What does Islam say about ‘god-men’?

What does Islam say about ‘god-men’?

India is often called the land of ‘god-men’. This is due to the abundance of so-called spiritual masters in India. Many of these ‘babas’ and ‘saints’ have a large following in many countries. Islam abhors deification of any human being. To understand the Islamic stand towards such pretenders to divinity, let us analyze one such ‘god-man’, Osho Rajneesh.

Let us put this candidate, ‘Bhagwan’ Rajneesh, to the test of Surah Ikhlas, the touchstone of theology:

1. The first criterion is "Say, He is Allah, one and only". Is Rajneesh one and only? No! Rajneesh was one among the multitude of ‘spiritual teachers’ produced by India. Some disciples of Rajneesh might still hold that Rajneesh is one and only.
2. The second criterion is, ‘Allah is absolute and eternal’. We know from Rajneesh’s biography that he was suffering from diabetes, asthma, and chronic backache. He alleged that the U.S. Government gave him slow poison in prison. Imagine Almighty God being poisoned! Rajneesh was thus, neither absolute nor eternal.
3. The third criterion is ‘He begets not, nor is He begotten’. We know that Rajneesh was born in Jabalpur in India and had a mother as well as a father who later became his disciples.

In May 1981 he went to U.S.A. and established a town called ‘Rajneeshpuram’. He later fell foul of the West and was finally arrested and asked to leave the country. He came back to India and started a commune in Pune which is now known as the ‘Osho’ commune. He died in 1990. The followers of Osho Rajneesh believe that he is Almighty God. At the ‘Osho commune’ in Pune one can find the following epitaph on his tombstone: "Osho – never born, never died; only visited the planet Earth between 11th December 1931 to 19th January 1990."
They forget to mention that he was not granted visa for 21 countries of the world. Can a person ever imagine ‘God’ visiting the earth, and requiring a visa to enter a country! The Archbishop of Greece said that if Rajneesh had not been deported, they would have burnt his house and those of his disciples.

4. The fourth test, which is the most stringent is, "There is none like unto Him". The moment you can imagine or compare ‘God’ to anything, then he (the candidate to divinity) is not God. It is not possible to conjure up a mental picture of the One True God. We know that Rajneesh was a human being, having two eyes, two ears, a nose, a mouth and a white flowing beard. Photographs and posters of Rajneesh are available in plenty. The moment you can imagine or draw a mental picture of an entity, then that entity is not God.

Many are tempted to make anthropomorphic comparisons of God. Take for instance, Arnold Schwarzenegger, the famous body builder and Hollywood actor, who won the title of ‘Mr. Universe’, the strongest man in the world. Let us suppose that someone says that Almighty God is a thousand times stronger than Arnold Schwarzenegger. The moment you can compare any entity to God, whether the comparison is to Schwarzenegger or to King Kong, whether it is a thousand times or a million times stronger, it fails the Qur’anic criterion, "There is none like unto Him".
Thus, the ‘acid test’ cannot be passed by anyone except the One True God.

The following verse of the Glorious Qur’an conveys a similar message:
"No vision can grasp Him
But His grasp is over
All vision: He is
Above all comprehension,
Yet is acquainted with all things."

[Al-Qur'an 6:103]

Source:DZN-Comparitive Religion

What Islam is!

Introduction to Islam

Islam is a Semitic religion, which has over one billion adherents all over the world. Islam means "submission to the will of God". Muslims accept the Qur’an, as the word of God revealed to His last and final prophet, Muhammad (peace be upon him). Islam states that Allah sent messengers and prophets throughout the ages with the message of Unity of God and accountability in the Hereafter. Islam thus makes it an article of faith to believe in all the earlier prophets, starting with Adam, and continuing with Noah, Abraham, Ishmael, Isaac, Jacob, Moses, David, John the Baptist and Jesus amongst many others (may peace be on them all).

Concept of God

• The Most Concise Definition of God
• Surah Ikhlas - the touchstone of theology
• What does Islam say about ‘god-men’?
• By what name do we call God?
• God does not take human form:
• God does not perform ungodly acts:
• God only performs Godly acts:
• Philosophy Of Anthropomorphism
• The Creator prepares the instruction manual
• Allah chooses Messengers:
• Each attribute of God is unique and possessed by Him alone:
• Unity of God
• Tawheed

The Most Concise Definition of God
"Say: He is Allah,
The One and Only.
"Allah, the Eternal, Absolute.
"He begets not, nor is He begotten.
And there is none like unto Him."
[Al-Qur’an 112:1-4]

The word ‘As-Samad’ is difficult to translate. It means ‘absolute existence’, which can be attributed only to Allah (swt), all other existence being temporal or conditional. It also means that Allah (swt) is not dependent on any person or thing, but all persons and things are dependent on Him.

Surah Ikhlas - the touchstone of theology:
Surah Ikhlas (Chapter 112) of the Glorious Qur’an, is the touchstone of theology. ‘Theo’ in Greek means God and ‘logy’ means study. Thus Theology means study of God and to Muslims this four line definition of Almighty God serves as the touchstone of the study of God. Any candidate to divinity must be subjected to this ‘acid test’. Since the attributes of Allah given in this chapter are unique, false gods and pretenders to divinity can be easily dismissed using these verses.

Source:DZN-Comparitive Religion

CONCLUDING REMARKS for LOVE FOR THE MESSENGER (SA)

CONCLUDING  REMARKS

To conclude,  please  listen  (and  read!)  carefully  the  gist  of my  speech  tonight.   Love  for Prophet Muhammad  (SAW) fundamentally demands his true following.  True following which  is full of blessings   and  luminosity that  is no  doubt desirable in life's  routine   matters,  but  what   it essentially demands from  us is that  our  entire  life should  be directed towards  the  same  objective  as  that  of  the  Prophet Muhammad  (SAW).  And  that  cause  was  the  struggle  to make  Allah's   Chosen  Faith  (i.e. Islam)  prevail   over  every other  system:  the actual  establishment and implementation of a truly  just  order  enshrined in Islam.  It was  exactly  for this  mission   that  the  Prophet  toiled  so  arduously  for  23 long  years  and  for which  his blessed  Companions (RAA) devoted   their    entire    lives,   suffered    hardships,    cruel opposition, and  torture  and for which  they even laid down their   lives.   

That  we  follow   in  the  footsteps   of  Prophet Muhammad  (SAW)  and  his  blessed   Companions  (RAA) and   

that  our  life interests   and  pursuits  be  shaped   by  the Seerah of the Messenger (SAW) and his Companions (RAA) 

is what  love for the Messenger (SAW) truly  demands.

With  the  help  of a brief  outline   of the  Seerah of Prophet Muhammad  ($AW) the real meaning and  demands of love for    the    Messenger    Muhammad    (SAW)    have    been explained  to  you.   We  need   to  think   and   contemplate further   on  this  subject.  I am  not  saying   that  you  should agree  with  everything that I have  said  on this topic but  do consider carefully  and with  an objective  frame  of mind  my point  of view  that has come before  you.

‘Praise be to Allah, Lord of the Worlds'.

Source:LOVE FOR THE MESSENGER (SA)