motives that constitute the idolatry of self.

The word Idolatry implies three things:-

(a) That it is not Allah who is worshipped, adored or served.

(b) That something else, which by definition is less than Allah is worshipped or served instead.

(c) That this is due to ignorance, stupidity or mistakes.

Islam uses three notions for this:-

1. Kufr - Disbelief, ingratitude, refusal to admit ones debts and obligations.

2. Shirk - Associating partners, someone or something else with Allah as god. The worship, submission to or serving something else besides Allah. This could have three forms

(b) Polytheism, the worship of more than one god.

(c) Notions where a godhead consisting of more than one god are implied such as the trinity.

3. Tughyan - arrogance, infidelity, rebellion or disloyalty to Allah.

The sources might be:- mistaking means for ends, techniques for goals, appearances and forms for the essence, the letter for the spirit, the vessel for the contents, the parts for the whole. These are the ways to idolatry.

The causes might be the loss of contact with the inner self that leads to the feeling of emptiness and non-existence. Most fear and anxiety derives from this. It is the main reason why people seek something to which they can attach themselves and which will give them some feeling of significance, love and security. Whereas, in fact this source of significance controls them and reduces them to a status of a thing, a slave, yet it is difficult to give up because of the significance it bestows on the person. Instead, then, of giving up the idol, they rationalise or hide its true nature from themselves. They refuse to admit that it is an idol.

The idol could be an object, construction, person, group, idea, ideology, principle, illusion, fantasy, superstition, an institution, organisation, methodology, career, profession, firm or company. Systems such Science or Logic are gods to some people, Art to others, technology to still others. Capitalism, Socialism, Communism or Democracy may become such idols. It could be obsession, addiction, fascination, ambition, and fixation. It could be a person himself, his own ego, his lust, avarice or greed, his intellect, body, abilities, position, wealth, power or prestige. It could be an image or idea a person has created of Allah in his own mind. It could be the appendages, emblems, instruments, rosaries, and formulae of his own religion. The Quran, the Prophet, the Priesthood, the Mosque, the Kaaba, the Flag, Dogmas and Rituals can all become idols. Islam itself, the word or idea can be an idol. The fact is that these are means to an end, techniques, and not ends in themselves. Only Allah alone is to be worshipped. Fanaticism is one form of idolatry since it consists of emotional attachment and even identification with some formula or idea, a threat to which is regarded as a threat to oneself.

In fact, of course nothing can injure a person who has a true faith. A person with true faith would pity those whom he regarded as being misled and would be compelled by compassion to try to guide them or where this was not possible, simple ignore them. The particular feature of fanaticism is that it leads the individual to commit, in the name of religion, the very acts forbidden by the religion. It is a self-contradiction. Instead of raising the individual to a higher level it reduces him to a lower level where his reason is suspended and where his control is lost.

The use of talismans, amulets, charms, beads, spells, methods of divination, incantations, magic, sorcery, trickery etc. are inappropriate. The Prophet is reported as having refused a man's oath of allegiance because he wore a talisman that obviously was a god to him. But accepted it when the man broke it. Ritualism makes the means into ends. Imitation of external actions without understanding, inattentive and haphazard actions or habitual rather than adaptive behaviour are forms of wrong techniques.

Some forms of apparent Idolatry that are prevalent among Muslims are hero-worship, the installation or carrying of pictures and erection of statues of saints and heroes, pilgrimages to the graves of saints, the use of rosaries, the use of the verses of the Quran as charms, the use of Islamic slogans and the name of Allah for political purposes and so on. The ideal is to remember Allah constantly and do all things in His service. However, we all concentrate our minds on things other than Allah, forgetting Allah and are distractible even when praying. It is probably true to say that no one is completely free of some kind of idolatry and that there are no atheists. There are only persons who worship the real God or false gods subconsciously or consciously to various degrees. We are required to try consciously to worship the Real God, the fundamental source of all things, including ourselves.

Forms of Idolatry can be classified as follows:-

1. Levels

(a) Shirk-al-Akbar, Major Idolatry.

(i) Taking some creature, something limited, relative or subordinate as a substitute for the Creator, the Supreme, the Absolute.

(ii) Giving partners to Allah or raising something else to equality with Allah.

(iii) Dividing Allah into parts.

(b) Shirk-al-Asghar, Minor Idolatry. This was described by the Prophet as showing off, boasting etc. In other words, elevating oneself.

(c) Shirk-ar-Riyaa, Secret Idolatry. This was described by the Prophet as an action that was outwardly right, but inwardly wrong. as in the case of someone who embellishes his worship in order to impress others or does charitable works for selfish reasons. The motive is wrong.

2. Attitude of man towards Allah.

(a) Rejecting or denying Allah, consciously or unconsciously. This amounts to accepting something else as supreme. From the Islamic point of view an awareness of Allah is built into man. This accounts for the prevalence of religion throughout the world. But the interpretation of this inner experience may, and has, become distorted owing to cultural conditioning and inner rationalisations, fantasies and suppression.

(b) Changing the concept of Allah by (i) assigning intentions, qualities or actions to Allah, (ii) reducing them (iii) or distorting them. This amounts to lying about Allah, and therefore, about what is true or false about reality and existence. The correct attitude is either to try to discover and understand or to admit that one does not know or understand.

(c) Ignoring Allah. This amounts to behaving in a mechanical or automatic manner without intelligence, purpose and control.

3. The condition of man.

(a) Idolatry of thought as found in scientific or philosophical thinking or in the superstitions of various religions. This could be due failures or mistakes in (a) conceptualisation (b) reasoning (c) application.

(i) has values or seeks for goals which are not objective.

(ii) tries to obtain help, protection or benefits from other than Allah.

(iii) subordinates, attaches himself to, or adores something other than Allah.

(c) Idolatry of action when

(i) the means are inappropriate.

(ii) the means become the end.

(iii) the techniques are faulty.

A human being should be an integrated individual. That is, he should have a single centre of co-ordination and control. If he is not then he cannot be said to be an individual. He will be in a state of disintegration having several much more limited parts between which there will be conflict. There will be nothing in him which can arrive at a comprehensive world view or from which control over himself can be exerted. He is much more under the control of external forces. Much of his suffering can be attributed to inner contradictions. The psychological development of a person depends on the existence within him of a focal point around which external and inner experiences can be organised. Since a great number of partial views are possible, then partial development also leads to social conflicts between people. It also leads to conflict and disharmony between man and his environment.

If a person subordinates himself to something less than Allah, something limited like a person, then he also limits himself and restricts his own possibilities. This is so not only because the ideal he strives for is limited, but also because he might mistake the limitations for the ideals and he may himself have other possibilities than those in his hero which he will be quite unaware of. The Spirit in man should be free. Idolatry imprisons it and renders it impotent. The sources of his creativity, initiative and responsibility become repressed.

Consciousness, conscience and will become inactive. Man is reduced to a machine, although a sophisticated one. Like a computer he is programmed by his environment. He can be, and is, programmed and controlled by others. The government, the media of information, and propagandists of all kinds control him. But the controllers are not free either. They, too are controlled by others. The whole Society, therefore, behaves like a purposeless robot. Though it has no purpose of its own, it may still serve the purposes of the planet as other animals do. The programming has nothing whatever to do with his own welfare. This is why human beings often, and probably almost always, act against their own real interests. Thus, to be free of Idolatry is to be fully free, to attain liberation. (See 16:75, 39:29, 11:24, 30:29, 75:14-15, 96:6-7, 104:3-4, 30:29, 75:20-21, 17:11, 80:17)

A classification and description of the nature, causes and forms of Idolatry can enable people to develop, become self-reliant and inwardly integrated by purifying and correcting thinking, motives and actions. A community where alertness regarding these is sustained will run without conflicts and tensions in a much more harmonious manner.