Alhamdulillah Culture

The Creator of the universe desires only one culture for man, the alhamdulillah culture, in this world. To promote this culture among men God sent His prophets in succession.

The first verse of the Quran is: “All praise is due to God, the Lord of the Universe” (1:2). This verse tells us what God desires regarding the life of this world. The same verse is found in the Quran regarding the next life: “Praise be to God, Lord of the Universe!” (39:75)

This second verse tells us what God desires about the next life. That is to say, the Creator of the universe wants only one culture for man: the alhamdulillah (praise be to God) culture in this world and the next eternal world.

God sent His prophets in succession to promote this alhamdulillah culture among men. But only a small number of individuals came under their influence and adopted this culture, while, in general, the alhamdu lighairillah (all praise for other than God) culture continued to reign supreme. This was totally against God’s creation plan for man. That is why God intervened in history. This divine intervention occurred through the Companions of the Prophet in the seventh century.

The role played by the Companions of the Prophet was in obedience to the divine injunction set forth, thus, in the Quran: “Fight them until there is no more (religious) persecution, and religion belongs wholly to God” (8:39). In this verse, fitnah means shirk (associating other things as deities with God). This is how the commentators have generally described it. What is shirk? Shirk is another name for giving praise to something other than God. When man failed to see God, he began to worship creatures visible to him. He began to live to glorify creatures other than the Creator. This is what I have called the alhamdu lighairillah culture.