This Translation Is Deficient

Question :

Allah Almighty says:
"You should establish religion, and make no divisions in it."

An Islamic group in India explains this verse, saying that it refers to worship only, and that it does not apply to religious societies that deal with Islamic affairs, nor to the affairs of the rulers or the ruled. However, Shaykh Al-Mawdudi clarified that there are a number of meanings for worship, and that religion includes all of these things that are related to obedience. The group referred to above responds the explanation of worship by obedience with:
"And obey the Messenger."

saying that this would then mean worship the Messenger! What is the correct view about this?

Answer:

The explanation put forward by this group is without a doubt deficient, for 'Ibadah (worship) means to humble oneself to Allah Almighty by obeying Him and following His commands, regardless whether that concerns dealings with Allah Almighty or dealings with man. The following verse which is the longest verse in the Qur'an - as well as the one after it, discuss debts between people, and they clearly show that dealings between people is a part of Allah's religion:
"O you who believe! When you contract a debt for a fixed period, write it down."

up to His saying:
"Then if one of you entrust the other, let the other who is entrusted discharge his trust (faithfully), and let him be afraid of Allah, his Lord."

And a person who applies the Shari'ah in matters of worship and not in dealings is in fact one who disbelieves in the entire Shari'ah, because all of the Shariah, is from Allah Almighty. Allah Almighty reproached the Children of Israel for doing the same thing:
"Then do you believe in the part of the Scripture and reject the rest?"

A person, then, who believes in only some of the Messengers or in only part of the Shari'ah is a disbeliever, one who follows his own desires. And the argument put forth by those you mentioned regarding the obedience of the Messenger of Allah is false, for obedience of the Messenger of Allah is a part of obedience to Allâh Almighty: obedience of the Messenger of Allâh means to follow his orders and to stay away from his prohibitions, which is basically the same meaning for obedience to Allah Almighty. And part of what Allah Almighty and His Messenger ordered us with is to worship Allah Almighty alone, and not to associate any partners with Him.

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