What is Devil Worshipping?
Quran 36:60
God says, 'O Sons of Adam,
have I not taken your oath
that you will not worship the Devil?
Because he is your sworn enemy'.
One form of worship that we know is conducted inside mosques and temples.
Agreed?
If we look at it from this perspective when God tells us not to worship the Devil-
If we look at it from this perspective then nobody is worshipping the Devil.
Right?
The trouble is that our clerics and scholars have taught us just one meaning of something.
This is the reason why the Wahhabis abase the Sufis.
When Sufis bow their heads in respect of their Spiritual Masters,
[the Wahhabis] think they are prostrating.
They consider bowing the head to mean prostration only.
They don't understand it as anything else.
And this is why they have difficulty understanding the Quran and Prophetic Traditions.
Now, this verse states that God took a promise from all human beings.
What promise? In fact, it was an oath.
That they must not worship the Devil.
Do not worship the Devil.
Okay?
So where are such people? Is anyone worshipping the Devil?
Has anyone ever told you, 'I am worshipping the Devil'?
Right?
It means that we only know one form of worship.
We go to the mosques or temple or gurudwara and prostrate
and we will carry out worship as per our religious guideline.
Right?
So this is one form of worship.
We are not aware of any other forms.
What is mentioned in this verse
is that if you worship God
with evil and material intentions,
for instance, performing Salat ostentatiously because you care what people will say.
You observe fasts because people will say, 'Look, he doesn't fast'.
Is this not a great Kufr (disbelief)?
This exhibits your interest in what people say rather than God.
Everything we do in this day and age,
a majority of our actions cater to the desires of the Lower Self.
Even when it comes to wearing a turban and keeping a beard.
And getting married.
For instance, if a Muslim girl wants to marry a Hindu boy, this will result in an altercation
and people will say, 'How could you leave your religion?'
What difference does that make?
Who are you to stop them from marrying if God has permitted it?
Therefore, what is actually being said here
is that one who does everything for the sake of the Lower Self
is actually and factually worshipping the Devil.
There is another reference to this in the Quran.
God addressed Prophet Mohammad (PBUH) and said,
'O Messenger of God,
have you not observed the one who considers his Lower Self his Creator?'
What does it mean to consider the Lower Self as Creator?
It means you do absolutely everything for the sake of the Lower Self.
This hints towards Shirk (polytheism) as well.
There are two types of Shirk.
One is Shirk e Jalli
which means to verbally accept other beings equal to God. This is one form of Shirk.
Equalling someone to God.
Believing someone to be equal to God.
So this is exoteric Shirk.
Then there is esoteric Shirk.
It is even more dangerous.
And what is it? For you to have insincere intentions.
Insincere intentions.
Being pretentious.
For example, what do we do when Eid ul Adha comes around?
What do people in Pakistan and India do?
They buy large animals for sacrifice.
They will try to get the biggest animal. Why?
So that they can make a great sacrifice to God? No.
They do it for their reputation.
They want people in their neighbourhood to know they bought the most expensive goat for sacrifice.
This is being pretentious.
This is being pretentious, it is a showoff.
And this is Shirk e Khafi or hidden Shirk in the eyes of God.
When we offer Salat and do recitation of the Quran and recite Naats and carry out worship,
if it is not done solely for God,
then it is nothing but hidden Shirk.
At the same time, it is Devil worship.
If you only offer Salat to save yourself the abasement from people,
you are not worshipping God for the sake of God. You are worshipping to paint a good image of yourself in the minds of others.
To bring showoff into worship, to worship so that the world considers you a good person
is actually worshipping the Devil.