A comment on a blog entry on https://www.hamzatzortzis.com/7-reasons-why-god-is-worthy-of-worship/
by
Hamza Andreas Tzortzis (the indented sentences in italics)
God makes it very clear
that the purpose of our lives is to worship Him, “And I did not create the jinn (spirit world) and mankind except to worship Me.”[1]
The Koran does not specify what worship is or what would be considered to be worship. People had to do that.
Hamza Tzortzis does not define worship either, so let me quickly do that for him:
1. “to be devoted to and full of admiration for, to have or express feelings of adoration”
Then you get a more religious oriented one:2. “to have or show a strong feeling of respect and admiration for God or a god”
In a recent discussion with Muslims including Hamza Tzortzis btw, worship was described as utmost reverence, gratitude, praise, obedience, directions. So this would entail a display of worship towards Allah, Muhammad and Koran, the Islamic trinity.
Allegedly, if we accept the existence of the Islamic god as pre-supposed, the Islamic god is not in need of anything. It doesn’t need human beings. It doesn’t need worship. Then creates human beings it does not need to only do one thing, worship, which it also does not need.
But then why create something not needed? If worship is not needed, why create something solely for that purpose? That sounds quite weird and a bit creepy.
Tzortzis does not with a single word address the creation not only of humans, but of something called “Jinn”. What is this and where can it be found? Can this be detected? Someone, maybe the translator, has added “spirit world” in brackets, which does nothing to explain this in any way, especially since this “jinn” thing is supposed to worship the same way as humans.
So after just 2 sentences we already have open questions and huge claims without supplying any kind of justification let alone evidence.
The concept of worship in the Islamic tradition is profound.
No, it is not. It is primitive and childish, built on a narcissistic personality disorder coupled with an inferiority complex.
Worship entails that we must know, love and obey God, as well as single out and dedicate all acts of worship to Him alone. If we want to know, love and obey something other than God the most, including direct acts of worship (like ultimate gratitude) to something other than Him, then that is our object of worship. In this sense, human beings, including those who do not believe in God, cannot not worship. However, many misdirect their worship to things other than God; something this essay aims to address.
This is quite silly, word salad at best. You can’t know what doesn’t exist and can’t know something that is a sentient being that is not here, not detectable and not in direct contact. You can’t love or obey this “thing” for the same reasons. So all we are being confronted with is pre-suppositionalist mumbo-jumbo. What is weird is that God and words referring to this god are capitalised, as if it were a name. We are being confronted with a command to do something, commit an act, without any instructions on what that is, why we should do this and with what result.
What is outright bizarre, is the claim that I cannot not worship something non-existent.
Only to then say that I can do this. By worshipping something else. Which I don’t.
According to the Islamic spiritual tradition, acts of worship are accepted if they fulfil two conditions. The first is that the act of worship should be done purely for the sake of God. The second is that the action itself is prescribed by the Islamic source texts: the Qur’an and the authentic Prophetic traditions. So a natural question that follows from this is: What are these acts of worship?
Here the reader is confronted with more silly claims, where now an act of worship – which in my eyes showing gratitude is not – requires acceptance by the recipient. Because it, the act, must be for the recipient, duh, and determined by human beings, since this god is unable to articulate why it created human beings and what exactly they are supposed to do with what outcome.
The acts of worship are many. Any good action that is done to please God is an act of worship. However, there are some basic acts of worship which are essential to Islamic spiritual practice. These have been summarised by the Prophet Muhammad ﷺ as the five pillars of Islam. They include: affirming and recognising in one’s heart that there is no deity worthy of worship except God and that Muhammad ﷺ is God’s final messenger; praying five times a day; giving the obligatory charity if one can afford to; fasting in Ramadan (the 9th month of the Islamic calendar) and performing the pilgrimage if one is able to do so. These acts of worship have profound meanings and inner dimensions. These are the basic pillars of Islam. However, in developing one’s spiritual practice one can engage in a plethora of additional spiritual activities. These include: reciting the Qur’an; remembrance of God; removing the spiritual diseases in one’s heart; voluntary charity; repentance; spiritual reflection; conveying the message of Islam to others; feeding the poor; spreading peace; taking care of animals; studying the life of the Prophet Muhammad ﷺ; memorising the Qur’an; the night prayer; reflecting on natural phenomena and much more.
I am not trying to be overly critical, but this is pathetic. We are told we need to worship, but not how and why and this worship must be “good”. What is good? Is beating your wife, raping a slave or fighting non-believers being good? Was Muhammad himself good when he encouraged his men – according to Islamic source texts graded as authentic by Islamic scholars – to enjoy raping female captives to the fullest? Cutting off hands and feet and letting people bleed to death? Marrying a 6-year-old child?
Instead, we are confronted with yet another claim, that there are pillars which are considered to be essential. Who says so? Why? If these are indeed essential, why does this author/god not specify in the instruction manual: here are the 5 pillars that are essential? Instead, the pillars are mentioned by name, but all over the book and without any specification. Nothing.
Instead, we are told that worship is saying only this god is worthy of worship. Really?!
And that someone, a human being called Muhammad, is the last messenger. Why would saying this is worship, when we’ve just been told this worship thing must be for the sake of the god only? Why bring this Muhammad into this and Islamic source texts?
Acts of worship are said to include 5 things, insinuating there are more of these. All vague, ambiguous and unspecific, undefined, unexplained.
I consider these to be silly and old superstitions, remnants of Pagan origins we find everywhere in Islam. There is no “inner dimension” here. This is, again, useless mumbo-jumbo. What follows leaves me speechless. Anything and everything, every act or thought is now declared an act of worship.
Just as an example of how superficial and primitive this is: how can we humans take care of animals, if the creator/god built in animal cruelty? I can’t take care of an innocent caterpillar who has been injected by the larvae of a wasp that will eat this caterpillar inside out. I can – and I am sure even Hamza Tzortzis can – think of 100s of different ways a wasp can reproduce without harming other animals.
That is why Prof Richard Dawkins writes: “The total amount of suffering per year in the natural world is beyond all decent contemplation. During the minute that it takes me to compose this sentence, thousands of animals are being eaten alive, many others are running for their lives, whimpering with fear, others are slowly being devoured from within by rasping parasites, thousands of all kinds are dying of starvation, thirst, and disease.”
That is nature. Unguided and not designed. If this were the result of design it would show an immensely cruel, malevolent and uncaring creator/god.
The Koran, the central doctrine and instruction manual for all Muslims tells them to fight, not to spread peace.
Since our reason for being is to worship the Divine, it is important to understand why we must dedicate all acts of worship to Him alone.
This is circular. The topic of the essay is why we must worship and the basis is: it’s our reason for being. It’s simply pre-supposed.
In this essay I will provide 7 reasons for why we must worship God and dedicate all acts of worship to Him alone.
A typical case of presenting a conclusion and then finding justification, no matter how silly.
These reasons include:
- God is worthy of worship by virtue of who He is.
Presupposing, nothing more - God has created and sustains everything.
Why does that present a reason for worship? - God provides us with innumerable favours.
Why does that present a reason for worship? - If we love ourselves, we must love God.
Why? - God is The-Loving, and His love is the purest form of
love.
And? So what? - Worship is part of who we are.
That is a false statement, bar of any evidence, just a silly claim. - Obeying God is the most rational thing to do.
No, it’s not. The Islamic god figure is vicious, violent, divisive, misogynistic, judgmental, brutal, narcissistic, incompetent and thankfully non-existent.
It’s just useless apologetics.
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