is subject to the lordship of any created being.”

Zayd ibn ‘Amr ibn Nufayl said:

“Shall I worship one Lord or a thousand lords,
when paths diverge?”

Imam Ahmad, al-Tirmidhī and al-Tabarānī narrated from Asmā’ bint ‘Umays that she said: The Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, said:

“Wretched is the servant who is conceited and arrogant, forgetting the Most Great, the Most Exalted. Wretched is the servant who acts tyrannically and transgresses, forgetting the Compeller, the Most High. Wretched is the servant who is heedless and distracted, forgetting the graves and decay. Wretched is the servant who oppresses and transgresses, forgetting his beginning and his end. Wretched is the servant who deceitfully seeks worldly gain through religion. Wretched is the servant who undermines religion by exploiting doubtful matters. Wretched is the servant whose craving humiliates him and turns him away from the truth. Wretched is the servant whose greed leads him. Wretched is the servant whose desires lead him astray.”

Al-Tirmidhī said: “It is singular.” The authentic hadith quoted earlier contains support for it. Allah knows best. Many other hadiths and reports have likewise been narrated to this effect.

As Allah Most High says:

“Yet among people are those who take others besides Allah as equals to Him, loving them as they love Allah. But those who believe are stronger in their love for Allah.”

Someone who seeks leadership—even through falsehood—is pleased by words that exalt him, even if they are false, and angered by words that disparage him, even if they are true.