It is evident that the initial knowledge acquired by a person is based on his sensory experiences. When a child first opens its eyes he sees this material world and slowly begins to recognize it. Otherwise he will attend to the existing thing when he analyzes the material and spiritual issues otherwise he will not be able to accept an entity that is under no limitations of place and time. This is why it should not surprise us that the backward nations readily accepted idolatry as their religion.
The reason is that on the one side they are being invited by their intrinsic nature towards the One God and on the other side they witness the dominance of materialism. This makes it impossible to perceive a God who is beyond space and time so they move towards idolatry and try to satisfy their souls through the worship of false gods. Then they take to propagate this idolatry and it comes to pass that idol making becomes a national pastime and industry which they promote.
It is also true and strange that some people who say they believe in Tawhid are impressed by these ideas. Take the example of those who when they swear say, “ By the God of the heavens” or who raise their hands towards the sky as if they are praying to a God who lives in the heavens and the angels surround him.
They are not aware that God does not live in the heavens and they do not know that raising their palms is not because God lives in the heavens but that it shows humility. The traditions tell us that the hands are stretched out and raised skywards because all the grace of God come to us from the heavens above, e.g. the rains , the light from the sun that spreads all over the world and is a basic requirement of life. Looking upwards to the sky is like paying attention to the God of the spiritual as well as material world.
It is very difficulty for a person to be protected from polytheism until he raises the level of his thinking. It is a point of reflection that the children of Israel despite having been guided by Moses for ages and despite seeing the miracles especially that of the Nile parting to let them pass when they passed the idolaters on their journey they were so impressed by their doings that they asked Moses to make them an idol for worship. Moses was enraged and it was then that they were silenced.
It was only a little while later that Moses went up the Sinai to receive the tablets of the commandments and Samiri designed the idol of a calf inviting the Bani Israel to worship it so they left Tawhid and gladly took up idol worship. Only a small group amongst them led by Hazrat Haroon stood firm in the belief of One God. This tells about the difficulties that the apostles of God faced in this world at the hands of the people who were weak in knowledge and belief. Normally it is not difficult to erase the signs of idolatry because we need to teach the people, give them the correct social and religious guidance and this is very important.
