ٱلَّذِينَ ءَامَنُوا وَلَمْ يَلْبِسُوٓا إِيمَٰنَهُم بِظُلْمٍ أُولَٰٓئِكَ لَهُمُ ٱلْأَمْنُ وَهُم مُّهْتَدُونَ

In this world there is only one Supreme Being—God, whose majesty and greatness are based on sound arguments. All other kinds of so-called greatness and the reverence for them are based on superstitious beliefs. God’s supremacy stands by virtue of its own strength, while all other godheads owe their existence to the acceptance of their followers. If their followers refused to accept them, they would become non-existent. Looking to externals, the worshippers of these deities are misled into believing that they are more securely situated than the worshippers of the one and only God. But this is the worst type of misunderstanding. It is one who goes by sound arguments who is in the really safe position. But if it is by compromising with worldly considerations and customs that he attempts to better his situation, this has no value from the point of view of his final fate. Sometimes the domination of false deities becomes so universal that even the worshippers of the real God are overwhelmed by it and make compromises. Worldly considerations and material interests are so closely linked with these false deities that, to all appearances, it seems that there is no other way to have a respectable life than to effect a compromise with the structure formed under them. But this procedure amounts to such an adulteration of one’s own faith that it makes one’s sincerity doubtful in the eyes of God.

— Source: Tazkirul Quran (Maulana Wahiduddin Khan) via Quran.com (6:82)