12:108 Yusuf (Joseph)

يقول تعالى لنبيه محمد صلى الله عليه وسلم: { قُلْ } للناس { هَذِهِ سَبِيلِي } أي: طريقي التي أدعو إليها، وهي السبيل الموصلة إلى الله وإلى دار كرامته، المتضمنة للعلم بالحق والعمل به وإيثاره، وإخلاص الدين لله وحده لا شريك له، { أَدْعُو إِلَى اللَّهِ } أي: أحثُّ الخلق والعباد إلى الوصول إلى ربهم، وأرغِّبهم في ذلك وأرهِّبهم مما يبعدهم عنه. ومع هذا فأنا { عَلَى بَصِيرَةٍ } من ديني، أي: على علم ويقين من غير شك ولا امتراء ولا مرية. { وَ } كذلك { مَنِ اتَّبَعَنِي } يدعو إلى الله كما أدعو على بصيرة من أمره. { وَسُبْحَانَ اللَّهِ } عما نسب إليه مما لا يليق بجلاله، أو ينافي كماله. { وَمَا أَنَا مِنَ الْمُشْرِكِينَ } في جميع أموري، بل أعبد الله مخلصا له الدين.

يقول تعالى لرسوله صلي الله عليه وسلم إلى الثقلين الجن والإنس آمرا له أن يخبر الناس أن هذه سبيله أي طريقته ومسلكه وسنته وهي الدعوة إلى شهادة أن لا إله إلا الله وحده لا شريك له يدعو إلى الله بها على بصيرة من ذلك ويقين وبرهان وكل من اتبعه يدعو إلى ما دعا إليه رسول الله صلي الله عليه وسلم على بصيرة ويقين وبرهان عقلي وشرعي; وقوله " وسبحان الله " أي وأنزه الله وأحله وأعظمه وأقدسه عن أن يكون له شريك أو نظير أو عديل أو نديد أو ولد أو والد أو صاحبة أو وزير أو مشير تبارك وتقدس وتنزه وتعالى عن ذلك كله علوا كبيرا " تسبح له السموات السبع والأرض ومن فيهن وإن من شي إلا يسبح بحمده ولكن لا تفقهون تسبيحهم إنه كان حليما غفورا ".

The Messenger's ﷺ Way

Allah orders His Messenger to say to mankind and the Jinns that this is his way, meaning, his method, path and Sunnah, concentrating on calling to the testimony that there is no deity worthy of worship except Allah alone without partners. The Messenger ﷺ calls to this testimonial with sure knowledge, certainty and firm evidence. He calls to this way, and those who followed him call to what Allah's Messenger ﷺ called to with sure knowledge, certainty and evidence, whether logical or religious evidence,

وَسُبْحَانَ اللَّهِ

(And Glorified and Exalted be Allah.) This part of the Ayah means, I glorify, honor, revere and praise Allah from having a partner, equal, rival, parent, son, wife, minister or advisor. All praise and honor be to Allah, glorified He is from all that they attribute to Him,

تُسَبِّحُ لَهُ السَّمَـوَتُ السَّبْعُ وَالاٌّرْضُ وَمَن فِيهِنَّ وَإِن مِّن شَىْءٍ إِلاَّ يُسَبِّحُ بِحَمْدَهِ وَلَـكِن لاَّ تَفْقَهُونَ تَسْبِيحَهُمْ إِنَّهُ كَانَ حَلِيمًا غَفُورًا

(The seven heavens and the earth and all that is therein, glorify Him, and there is not a thing but glorifies His praise. But you understand not their glorification. Truly, He is Ever Forbearing, Oft-Forgiving.) 17:44)

Say to them ‘This is my way — which He explains by saying I call to the religion of God being upon sure knowledge plain proof I and whoever follows me whoever believes in me man ittaba‘anī is a supplement to anā ‘I’ the subject predicated by what preceded sc. ‘being upon sure knowledge’. So Glory be to God! in affirmation of His being exalted high above having partners and I am not of the idolaters’ — this sentence is also subsumed by the explanation of his statement about ‘his way’.

In verse 108, the Holy Prophet has been asked to state his position before these people:

قُلْ هَـٰذِهِ سَبِيلِي أَدْعُو إِلَى اللَّـهِ ۚ عَلَىٰ بَصِيرَ‌ةٍ أَنَا وَمَنِ اتَّبَعَنِي ۖ وَسُبْحَانَ اللَّـهِ وَمَا أَنَا مِنَ الْمُشْرِ‌كِينَ

"Say, (you believe it or not) 'This is my way. I call (people) to Allah with full cognition - myself and my followers. And pure is Allah. And I am not among the associators - 108."

It means that the da'wah of the Holy Prophet ﷺ is not based on some summary view of things, instead, it is the outcome of insight, reason and wisdom. In this act of ` full cognition,' the Holy Prophet ﷺ has included his followers as well. According to Sayyidna ` Abdullah ibn ` Abbas ؓ it refers to the noble Sahabah, may Allah be pleased with them all. They are the soldiers of Allah subhanahu wa Ta’ ala. Sayyidna ` Abdullah ibn Masud ؓ said: The Sahabah of the Holy Prophet ﷺ are the best people of this whole Ummah. Their hearts are pure and their knowledge is deep. They are far removed from formality. Allah Ta’ ala has chosen them to accompany and serve their Rasul. You should learn their morals, habits and ways because they are the ones who are on the straight path.

It is also possible to take the expression: مَنِ اتَّبَعَنِي (and my followers) in the general sense whereby it would mean every person who is doing the duty of conveying the da'wah of the Rasul of Allah to his Ummah right through the last day of the Qiyamah. According to Kalbi and Ibn Zayd, this verse also makes it necessary for one who claims to follow the Holy Prophet ﷺ that he should spread his da'wah among people and make the teaching of the Qur’ an available to all. (Mazhari)

The last sentence of verse 108 is: سُبْحَانَ اللَّـهِ وَمَا أَنَا مِنَ الْمُشْرِ‌كِينَ (And pure is Allah [ that is, free from Shirk ]. And I am not among the Mushriks [ that is, not of those who practice Shirk ]). Since, a little earlier, mention was made that there are people who, when they profess belief in Allah, would mix it up with Shirk, whether open or padded or concealed. Therefore, he has declared that he has absolutely nothing to do with Shirk. The gist of what has been said here is: My da'wah does not aim at inviting people to become my servants. In fact, I myself am, also a servant of Allah - and it is this kind of servitude, servitude to none but Him, that I invite people to. However, since I am the dai (the original maker of this call), it is obligatory that faith be put in me.

To this, the disbelievers of Makkah used to object. They took the plea that a Rasul or messenger of Allah should not be a human being. He should, rather, be an angel. A reply to this doubt has been given in the next verse