The QUR'AN An Abiding Wonder by Maulana Waiduddin Khan - page 113

The Qur’an An Abiding Wonder
Qur’an: The Voice of God
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thrown to him. Similarly, a man, adrift in a vast and
fathomless universe, needs a spiritual rope to which
he can cling. No one, however great, is free of this
necessity. It is a vacuum which must be filled. If we
fill this vacuum with the Divine Being, we are
following the principle of monotheism. But if we
abandon God and look to some other for support,
we descend into polytheism.
In every period of history, man has been forced to
have recourse to one or other of these two props. In
ancient times, those who subscribed to monotheism
depended on one God for support and, today, they
still depend upon Him and Him alone. But the
direction of those who subscribe to polytheism has
kept changing. Ancient man, and many people,
even in more recent times, worshipped countless
objects, ranging from the bright stars that shine in
the sky to trees and stones and other randomly
chosen objects. Today, objects such as nation,
country, material progress, political power have
taken the place of earlier objects of worship. Such
then are the people’s gods, fashioned by them
specifically to fill the aching void in their hearts. But
even with all this, people still need an ultimate
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