Surah Ikhlas is the Touchstone of Theology.
Any person or candidate who is called God cannot be accepted as the true God without verifying him with the touchstone. The touchstone of theology, that is study of God, is Surah Ikhlas chapter 112 of the Holy Qur’an which says:
"Say, ‘He is Allah, The One and Only; Allah, The Eternal, Absolute; He begetteth not Nor is He begotten; and there is none like unto Him.’’’
[Al-Qur’an 112:1-4]
Any candidate who passes the Acid test can be called God.
Any candidate who claims to be God and fits in this four line definition, passes the Acid test, is entitled to be called God and worshipped as God.
Suppose a lunatic says that Muhammad (pbuh) is God, (God forbid). Let’s put him to the test of Surah Ikhlas.
"Kul hu allah hu ahad" – Say He is Allah, The One and Only;
Is Muhammad (pbuh) one and only? No! he was not the only messenger. There were many other messengers.
"Allah hus Samad" – Allah, The Eternal, Absolute;
We know that Muhammad (pbuh) had to undergo many hardships. Though he was the mightiest messenger of God, he died at the age of 63 and was buried in Madeenah.
"Lam ya lid wa lam yulad" – He begetteth not Nor is He begotten;
We know that he was born in Makkah and his parents were Abdullah and Aaminah. He even had several children e.g. Fatimah, Ibrahim (may Allah be pleased with them), etc.
"Wa lam ya kullahu kufuwan ahad" – And there is none like unto Him.
Though all the Muslims love and revere the Prophet (pbuh) and are supposed to follow each and every of his commandments, yet you will not find a single Muslim in the whole world, who in his senses will ever say that Muhammad (pbuh) is God. The Islamic Creed is, "La illaha illallah Muhammadur Rasoolullah", which means that there is no god but Allah, and Muhammad (pbuh) is the messenger of Allah. This is repeated five times a day during the call for prayer, so that the Muslims are reminded daily that although they respect and obey him, he is only a Messenger and servant of God, and not God Himself.
Posted on 10/11/2003 3:10:29 AM