Allah is pleased with three things from you: that you worship Him without associating anything with Him; that you hold firmly, all together, to the rope of Allah and do not become divided; and that you offer sincere counsel to those whom Allah has placed in authority over you.”

Sincere devotion to Allah alone is the foundation of worship. Our Prophet, may Allah bless him and his family and grant him peace, forbade associating partners with Allah in all its forms, small and great, trivial and grave. Indeed, mass-transmitted reports establish that he prohibited prayer at sunrise and sunset, expressing this in various ways. Sometimes he said:

“Do not deliberately time your prayers to coincide with sunrise or sunset.”

At other times, he prohibited prayer after dawn breaks until the sun rises, and after the afternoon prayer until the sun sets. On other occasions, he explained that the sun rises between the two horns of a devil, and that the disbelievers prostrate to it at that time. He prohibited prayer at this time because it involves resembling the polytheists, who prostrate to the sun then, and because the devil positions himself alongside the sun at that moment so that the prostration will be directed to him. What, then, of practices that involve even more evident association of partners with Allah and resemblance to the polytheists?

Allah Most High said, in the words He commanded His Messenger to address to the People of the Book:

“Say, ‘O People of the Book, come to a common word between us and you: that we worship none but Allah, associate nothing with Him, and do not take one another as lords besides Allah.’ But if they turn away, then say, ‘Bear witness that we are Muslims.’”

This is because such conduct resembles that of the People of the Book in taking one another as lords besides Allah, and we are forbidden to do anything of this kind. And whoever