You can notice it in news broadcasts, in television series, in Disney movies and all kinds of cartoons, especially the Marvel series. You can find it in public discourse as the “standard model” of communication – the scrupulous avoidance of mentioning God or anything “sacred” in Western culture – except rarely when covering news about religion. Yet even then the word “God” is usually replaced with “approved words” like “nature” or “Mother Nature” (which Apple capitalized for me!). This is something I’ve been aware of for the longest time, but it’s extremely important to articulate it now in light of world events, the culmination of a long-standing erasure of the Sacred from so-called “Western” culture. Public mentions God are rare except in “sanctioned” phrases like “OMG” or “god-forsaken” or “godawful.” Compare to public discourse as it used to be in Muslim countries, like Egypt, where the name Allah was one of the most frequently-used words, effortlessly incorporated into daily life. Now with the imposition of Nazi and hedonistic “leaders” such as Sisi in Egypt or MBS in Saudi Arabia, the elimination of God in language, even where Islam is the dominant religion, is underway.
But maybe insha’Allah not for long…
What’s Wrong with God-free “Morality?”
If we take the Disney film “The Lion King,” generally accepted by the public as having a good moral point – killing is wrong as a way of getting one’s way, greed for power is wrong, one’s traditions and inherited values are good – we can notice that these “universal” moral values are sterilized from any reference to God. This is in response to the commonly shared idea (in non-Muslim cultures) of freedom of religion – where any mention of God would be seen as espousing a particular religion and thus interfering in the rights of atheists (in particular) to their “religious” belief that there is no God. Interestingly, although atheists have gone to court to prohibit prayer in schools citing “freedom of religion” (enshrined in the U.S. in the First Amendment), it seems certain sects of Christianity feel the most threatened by the religiosity of Muslims.
Even decades prior to the advent of intense Islamophobia in the wake of the psy-op of 9/11, certain groups of Christians would describe Islam as the religion of satan, even though they knew nothing about it. And those who didn’t go to that extreme viewed Islam as “false” as well as “foreign,” using milder criticism like “it’s too legalistic.” And the erasure of God took some time to complete, but was completed under the watch of all denominations of Christianity. One rarely hears any complaint about this, but on the contrary, compassion has been for a time replaced with a “prosperity gospel” whose religion is in fact America’s peculiar form of capitalism as a sort of religion, faith in which has become sacrosanct.
Now Islam, based on the Quran, has very clear-cut moral principles not subject to a muddying of the waters. Islam adheres to the Ten Commandments (which interestingly auto-correct used to capitalize but no longer does – guess it’s not as important as Mother Nature) – and also updates it to include fraud and murder of one’s children in particular. What atheists object to may not be these essential moral laws, but rather the existence of God Himself, the truth of which is obvious, and was obvious even to idol-worshipers of the past considered disbelievers by the Quran’s standards.
If you asked them, “Who created the heavens and earth and subjected the sun and the moon?” they would surely say, “Allah.” Then how are they deluded? (Al-‘Ankabut 29:61)
Those being asked are described as “deluded” because they worshiped something or someone other than Allah despite not denying Allah’s existence per se. In today’s world, it’s commonplace to refer to one’s deceased friends or relatives as “up there”/“above,” expressing a belief that they went up to “heaven” known only as being, relative to us, in a higher position, where they presume God exists. Beyond that, however, they may or may not express gratitude to God for what he gives them, stand for justice, spend in charity for those in need, honor their parents, pray regularly to God seeking His acceptance. So believing that God exists in and of itself is one thing; whom one worships is another. An extremely important distinction.
The most important point here is that without faith in and acknowledgement of the Supreme Power, one will necessarily become subject to and thus worship something (or someone) less than Allah: oneself and one’s needs, other humans whom one admires, leaders, money, drugs, or ideologies such as scientism, capitalism, Zionism, etc. The word Taghūt refers to anything one worships other than Allah. The truth is there is only one ultimate Truth, only one ultimate Good, and neither of these are relative or subject to opinion. They are eternal values, fully present in our Creator and Sustainer: Allah the Exalted. He (Allah=God here) is the ultimate Arbiter of Right and Wrong. Morality, true morality, is not “relative” or arguable. The idea of “relativity” applies to “creation” but not to God and not to His absolute values. To say this in itself opposes the Western trend toward denial. After all, the West seeks, by the systemic denial and suppression of God being mentioned, to subject humankind to their godless and evil control.
Thus, despite some good things and ostensibly positive values being promoted in various venues in the West – something they have to do as a cover for their plans and evil intentions – this does not mean the leaders actually espouse these values or are guided by them. So when I say “they,” I refer especially to the ones in power who control much of the money/ currency and wealth of the world, as well as resources that are not theirs, the ones who call themselves the “west,” perhaps seeking a “setting sun” on the world as it is and hoping to bring about its downfall so they can usurp power entirely as they fantasize.
The Importance of Mentioning Allah’s Name
Allah is the ultimate Good. And thus we must trust His plans. As the Almighty Omniscient, everything is known to Him, but he allows a measure of autonomy for all people which, since some people veer off into evil given the choice, necessarily results in evil existing in the world. Our job as Muslims – people who stand for Truth and submit to no authority over God – is to fight evil wherever we find it. One of those evils is the subtle and insidious unstated prohibition of mentioning Allah’s name. How do we fight this? By mentioning His name repeatedly and publicly! And also legally fighting the prohibition of dhikr Allah, which means both mentioning and remembering Allah. Allah = God, I mention for those who think otherwise. But the name Allah is more meaningful. The linked article states:
“We are enjoined to invoke Allah’s name(s) frequently in the Qur’an:
And remember (mention) the name of your Lord morning and evening. (25) (Surat Al-Insan 76:25)
سُوۡرَةُ ٱلدَّهۡر / الإنسَان
وَٱذۡكُرِ ٱسۡمَ رَبِّكَ بُكۡرَةً۬ وَأَصِيلاً۬ (٢٥)
Glorify the Name of your Lord, the Most High.(1) (Surat Al-Aala 87:1)
سُوۡرَةُ الاٴعلی
بِسۡمِ ٱللهِ ٱلرَّحۡمَـٰنِ ٱلرَّحِيمِ
سَبِّحِ ٱسۡمَ رَبِّكَ ٱلۡأَعۡلَى (١)
“Note the passages do not simply say “remember/mention Allah,” but rather remember/mention the name of Allah. There are many such passages in the Qur’an.”
What is the purpose of mentioning the names of Allah/God in particular. Because this maintains our conscious awareness of God and helps us not to forget or become oblivious of Him. Words are a kind of power. Like speaking truth to power. Mentioning Allah’s names affirm an awareness of Him in all of us. Suppressing such mention, especially in the public sphere, likewise suppresses our awareness of Him. We hardly notice the absence of dhikr in public discourse because we are given to forget easily. And thus those who wish to reduce the influence of religion and its clear rules and values, do so in order to corrupt the general public and thus subdue them when it wishes to use them for nefarious purposes.
People are beginning to feel this, especially young people who have not been as heavily indoctrinated due to the loss of centralized media’s ironclad control of what we hear and what we don’t hear. The normalization of kufr and denial is beginning to crack. If we want to be free, actual faith in Allah as He presented Himself and His law in the inimitable Quran is the path to that freedom from totalitarian human usurpation of what is the sole authority of Allah.
He is all knowing but also All Good. But human surveillance seeks to control us for evil. The genocide of the Palestinian people in Palestine by Israeli Zionists has proven this. The coming and planned annihilation of humanity by Zionists in the U.S., the UK, and Europe, as well as totalitarian regimes elsewhere, is doomed to fail by the Almighty Allah-Merciful. Nonetheless we are highly recommended and encouraged to take a clear stand on the side of the common good, which ultimately will result in good for ourselves and those we love.
Satan desires only to sow enmity and hatred among you through intoxicants and gambling, and to turn you away from the remembrance/ mentioning of God, and from prayer. Will you, then, refrain? (5:91)
Or Who created these? Can you name Who?
114 Chambers 