What was the Quran's first command and prohibition?

Another installment of an ayah a deeper understanding in this installment we are going to be speaking about another verse which is found in surat al-baqarah this verse is one of the first verses of the quran in which allah subhanahu wa ta'ala commands all of humanity notice this verse contains the first command to of allah subhanahu wa ta'ala in the quran and this verse contains the first prohibition of allah subhanahu wa ta'ala in the entire quran so the first do and the first do not is found in these two verses it's actually two verses but they are connected in meaning so they're almost considered one verse allah subhanahu wa ta'ala says in the 21st and 22nd verse of surah o people o humanity o human beings and jin kind alike worship your lord allah worship your lord the one who has created you all and those who have preceded you in order that you may attain safety in order that you may attain sanctuary from allah subhanahu ta'ala salvation from the hell fire protection he says subhana ta'ala describing the one who has made for you all the earth as a kind of carpeting as a surface for you to live on it's not too hard to where you cannot benefit from it it's not too soft to where it is too malleable and you can't walk on it or be it be of use to you but it isn't it is the it is the bedrock upon which you live he says and the one who has made and provided you all with the sky as a kind of canopy above you all he says subhanahu and he sent down from the heavens water and from this water he has sprung forth for you all sustenance bounty he has sprung forth for you all fruits vegetables vegetation he has nourished you all with this water he says so do not associate unto allah anything similar what does this mean meaning do not make anything similar to allah subhanahu wa ta'ala in your worship of he is so do not ascribe unto allah subhanahu.

[Arabic recitation]

Any similars don't make anything similar to allah subhanahu wa ta'ala in worship he says subhanahu ta'ala while you know that it is only he who nourishes you it is only he who provides you it is only he who has brought you into existence hence it is only he who is worthy of your worship subhanahu wata'ala so these two verses contain the first command of allah in all of the quran worship your lord and these the two verses contain the first prohibition of allah and do not associate unto allah any similars now what does that mean notice here how allah subhanahu wa ta'ala makes the calling o people this is a call to all of humanity anyone who hears this and is able to comprehend it this applies to him o people because that is what human beings were created for we were created to worship allah subhanahu wa ta'ala alone without any partners says in the closing verses and i have not created the jin kind and the humankind except so that they may worship me that is the only reason that they have been created and so allah subhanahu wa ta'ala focuses the call on everyone generalizes it and he says worship your lord what is worship worship is only what allah subhanahu ta'ala deems to be worship if allah subhanahu wa'ta'ala has not deemed it as worship it is invalid and this is what is is referred to in islam as which is innovation innovation is when a person tries to get closer to allah and worship allah subhanahu wa ta'ala with something that allah subhanahu wa ta'ala has not allowed him to worship him with that allah subhanahu wa ta'ala has not instructed through his prophet and his messenger muhammad sallallahu alaihi wasallam that's the definition of innovation is when a person tries to gain nearness to allah in a way that allah has not legislated that allah has not allowed that allah has not instructed through his prophet and messenger.

[Arabic recitation]

Likewise worship of allah subhanahu wa ta'ala is only valid when it is directed to him alone without any partners when allah worship your lord what he subhanahu what's essentially saying is if you worship anyone or anything else along with allah you have not worshipped allah a good way to think of this and we discussed this before in previous installments of this series a good way to think about this is we all know what prayer is when a person prays they begin with allah akbar and they end it with a tesleem to the right and to the left if a person were to come and pray but they don't have knowingly would we consider this to be prayer the answer is no this is not prayer it looks prayer but it's invalid because one of its conditions is missing and its condition is that a person be in a state of taharah in a state of spiritual purity that a person has will do if a person does not have then this is not considered no matter how eloquent or how good it is in itself likewise is the issue of worship the worship of allah subhanahu wa ta'ala it is only considered worship when it is directed only to allah subhanahu wa ta'ala alone without any partners and i'd to at this occasion share with you a narration of the prophet sallallahu alaihi wasallam this narration is found in.

[Silence]

Says that allah has said what is referred to as al hadith he says i am least in need of a partner whoever worships me and ascribes a partner unto me in that worship i will forsake him and forsake his partnership his worship i will leave him and i will leave his his worship i will reject it i will reject him and reject that worship and so in order for it to be considered to be worship it has to be a only for the sake of allah subhanahu ta'ala only directed to allah and be it has to be in the way that allah subhanahu wa ta'ala has instructed so when allah says he's essentially saying worship me alone worship me only in the way that the prophet my prophet muhammad has told you to worship me now we go on to the prohibition the prohibition do not ascribe unto allah any and dead and dead is gemma is plural for nid an enid in the arabic language is someone who is similar to someone else so he's saying subhanahu wa ta'ala do not ascribe unto me or make similar to me anything or anyone else what does that mean well that means that when someone worships allah and worships another along with allah in that sense he is essentially saying this is equal to allah subhanahu wa ta'ala and that is the essence of shirk that is the essence of what we have been prohibited as human beings and that is the unforgivable sin allah subhanahu wa ta'ala says indeed allah does not forgive that any partners be associated unto him that worship that is directed to him be directed to anyone else as well so this negates worship of other than allah and affirms worship only for allah so what is the first commandment of the quran the first commandment of the quran in short is that is the first thing we've been commanded essentially essentially the first commandment of the quran is none is rightfully worship but allah alone without any partners and that anyone or anything that is worshipped other than allah subhanahu wa it is an invalid worship and it is the gravest of sin that the human being can commit this is the first command of the quran this is the first prohibition of the quran this is what allah subhanahu wa ta'ala starts out the remainder of the quran with an an an absolute command to all of humanity that they worship him alone without any partners and a general prohibition that anything be made similar to allah subhanahu wa ta'ala in any way we discussed in our previous installments we discussed surah cafe roon we discussed and we mentioned that these two chapters together we derive from them the two types of tahit likewise there are two types of there is that when allah subhanahu when a person makes something similar to allah in their worship of that thing or when someone makes something similar to allah in the names and attributes of allah meaning they make something similar to allah and his names and attributes just as there are two types of taheed there are two types of shikh the scholars have also divided shikh into two types they mention major and minor shikh is what takes a person out of the fold of islam worshiping other than allah subhanahu wa and minor shirk is something that has reverence that is only befitting for allah subhanahu wa ta'ala but it will not take a person out of the fold of islam and this is a topic which is very broad and deserves its own installments insha allah which inshallah one day we will get to and we'll be able to communicate all of this knowledge that the quran and the sunnah has provided us through our scholars and our deep and rich history of scholarship throughout the centuries we ask allah subhanahu wa that he teach us of his book what we are ignorant of that he make us to remember what we have been made to forget of his book that he teach us wisdom from his book that he benefit us from that wisdom and whoever is given wisdom then that person has been given a great thing a great giving and a great gift from allah my you.