Did David Believe in One Absolute God Without Partner
When we read the Psalms of David do we read them through the lens of habit or through the lens of inquiry Did the worshipping king and prophet believe in one unique God who accepts no partner Or do his texts allow for a composite understanding of the nature of God Let us read the text as it stands Let us allow David’s own words to speak without prior assumptions and without later projections First David in Confrontation with Idolatry The history of the Children of Israel was not a straight line of pure monotheism but a continuous struggle against surrounding idolatrous influences as the books of the Old Testament describe In that context David’s voice appears sharp clear and uncompromising In Psalm 18 31 he says For who is God except the Lord And who is a rock except our God This question is not seeking an answer It is a rhetorical denial Who is God except the Lord The phrase leaves no room for another true deity beside Him It is a comprehensive negation without comparison or hierarchy He raises his voice again in Psalm 71 19 O God who has done great things O God who is like You Once more Who is like You This is not about one god being greater than others It is about a God who has no equal at all Second No One Like You Among the Gods Someone might argue that the mention of gods implies plurality Let us read the full passage in Psalm 86 8–10 There is none like You among the gods O Lord nor are there any works like Yours All nations whom You have made shall come and worship before You O Lord and shall glorify Your name For You are great and do wondrous things You alone are God
“(4) Before We Differed in Religions What Was Our Origin The creed of monotheism is the religion of the natural disposition upon which God created mankind God Almighty says Set your face toward the religion inclining to truth the natural way of Allah upon which He has created mankind There is no change in the creation of Allah That is the upright religion but most people do not know Surah Ar Rum 30 Adam peace be upon him was created upon sound belief He was a monotheist devoted to God believing in what is due to Him of reverence and obedience God says describing the supplication of Adam and Eve peace be upon them They said Our Lord we have wronged ourselves and if You do not forgive us and have mercy upon us we will surely be among the losers Surah Al Araf 23 They did not call upon anyone other than God They turned back to Him because of their correct belief that God hears knows and has power and that He alone forgives sins and shows mercy to His servants God took from the children of Adam a covenant and testimony that He is their Lord and made them bear witness to that God says And when your Lord took from the children of Adam from their loins their descendants and made them testify concerning themselves Am I not your Lord They said Yes we testify lest you should say on the Day of Resurrection Indeed we were unaware of this or lest you say It was only that our fathers associated others with Allah before and we were descendants after them Then would You destroy us for what the falsifiers have done Surah Al Araf 172 to 173 All people are born upon the natural disposition and grow upon it unless they are diverted by forces of evil and misguidance Iyad al Mujashi reported that the Messenger of Allah peace and blessings be upon him said Indeed my Lord commanded me to teach you what you did not know of what He taught me today Every wealth I have granted to a servant is lawful I created My servants upright all of them but the devils came to them and turned them away from their religion and made unlawful for them what I had made lawful and commanded them to associate with Me that for which I sent down no authority Abu Hurayrah reported that the Prophet peace and blessings be upon him said Every newborn is born upon the natural disposition then his parents make him a Jew or a Christian or a Magian The creed of monotheism was the original state of Adam peace be upon him and the early generations of his descendants God says Mankind was one community then Allah sent the prophets as bringers of good news and warners Surah Al Baqarah 213 Meaning that people from the time of Adam were united upon one religion which was Islam and they remained upon it for ten generations then they differed in their religion and began worshipping idols so God sent the prophets forbidding that disbelief giving glad tidings of Paradise to those who obeyed and warning of the Fire to those who disobeyed The first of them was Noah peace be upon him Abdullah ibn Abbas said There were ten generations between Noah and Adam all of them upon a law of truth then they differed so God sent the prophets as bringers of good news and warners Ibn Taymiyyah said Polytheism was not the original state of humanity rather Adam and those who followed his religion among his children were upon monotheism following prophethood God says And mankind was not but one community then they differed Surah Yunus 19 Ibn Abbas said Between Adam and Noah were ten generations all of them upon Islam When they abandoned following the prophets they fell into polytheism It was not that they fell into polytheism and then left Islam rather they left the guidance of the prophets so they fell into polytheism Adam commanded them with what God commanded him saying Then when guidance comes to you from Me whoever follows My guidance there will be no fear concerning them nor will they grieve But those who disbelieve and deny Our signs they are the companions of the Fire they will abide therein Surah Al Baqarah 38 to 39 Source The Creed Encyclopedia Al Durar Al Saniyyah
(5) Was There One Message from Heaven All the messengers peace be upon them agreed upon calling to the worship of God alone without partner and avoiding polytheism God says We certainly sent into every nation a messenger saying Worship Allah and avoid false gods Surah An Nahl 36 God says He sends down the angels with revelation by His command upon whom He wills of His servants saying Warn that there is no deity except Me so fear Me Surah An Nahl 2 Noah peace be upon him said to his people O my people worship Allah you have no deity other than Him Surah Al Araf 59 Hud peace be upon him said to his people O my people worship Allah you have no deity other than Him Surah Al Araf 65 Salih peace be upon him said to his people O my people worship Allah you have no deity other than Him Surah Al Araf 73 Abraham peace be upon him said to his people Worship Allah and fear Him Surah Al Ankabut 16 Shuayb peace be upon him said to his people O my people worship Allah you have no deity other than Him Surah Al Araf 85 Jesus peace be upon him said to his people Indeed Allah is my Lord and your Lord so worship Him This is the straight path Surah Al Imran 51 Ibn Taymiyyah said All the messengers were commanded with monotheism and they commanded it God says And We did not send before you any messenger except that We revealed to him that there is no deity except Me so worship Me Surah Al Anbiya 25 God also says And ask those We sent before you of Our messengers Did We ever appoint besides the Most Merciful gods to be worshipped Surah Az Zukhruf 45 These two verses show that He commanded monotheism to every messenger and never commanded polytheism He commanded Adam and his descendants from the time they were sent down to follow His guidance which He reveals to the prophets It is established that the cause of polytheism was abandoning the guidance of the prophets and messengers in what they were commanded of monotheism and religion