The above examples clearly bring out the meanings of the word rabb, and we may now proceed to look at those false notions which existed among the misguided tribes and people about rubūbiyyah (that is, the qualities and attributes of one who is a rabb) which the Qur'ān sought to refute, and what are the beliefs that the Qur'ān advocates. This can perhaps best be done by taking up, one by one, the cases of those particular nations or people who find mention in the Qur'ān, and thus get a clearer idea of the wrong notions which they entertained.

The earliest of such people dealt with in the Qur'ān were those among whom Hazrat Nuh (Noah, peace be upon him) was raised as Prophet. It is clear from the Qur'ān that these people did not deny the existence of God, cf. the following comment about him by their leaders:

…He is but a man like any of you, who only wants to establish his own hold over you. If God had really wanted (to send any messenger) He would surely have chosen angels instead…. (al-Mu’minoon 23:24)

Nor did they deny that Allah was the Creator of the universe and the Rabb in the first and second senses of the word. Among the exhortations to them by Hazrat Nuh were:

…He is your Rabb, and unto Him shall you be returned. (al-Hud 11:34)

Seek the forgiveness of your Rabb, (for) verily He is Oft-Forgiving.

(an-Nuh 71:10)

Do you not see how Allah has made the seven heavens one above the other, and made the moon a light in their midst, and the sun a (glorious) lamp? And (it was)

Allah (Who) created you from the earth. (an-Nuh 71:15-17)

It is to be noted that no one says in reply that they do not believe Allah to be their Rabb or that He did not create the earth and the heavens and themselves, or that He was not managing the affairs of the universe. Nor, may it be added, did they deny Allah’s being their Ilaah either. That is why Hazrat Nuh, in asking them to return to the ways of God, said, “You have no Ilaah but He” (7:58), whereas if they had believed otherwise, what he would have said would have been: “Make Allah your ilaah.” This therefore naturally raises the question as to what in fact was the basic dispute between Hazrat Nuh and his people, and it seems from the Qur'ān that there were two main points of difference, as follows:

(i) What Hazrat Nuh wanted was that they should give their worship, in the full sense of the word, wholly to Allah, the Creator and Cherisher of the universe (Rabb-al’aalameen), because He alone was the Provider and the only Ilaah. There was no other being who could grant their prayers and give them aid and comfort, and therefore He alone deserved their full and entire submission and supplication:

…O’ my people, give your ’ibadah to Allah, (for) you have no ilaah but He…And I am a messenger unto you from the Rabb of all the worlds, and convey to you the messages of my Rabb…. (al-A’raaf 7:59-60).

The people, however, were adamant that, notwithstanding Allāh being the Rabb of all the worlds, there were other gods too who had a share in the affairs of the world, who too could answer some of the prayers, and whom too therefore they could and would continue to regard as ilaahs: And they said:

…abandon not your gods; abandon neither Wadd nor Suwa, neither Yaguth Ya’uq, nor Nasr. (an-Nuh 71:23)

(ii) The other was that they regarded Allah as the Rabb only to the extent of believing in Him as the Creator, the Lord of the earth and the heavens, and the Supreme regulator of the affairs of the universe, but did not agree that His Sovereignty extended also to such matters as morality and moral principles, social relations, culture, politics, and other worldly affairs. They did not acknowledge Him as the only rightful and ultimate source of law in such matters, in which they actually behaved as commanded by their chiefs and priests. Thus according to them the status of rabbs is that, in such matters, it was their word, which was the law. Hazrat Nuh protested that rubūbiyyah was not a thing which could be split apart and distributed, and that they must regard Allah as the Rabb in all the different meanings of the word, and follow all of His laws and commandments, conveyed through himself as His accredited representative:

I am to you an apostle worthy of all trust. So fear God, and obey me.

(ash-Shu’araa 26:107-108)

The next in line were the ’Aad. They too did not deny the existence of God, or His being the Ilah but at the same time they too believed in Him as the Rabb to the same extent and in the same sense as had Hazrat Nuh’s people. And so the points of disagreement between them, and the Prophet sent to them, Hazrat Hud, were the same too: And to the Aad (We sent) their brother (that Is kinsman) Hud, who said to them:

‘O’ my people, give your ’ibadah to Allah (because) there is no ilaah but He; will you not fear Him?” (And) they said: ‘Have you come to us to make us give all of our ’ibadah to Allah alone, exclusively, and give up those to whom our ancestors used to give theirs?’ (al-A’raaf 7:65-70)

…They said: ‘If our Rabb had wanted, He would have sent down angels (instead of you, a human like us).... (al-Fussilat 41:14)

These then were the ’Aad, who refused to obey the commands of their Rabb, who did not obey His messengers, and who (instead) obeyed every despotic transgressor (against Truth) (al-Hud 11:59)

Then there were the Thamūd, the worst transgressors after the ’Aad. Basically, their deviation was the same as that of the people of Hazrat Nuh and the ’Aad. They also believed in the existence of Allah and His being the Ilaah and the Rabb but they did not agree that He was the only ilaah, that He alone was worthy of all ’ibadah, and that He was Rabb in all the senses of the word. They insisted that there were others, besides Allah, who too could accept prayers, grant favours, and remove distress, and in moral and cultural matters they took their law from their chiefs and priests instead of following Divine guidance. It was this which made them into a tragically misled people and brought down on them Allah’s punishment:

And (O’ Muhammad) if they turn away (and do not listen to what you say) then say to them: I am warning you of a punishment the like of that which visited the ’Aad and the Thamud, to whom Prophets came repeatedly telling them not to give their ’ibadah to any but Allah, and whose only reply was:‘If our Rabb had wanted, He would surely have sent down angels, (but since He did not), we reject the message which you bring’. (al-Fussilat 41:13-14)

And to the Thamud (we sent) their kinsman Saleh, who said to them, ”O’ my People: ’give your ’ibadah to Allah; you have no ilaah but He.”...They replied, ”O’ Saleh, we had great hopes of you (and now you spear strangely); Do you mean to forbid us to give our ’ibadah to those to whom our ancestors used to give their?”.... (al-Hud 11:61-62)

When their kinsman Saleh said to them: ‘Do you not fear (God)? I am verily an apostle worthy of trust wherefore fear God, and obey me…obey me and not obey all the words of transgressors who cause strife in the land and who do not mend their ways.’ (ash-Shu’araa 26:142-143, 150-152).

Next in importance are the people of Hazrat Ibrahim (Abraham, may peace be upon him), and the significance of their case is that it is commonly thought that their King, Namrud (Nimrod), did not believe in God but claimed himself to be God instead. The fact, however, is that he did believe in God, and also believed Him to be the Creator and the Regulator of the affairs of the universe, and his own claim to be a rabb was only in the third, fourth, and fifth senses of the term.

Another common misconception is that these people had no belief in God nor in his being the Ilaah and the Rabb, although in fact their beliefs on these points were little different from those of the people of Hazrat Nuh and the Thamūd. They did believe in the existence of God, and also knew Him as the Rabb, the Creator of the heavens and the earth, and the Supreme Ruler of the universe. Nor, for that matter, did they deny His right to man’s worship. Where they were mistaken was in regarding the heavenly bodies as partners with him in rubūbiyyah in the first and second senses of the term and hence in associating them with God to that extent. As for the third, fourth, and fifth meanings of the term, here it was their kings whom they treated as the rabbs.

The Holy Qur'ān is so clear on these points that it is surprising how the misconceptions just mentioned originated and came to be so widely accepted. Take for example the story of Hazrat Ibrahim’s search for the truth as told in the Qur'ān:

When night came upon him, he saw a star, and he said, ‘This is my rabb,’ but when the star set, he said to himself, ‘I do not like those who set.’ When he saw the shining moon he said, ‘This is my rabb,’ but when the moon also set, he said ‘If my Rabb does not guide me, I am afraid I too will become one of those who have gone astray.’ Then, when he saw the sun he said, ‘This is my rabb; this is the biggest (of them all);’ but when the son also set, he cried out, ‘O my people, I disown all those whom you associate with God; I turn away from them all and towards Him who created the heavens and the earth, and I shall not be of those who associate others with Him’ (Quran 6:77-79)

The portions highlighted clearly show that the people among whom Hazrat Ibrahim (on whom be peace) had been born did have a conception of a Being Who had created the heavens and the earth and of His being a Rabb as distinct from the heavenly bodies. And how could it be otherwise, considering the message of Hazrat Nuh, and that other Prophets had continued to be raised after him, in particular among related or neighbouring people, the ’Aad and the Thamūd. One can therefore safely presume that Hazrat Ibrahim owed his belief in God as the Creator to his own people. What puzzled him, however, even at the tender age at which the above incident occurred, was the validity of the belief in the heavenly bodies as being partners in divinity and hence worthy of men’s ’Ibadah along with God. [It might be mentioned in this connection, that according to architectural excavations in Ur which was Hazrat Ibrahim’s home, it seems that the people of that area worshipped the moon whom they called “Nannar.” In the land next to theirs, it was the sun which was worshipped, and was called “Shammash.” Hazrat Ibrahim’s country had been founded by a King called Uranmuw, a word which was arabicised into Namrud, and this word later came to be the title of the Kings in just the same way as, for example, much later, the successors or Nazamul-Mulk, who founded the state of Hyderabad India, came to be called Nizams. - A. A. Maududi] And it was his own search for the truth and His observation of the stars and the moon and the sun and of the phenomenon of their rising and setting, which, helped of course or strengthened by Divinely inspired intuition, provided the answer, and led him rightly to conclude that there is no Rabb at all other than the Creator of the universe. [Maulana Maududi has, to his Tafhim-ul-Qur'ān also dealt with the point which puzzled some as to why, since the rising and the setting of the heavenly bodies is a daily phenomenon, the Qur'ān says, “When night came upon him…” and why did not Hazrat Ibrahim notice the phenomenon earlier; and, in older to get over the point, the story was made out that he had been born and brought up in a cave and that is why he had not seen the stars and the moon and the sun until the event described occurred. The fact, however, is that there are many daily occurrences which one sees but whose significance escapes one until, at some moment chosen by God, it suddenly strikes one, and then, afterwards, the whole world also accepts the same explanation. After all, the apple is not the only fruit which falls from a tree, and all the various fruits had surely been falling from trees as also all other objects thrown up-for God alone knows how long, and yet it was left to Newton to infer the law of gravity. And surely no one can say that Newton had not himself before that seen any apple or other fruit to fall from a tree. - Abu Asad] That is the reason why, when he had seen the moon to set, he had said he was very much afraid that if his Rabb, that is, Allah Almighty, did not give him His own guidance, he to too might fail to get at reality and be deceived by the heavenly phenomenon as had been hundreds of thousands of others around him. When, later, he was ordained prophet, and began his mission of calling men to God, he ended one of his discourses to them with the words:

The next in historical order are the people of Sodom, the task of whose reformation was entrusted to Hazrat Ibrahim’s nephew, Lot (may peace be upon both). From the Qur'ān we know about these people too that while they neither denied the existence of God nor His being the Creator and the Rabb in the first and the second senses of the word, they refused to acknowledge Him as such in the third, fourth, and fifth senses, and also repudiated the authority of the Prophet Lot as His trusted representative to lay down the law for their conduct. What they wanted was to be left to do as they pleased, and this was their real crime and the reason for their bringing God’s wrath upon their heads. This is what the Qur'ān says about them: When their kinsman Lot said to them,‘Will you not fear God? Look! I am a trusted messenger to you (from God). Therefore (believe what I say and) try to save yourselves from Divine wrath, and do as 1 tell you, I ask no regard for myself, because my reward lies with God. Do you, unlike the whole of the rest of humanity, turn to boys (for your Sexual satisfaction) and leave aside the wives your Rabb has created for you for this purpose? Surely, you are the worst of wrongdoers.’ (Ash-Shu’araa’ 26:161-166)

Obviously these words can have only been addressed to a people who did not deny the existence of God or His being the Creator and the Provider. And that is why they did not counter by asking who was God, or how could He claim to be the Creator, or how did He become their Rabb. What they did say instead was, ‘Listen, Lot, if you do not stop your preachings, you will surely find yourself turned out from the land.’ (ash-Shu’araa’ 26:167)

In another place, the matter is put in the following words:

And (we sent) Lot (to his people as Our messenger and) when he said to them:

‘You commit an obscenity which no one in the world has ever committed before.

You satisfy your sexual urge with boys, commit highway robberies, and openly indulge in obscenities in your gatherings.’ Their only answer was: ‘If you are so right in what you say, then bring down the wrath of Allah upon our heads.’ (al-’Ankabut 29:28-29)

Can these words have been uttered by a people who did not believe in the existence of God? Clearly, their real crime was not the denial of His being the Ilaah and the Rabb but that, while believing in Him to be both in the supernatural sense, they refused to follow His law and to accept the guidance of His messenger in the moral, social, and cultural spheres.

Next come the people of Madyan and of Aikah (the ancient name of Tabuk), to whom Hazrat Shu’aib صلى الله عليه وسلمwas sent as prophet. We know that these people were descendants of Hazrat Ibrahim (on whom be peace) and so there can be no question of their not knowing God or not believing in him to be the Ilaah and the Rabb. They were in fact a people who had originally been Muslims but whose beliefs as also conduct had become corrupted through the passage of time. It would even appear from the Qur'ān, that they claimed to be believers, because Hazrat Shu’aib repeatedly says to them; “If you truly believe”; “If you truly are believers.” An examination of his discourses and of their answers clearly shows that they both believed in Allah and acknowledged Him as the Ilaah and the Rabb, but went wrong on two points. Firstly, in the supernatural sense they associated others with Him as also being ilaahs and rabbs and so did not give Him their ’ibadah exclusively and, secondly, they held that His being the Rabb did not extend to His having authority to lay down the law for regulating moral, social, economic and cultural behaviour, or they claimed freedom of action for themselves so far as these spheres were concerned:

And to (the people of) Madyan We sent their kinsman Shu’aib (who said to them): ‘O my people, give your ’ibadah to Allah (alone), for there is no ilaah but He; verily, there has come to you clear guidance from your Rabb, so give people just measure and weight and do not deprive them of their rightful due, nor (by these means) cause mischief in the land after it has been purged of corruption; this is the better course for you if you be true believers... And if a group among you believe in the guidance with which I have been sent, and another one not, then wait till God decides between us, and He alone is the best of all judges.’ (al-A’raaf 7:85-87)

(And Shu’aib said to them): O my people, give full measure and weigh justly, and do not cause loss to people, nor go about creating mischief in the land; the profit left to you through God’s grace is more beneficial for you, if you (really) believe; and (of course) I am no guardian of your morals.

All they could say was:

‘Does your praying to God (in your own special way) give you O Shu’aib the right to tell us to give up those whose worship has come down from our ancestors, or that we do not conduct our business transaction, as we please? You are indeed the forbearing and right-minded one!’ (al-Hud 11:85-87)

The words highlighted bring out clearly that the error of these people lay in misunderstanding the scope of God’s rubūbiyyah, which they thought had limited scope.

Next, we come to the Pharaoh and his people, regarding whom there are even greater misconceptions than in the case of Namrud and his people. The view generally held is that the Pharaoh not only denied the existence of God but himself claimed to be God, that is, that he had become so misled as to presume to be the creator of the heavens and the earth, and that his people too were so bereft of reason as to unquestioningly subscribe to such claim.

The Holy Qur'ān and history both show, on the contrary, that there was little difference between his people and those of Namrud in regard to their beliefs about God as both the Ilaah and the Rabb. The only difference was the existence of a racial bias against the Bani-Israel which prompted the Egyptians to refuse, to openly acknowledge God as the Ilaah and the Rabb, although they knew that He existed, as do also many a professing atheist in our own day.

The facts are that, after being vested by the king with high authority, Hazrat Yousuf (on whom be peace) had striven to the utmost to bring the people to the path of Islam, and the impact of his efforts had lasted right down to the time of Hazrat Musa (on whom be peace). Even though everybody had not come to embrace the true faith, there was nobody after Hazrat Yousuf’s time entirely ignorant of God’s existence or of His being the sole Creator of the heavens and the earth. Not only that, but Hazrat Yousuf’s teachings had also inculcated in everybody the notion of His being both the Ilaah and the Rabb in the supernatural sense, so that there was none who denied His existence. As to those who had stuck to their beliefs, even their error consisted in associating others with Him. And the impact of these teachings had not quite died out even till the time of Hazrat Musa (Moses, on whom be peace) [If one were to believe in what is slated in the Old Testament, it would appear that about one-fifth of the population of Egypt had come to accept, over the course of time, the faith of Hazrat Yousuf (on whom be peace). The total number of the Israelites who left Egypt with Hazrat Musa (on whom be peace) is stated to have been about two million, while the total population of Egypt armour at that time have been more than a hundred million.

Unfortunately all these two million are referred to, in the Old Testament as the children of Israel, which seems impossible because, surely, the descendants or the twelve sons of Hazrat Yaqoob (Jacob, on whom be peace) cannot have risen to two million even in about four centuries.

The only plausible inference one can draw from this is that a large number of non-Israelis too had accepted the religion of the Israelis - which, of course was, essentially, the religion of Islām -and had left the country along with the Israelis. (The number, incidentally, shows pointedly the extent of the tabligh work done by Hazrat Yousuf and his successors) - A. A. Maududi].

This fact is clearly proved by the speech made by a Coptic noble at the court of the Pharaoh, who had become a Muslim but had not declared his faith openly and who, on learning of the Pharaoh’s determination to have Hazrat Musa (on whom be peace) put to death, protested boldly in the following words:

After Pharaoh’s people, the next in historical order are the Israelites and those people who adopted the Jewish religion or Christianity. In their case, there can obviously be no question about their either not acknowledging the existence of God or not believing in His being the Ilaah and the Rabb. The Qur'ān itself affirms their belief in Him on the point and the question which therefore arises is of the particular error for which they were characterised in the Qur'ān as “those who went astray”. (al-Fātihah 1:7)

A brief answer is:

Say (O Muhammed): ‘O people of the Book: Do not exaggerate concerning your faith, and adopt not the wrong notions of those who have gone astray before you, who misled many others, and themselves too strayed from the straight path.’(al-Ma’idah 5:77)

From this, one may conclude that, in essence, the Jews and Christians too were guilty of the same error into which others had fallen earlier, and that in their case this arose out of exaggerated piety. Let us go into the matter in some detail, with the help of the Qur'ān:

(i) And the Jews said: ‘Uzair (Ezra) is the son of God’, while the Christians said, ‘Isa (Jesus) is the son of God.’ (at-Tawbah 9:30)

(ii) It was kufr on the part of Christians, to say that God was the same as Jesus son of Mary; though Jesus had himself said, for a fact, ‘O sons of Israel, give your ’ibadah to Allah. Who is also your Rabb and my Rabb….’ (al-Ma’idah 5:72)

(iii) Verily those who said that God is one of three, committed kufr, for there is but one Ilaah and there is no ilaah but He…. (al-Ma’idah 5:73)

(iv) And there will come a time (the Day of Judgment) when God will ask ‘O Jesus, son of Mary, did you tell people to take you and your mother as ilaahs besides Myself?’ to which Jesus will reply, ‘Glory be to you! How could I have dared say that which I had no right to utter!….’ (al-Ma’idah 5:116)

(v) It is not for any person that, after being given the Book, and being endowed with hikmah [Literally, this word means wisdom; but when used in reference to a Prophet, it means that special wisdom which comes automatically after investment with the office of Prophethood, and which enables the Prophet to understand and expound the implications, and requirements of the Divine Injunctions. A. A.

Maududi]and invested with Prophethood, he should go about telling people to give up God and instead give their allegiance and ’ibadah to him. Far more fitting is that he should say: ‘Believe firmly in Allah as the Rabb (in every sense of the word), as you find it written in His Book, and as you learn of yourselves and teach others.’ Nor, again, is it for a prophet to tell the people to regard the angels and the prophets as rabbs. Would he enjoin kufr to you after you have become Muslims?

Last of all, we come to the Meccans, to whom Prophet Muhammad صلى الله عليه وسلم, was sent as God’s Messenger and to whom therefore the Qur'ān’s message was immediately addressed.

What was the nature of their error? Were they ignorant of God, or did they deny His existence, and was the Holy Prophet صلى الله عليه وسلم sent as God’s Messenger to make them acknowledge His existence? Or did they deny His being the Ilaah and the Rabb, and was it therefore the purpose of the Holy Qur'ān to persuade them of His godhood and Rububiyyah? Did they hold that He was not worthy of worship and adoration, or did they disbelieve His being able to listen to their prayers and grant their supplications? Did they think that Lat, Manat, and Uzza and Hubal and their other supposed gods were the real creators, masters, planners and organisers and administrators of the universe and the providers for all the creatures in it? Were their gods, according to them, the sources of all law and moral and social codes? When we study the Qur'ān, we find all such questions answered in the negative.

The pagans of Arabia not only acknowledged the existence of God but they also believed Him to be Creator and Master of the universe as well as of their own gods, and also the Ilaah and Rabb. It was to Him that they addressed all their prayers in the last resort, when all else failed, and they acknowledged His right to their worship and adoration. As for their gods, they believed them neither to be their own creators and masters nor of the universe nor able to provide guidance in the social and moral affairs of life, cf.

(i) Say to them O Prophet, ‘Whose is the earth and all who are in it? Tell me, if you know.’ Their reply will be: ‘It all belongs to Allah,’ Ask them then, ‘And still you do not listen?’ Ask, ‘Who is the Rabb of the seven heavens and of the Mighty Throne,’ and they will say, ‘It is Allah.’ Ask them then, ‘And still you do not fear?’ Ask, ‘Whose is the Sovereignty over everything, and who is it who grants shelter but against whose displeasure there is no protector? Tell me, if you know.’ And they will say, ‘Allah alone has this attribute.’ Ask them then, ‘If that is all so, what makes you go astray?’ The fact indeed is that We have given them the Truth, but they practise falsehood. (al-Mu’minun 23:84-90)

(ii) It is He, Allah, Who enables you to travel over the land and the seas; you board your ships and sail on them and rejoice at favourable winds and then, all of a sudden there comes a stormy gale, and the waves buffet the ship from all sides, and you find yourselves caught in a storm; you then pray to Allah, most devoutly, with hearts filled with faith in Him only and say, ‘Deliver us from this storm, (O Lord,)

and we shall be Your truly grateful creatures. But when He has delivered you from the storm, there you go again, turning your back upon the Truth and spreading rebellion in the land…. (al-Yunus 10:22-23)

The foregoing detailed exposition of the misguided conceptions of various pre-Islamic people make it patently clear that from earliest times to the revelation of the Qur'ān, none of those whom it mentions as the transgressors, the misguided, and the astray, actually denied the existence of God, or His being the Rabb and the Ilaah. All, however, went wrong in much the same ways in dividing the attributes of rubūbiyyah, in its five different senses, into two separate compartments.

Insofar as such attributes of Allah as His being the Cherisher, the Provider, and the Protector and Helper of the creatures in the transcendental sense were concerned, the people regarded them as something apart from the rest. And, although in this sphere they did regard Allah as the Supreme Rabb, they also believed that the angels and various gods, the genii, and invisible forces, the stars, and other heavenly bodies, the Prophets and saints and other holy men, also had different shares in this rubūbiyyah.

As for the remaining attributes, namely, Allah’s being the Supreme Sovereign, the Fountainhead of authority, the Supreme Law-giver, and the Supreme Lord of all creation etc., the people either assigned these roles wholly to particular human beings or, while assigning them to God in theory, in practice treated the entire rubūbiyyah in moral, cultural, and political spheres as vesting in these beings.

It was for the task of removal of both these types of misconceptions that there were ordained all the different Prophets from time to time (may peace be upon them) and, finally, Allah sent Muhammad صلى الله عليه وسلم, asHis last Prophet. All of the Prophets called to man to believe that there was but one Rabb, that is, Allah, in all of the various senses of the word, and that rubūbiyyah was not divisible nor was any portion of it available to any creature. The management and control of the universe, they emphasised, was centred is One Authority only, the Authority Who alone had created it, entirely to His own Grand Design and purpose, and Who exercised both de jure and de facto rule over all its affairs, and no one had any share either in the creation or the running of the universe. As the Center of all authority, God alone was and is the Rabb, in all the senses of the word, both in transcendental matters and the temporal affairs of men. He alone was and is worthy of all worship, of being made the focus of all adoration and prayer. He alone listens to all prayers and He alone is worthy of our reliance and capable of providing for the needs of all too. He alone is at the same time the King, the Lord of the Universe and the source of all law and authority, and He alone has therefore the right to lay down what is right and what is wrong and what ought or ought not to be done. It is in the very nature of things a misconceived notion to think of rubūbiyyah as something which could be split up into compartments. It is an essential, and exclusive attribute of Allah and; hence, obviously and necessarily indivisible.

This call of the various Prophets (on whom be peace), is brought out in the Qur'ān in many a place, e.g.: