Abraham said to his father:
“O my dear father! Why do you worship that which neither hears nor sees, nor can benefit you in the least?”
[Maryam: 42]
This shows that one who hears, sees, and is self-sufficient is more perfect, and that the object of worship must possess these qualities.
The Quran contains many similar passages in which idols are described as lacking attributes of perfection, such as their inability to speak or act, their lack of life, and the like. This makes clear that anything so characterized is deficient and defective, like all other inanimate objects, and that these attributes are denied only of something deficient and defective.
As for the Lord of creation, who is more perfect than every other existent, He has the greatest claim of all to the attributes of perfection. One who possesses the attributes of perfection is not equal to one who does not possess them. The Quran also mentions that inanimate objects, as a rule, do not admit of being characterized by these attributes.
Thus, whoever claims that the Necessary Existent cannot possess attributes has thereby placed Him in the same category as the inert idols that Allah Most High censured, along with their worshippers.
For this reason, the Qarmatian esotericists were among the worst of people in polytheism and in worshipping other than Allah, for they did not believe that their god heard, saw, or could benefit them in any way.
Allah, glorified is He, did not mention these passages merely to affirm His attributes of perfection. Rather, He mentioned them to show that He alone, to the exclusion of all else, deserves worship.
He thereby conveyed the two foundational principles by which monotheism is perfected:
affirming the attributes of perfection, in refutation of those who negate the divine attributes; and showing that He alone deserves worship—there is no deity but Him—in refutation of the polytheists.
Polytheism is more prevalent in the world than denial of the divine attributes. Affirming [monotheism] that rules out associating partners with Allah does not necessarily invalidate the position of those who negate the divine attributes,