And the Exalted One said:

“They claim, ‘The Most Merciful has taken a son.’ Far exalted is He! Rather, they are honored servants (26) who do not outstrip Him in speech and act only at His command. (27) He knows what lies before them and what is behind them; they intercede only for those whom He approves, and they stand in awe of Him. (28) Should any one of them say, ‘I am a god besides Him,’ We would requite him with Hell—thus do We recompense the wrongdoers.” (al-Anbiyāʾ 26–29)

Passages of this kind (1) are numerous in the Qur’an; indeed, this (2) is the very aim and core (3) of the Qur’an itself. It is likewise the essence of every messenger’s summons, and for it all creatures were created, as He, exalted be He, said:

“I did not create jinn and mankind except that they may worship Me.” (adh-Dhāriyāt 56)

Accordingly, the Muslim must know that ḥajj is of the same category as the prayer and other acts of worship by which Allah alone is worshiped, without partner; that the funeral prayer and visiting the graves of the deceased are of the same category as supplicating for them; that praying for people is a form of kindness and beneficence comparable to zakāh; and that the acts of worship Allah has commanded are pure monotheism and sunnah (4), whereas anything else (5) involves shirk and innovation—such as the devotional practices of the Christians and those who resemble them, for example deliberately journeying to a particular site for other