[10:18] They worship beside GOD idols that possess no power to harm them or benefit them, and they say, "These are our intercessors at GOD!" Say, "Are you informing GOD of something He does not know in the heavens or the earth?" Be He glorified. He is the Most High; far above needing partners.

What is real Idol Worship?

As previously thought, idol worship is not just worshipping statues or an image of something. We learn from the scripture that idol worship is the belief that anything or anyone other than God has the power to benefit us to harm us, in any way. 

[10:18] They worship beside GOD idols that possess no power to harm them or benefit them, and they say, "These are our intercessors at GOD!" Say, "Are you informing GOD of something He does not know in the heavens or the earth?" Be He glorified. He is the Most High; far above needing partners.

- Quran, The Final Testament. (AEV) Authorized English version. Translated from the Original By Rashad Khalifa, Ph.D.

We can turn anyone and anything into our idols and gods.

We learn that our idols and gods can be anything that we believe has some power to harm us or benefit us in any way. Anything that we are too preoccupied with, cherish, love, think about, or fear more than we do God, can become our idol. Idols can be anything that we choose to make our No. 1 priority in our lives, above God. They can be our money, children, spouses, bosses and jobs, religious leaders, religious sources other than God’s scripture, etc., and much more.

That’s why we have to remember that we can fall into idol worship at any time in our lives.

A good example of idol worship is upholding the teachings of religious leaders instead of God’s teachings directly from the scripture.

[12:106] The majority of those who believe in GOD do not do so without committing idol worship.

- Quran, The Final Testament. (AEV) Authorized English version.

What can we do to keep from idol worship?

God willing, we learn that need to go straight to the source-Our Creator, Our Designer, Our Sustainer and implore, worship, and turn to Him alone every day to guide us to the correct path and keep us on the straight path. We have to try to work hard every day to seek only His words in the scripture, as our source of religious guidance and law in our lives. 

If we do this, then our religion is the same, the worship of God alone; monotheism, and total submission to God in our lives.

[42:13] He decreed for you the same religion decreed for Noah, and what we inspired to you, and what we decreed for Abraham, Moses, and Jesus: "You shall uphold this one religion, and do not divide it." The idol worshipers will greatly resent what you invite them to do. GOD redeems to Himself whomever He wills; He guides to Himself only those who totally submit.

[6:161] Say, "My Lord has guided me in a straight path-the perfect religion of Abraham, monotheism. He never was an idol worshiper."