Surah Az-Zumar, Verse 29. [“Allah sets forth a similitude: There is a slave who belongs to several partners, differing (or quarrelling) with one another, and there is another slave wholly owned by one man. Are the two alike in condition? (All) praise is due to Allah.”] Allah (SWT) gives the example of two types of people. Now, this is more directly related to the time of slavery, but it could also apply just the same to the era of employment. Let us use the example of employment because that is what it relevant to us in our day and age. There is a person who has multiple employers, and who all have a share in one person. He works for all of them and answers to all of them. They all have an equal share in this person. On the other side, there is another person who has only one employer. On the other side, there is a person who only has one employer; one person that he answers to, and one person that he takes instructions or directions from. Can these both be equal? What is the comparison? The comparison is in peace of mind and sense of direction. A person who has to answer to 10 different masters and 10 different employers will be running around trying to please all of them, and in many cases, one will be conflicting the other. Like this, the person is going to remain in a constant state of bewilderment, unable to make sense of what to do and what not to do. This constant state of bewilderment and confusion, and of course, the stress, anxiety and difficulties that come with it, makes it easy to understand this example.
Now, imagine a person who has many gods. They have to worship all of those gods. If they were truly gods, then they would all have some kind of authority, and if they had authority, that would make this person bound to answer them all, worship them all and please all of them. How would he please them all? How would he please all those gods? On the other side you have a person who worships only one god. He has one master, takes directions from one master, and knows he only has to answer to one. One set of directions, one set of instructions, and one set of right and wrong, given to this person for their ease. Allah (SWT) is truly our master, but he is a master who does not compel us to submit to him. He is a master who says, “I am here, this is who I am, and this is what I am doing for you. Will you submit to Me? If you do, these are your benefits. If you don’t, this is the harm. But remember, there is nothing that you can do that can help Me in any way.” This is a master that is not in need of any of these slaves. This is a master that cannot be helped or harmed by any slaves. Worldly masters need their slaves for certain services and work. Employers need those employees in order to run those businesses. Employees can bring great benefits to those employers but can also cause great harm to them. Allah (AWJ) is above and beyond that. How easy it is that Allah (SWT) has made it for us, to have only one master and one being that we turn to for all of our needs and necessities, and only one that we have to please, knowing that nothing that we do will help him, and nothing we do is going to help him. This is a voluntary submission to the one true master and creator; The submission that we refer to as Islam. May Allah (SWT) give us the understanding and steadfastness to remain loyal to our master and may Allah (SWT) protect us from taking all other masters behind him.
