Allah affirms here that there is no deity worthy of worship except Him, since
they admit that He alone created the heavens and the earth and that He is their
Lord and the Disposer of all affairs. Yet, they take as lords others besides
Allah and worship them, even though these false gods do not have the power to
benefit or harm themselves, or those who worship them. Therefore, the
polytheists will not benefit or have harm removed from them by these false
deities. Are those who worship the false deities instead of Allah equal to those
who worship Him alone, without partners, and thus have a light from their Lord
This is why Allah said here,
[قُلْ هَلْ يَسْتَوِى
الاٌّعْمَى وَالْبَصِيرُ أَمْ هَلْ تَسْتَوِى الظُّلُمَـتُ وَالنُّورُ أَمْ
جَعَلُواْ للَّهِ شُرَكَآءَ خَلَقُواْ كَخَلْقِهِ فَتَشَابَهَ الْخَلْقُ
عَلَيْهِمْ]
(Say: "Is the blind equal to the one who sees Or darkness equal to light Or
do they assign to Allah partners who created the like of His creation, so that
the creations seemed alike to them'') Allah asks, `Do these polytheists worship
gods besides Him that rival Him in what He created Have their false deities
created similar creations to those Allah created and, thus, they are confused
between the two types of creations, not knowing which was created by others
besides Allah' Rather, the Ayah proves that the truth is nothing like this.
There is none similar to Allah, nor does He have an equal, a rival, anyone like
Him, a minister, a son, or a wife. Allah is glorified in that He is far away
from all that is ascribed to Him. These idolators worship gods that they
themselves admit were created by Allah and are subservient to Him. They used to
say during their Talbiyah: "Here we rush to Your obedience. There is no partner
for You, except Your partner, You own him and he owns not.'' Allah also
mentioned their polytheistic statements in other Ayat,
[مَا نَعْبُدُهُمْ
إِلاَّ لِيُقَرِّبُونَآ إِلَى اللَّهِ زُلْفَى]
(We worship them only that they may bring us near to Allah.) [39:3] Allah
admonished them for this false creed, stating that only those whom He chooses
are allowed to intercede with Him,
[وَلاَ تَنفَعُ
الشَّفَـعَةُ عِندَهُ إِلاَّ لِمَنْ أَذِنَ لَهُ]
(Intercession with Him profits not except for him whom He permits.) [34:23]
[وَكَمْ مِّن مَّلَكٍ
فِى السَّمَـوَتِ]
(And there are many angels in the heavens.....)[53:26], and,
[إِن كُلُّ مَن فِى
السَّمَـوَتِ وَالاٌّرْضِ إِلاَّ آتِى الرَّحْمَـنِ عَبْداً - لَّقَدْ أَحْصَـهُمْ
وَعَدَّهُمْ عَدّاً - وَكُلُّهُمْ ءَاتِيهِ يَوْمَ الْقِيَـمَةِ فَرْداً ]
(There is none in the heavens and the earth but comes unto the Most Gracious
(Allah) as a servant. Verily, He knows each one of them, and has counted them a
full counting. And everyone of them will come to Him alone on the Day of
Resurrection.) [19:93-95] If all are Allah's servants, then why do any of them
worships each other without proof or evidence that allows them to do so Rather,
they rely on sheer opinion and innovation in the religion, even though Allah has
sent all of His Prophets and Messengers, from beginning to end, prohibiting this
practice (polytheism) and ordering them to refrain from worshipping others
besides Allah. They defied their Messengers and rebelled against them, and this
is why the word of punishment struck them as a worthy recompense, e
[وَلاَ يَظْلِمُ
رَبُّكَ أَحَدًا]
(And your Lord treats no one with injustice) [18:49]
[أَنَزَلَ مِنَ
السَّمَآءِ مَآءً فَسَالَتْ أَوْدِيَةٌ بِقَدَرِهَا فَاحْتَمَلَ السَّيْلُ زَبَدًا
رَّابِيًا وَمِمَّا يُوقِدُونَ عَلَيْهِ فِى النَّارِ ابْتِغَآءَ حِلْيَةٍ أَوْ
مَتَـعٍ زَبَدٌ مِّثْلُهُ كَذَلِكَ يَضْرِبُ اللَّهُ الْحَقَّ وَالْبَـطِلَ
فَأَمَّا الزَّبَدُ فَيَذْهَبُ جُفَآءً وَأَمَّا مَا يَنفَعُ النَّاسَ فَيَمْكُثُ
فِى الاٌّرْضِ كَذلِكَ يَضْرِبُ اللَّهُ الاٌّمْثَالَ ]
(17. He sends down water from the sky, and the valleys flow according to
their measure, but the flood bears away the foam that mounts up to the surface -
and (also) from that (ore) which they heat in the fire in order to make
ornaments or utensils, rises a foam like unto it, thus does Allah (by parables)
show forth truth and falsehood. Then, as for the foam it passes away as scum
upon the banks, while that which is for the good of mankind remains in the
earth. Thus Allah sets forth parables.)