Say: “I am but a mortal like you, but it is revealed to me that your God is the One and Only God…” (Al-Kahf 18:110)

قُلْ إِنَّمَا أَنَا بَشَرٌ مِّثْلُكُمْ يُوحَىٰ إِلَيَّ أَنَّمَا إِلَـٰهُكُمْ إِلَـٰهٌ وَاحِدٌ
Say: “I am but a mortal like you, but it is revealed to me that your God is the One and Only God…” (Al-Kahf 18:110)

There is no difference between human beings in their having been created by God and in their servanthood to Him. He is equally dominant over all of us, and we are equally under His rule or sovereignty. Nobody is great and exceptional enough to be a Lord or Deity to be worshipped nor is anyone so little or despicable enough to take any being other than God as Lord or Deity to worship. As Bediüzzaman Said Nursi aptly states, “All creatures are equal in regard to their distance from being worshipped, as well as in respect of being created.”[1]

The verse above also rejects deification of some great persons such as Jesus and Ezra, upon them be peace. It is true that some among people, especially the Prophets, have a certain degree of nearness to God Almighty. However, this nearness, which comes from belief in and worshipping Him, can never be a reason for deification. They have no place on God’s Throne (of Deity, Lordship and absolute Sovereignty) next to God. Thus, in order emphasize this important point, despite his exceptional greatness, our Prophet Muhammad, upon him be peace and blessings, declared, “I am a mortal human being like you.” He added, “It is revealed to me that your God is the One and Only God,” pointing to the difference between other human beings and himself as the receiver of God’s Revelation. It is of great significance that this difference also marks the basic reality that both he and all other human beings are God’s creatures who must worship Him, and it is only God, the One and Only God, Who deserves worship exclusively.

To sum up, the verse under discussion both rejects the extreme considerations about some such as Jesus and Ezra and draws the attention of Muslims to the actual position of our Prophet Muhammad, upon him be peace and blessings.

[1] Nursi, The Gleams (Trans.), The Seventeenth Gleam, 2008, p. 160.

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