12:40 Yusuf (Joseph)

{ مَا تَعْبُدُونَ مِنْ دُونِهِ إِلَّا أَسْمَاءً سَمَّيْتُمُوهَا أَنْتُمْ وَآبَاؤُكُمْ } أي: كسوتموها أسماء، سميتموها آلهة، وهي لا شيء، ولا فيها من صفات الألوهية شيء، { مَا أَنْزَلَ اللَّهُ بِهَا مِنْ سُلْطَانٍ } بل أنزل الله السلطان بالنهي عن عبادتها وبيان بطلانها، وإذا لم ينزل الله بها سلطانا، لم يكن طريق ولا وسيلة ولا دليل لها. لأن الحكم لله وحده، فهو الذي يأمر وينهى، ويشرع الشرائع، ويسن الأحكام، وهو الذي أمركم { أن لا تَعْبُدُوا إِلَّا إِيَّاهُ ذَلِكَ الدِّينُ الْقَيِّمُ } أي: المستقيم الموصل إلى كل خير، وما سواه من الأديان، فإنها غير مستقيمة، بل معوجة توصل إلى كل شر. { وَلَكِنَّ أَكْثَرَ النَّاسِ لَا يَعْلَمُونَ } حقائق الأشياء، وإلا فإن الفرق بين عبادة الله وحده لا شريك له، وبين الشرك به، أظهر الأشياء وأبينها. ولكن لعدم العلم من أكثر الناس بذلك، حصل منهم ما حصل من الشرك،.فيوسف عليه السلام دعا صاحبي السجن لعبادة الله وحده، وإخلاص الدين له، فيحتمل أنهما استجابا وانقادا، فتمت عليهما النعمة، ويحتمل أنهما لم يزالا على شركهما، فقامت عليهما -بذلك- الحجة، ثم إنه عليه السلام شرع يعبر رؤياهما، بعد ما وعدهما ذلك، فقال:

إن الحكم إلا لله أمر ألا تعبدوا إلا إياه ذلك الدين القيم ولكن أكثر الناس لا يعلمون ثم بين لهما أن التي يعبدونها ويسمونها آلهة إنما هى جعل منهم وتسمية من تلقاء أنفسهم تلقاها خلفهم عن سلفهم وليس له ذلك مسند من عند الله ولهذا قال " ما أنزل الله بها من سلطان " أي حجة ولا برهان ثم أخرهم أن الحكم والتصرف والمشيئة والملك كله لله وقد أمر عباده قاطبة أن لا يعبدوا إلا إياه ثم قال تعالى " ذلك الدين القيم " أي هذا الذي أدعوكم إليه من توحيد الله وإخلاص العمل له هو الدين المستقيم الذي أمر الله به وأنزل به الحجة والبرهان الذي يحبه ويرضاه " ولكن أكثر الناس لا يعلمون " أي فلهذا كان أكثرهم مشركين " وما أكثر الناس ولو حرصت بمؤمنين " وقد قال ابن جريج: إنما عدل بهم يوسف عن تعبير الرؤيا إلى هذا لأنه عرف أنها ضارة لأحدهما فأحب أن يشغلهما بغير ذلك لئلا يعاودوه فيها فعاودوه فأعاد عليهم الموعظة وفي هذا الذي قاله نظر لأنه قد وعدهما أو بتعبيرها ولكن جعل سؤالهما له على وجه التعظيم والاحترام وصلة وسببا إلى دمائهما إلى التوحيد والإسلام لما رأى في سجيتهما من قبول الخير والإقبال عليه والإنصات إليه ولهذا لما فرغ من دعوتهما شرع في تعبير رؤياهما من غير تكرار سؤال.

ءَأَرْبَابٌ مُّتَّفَرِّقُونَ خَيْرٌ أَمِ اللَّهُ الْوَاحِدُ الْقَهَّارُ

(Are many different lords (gods) better or Allah, the One, the Irresistible) to Whose grace and infinite kingdom everything and everyone has submitted in humiliation. Prophet Yusuf explained to them next that it is because of their ignorance that they worship false deities and give them names, for these names were forged and are being transferred from one generation to the next generation. They have no proof or authority that supports this practice, hence his statement to them,

مَّآ أَنزَلَ اللَّهُ بِهَا مِن سُلْطَـنٍ

(for which Allah has sent down no authority) or proof and evidence. He then affirmed that the judgement, decision, will and kingdom are all for Allah alone, and He has commanded all of His servants to worship none but Him. He said,

ذلِكَ الدِّينُ الْقَيِّمُ

(that is the straight religion,) `this, Tawhid of Allah and directing all acts of worship at Him alone in sincerity, that I am calling you to is the right, straight religion that Allah has ordained and for which He has revealed what He wills of proofs and evidences,'

وَلَـكِنَّ أَكْثَرَ النَّاسِ لاَ يَعْلَمُونَ

(but most men know not.), and this is why most of them are idolators,

وَمَآ أَكْثَرُ النَّاسِ وَلَوْ حَرَصْتَ بِمُؤْمِنِينَ

(And most of mankind will not believe even if you eagerly desire it.) 12:103 When Yusuf finished calling them, he started interpreting their dreams for them,

You do not worship apart from Him that is other than Him anything but mere names that you have named that you have named for idols you and your fathers. God has not revealed any warrant any definitive argument or proof regarding them regarding worship of them. Judgement decree belongs only to God alone. He has commanded that you worship none but Him. That affirmation of God’s Oneness is the upright the straight religion but most people — and these are the disbelievers — do not know the punishment in which they shall end up and so they ascribe partners to God.

After that, he declares his abhorrence for disbelief and his disengagement from the community of disbelievers. Then, with it, he also stresses that he is a member of the House of Prophets and it is their Community that he adheres to and that he is a scion of the House of Ibrahim, Ishaq and Ya` qub (علیہم السلام) . We mentioned confidence a little earlier. Customarily, this kind of inherited nobility, a common family trait, is also a source of creating confidence in a person. After that he said: And it is not for us that we associate any partners with Allah. Then, he said that the Taufiq of following a true religion ('the favour of Allah upon us and upon all people' ) was nothing but the Fadl or grace of Allah Ta’ ala, for it was He who, by giving proper understanding, made the acceptance of truth easy on us. But, most of the people do not appreciate this blessing and do not show their gratitude for it. After having said that, he asked the same prisoners to tell him if it was better that human beings should be worshiping many gods, or was it better that one becomes a servant of one Allah alone - whose subduing power is all-dominant. Then he referred to idol worship from a different angle. He told them that their fathers and forefathers have taken some idols as their Lord. As for them, they are no more than a lot of names which they have coined on their own. They have no personal attributes which could become deserving of assigning to them the least fund of power - because all of them are inert. This is something one can see with one's own eyes. The only other method through which they could have been taken as true objects of worship would be that Allah Ta’ ala sends down specific injunctions or commandments to worship them. So, in that case, even if observation and reason had not been willing to accept their godhood but, because of the Divine command, we would have left our observation and reason aside and would have obeyed the command of Allah. But, this is not there either - because Allah Ta ala did not send down any argument or proof for their worship. Instead of that, what He said was but that Law and Sovereignty belonged to Allah Ta ala with no one having a right in it; and the command He gave was no other but that we should not worship anyone or anything other than Allah. Finally, he said: ` This is the only right path - which was bestowed on my forefathers by Allah Ta ala, but most of the people do not know this reality.'