وَيَعْبُدُونَ مِن دُونِ
ٱللَّهِ مَا لَا يَضُرُّهُمْ
وَلَا يَنفَعُهُمْ
وَيَقُولُونَ هَـٰٓؤُلَآءِ
شُفَعَـٰٓؤُنَا عِندَ
ٱللَّهِ ۚ قُلْ أَتُنَبِّـُٔونَ
ٱللَّهَ بِمَا لَا يَعْلَمُ
فِى ٱلسَّمَـٰوَٰتِ وَلَا
فِى ٱلْأَرْضِ ۚ سُبْحَـٰنَهُۥ
وَتَعَـٰلَىٰ عَمَّا يُشْرِكُونَ
وَمَا كَانَ ٱلنَّاسُ
إِلَّآ أُمَّةً وَٰحِدَةً
فَٱخْتَلَفُوا۟ ۚ وَلَوْلَا
كَلِمَةٌ سَبَقَتْ مِن
رَّبِّكَ لَقُضِىَ بَيْنَهُمْ
فِيمَا فِيهِ يَخْتَلِفُونَ
And they worship
other than Allah
that which neither
harms them nor
benefits them, and
they say, “These
are our intercessors
with Allah ” Say,
“Do you inform
Allah of something
He does not
know in the heavens
or on the earth?”
Exalted is He and
high above what
they associate with
Him. And mankind
was not but one
community [united
in religion], but
[then] they differed.
And if not for a
word that preceded
from your Lord, it
would have been
judged between
them [immediately]
concerning that over
which they differ.
What do the Idolators believe about Their Gods
Allah reproaches the idolators that worshipped others beside Allah, thinking that those gods would intercede for them before Allah. Allah states that these gods do not harm or benefit. They don’t have any authority over anything, nor do they own anything. These gods can never do what the idolators had claimed about them. That is why Allah said:
قُلْ أَتُنَبِّئُونَ اللَّهَ
بِمَا لاَ يَعْلَمُ فِى
السَّمَـوَتِ وَلاَ
فِى الاٌّرْضِ
Say: `Do you inform Allah of that which He knows not in the heavens and on the earth’
Ibn Jarir said: “This means, `Are you telling Allah about what may not happen in the heavens and earth’ Allah then announced that His Glorious Self is far above their Shirk and Kufr by saying:
سُبْحَانَهُ وَتَعَالَى
عَمَّا يُشْرِكُونَ
Glorified and Exalted is He above all that which they associate as partners (with Him)!
Shirk is New
Allah then tells us that Shirk was new among mankind. It was not in existence in the beginning. He tells us that people were believers in one religion and that religion was Islam. Ibn `Abbas said: “There were ten centuries between Adam and Nuh. They were all on Islam. Then differences among people took place. They worshipped idols and rivals. So Allah sent extensive evidence and irrefutable proof with His Messengers.”
لِّيَهْلِكَ مَنْ هَلَكَ
عَن بَيِّنَةٍ وَيَحْيَى
مَنْ حَىَّ عَن بَيِّنَةٍ
So that those who were to be destroyed (for rejecting the faith) might be destroyed after a clear evidence, and those who were to live might live after a clear evidence. (Al-Anfal 42)
Allah’s statement:
وَلَوْلاَ كَلِمَةٌ
سَبَقَتْ مِن رَّبِّكَ
And had not it been for a Word that went forth before from your Lord…
means that if Allah had not decreed He would not punish anyone until the evidence is established against them. And also that if He had not given creatures a respite until a defined term had passed, He would have judged among them in what they disputed. Then He would have caused the believers to be happy and delighted and the disbelievers to be miserable and wretched.