RB!Rasheed Babatunde wrote:Ape,
A rival does not necessarily means an enemy. A rival can be a friend, a competitor, a colleague or even an admirer.
That God or Allah or Yahweh does not want a rival do not mean He would take as enemy His creatures that rivals Him.
That God does not want a rival means He does not want us to equate, worship or love anything as god other than Him.
He is the one and the only God, unequalled in any area or form.
"Say: He is Allah, the One and Only, Allah the Eternal, Absolute. He begetteth not, nor is He begotten, and there is none like unto Him." Qur'an 112:1-4.
"The first is, Hear O Isreal; The Lord our God, the Lord is one,..." Mark 12:29.
I totally agree!:)
But I wd say it this way:
A rival does not necessarily mean an enemy. A rival can also be a friend, a competitor, a colleague or even an admirer.
That God or Allah or Yahweh does not want a rival does not mean He would hate any of His creatures that rivals Him, since he loves both enemies & friends.
That God does not want a rival means He does not want us to equate, worship or love anything as god other than Him and to always put Him first by obeying His command to love Him as everything and to love everything as Him by loving ourselves as everything so we can love Him back as everything and as ourselves.
He is the one and the only God, unequalled in any area or form when we put Him first and unequalled by always putting first what Love He says to put first.
Example:
We put Allah or God first and unequalled when we put first Love for ourselves as Christians & Muslims so we can love Muslims as Christians and love Xtians as Muslims, and so that we can love Allah as God and God as Allah, and love God as Muslim and any Muslim as God!
"I have seen the Noble King with a face of Glory:
He Who is the companion and healer of all beings;
He who is the Soul and the Universe that births Souls;
He who bestows Wisdom on Wisdom, Purity on Purity;
He who is the prayer-mat of the Soul of Saints!
Each atom of my body cries out separately:
"Glory be to God!
If you are seeking, seek US with Joy, for we live in the Kingdom of Joy.
Do not give your heart to anything else
But to the Love of those who are clear Joy.
Do not stray into the neighborhood of despair
For there are hopes: they are real, they exist!
Do not go in the direction of darkness -
I tell you, Suns exist!
Love's Creed is separate from all religions.
The Creed and Denomination of Lovers is God.
One day, you will find yourself outside this world
Which is similar to the Maternal Womb.
You will leave this earth to enter, while you
Are yet in the body, a vast expanse, knowing
That the words, "God's earth is vast"
designate this region from which the Saints have come.
A human being must be born TWICE. Once from
his mother and again from his own body
and his own existence.
The body is like an egg, and
The essence of man must become a bird in that egg
Through the warmth of Love,
And then he can escape from his body and fly
In the Eternal World of the Soul
Beyond Time and Space.
Multiplicity exists in the separate grapes,
But it cannot be found in the juice that comes from the grape!
Look at Me! I am your companion in the tomb.
On that night you leave our shop and your house,
You hear my salutation in the tomb,
And you will know that never EVER
Were you hidden from My eyes.
I am that spark of Intelligence and Reason in your breast:
At the moment of Pleasure, at the moment of Joy,
At the moment of Suffering, at the moment of Misery.
And on that strange Night when you hear
the Voice of the Beloved,
You will soar free of the bite of the serpent
And the Terror of ants.
The drunkenness of Love will carry into your Tomb
These Gifts.
Know that your life throws a veil over your path.
Our life is constantly tempting us to define ourselves with it[Love]."
Rumi. Sufi Muslim Philosopher.