"The day when We shall assemble them all and ask the angels, 'Are these the persons who used to worship you?' On that day they will answer: 'Praised be Allah! He is our Lord, not they. But before then, most of them would even worship the jinn" Qur'an 34:41

"And when Allah asked 'Isa, son of Maryam, 'O 'Isa! Did you ask the people to take you and your mother as gods beside Allah,' he answered: 'Praised be Allah! How can I claim what is not mine to claim?" Qur'an 5:119

Answer him therefore that Allah had declared unbelievers those who prayed to the idols as well as to the righteous, that the Prophet -- Salla Allahu 'alayhi wa sallam -- has fought them.

3. He may object that in fighting them, the Prophet sought only the unbelievers among them. He may even say: "I witness that Allah is the source of our good and ill, the Ruler of the universe Whom alone I solicit; that the righteous predecessors are powerless; that I appeal to them merely to intercede with Allah on my behalf." The answer is that he and the unbelievers stand on a par. Recite to him the verses,

"As to those beings other than Allah whom we have taken as friends, we do not worship them except that they may draw us closer to Him;" Qur'an 39:3

"Those are only our intercessors with Allah." Qur'an 10:18

Know that these three false counter-arguments are the most conclusive. All of them have been anticipated by Allah in His Book. If you understand them well, the rest is easily refutable.

4. If the associationist objects: "I do not worship aught but Allah. My recourse to the righteous and my soliciting of them is not worship," then answerer, "You admit that Allah has commanded you to worship Him alone, that this is your duty to Him. What then is this exclusive worship of Allah which is your duty to Him?" For apparently this man knows neither the nature of worship nor its various forms. Explain it to him.

Tell him that Allah said:

"Pray to Allah humbly and in secret." Qur'an 7:54

If he concedes that that is an imposition of worship, for prayer is the heart of worship, then give him the rest of the argument. If it is granted that calling upon somebody in day or night, out of fear or in solicitation, is worship, and you have called upon a prophet or other to fulfill your need, wouldn't that be an instance of worship? Likewise, if you acted in accordance with a commandment of Allah,

"Pray unto Allah and sacrifice unto Him," Qur'an 108:2

wouldn't your action be worship? This cannot be denied, Reason then with him that if he were to sacrifice to a prophet, a jinn or any other creature, that would be a worship addressed to other than Allah, and hence, shirk. This conclusion is unavoidable. Tell him, in addition, that the unbelievers whom the revelation of the Qur'an addressed worshipped the angels, the righteous, al Lat and other beings. They worshipped their gods by praying, sacrificing and recoursing to them, while at the same time these gods acknowledged themselves as creatures of Allah standing under His dominion. The associationists recognized Allah as sole Ruler, but they recoursed to other beings for intercession on account of their favor with Allah. Another objection is that genuine tawhid denies the intercession of the Prophet -- Salla Allahu 'alayhi wa sallam. The answer to it is that, on the contrary, we do not deny it at all. The Prophet -- Salla Allahu'alayhi wa sallam -- is indeed the appointed intercessionary. But intercession is all to Allah, as He Himself has revealed:

"Say, 0 Muhammad, all intercession belongs to Allah." Qur'an 39:4

It can not be entered into by anyone without His permission, just as He said,

"No one may intercede with Him without His permission," Qur'an 2:255

Surely the Prophet would not intercede on behalf of anyone without permission. Allah Himself said:

"They will not intercede but for those with whom Allah is pleased." Qur'an 21: