For this reason you will find that every form of polytheism and innovation that has been introduced ends up dividing its followers. Each clan among the pagan Arabs had its own false deity, which they set up as a rival to Allah; they would draw near to it with offerings, seek its intercession, and thereby commit shirk. One group shunned the false god of another, and vice-versa; indeed, the devotees of a particular idol often had religious practices not shared by the rest. The people of Madinah, for example, used to begin their pilgrimage rites for Manāt—“the third, the other”—and they scrupled to walk between Ṣafā and Marwah until Allah revealed:

“Indeed, Ṣafā and Marwah are among the rites of Allah.” (Qur’an 2:158)

In the same way, you will find those who embrace comparable kinds of shirk—such as turning graves and the relics of prophets and righteous people into places of worship—each faction directing its supplications, pleas for help, and orientation in worship toward figures the other factions do not revere.

The people of pure monotheism, on the other hand, worship Allah alone without associating anything with Him. They worship in His houses, which He has permitted to be raised and wherein His Name is mentioned, even though He has made the entire earth a place of prostration and a means of purification for them. If they disagree over a matter in which ijtihād is permissible, that disagreement does not lead to division or discord, for they know that the one who is correct receives two rewards, while the mujtahid who errs receives a single reward for his effort and is forgiven for his mistake.

Allah alone is the One they worship: Him they serve, upon Him they rely, and Him they fear and hope for.