Short answer
Believing that God (﷾) is one is not enough on its own. The Qur'an asks that He alone be worshipped. It says the people of Mecca also believed that Allah (﷾) created them, and the heavens and the earth. Yet they worshipped other beings, saying these would bring them nearer to God (﷾) and plead for them. Every messenger, the Qur'an says, brought one message: there is no god but Allah (﷾), so worship Him. The Gita, a Hindu scripture, points the same way. Krishna ranks highest the man whose worship is addressed to one Being only. He calls even a man of very bad conduct good if he worships him, "not worshipping any one else". Yet much Hindu worship, at home and in temples, is given to many gods and their images. The replies Hindus give are answered below. Islam gives prayer, prostration and offerings to God (﷾) alone.
Full explanation
The Hindu answer: we already believe in one God (﷾)
Many Hindus answer that they already believe in one God (﷾): Ishvara, Bhagwan, the Paramatma, which are names for the supreme God (﷾). The Svetasvatara Upanishad, a Hindu scripture, calls Him the highest god of the gods, the master of masters, and the lord of the world. Around 1030, the Muslim scholar al-Biruni reported that Hindus hold God (﷾) to be one, eternal and all-powerful, beyond all likeness. At Chicago in 1893, Swami Vivekananda, a Hindu monk, told the Parliament of Religions that there is no belief in many gods in India. In every temple, he said, the worshippers give the images all the qualities of God (﷾). On this view, the gods are the One's powers and servants. Ramanuja was a Hindu teacher of the eleventh and twelfth centuries. His school, called Vishishtadvaita, holds that souls and matter are the Lord's body. He teaches that Indra and the other gods are part of the Lord's body too. So what is offered to them is really offered to Him. So, many Hindus ask, what would becoming Muslim add?
“Let us know that highest great lord of lords, the highest deity of deities, the master of masters, the highest above, as god, the lord of the world, the adorable.”
“The belief of educated and uneducated people differs in every nation; for the former strive to conceive abstract ideas and to define general principles, whilst the latter do not pass beyond the apprehension of the senses, and are content with derived rules, without caring for details, especially in questions of religion and law, regarding which opinions and interests are divided. The Hindus believe with regard to God that he is one, eternal, without beginning and end, acting by free-will, almighty, all-wise, living, giving life, ruling, preserving; one who in his sovereignty is unique, beyond all likeness and unlikeness, and that he does not resemble anything nor does anything resemble him. In order to illustrate this we shall produce some extracts from their literature, lest the reader should think that our account is nothing but hearsay.”
“Descend we now from the aspirations of philosophy to the religion of the ignorant? On the very outset, I may tell you that there is no polytheism in India. In every temple, if one stands by and listens, he will find the worshipers applying all the attributes of God, including omnipresence, to these images. It is not polytheism, neither would the name henotheism answer our question.”
“Those also, who are worshippers of Indra and other lesser divinities—being followers of the Tri-Veda lines,—and who perform sacrifices directed to Indra etc., are in reality directing them to Myself. For, for reasons stated previously, all (Indra etc)., form My body, of which I am the Soul. And every term, Indra etc., finds its ultimate significance in referring to Myself. They however perform sacrifices, ignorant of this form, or law.”
Belief in the Creator was never the whole of it
The Qur'an met this belief among the people of Mecca, to whom the Prophet (ﷺ) first preached. Asked who created the heavens and the earth, or who created the people themselves, they would answer: Allah (﷾). Yet they worshipped other beings beside Him. They said they served them only to be brought nearer to Allah (﷾), and called them their intercessors (those who plead with Him for others). The Qur'an accepts neither reason. It says sincere devotion is due to Allah (﷾) alone, and asks whether they would tell Allah (﷾) something He does not know. It sums up the matter in one line: most of them do not believe in Allah (﷾) without also giving Him partners. On God (﷾) as Creator, the Meccans and the Qur'an agreed. They parted over worship. Some Hindus reply that Islam only kept the Arabs' high god and dropped the rest. But Allah (﷾) is simply the Arabic word for God (﷾), which Arab Christians use too. What astonished the Meccans was not a new name. It was the call to worship Him alone: "Has he made the gods (all) into one Allah? Truly this is a wonderful thing!"
“If indeed thou ask them who has created the heavens and the earth and subjected the sun and the moon (to his Law), they will certainly reply, "Allah". How are they then deluded away (from the truth)?”
“If thou ask them, who created them, they will certainly say, Allah: How then are they deluded away (from the Truth)?”
“Is it not to Allah that sincere devotion is due? But those who take for protectors other than Allah (say): "We only serve them in order that they may bring us nearer to Allah." Truly Allah will judge between them in that wherein they differ. But Allah guides not such as are false and ungrateful.”
“They serve, besides Allah, things that hurt them not nor profit them, and they say: "These are our intercessors with Allah." Say: "Do ye indeed inform Allah of something He knows not, in the heavens or on earth?- Glory to Him! and far is He above the partners they ascribe (to Him)!"”
“And most of them believe not in Allah without associating (other as partners) with Him!”
The Smith-Van Dyck Arabic Bible, completed in 1865 and still the standard Bible of Arabic-speaking Protestants, opens Genesis 1:1 with "In the beginning Allah created the heavens and the earth". Its word for God throughout is Allah.
“"Has he made the gods (all) into one Allah? Truly this is a wonderful thing!"”
One message from every messenger: worship Him alone
The Qur'an says every messenger God (﷾) sent was given one message: there is no god but Allah (﷾), so worship and serve Him. It says a messenger was sent to every people, with the command to serve Allah (﷾). Worship here is more than belief. It is prayer and sacrifice, which the Qur'an tells the Prophet (ﷺ) to declare are for Allah (﷾) alone, who has no partner. It is also calling on God (﷾) for help. The places of worship are His, so no one is to be called on together with Him. In every prayer, Muslims repeat the words of the Qur'an's first chapter: "Thee do we worship, and Thine aid we seek."
“Not a messenger did We send before thee without this inspiration sent by Us to him: that there is no god but I; therefore worship and serve Me.”
“For We assuredly sent amongst every People a messenger, (with the Command), "Serve Allah, and eschew Evil": of the People were some whom Allah guided, and some on whom error became inevitably (established). So travel through the earth, and see what was the end of those who denied (the Truth).”
“Say: "Truly, my prayer and my service of sacrifice, my life and my death, are (all) for Allah, the Cherisher of the Worlds: No partner hath He: this am I commanded, and I am the first of those who bow to His will.”
“"And the places of worship are for Allah (alone): So invoke not any one along with Allah;”
“Thee do we worship, and Thine aid we seek.”
The Gita's highest worship is given to one alone
The Gita, the best-known Hindu scripture, draws the same line in its own words. In it, Krishna names four kinds of good men who worship him. He ranks highest the man of knowledge whose worship is addressed to one Being only (eka-bhakti). He says that even a man of very bad conduct who worships him, "not worshipping any one else" (ananya-bhak), must be deemed good. Such a man has resolved well. K. T. Telang, the Hindu judge who translated the Gita, explains the resolve: that the supreme Being alone should be reverenced. The Gita also treats worship as something given, not only believed. Krishna calls himself the lord of all sacrifices, and says those who make vows to the gods go to the gods. Devotees of other gods who worship with faith, he says, worship him "irregularly" (avidhi-purvakam), do not know him truly, and fall.
“Of these, he who is possessed of knowledge, who is always devoted, and whose worship is (addressed) to one (Being) only, is esteemed highest. For to the man of knowledge I am dear above all things, and he is dear to me.”
“Even if a very ill-conducted man worships me, not worshipping any one else, he must certainly be deemed to be good, for he has well resolved.”
“Viz. that the supreme Being alone should be reverenced.”
“Even those, O son of Kuntî! who being devotees of other divinities worship with faith, worship me only, (but) irregularly. For I am the enjoyer as well as the lord of all sacrifices. But they know me not truly, therefore do they fall. Those who make vows to the gods go to the gods; those who make vows to the manes go to the manes; those who worship the Bhûtas go to the Bhûtas; and those likewise who worship me go to me.”
God's (﷾) servants are honoured, not worshipped
Many Hindus say they do not worship the gods as God, but honour them as His servants. Islam also believes in honoured servants of God (﷾): the angels. The Qur'an calls them servants raised to honour, who act by His command and intercede only for those He approves. Islam gives them no prayer, prostration (bowing with the forehead to the ground) or offering. No prophet, the Qur'an says, would tell people to take angels and prophets as lords, and the angels will disown those who worshipped them. Of all whom people call on besides Allah (﷾), it says they are servants like those who call on them. That a being is God's (﷾) servant is the reason not to pray to it. Ramanuja teaches that the gods form the Lord's body. He counts rites offered to them as worship of the Lord, who is "the real Object of that worship". If the Lord is the real Object, He can be worshipped directly. God (﷾) needs no go-between to hear a prayer, as a king needs ministers: He is close, and listens to the prayer of every suppliant.
“And they say: "(Allah) Most Gracious has begotten offspring." Glory to Him! they are (but) servants raised to honour. They speak not before He speaks, and they act (in all things) by His Command. He knows what is before them, and what is behind them, and they offer no intercession except for those who are acceptable, and they stand in awe and reverence of His (Glory).”
“It is not (possible) that a man, to whom is given the Book, and Wisdom, and the prophetic office, should say to people: "Be ye my worshippers rather than Allah's": on the contrary (He would say) "Be ye worshippers of Him Who is truly the Cherisher of all: For ye have taught the Book and ye have studied it earnestly." Nor would he instruct you to take angels and prophets for Lords and patrons. What! would he bid you to unbelief after ye have bowed your will (To Allah in Islam)?”
“One Day He will gather them all together, and say to the angels, "Was it you that these men used to worship?" They will say, "Glory to Thee! our (tie) is with Thee - as Protector - not with them. Nay, but they worshipped the Jinns: most of them believed in them."”
“Verily those whom ye call upon besides Allah are servants like unto you: Call upon them, and let them listen to your prayer, if ye are (indeed) truthful!”
“Those also, who are worshippers of Indra and other lesser divinities—being followers of the Tri-Veda lines,—and who perform sacrifices directed to Indra etc., are in reality directing them to Myself. For, for reasons stated previously, all (Indra etc)., form My body, of which I am the Soul. And every term, Indra etc., finds its ultimate significance in referring to Myself. They however perform sacrifices, ignorant of this form, or law.”
“Hence, the votaries of the Traividya (or the Karma-Kāṇḍa of the Vedas) do not understand that rituals are but worship-services of Paramapurusha Himself having Indra etc., as His body, and that Paramapurusha Himself is the real Object of that worship. Hence they are entitled to limited recompense, and possess the character to fall (from the place or state, gained).”
“When My servants ask thee concerning Me, I am indeed close (to them): I listen to the prayer of every suppliant when he calleth on Me: Let them also, with a will, Listen to My call, and believe in Me: That they may walk in the right way.”
God (﷾) in everything: what the Gita and the Kena say
A common reply is that God (﷾) is in everything, so whatever form a person worships, he worships God (﷾) in it. The Gita does say that the man of knowledge holds "that Vâsudeva is everything" (vasudevah sarvam iti). Vâsudeva is a name of Krishna. But he is the same man of knowledge whose worship, two verses earlier, is addressed to one Being only. The very next verse says that those who approach other divinities are those deprived of knowledge by their desires. In the Gita, then, seeing God (﷾) in all goes with worshipping one alone. The Kena Upanishad, in the translation of Swami Paramananda, a Hindu monk, draws the same line. It speaks of the One by whom the eye sees and the mind thinks. Five times it says: know that alone to be the Brahman, "not this which people worship here". Shankara was a teacher of Advaita, the school that says only Brahman is real. He lived about the eighth century. He reads the refrain in his own way. For him, Brahman is not what people worship, "such as Iswara" (the Lord), but the worshipper's own Self. Other Hindu teachers reject that reading, and the Kena itself says of Brahman: "He is to be worshipped by the name Tadvanam". What people worship here is not the One, and the One is to be worshipped.
“At the end of many lives, the man possessed of knowledge approaches me, (believing) that Vâsudeva is everything. Such a high-souled man is very hard to find.”
“Of these, he who is possessed of knowledge, who is always devoted, and whose worship is (addressed) to one (Being) only, is esteemed highest. For to the man of knowledge I am dear above all things, and he is dear to me.”
“Those who are deprived of knowledge by various desires approach other divinities, observing various regulations, and controlled by their own natures. Whichever form (of deity) any worshipper wishes to worship with faith, to that form I render his faith steady. Possessed of that faith, he seeks to propitiate (the deity in) that (form), and obtains from it those beneficial things which he desires, (though they are) really given by me. But the fruit thus (obtained) by them, who have little judgment, is perishable. Those who worship the divinities go to the divinities, and my worshippers, too, go to me.”
“That which speech does not illumine, but which illumines speech: know that alone to be the Brahman (the Supreme Being), not this which people worship here. That which cannot be thought by mind, but by which, they say, mind is able to think: know that alone to be the Brahman, not this which people worship here. That which is not seen by the eye, but by which the eye is able to see: know that alone to be the Brahman, not this which people worship here. That which cannot be heard by the ear, but by which the ear is able to hear: know that alone to be Brahman, not this which people worship here. That which none breathes with the breath, but by which breath is in-breathed: know that alone to be the Brahman, not this which people worship here.”
“Disregarding these, know the Atman itself to be the unconditioned Brahman. This is the meaning. Brahman is not what people here worship, such as Iswara, which is not the Atman, and which is conditioned and referred to as 'this'.”
“For Scripture, Smriti, Itihâsa and Purâna alike teach that there is one supreme cause, viz. Brahman—a being that is the Lord of all Lords, all-knowing, all-powerful, instantaneously realising all its purposes, free of all blemish, not limited either by place or time, enjoying supreme unsurpassable bliss. Nor can it be held that above the Lord there is 'pure Being' of which the Lord is a part only.”
“That Brahman is called Tadvanam (object of adoration). He is to be worshipped by the name Tadvanam. He who knows Brahman thus, is loved by all beings.”
Near by His knowledge, and like nothing
Islam agrees that God (﷾) is near, but not by being inside things. He is "firmly established on the Throne", and He is with every person by His knowledge: "Allah sees well all that ye do". He knows what a person's soul whispers, and is nearer to him than the vein in his neck. But that does not mean anything is God, or that anything may be worshipped as Him. Nothing at all is like Him. Every being in the heavens and the earth comes to Him as a servant. The sun and the moon are among His signs, and the Qur'an says: do not bow down to them, but to Allah (﷾) who created them. If everything were God, so that worshipping anything were worshipping Him, no worship could ever go wrong. His nearness is a reason to worship Him directly, not a reason to worship what He made.
“He it is Who created the heavens and the earth in Six Days, and is moreover firmly established on the Throne (of Authority). He knows what enters within the earth and what comes forth out of it, what comes down from heaven and what mounts up to it. And He is with you wheresoever ye may be. And Allah sees well all that ye do.”
“It was We Who created man, and We know what dark suggestions his soul makes to him: for We are nearer to him than (his) jugular vein.”
“(He is) the Creator of the heavens and the earth: He has made for you pairs from among yourselves, and pairs among cattle: by this means does He multiply you: there is nothing whatever like unto Him, and He is the One that hears and sees (all things).”
“Not one of the beings in the heavens and the earth but must come to (Allah) Most Gracious as a servant.”
“Among His Signs are the Night and the Day, and the Sun and the Moon. Do not prostrate to the sun and the moon, but prostrate to Allah, Who created them, if it is Him ye wish to serve.”
Sincere means pure
Many Hindus say that what counts is sincerity, whatever form it takes. Islam asks for sincerity too. The Qur'an tells the Prophet (ﷺ) to serve Allah (﷾), offering Him sincere devotion. It says people were commanded no more than to worship Allah (﷾) with sincere devotion (mukhlisina lahu al-din). But the Arabic words behind "sincere" (mukhlis, khalis) come from a root meaning pure and unmixed. The Qur'an describes people in a boat who call on Allah (﷾) alone, then give others a share of their worship once safe on land. The same Arabic words (mukhlisina lahu al-din) are used of them, and Yusuf Ali renders them "sincerely (and exclusively)". And where he has "Is it not to Allah that sincere devotion is due?", the Arabic reads: to Allah (﷾) belongs the pure religion (al-din al-khalis). In the Qur'an's sense, devotion shared with others is not yet sincere. The Gita, too, says faith alone is not enough: devotees of other gods who worship with faith, it says, worship irregularly and fall.
“Verily it is We Who have revealed the Book to thee in Truth: so serve Allah, offering Him sincere devotion.”
“And they have been commanded no more than this: To worship Allah, offering Him sincere devotion, being true (in faith); to establish regular prayer; and to practise regular charity; and that is the Religion Right and Straight.”
“Now, if they embark on a boat, they call on Allah, making their devotion sincerely (and exclusively) to Him; but when He has delivered them safely to (dry) land, behold, they give a share (of their worship to others)!-”
“Is it not to Allah that sincere devotion is due? But those who take for protectors other than Allah (say): "We only serve them in order that they may bring us nearer to Allah." Truly Allah will judge between them in that wherein they differ. But Allah guides not such as are false and ungrateful.”
“Even those, O son of Kuntî! who being devotees of other divinities worship with faith, worship me only, (but) irregularly. For I am the enjoyer as well as the lord of all sacrifices. But they know me not truly, therefore do they fall. Those who make vows to the gods go to the gods; those who make vows to the manes go to the manes; those who worship the Bhûtas go to the Bhûtas; and those likewise who worship me go to me.”
Intercession belongs to God (﷾)
Some Hindus answer that Muslims have an intercessor too, since they hope for the Prophet's (ﷺ) intercession. The Qur'an does speak of intercession, and it says that intercession belongs to Allah (﷾) alone. No one intercedes with Him except by His leave, and only for those He permits and whose word He accepts. Even the angels' intercession avails nothing until He gives leave. The Prophet (ﷺ) described his own intercession on the Day of Resurrection. He will ask his Lord's permission and fall down in prostration before Him. Only when he is told to raise his head and intercede will he do so, within a limit Allah (﷾) sets. The intercessor is himself a worshipper of God (﷾), and receives no worship. The Prophet (ﷺ) said his intercession will reach, if Allah (﷾) wills, whoever of his community dies without associating anything with Allah (﷾). Asked who would be happiest with it, he named the one who says "there is no god but Allah" sincerely, from the heart.
“Say: "To Allah belongs exclusively (the right to grant) intercession: to Him belongs the dominion of the heavens and the earth: In the End, it is to Him that ye shall be brought back."”
“Allah! There is no god but He,-the Living, the Self-subsisting, Eternal. No slumber can seize Him nor sleep. His are all things in the heavens and on earth. Who is there can intercede in His presence except as He permitteth? He knoweth what (appeareth to His creatures as) before or after or behind them. Nor shall they compass aught of His knowledge except as He willeth. His Throne doth extend over the heavens and the earth, and He feeleth no fatigue in guarding and preserving them for He is the Most High, the Supreme (in glory).”
“On that Day shall no intercession avail except for those for whom permission has been granted by (Allah) Most Gracious and whose word is acceptable to Him.”
“How many-so-ever be the angels in the heavens, their intercession will avail nothing except after Allah has given leave for whom He pleases and that he is acceptable to Him.”
Anas reports that the Prophet (ﷺ) said: on the Day of Resurrection the believers will gather. They will look for someone to intercede for them with their Lord. They will go in turn to Adam, Noah, Abraham, Moses and Jesus, and each will say he is not fit for it. Then they will come to him. He will ask his Lord's permission and be given it. When he sees his Lord he will fall down in prostration, and stay so for as long as Allah wills. Then he will be told to raise his head: to ask, and it will be given; to speak, and he will be heard. He will be told to intercede, and his intercession will be accepted. He will praise his Lord with words his Lord teaches him, and then intercede. Allah will set him a limit, and he will bring those within it into Paradise. He will return and the same will happen again.
Abu Huraira reports that the Prophet (ﷺ) said every prophet has one supplication that is answered, and every prophet made his early. He has kept his own back, as intercession for his community on the Day of Resurrection. It will reach, if Allah wills, every one of his community who dies without associating anything with Allah.
Abu Huraira reports that the Prophet (ﷺ) was asked who would be the happiest of people with his intercession on the Day of Resurrection. He told Abu Huraira that, seeing his eagerness for hadith, he had expected no one to ask him about it before him. Then he said it would be the one who said "there is no god but Allah" sincerely (khalisan), from his heart.
Seeking nearness through the righteous (tawassul)
Some Hindus point to Muslims who seek nearness to God (﷾) through the Prophet (ﷺ) or the saints, which Muslims call tawassul. Islam's texts draw a clear line. A Muslim may ask a living person to pray to God (﷾) for him. Umar was a companion of the Prophet (ﷺ) and the second leader of the Muslims. When drought came after the Prophet's (ﷺ) death, Umar asked the Prophet's (ﷺ) living uncle al-Abbas to pray for rain. He turned to a living man, and did not call on the Prophet (ﷺ) in his grave. What is forbidden is praying to anyone besides God (﷾): "invoke not any one along with Allah". The Prophet (ﷺ) told his own daughter Fatima that he could not help her at all against Allah (﷾). So Muslims ask God (﷾) for the Prophet's (ﷺ) intercession, and do not pray to him. Where Muslims call on a saint for help, they go against their own scripture.
Anas reports that after the Prophet's (ﷺ) death, whenever there was a drought, Umar ibn al-Khattab asked the Prophet's living uncle al-Abbas to pray to Allah for rain. Umar said: we used to ask our Prophet to pray to You for rain, and now we ask his uncle.
“"And the places of worship are for Allah (alone): So invoke not any one along with Allah;”
Abu Hurayra reports that when the verse "warn your nearest kinsmen" (Qur'an 26:214) came down, the Prophet (ﷺ) called out to Quraysh, to his uncle al-Abbas, his aunt Safiyya and his daughter Fatima, telling each that he could not help them at all against Allah; Fatima could ask him for whatever she liked, but he could not help her at all against Allah.
“Say: "To Allah belongs exclusively (the right to grant) intercession: to Him belongs the dominion of the heavens and the earth: In the End, it is to Him that ye shall be brought back."”
Graves: the dead are prayed for, not prayed to
Muslims do visit graves, and the Prophet (ﷺ) taught what to say there. It is a greeting of peace to the believers buried there, and a prayer asking Allah (﷾) for well-being for the living and the dead. The dead are prayed for, not prayed to. Five days before he died, the Prophet (ﷺ) warned against what earlier peoples had done. They had made the graves of their prophets and righteous men into places of worship. He forbade Muslims to do the same. His own grave was kept from the open for fear that it would become a place of worship. Where Muslims pray to the one buried in a tomb, or bring him offerings, they act against the plain words of their own Prophet (ﷺ). A practice is judged by the scripture it claims to follow.
Buraida reports that the Prophet (ﷺ) used to teach his companions what to say when they went out to the graves. They were to greet with peace the believers and Muslims who dwell there, and say that they would join them, if Allah willed. Then they were to ask Allah for well-being for the living and for the dead.
Jundub reports what he heard the Prophet (ﷺ) say five days before his death. The Prophet (ﷺ) said that Allah had taken him as His close friend, as He had taken Abraham. Had he taken any of his community as his own close friend, it would have been Abu Bakr. Then he warned that the peoples before them had made the graves of their prophets and righteous men into places of worship. He forbade Muslims to take graves as places of worship.
Aisha reports that in his last illness the Prophet (ﷺ) said Allah had cursed the Jews and the Christians for building places of worship at the graves of their prophets. She adds that, but for this, his own grave would have been placed out in the open; it was not, for fear that it would be taken as a place of worship.
The Kaaba: faced, not worshipped
Some Hindus reply that Muslims, too, honour a stone building. Muslims do face the Kaaba, the House of God (﷾) in Mecca, when they pray. The page on the Kaaba answers this in full. The Qur'an tells the people of Mecca to worship the Lord of this House; the House itself is not prayed to. For sixteen or seventeen months after the Prophet (ﷺ) reached Medina, Muslims prayed toward Jerusalem. Then God (﷾) turned the direction of prayer toward the Sacred Mosque in Mecca. A worshipper can change the direction he faces without changing the One he worships. Walking round the House is done at God's (﷾) word too: Abraham was told to sanctify "My House for those who compass it round". Umar kissed the Black Stone, set in the Kaaba's wall, and said he knew it was a stone that could neither harm nor benefit. He kissed it only because he had seen the Prophet (ﷺ) kiss it. Nothing is asked of the Kaaba or the Stone, and nothing is offered to them.
“Let them adore the Lord of this House, Who provides them with food against hunger, and with security against fear (of danger).”
Al-Bara ibn Azib reports that after arriving in Madinah the Prophet (ﷺ) prayed facing Jerusalem for sixteen or seventeen months, until the direction of prayer was turned to the Kaaba.
“We see the turning of thy face (for guidance to the heavens: now Shall We turn thee to a Qibla that shall please thee. Turn then Thy face in the direction of the sacred Mosque: Wherever ye are, turn your faces in that direction. The people of the Book know well that that is the truth from their Lord. Nor is Allah unmindful of what they do.”
“Behold! We gave the site, to Abraham, of the (Sacred) House, (saying): "Associate not anything (in worship) with Me; and sanctify My House for those who compass it round, or stand up, or bow, or prostrate themselves (therein in prayer).”
Abis ibn Rabi'a reports that Umar came to the Black Stone and kissed it. Umar said that he knew it was a stone that could neither harm nor benefit, and that had he not seen the Prophet (ﷺ) kiss it, he would not have kissed it.
Why not worship one God (﷾) and remain a Hindu?
Some Hindus answer that they can give their devotion to one God (﷾) alone and stay Hindu, as the Gita itself praises. That is the right step, and it is the very one Islam asks for. But the Gita gives this devotion to Krishna. He calls himself unborn in his essence. Yet he says he is born, age after age, by his own power (atma-maya). The Upanishad says of God (﷾) that He has neither parent nor lord. The Qur'an says He has no children and no parents: God (﷾) is never born, in any way. And the same Gita strengthens the faith of those who worship other gods. The Qur'an asks for the worship of God (﷾) alone, from its first chapter, and tells people to call on no one beside Him. It says this was the message of every messenger. And it presents Muhammad (ﷺ) as God's (﷾) messenger to all people. Islam is the worship of the one God (﷾) alone, as the Qur'an and His messenger (ﷺ) teach it.
“Even though I am unborn and inexhaustible in (my) essence, even though I am lord of all beings, still I take up the control of my own nature, and am born by means of my delusive power.”
“Whensoever, O descendant of Bharata! piety languishes, and impiety is in the ascendant, I create myself. I am born age after age, for the protection of the good, for the destruction of evil-doers, and the establishment of piety.”
“There is no master of his in the world, no ruler of his, not even a sign of him. He is the cause, the lord of the lords of the organs, and there is of him neither parent nor lord.”
“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.”
“Those who are deprived of knowledge by various desires approach other divinities, observing various regulations, and controlled by their own natures. Whichever form (of deity) any worshipper wishes to worship with faith, to that form I render his faith steady. Possessed of that faith, he seeks to propitiate (the deity in) that (form), and obtains from it those beneficial things which he desires, (though they are) really given by me. But the fruit thus (obtained) by them, who have little judgment, is perishable. Those who worship the divinities go to the divinities, and my worshippers, too, go to me.”
“Thee do we worship, and Thine aid we seek.”
“"And the places of worship are for Allah (alone): So invoke not any one along with Allah;”
“Not a messenger did We send before thee without this inspiration sent by Us to him: that there is no god but I; therefore worship and serve Me.”
“Say: "O men! I am sent unto you all, as the Messenger of Allah, to Whom belongeth the dominion of the heavens and the earth: there is no god but He: it is He That giveth both life and death. So believe in Allah and His Messenger, the Unlettered Prophet, who believeth in Allah and His words: follow him that (so) ye may be guided."”
One formless God (﷾), without images
Other Hindus, the Arya Samaj (a Hindu reform movement of the nineteenth century) among them, worship one formless God (﷾) and reject images. They hold, with the Upanishad, that "There is no image of him". Such a Hindu has taken the first step the Qur'an asks. To take it, he has set aside much of his own tradition. Dayananda, who founded the Arya Samaj, called the Tantras and Puranas (later Hindu writings) that enjoin image worship contrary to the Vedas. What remains is which revelation teaches this worship plainly. The hymns of the Rig Veda are addressed to the gods. The same Veda says that Indra and Agni were born, and that the gods came after the world. The Qur'an teaches it plainly: "Say: He is Allah, the One and Only". It comes with a messenger sent to all people. The page asking whether Muhammad (ﷺ) was really a messenger of God (﷾) sets out the case for him.
Dayananda Saraswati, founder of the Arya Samaj, argues in the revised second edition of his Satyarth Prakash, a book that also gives a chapter to attacking the Qur'an, that no verse of the Vedas speaks of invoking God into an image, bringing it to life, or worshipping it; the verses recited for these rites, he says, come from the Tantras, not the Vedas. To the view that a god comes into the image when called by mantras and leaves when the rite ends, he answers that God, who fills all things, neither comes nor goes. He reads Yajur Veda 32.3 (na tasya pratima asti) and the Kena Upanishad's refrain as forbidding image worship, calls the Tantras and Puranas that enjoin it contrary to the Vedas, and denies that image worship is a first step toward God.
“No one has grasped him above, or across, or in the middle. There is no image of him whose name is Great Glory. His form cannot be seen, no one perceives him with the eye. Those who through heart and mind know him thus abiding in the heart, become immortal.”
Says the tenth book of the Rig Veda represents a definitely later layer of the collection, that more than a quarter of the Rig Veda is devoted to the praise of Indra, and that hardly more than thirty of its hymns are not addressed to the gods or deified objects. The idea that the various gods are forms of one divine being, he writes, is found in the later hymns, such as the recent hymn 1.164; such utterances show that by the end of the Rigvedic period the polytheism of the seers had taken on a monotheistic tinge. Occasionally the hymns even shadow forth a deity who is all the gods and nature as well; this germ of pantheism grew through the later Vedic literature into the Vedanta. Max Müller's theory of henotheism arose from the poets' habit of invoking each god as if he were supreme. In Macdonell's view the habit hardly amounts to more than a singer's natural exaggeration of the god he is invoking, since the seers knew each god's exact place in the Soma ritual. The Vedic poets, he adds, held that the gods had a beginning.
“The Moon was gendered from his mind, and from his eye the Sun had birth; Indra and Agni from his mouth were born, and Vâyu from his breath.”
“Who verily knows and who can here declare it, whence it was born and whence comes this creation? The Gods are later than this world's production. Who knows then whence it first came into being?”
“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.”
“Say: "O men! I am sent unto you all, as the Messenger of Allah, to Whom belongeth the dominion of the heavens and the earth: there is no god but He: it is He That giveth both life and death. So believe in Allah and His Messenger, the Unlettered Prophet, who believeth in Allah and His words: follow him that (so) ye may be guided."”
The replies, answered
Svetasvatara Upanishad 6.7 — chapter 6, verse 7
“Let us know that highest great lord of lords, the highest deity of deities, the master of masters, the highest above, as god, the lord of the world, the adorable.”
Cited for
We do not worship the gods as God. The Upanishad calls the Lord "the highest deity of deities" and "the master of masters". The devas (the gods of the Vedas) are His powers and servants, like the angels of Islam. Ramanuja teaches that the gods form the Lord's body, so what is offered to them reaches Him. We honour them as one honours a king's ministers, and what they give is, as Krishna says, really given by Him.
The response
Islam also has honoured servants of God (﷾): the angels, "servants raised to honour", who act by His command and intercede only for those He approves. Islam gives them no prayer, prostration or offering. No prophet, the Qur'an says, would tell people "to take angels and prophets for Lords and patrons". And the angels will disown those who worshipped them. The Meccans gave the same reason for their worship: they served other beings to be brought nearer to Allah (﷾). The Qur'an's answer is that "those whom ye call upon besides Allah are servants like unto you". The Brihadaranyaka Upanishad's thirty-three gods include fire, earth, the sun, the moon, the months and thunder. Whether they are these or the deities who preside over them, the Rig Veda says the gods came after the world. Ramanuja does teach that Indra and the other gods form the Lord's body. He counts rites offered to them as worship of the Lord, who is "the real Object of that worship". Those who do not understand this, he says, "possess the character to fall". If the Lord is the real Object, He can be worshipped directly, and He hears every caller Himself. A king needs ministers because he cannot hear every subject; God (﷾) says He is close and listens to every suppliant. And if the gifts are really given by the Lord, as Krishna says, the plain course is to ask the Giver. The Svetasvatara verse itself calls Him "the adorable".
Where it lands — Honouring God's (﷾) servants is not worshipping them. Prayer, prostration and offerings belong to the Master, who hears every caller Himself.
Qur'an 29:61 — Surat al-Ankabut (The Spider), verse 61
“If indeed thou ask them who has created the heavens and the earth and subjected the sun and the moon (to his Law), they will certainly reply, "Allah". How are they then deluded away (from the truth)?”
Cited for
Your own Qur'an says the Meccans already called the Creator Allah before Islam. So Islam brought no new God: it kept the Arabs' high god, made him the only one, and dropped the rest. Hindus already have their one God, Ishvara or Bhagwan, and need no Arab god to replace Him.
The response
Allah (﷾) is the Arabic word for God (﷾). Arab Christians use it too, and the standard Arabic Protestant Bible uses it in its first verse. The Qur'an does not claim to bring a new God (﷾). It says the Meccans knew their Creator, and gave His worship to others as well. That was the heart of the dispute. When the Prophet (ﷺ) called them to worship Him alone, they said: "Has he made the gods (all) into one Allah? Truly this is a wonderful thing!" The Qur'an traces that worship back to Abraham, who was told at the House: "Associate not anything (in worship) with Me". What Islam changed in Mecca was worship, not the name of God (﷾). It asks the same of a Hindu who already believes in one God (﷾): not a new God (﷾), but His worship alone.
Where it lands — Islam did not rename a god. It asked the Meccans to give the Creator they already knew His worship alone, and it asks the same of Hindus.
Bhagavad Gita 7:19 — chapter 7, verse 19
“At the end of many lives, the man possessed of knowledge approaches me, (believing) that Vâsudeva is everything. Such a high-souled man is very hard to find.”
Cited for
Krishna says the man of knowledge holds "that Vâsudeva is everything", and the Upanishad calls God "hidden in all beings". God is in everything. So whatever form a person worships, a god, an image, the sun or a river, he is worshipping the one God in it.
The response
Read the verse in its place. The man who holds that Vâsudeva is everything is the man of knowledge whose worship "is (addressed) to one (Being) only", two verses earlier. The very next verse says it is those "deprived of knowledge by various desires" who approach other divinities. So in the Gita, seeing God (﷾) in all goes with worshipping one alone, not with worshipping everything. The Kena speaks of the One by whom the eye sees and the mind thinks. Five times it says: "know that alone to be the Brahman, not this which people worship here". If everything were God in a way that made worship of anything worship of Him, no worship could go astray. The Gita's "irregularly" would then mean nothing. Islam agrees that God (﷾) is near: He is with you wherever you are, and "Allah sees well all that ye do". But nothing whatever is like Him, and every creature comes to Him as a servant. The Qur'an says not to prostrate to the sun and the moon, but to Allah (﷾) who created them.
Where it lands — In the Gita, the man who sees God (﷾) in everything worships one Being only, and the Kena denies that what people worship here is Brahman. Islam, too, says God (﷾) is near, not by being in things, and that nothing is Him.
Shankara, commentary on Kena Upanishad 1.5 — S. Sitarama Sastri's translation, 1898, p. 48
“Disregarding these, know the Atman itself to be the unconditioned Brahman. This is the meaning. Brahman is not what people here worship, such as Iswara, which is not the Atman, and which is conditioned and referred to as 'this'.”
Cited for
You quote the Kena, but read it with Shankara. He explains its refrain: "Brahman is not what people here worship, such as Iswara, which is not the Atman". A Lord worshipped as other than oneself is exactly "this which people worship here". Your "Thee do we worship" falls under the same line as our temple worship.
The response
That is Shankara's reading. It rests on his teaching that the worshipper's own Self is Brahman, which he reads in the Chandogya's "thou, O Svetaketu, art it". Other Hindu teachers reject it: Ramanuja answers from the same scriptures that there is no "pure Being" above the Lord. On Shankara's reading, the Lord whom Hindus worship, "such as Iswara", is not Brahman either. So his reading gives no reason to keep the worship of the gods. The Kena itself says of Brahman: "He is to be worshipped by the name Tadvanam". So the Upanishad does not forbid worshipping the One. It says that what people worship here is not the One. The Qur'an agrees. The Kena's Brahman is "not seen by the eye, but by which the eye is able to see". The Qur'an says of God (﷾): "No vision can grasp Him, but His grasp is over all vision". Muslims worship the One whom no vision can grasp, and make no image of Him.
Where it lands — The Kena turns worship away from what is seen here, not away from the One: it says Brahman is to be worshipped. Islam gives worship to the unseen One alone.
Sahih al-Bukhari 4476 — Kitab al-Tafsir (Prophetic Commentary on the Qur'an), hadith 4476
Anas reports that the Prophet (ﷺ) said: on the Day of Resurrection the believers will gather. They will look for someone to intercede for them with their Lord. They will go in turn to Adam, Noah, Abraham, Moses and Jesus, and each will say he is not fit for it. Then they will come to him. He will ask his Lord's permission and be given it. When he sees his Lord he will fall down in prostration, and stay so for as long as Allah wills. Then he will be told to raise his head: to ask, and it will be given; to speak, and he will be heard. He will be told to intercede, and his intercession will be accepted. He will praise his Lord with words his Lord teaches him, and then intercede. Allah will set him a limit, and he will bring those within it into Paradise. He will return and the same will happen again.
Cited for
Muslims have an intercessor too. They hope the Prophet (ﷺ) will intercede for them on the Day of Resurrection. Many also seek nearness to God through the Prophet (ﷺ) and the saints (tawassul). That is what Hindus do when they approach the Supreme through a god who can plead for them.
The response
The Qur'an does speak of intercession, and it says: "To Allah belongs exclusively (the right to grant) intercession". No one intercedes with Him except as He permits, and only for those He approves. Even the angels' intercession avails nothing until He gives leave. The hadith of the intercession shows what that means. The Prophet (ﷺ) will first ask his Lord's permission and fall down in prostration before Him. Only when told to raise his head and intercede will he intercede, within a limit Allah (﷾) sets. The intercessor is himself a worshipper who bows to God (﷾), and he is given no worship. His intercession will reach, if Allah (﷾) wills, whoever of his community dies without associating anything with Allah (﷾). The happiest with it is the one who says "there is no god but Allah" sincerely, from the heart. Muslims ask God (﷾) for it; they are not to pray to the Prophet (ﷺ). As for tawassul, a Muslim may ask a living person to pray to God (﷾) for him. After the Prophet (ﷺ) died, Umar asked the Prophet's (ﷺ) living uncle al-Abbas to pray for rain. He did not call on the Prophet (ﷺ) in his grave. What is forbidden is praying to anyone besides God (﷾): "invoke not any one along with Allah". The Prophet (ﷺ) told his own daughter Fatima that he could not help her at all against Allah (﷾). The Meccans did the reverse: they served other beings so that those beings would intercede for them.
Where it lands — In Islam intercession comes from God (﷾), by His leave, for those who worship Him alone. Muslims may ask the living to pray for them, but pray to no one but God (﷾).
Sahih Muslim 975 — Kitab al-Jana'iz (The Book of Funerals), hadith 975
Buraida reports that the Prophet (ﷺ) used to teach his companions what to say when they went out to the graves. They were to greet with peace the believers and Muslims who dwell there, and say that they would join them, if Allah willed. Then they were to ask Allah for well-being for the living and for the dead.
Cited for
Muslims visit graves too: the Prophet (ﷺ) himself taught what to say at them. At the shrines of Muslim saints across India, people bring flowers and sheets of cloth, tie threads and ask the saint for help. That is what Hindus do at a temple.
The response
The words the Prophet (ﷺ) taught for the graveyard are a greeting of peace to the believers who lie there. They end with a prayer to Allah (﷾) for their well-being and ours. The dead are prayed for, not prayed to. Five days before his death he warned that earlier peoples had made the graves of their prophets and righteous men into places of worship. He forbade it. His own grave was kept from the open for fear that it would become one. Where Muslims pray to the one buried in a tomb, or bring him offerings, they go against the plain words of their own Prophet (ﷺ). A practice is judged by the scripture it claims to follow. The worship of the gods is in the Hindu scriptures themselves. The hymns of the Rig Veda are addressed to them, and more than a quarter of it is devoted to the praise of Indra. Islam's own texts forbid worship at graves.
Where it lands — Islam allows graves to be visited to pray for the dead, and forbids worship at them. The Veda's own hymns are addressed to the gods.
Swami Vivekananda, Addresses on Bhakti-Yoga, The Chief Symbols
“The Mahommedans think that when they pray, if they try to form a mental image of the Temple with the Kaba, the black stone, in it, and turn towards the west, it is all right, but if you form the image in the shape of a church it is idolatry. This is the defect of image-worship. Yet all these seem to be necessary stages.”
Cited for
Vivekananda said it plainly. Muslims think it is all right to form a mental image of the Kaaba when they pray, and turn towards the west. Yet they call an image in the shape of a church idolatry. On pilgrimage they walk round it and kiss the Black Stone. If that is not worship of a stone, neither is ours.
The response
The page on the Kaaba answers this in full. In short, the Qur'an tells Muslims to turn their faces toward the Sacred Mosque. It tells the people of Mecca to "adore the Lord of this House", not the House. For sixteen or seventeen months after the Prophet (ﷺ) reached Medina, Muslims prayed toward Jerusalem, until the direction was changed by revelation. A worshipper can change the direction he faces without changing the One he worships, and wherever he turns, there is the presence of Allah (﷾). Umar kissed the Black Stone and said he knew it was a stone that could neither harm nor benefit. He kissed it only because the Prophet (ﷺ) had. Walking round the House is done at God's (﷾) word too: Abraham was told to sanctify "My House for those who compass it round". Nothing is asked of the Kaaba or the Stone, and nothing is offered to them. The places of worship are for Allah (﷾), and no one is called on beside Him.
Where it lands — The Kaaba is the direction of prayer, not the one prayed to.
Bhagavad Gita 7:20-23 — chapter 7, verses 20-23
“Those who are deprived of knowledge by various desires approach other divinities, observing various regulations, and controlled by their own natures. Whichever form (of deity) any worshipper wishes to worship with faith, to that form I render his faith steady. Possessed of that faith, he seeks to propitiate (the deity in) that (form), and obtains from it those beneficial things which he desires, (though they are) really given by me. But the fruit thus (obtained) by them, who have little judgment, is perishable. Those who worship the divinities go to the divinities, and my worshippers, too, go to me.”
Cited for
What God looks at is the heart. Krishna says that whatever form a worshipper chooses to worship with faith, he makes that faith steady and grants what is asked. A sincere Hindu who loves God with his whole heart is accepted, whatever name or form he uses.
The response
Islam asks for sincerity too: "serve Allah, offering Him sincere devotion". People "have been commanded no more than this: To worship Allah, offering Him sincere devotion". But the Arabic word behind "sincere" comes from a root meaning pure and unmixed (khalis). The Qur'an describes people in a boat who call on Allah (﷾) alone, then give others a share of their worship once safe on land. Its Arabic there has the same words as the verse just quoted (mukhlisina lahu al-din), and Yusuf Ali renders them "sincerely (and exclusively)". Where he has "Is it not to Allah that sincere devotion is due?", the Arabic says that to Allah (﷾) belongs the pure religion. The chapter that declares God's (﷾) oneness is named al-Ikhlas, Sincerity. So devotion shared with others is not yet sincere in the Qur'an's sense. The Gita, too, says faith is not enough. In this very passage the fruit of such worship is "perishable". In chapter 9, those who worship other gods "with faith" worship "irregularly", and "fall". Islam does not say God (﷾) punishes anyone before a messenger reaches him. But once the message is heard, sincerity means giving worship to God (﷾) alone.
Where it lands — Sincerity is required, and in the Qur'an sincere devotion means devotion given to God (﷾) alone. Even the Gita calls faithful worship of other gods irregular.
Bhagavad Gita 9:30 — chapter 9, verse 30
“Even if a very ill-conducted man worships me, not worshipping any one else, he must certainly be deemed to be good, for he has well resolved.”
Cited for
Then the Gita already teaches what you ask. Krishna calls good the man who worships him "not worshipping any one else", and ranks highest the worshipper devoted to one Being only. A Hindu can give his whole devotion to one God and stay a Hindu. Many Vaishnavas (worshippers of Vishnu) and Shaivas (followers of Shiva) do.
The response
Devotion to one alone is the right step, and it is the step Islam asks for. Three things stand in the way of taking it from the Gita alone. First, the Gita gives this devotion to Krishna, who says of himself, "I am born age after age". He calls himself unborn in essence, yet says he is "born by means of my delusive power". The Qur'an says of God (﷾), "He begetteth not, nor is He begotten", and never speaks of Him being born in any way. The Upanishad, too, says there is of Him "neither parent nor lord". Second, the same Gita also steadies the faith of those who worship other gods, and grants their wishes. The Qur'an asks for the worship of God (﷾) alone from its opening chapter: "Thee do we worship". It tells people to call on no one beside Him. Third, the Qur'an says this was the message of every messenger, and presents Muhammad (ﷺ) as God's (﷾) messenger "unto you all". Follow the Gita's highest worship to its end: one God (﷾), never born, worshipped alone. It arrives where the Gita itself stops short, at what the Qur'an teaches.
Where it lands — The Gita's highest worship is worship of one alone. The Qur'an asks for it with no other god beside Him, and gives it to a God who is never born, in any way.
Svetasvatara Upanishad 4.19-20 — chapter 4, verses 19-20
“No one has grasped him above, or across, or in the middle. There is no image of him whose name is Great Glory. His form cannot be seen, no one perceives him with the eye. Those who through heart and mind know him thus abiding in the heart, become immortal.”
Cited for
Many Hindus, the Arya Samaj among them, already worship one formless God alone. They make no image of Him and pray to no other god. They accept no avatar (a god come down in bodily form). They hold, with the Upanishad, that "There is no image of him". Such a Hindu already does all that this page asks. Why should he become Muslim?
The response
Then he has taken the first step the Qur'an asks. To take it, he has set aside much of his own tradition. Dayananda, who founded the Arya Samaj, called the Tantras and Puranas that enjoin image worship contrary to the Vedas. What remains is which revelation teaches this worship plainly. The hymns of the Rig Veda are addressed to the gods, and more than a quarter of it is devoted to the praise of Indra. One hymn does say, "To what is One, sages give many a title". But the same Veda says Indra and Agni were born from the mouth of the cosmic Man. It says, too, that "The Gods are later than this world's production". To take every god of the hymns as a name of one formless God (﷾), a reader must go against those words. The Qur'an needs no such reading. It says plainly what he believes: "Say: He is Allah, the One and Only". And it comes with a messenger sent "unto you all". The page asking whether Muhammad (ﷺ) was really a messenger of God (﷾) sets out the case for him.
Where it lands — A Hindu who worships one formless God (﷾) alone has taken the Qur'an's first step. The Qur'an teaches that worship plainly, and brings it with a messenger.
Bhagavad Gita 10:41 — chapter 10, verse 41
“Whatever thing (there is) of power, or glorious, or splendid, know all that to be produced from portions of my energy.”
Cited for
God is energy, the force that runs through everything. Some say an element, or a heavenly body that keeps the world going. Krishna himself says that whatever is splendid is "produced from portions of my energy".
The response
In that verse the energy is "my energy": it belongs to one who speaks as "I". The Upanishad says God's (﷾) power acts "as force and knowledge". In the Gita, the wise worship Krishna as "the origin of all". An energy does not know, choose or hear a prayer. The Qur'an calls God "the Living, the Self-subsisting", and asks, "Should He not know,- He that created?" Abraham used the sky to reason with his people. The Qur'an calls it "the reasoning about Us, which We gave to Abraham". When a star set, he said, "I love not those that set." The moon and the sun set too, and he set his face towards "Him Who created the heavens and the earth". The Qur'an says, "Do not prostrate to the sun and the moon, but prostrate to Allah, Who created them".
Where it lands — God (﷾) is not a force or a star. He is the Living One who knows and creates. What rises and sets is ruled; it does not rule.
Perspectives
One God, honoured in many forms
Hindus believe in one supreme God, Ishvara or Bhagwan. The gods are His powers and servants, and He Himself gives what is sought through them. So worship offered to them, or to Him in any form, reaches Him in the end. What God looks at is a devoted and sincere heart. A Hindu who believes this already has the one God, and does not need another religion.
Swami Vivekananda and much modern Hindu teaching; Ramanuja on the gods as the Lord's body
The Svetasvatara Upanishad calls God the highest god of the gods. It calls Him the master of masters, and the lord of the world.
Rebuttal
Islam agrees that God (﷾) is the highest deity of deities and the master of masters. The verse itself calls Him "the adorable", and the Qur'an asks that sincere devotion go to Him alone.
Around 1030, the Muslim scholar al-Biruni recorded that Hindus believe God to be one, eternal, all-powerful and beyond all likeness.
Rebuttal
Grant that al-Biruni found Hindus believing God (﷾) to be one and beyond likeness. The Qur'an shows that this belief was never the whole matter. The people of Mecca said Allah (﷾) created the heavens and the earth, yet served others. Islam asks for the worship of Him alone.
Vivekananda told the Parliament of Religions in 1893 that there is no belief in many gods in India. The worshippers, he said, give the images all the qualities of God.
Rebuttal
Grant that many worshippers mean to honour the One. The people of Mecca gave a like reason for theirs: they served them only to be brought nearer to Allah (﷾). The Qur'an's answer is that sincere devotion is due to Allah (﷾) alone.
Ramanuja teaches that Indra and the other gods are part of the Lord's body. So the sacrifices offered to them are really directed to Him.
Rebuttal
Grant that Ramanuja teaches this. By his own words the Lord is "the real Object of that worship". Then He can be worshipped directly, and the Qur'an asks for exactly that.
Krishna says that whatever form a worshipper chooses to worship with faith, he makes that faith steady. The gifts sought are really given by him.
Rebuttal
Grant that Krishna says this. If the gifts are really given by the Lord, the plain course is to ask the Giver. Chapter 9 adds that those who worship other gods with faith worship him only "irregularly", and fall because they do not know him truly.
Krishna says the man of knowledge holds that Vasudeva is everything.
Rebuttal
Grant it. But he is the same man of knowledge whose worship, two verses earlier, is addressed to one Being only. The next verse says those who approach other divinities are deprived of knowledge by their desires.
Devotion to one alone (ananya bhakti)
The Gita itself ranks highest the worshipper devoted to one Being only. It calls good the man who worships the Lord and no one else. On this view, a Hindu can give all his devotion to one God within his own tradition, as the Gita teaches.
The Bhagavad Gita, and the devotional (bhakti) traditions that follow it
Krishna ranks highest the man of knowledge whose worship is addressed to one Being only.
Rebuttal
Islam agrees that the highest worship is addressed to one Being only. The Qur'an names Him plainly: He begets not, nor is He begotten, and none is like Him. It says every messenger brought this call.
Krishna says that even a man of very bad conduct who worships him, and no one else, must be counted good. Telang explains this as the firm decision that only the supreme Being should be worshipped.
Rebuttal
Islam agrees that worship of one alone is the right resolve. It asks who that One is. The Qur'an says He is never born, and that no one is to be called on along with Him.
Krishna promises to deliver those who worship him with a devotion towards none besides him. He asks Arjuna to come to him as his sole refuge.
Rebuttal
Islam agrees that a person should turn to one helper and one refuge alone. The Qur'an asks that this be the God (﷾) who is never born: "Thee do we worship, and Thine aid we seek."
The Islamic perspective
Believing that God (﷾) is one must go together with worshipping Him alone. Prayer, bowing down, sacrifice and every call for help belong to God (﷾), and to no one beside Him. This was the message of every messenger, and the Qur'an brought it to all people through Muhammad (ﷺ). The Gita's highest worship points the same way. Islam asks for that worship, with no other god beside Him.
The Qur'an says the Meccans named Allah (﷾) as the Creator of the heavens and the earth, and as their own Creator. Yet they worshipped others beside Him.
They said they served other beings only to be brought nearer to Allah (﷾), and called them their go-betweens with Him. The Qur'an rejects both reasons.
Islam brought no new God (﷾). Allah (﷾) is the Arabic word for God (﷾), which Arab Christians also use. The Meccans objected that the Prophet (ﷺ) had made the gods into one.
Every messenger was sent with one message: there is no god but Allah (﷾), so worship Him.
Prayer and sacrifice, prostration and every call for help belong to God (﷾) alone.
Those called on besides God (﷾), the angels included, are His servants and take no worship.
God (﷾) is near to every person. Yet nothing at all is like Him, and every creature comes to Him as a servant.
Intercession belongs to God (﷾) alone, and no one intercedes without His leave.
The Prophet (ﷺ) spoke of the Day of Resurrection. He will plead for others only after bowing down to his Lord and being told to plead.
He spoke of who his pleading will reach, if Allah (﷾) wills. It will reach everyone of his community who dies without setting up partners with Allah (﷾). The ones who gain most from it will be those who say there is no god but Allah (﷾) sincerely, from the heart.
The Prophet (ﷺ) taught prayer for the dead at their graves, and forbade taking graves as places of worship.
A Muslim may ask a living person to pray to God (﷾) for him. Umar asked al-Abbas to pray for rain in this way. But the Prophet (ﷺ) told his own daughter that he could not help her at all against Allah (﷾).
In the Qur'an, sincere devotion means devotion made pure for God (﷾) alone.