25:18 Al-Furqaan (The Criterion)

{ قَالُوا سُبْحَانَكَ } نزهوا الله عن شرك المشركين به وبرؤوا أنفسهم من ذلك، { مَا كَانَ يَنْبَغِي لَنَا } أي: لا يليق بنا ولا يحسن منا أن نتخذ من دونك من أولياء نتولاهم ونعبدهم وندعوهم، فإذا كنا محتاجين ومفتقرين إلى عبادتك متبرئين من عبادة غيرك، فكيف نأمر أحدا بعبادتنا؟ هذا لا يكون أو، سبحانك عن { أَنْ نَتَّخِذَ مِنْ دُونِكَ مِنْ أَوْلِيَاءَ } وهذا كقول المسيح عيسى بن مريم عليه السلام: { وَإِذْ قَالَ اللَّهُ يَا عِيسَى ابْنَ مَرْيَمَ أَأَنْتَ قُلْتَ لِلنَّاسِ اتَّخِذُونِي وَأُمِّيَ إِلَهَيْنِ مِنْ دُونِ اللَّهِ قَالَ سُبْحَانَكَ مَا يَكُونُ لِي أَنْ أَقُولَ مَا لَيْسَ لِي بِحَقٍّ إِنْ كُنْتُ قُلْتُهُ فَقَدْ عَلِمْتَهُ تَعْلَمُ مَا فِي نَفْسِي وَلَا أَعْلَمُ مَا فِي نَفْسِكَ إِنَّكَ أَنْتَ عَلَّامُ الْغُيُوبِ مَا قُلْتُ لَهُمْ إِلَّا مَا أَمَرْتَنِي بِهِ أَنِ اعْبُدُوا اللَّهَ رَبِّي وَرَبَّكُمْ } الآية.وقال تعالى: { وَيَوْمَ نَحْشُرُهُمْ جَمِيعًا ثُمَّ نَقُولُ لِلْمَلَائِكَةِ أَهَؤُلَاءِ إِيَّاكُمْ كَانُوا يَعْبُدُونَ قَالُوا سُبْحَانَكَ أَنْتَ وَلِيُّنَا مِنْ دُونِهِمْ بَلْ كَانُوا يَعْبُدُونَ الْجِنَّ أَكْثَرُهُمْ بِهِمْ مُؤْمِنُونَ } { وَإِذَا حُشِرَ النَّاسُ كَانُوا لَهُمْ أَعْدَاءً وَكَانُوا بِعِبَادَتِهِمْ كَافِرِينَ } فلما نزهوا أنفسهم أن يدعوا لعبادة غير الله أو يكونوا أضلوهم ذكروا السبب الموجب لإضلال المشركين فقالوا: { وَلَكِنْ مَتَّعْتَهُمْ وَآبَاءَهُمْ } في لذات الدنيا وشهواتها ومطالبها النفسية، { حَتَّى نَسُوا الذِّكْرَ } اشتغالا في لذات الدنيا وإكبابا على شهواتها، فحافظوا على دنياهم وضيعوا دينهم { وَكَانُوا قَوْمًا بُورًا } أي: بائرين لا خير فيهم ولا يصلحون لصالح لا يصلحون إلا للهلاك والبوار، فذكروا المانع من اتباعهم الهدى وهو التمتع في الدنيا الذي صرفهم عن الهدى، وعدم المقتضي للهدى وهو أنهم لا خير فيهم، فإذا عدم المقتضي ووجد المانع فلا تشاء من شر وهلاك، إلا وجدته فيهم

ولهذا قال تعالى مخبرا عما يجيب به المعبودون يوم القيامة "قالوا سبحانك ما كان ينبغي لنا أن نتخذ من دونك من أولياء" قرأ الأكثرون بفتح النون من قوله "نتخذ من دونك من أولياء" أي ليس للخلائق كلهم أن يعبدوا أحدا سواك لا نحن ولا هم فنحن ما دعوناهم إلى ذلك بل هم فعلوا ذلك من تلقاء أنفسهم من غير أمرنا ولا رضانا ونحن برآء منهم ومن عبادتهم كما قال تعالى "ويوم يحشرهم جميعا ثم يقول للملائكة أهؤلاء إياكم كانوا يعبدون قالوا سبحانك" الآية وقرأ آخرون "ما كان ينبغي لنا أن نتخذ من دونك من أولياء" أي ما ينبغي لأحد أن يعبدنا فإنا عبيد لك فقراء إليك وهي قريبة المعنى من الأولى "ولكن متعتهم وآباءهم" أي طال عليهم العمر حتى نسوا الذكر أي نسوا ما أنزلته إليهم على ألسنة رسلك من الدعوة إلى عبادتك وحدك لا شريك لك "وكانوا قوما بورا" قال ابن عباس أي هلكى وقال الحسن البصري ومالك عن الزهري أي لا خير فيهم وقال ابن الزبعري حين أسلم: يا رســول المليك إن لسـاني راتق ما فتقت إذ أنا بور إذ أباري الشيطان في سنن ال غي ومن مال ميـله مثبور

The gods of the Idolators will disown Them on the Day of Resurrection

Allah tells us about what will happen on the Day of Resurrection, when those whom the idolators used to worship instead of Allah, angels and others, will rebuke them. Allah says:

وَيَوْمَ يَحْشُرُهُمْ وَمَا يَعْبُدُونَ مِن دُونِ اللَّهِ

(And on the Day when He will gather them together and that which they worship besides Allah.) Mujahid said, "This means `Isa, `Uzayr and the angels."

فَيَقُولُ أَءَنتُمْ أَضْلَلْتُمْ عِبَادِى هَـؤُلاَءِ

(He will say: "Was it you who misled these My servants...") Allah will say to those who were worshipped: `Did you call these people to worship you instead of Me, or was it their own idea to worship you, without any call to that on your part' This is like the Ayah,

وَإِذْ قَالَ اللَّهُ يعِيسَى ابْنَ مَرْيَمَ أَءَنتَ قُلتَ لِلنَّاسِ اتَّخِذُونِى وَأُمِّىَ إِلَـهَيْنِ مِن دُونِ اللَّهِ قَالَ سُبْحَـنَكَ مَا يَكُونُ لِى أَنْ أَقُولَ مَا لَيْسَ لِى بِحَقٍّ إِن كُنتُ قُلْتُهُ فَقَدْ عَلِمْتَهُ تَعْلَمُ مَا فِى نَفْسِى وَلاَ أَعْلَمُ مَا فِى نَفْسِكَ إِنَّكَ أَنتَ عَلَّـمُ الْغُيُوبِ مَا قُلْتُ لَهُمْ إِلاَّ مَآ أَمَرْتَنِى بِهِ

(And when Allah will say: "O `Isa, son of Maryam! Did you say unto men: `Worship me and my mother as two gods besides Allah' " He will say: "Glory be to You! It was not for me to say what I had no right (to say). Had I said such a thing, You would surely have known it. You know what is in my innerself though I do not know what is in Yours; truly, You, only You, are the All-Knower of all that is hidden. Never did I say to them aught except what You did command me to say.") (5:116-117) Describing how those who were worshipped will respond on the Day of Resurrection, Allah says:

قَالُواْ سُبْحَـنَكَ مَا كَانَ يَنبَغِى لَنَآ أَن نَّتَّخِذَ مِن دُونِكَ مِنْ أَوْلِيَآءَ

(They will say: "Glorified be You! It was not for us to take (Nattakhidh) any Awliya' besides You...") Most of the scholars recite a Fathah on the Nun of the word Nattakhidh in His saying:

نَّتَّخِذَ مِن دُونِكَ مِنْ أَوْلِيَآءَ

("...for us to take (Nattakhidh) any Awliya' besides You,") meaning, `it is not right for any created being, neither us nor them, to worship anyone except You; we did not call them to do that, but they did it of their own accord, without us telling them to do it or accepting what they did. We are innocent of them and their worship.' This is like the Ayah,

وَيَوْمَ يَحْشُرُهُمْ جَمِيعاً ثُمَّ يَقُولُ لِلْمَلَـئِكَةِ أَهَـؤُلاَءِ إِيَّاكُمْ كَانُواْ يَعْبُدُونَ قَالُواْ سُبْحَـنَكَ

(And (remember) the Day when He will gather them all together, then He will say to the angels: "Was it you that these people used to worship" They (the angels) will say: "Glorified be You!") (34:40-41) Other scholars understand this phrase to mean: `it is not proper for us to take anyone except You as protectors or helpers (Awliya'), ' meaning, `it is not proper for anyone to worship us, for we are Your servants and in need of You.' This meaning is close to the first.

وَلَـكِن مَّتَّعْتَهُمْ وَءَابَآءَهُمْ

(but You gave them and their fathers comfort) means, `You made such a long period of time pass that they forgot the Reminder, i.e., they forgot what had been sent down to them through the Messengers, calling them to worship You alone with no partner or associate.'

وَكَانُواْ قَوْماً بُوراً

(and became a lost people.) Ibn `Abbas said, "This means, they were destroyed." Al-Hasan Al-Basri and Malik narrated from Az-Zuhri: "There was no good in them." And Allah says:

فَقَدْ كَذَّبُوكُمْ بِمَا تَقُولُونَ

(Thus they will deny you because of what you say;) meaning, `those whom you used to worship besides Allah will show you to be liars in your claims that they were your helpers and protectors bringing you closer to Allah.' This is like the Ayat:

وَمَنْ أَضَلُّ مِمَّن يَدْعُو مِن دُونِ اللَّهِ مَن لاَّ يَسْتَجِيبُ لَهُ إِلَى يَوْمِ الْقِيَـمَةِ وَهُمْ عَن دُعَآئِهِمْ غَـفِلُونَ - وَإِذَا حُشِرَ النَّاسُ كَانُواْ لَهُمْ أَعْدَآءً وَكَانُواْ بِعِبَادَتِهِمْ كَـفِرِينَ

(And who is more astray than one who calls on besides Allah, such as will not answer him till the Day of Resurrection, and who are unaware of their calls to them. And when mankind are gathered, they will become their enemies and will deny their worshipping.) (46:5-6)

فَمَا تَسْتَطِيعُونَ صَرْفاً وَلاَ نَصْراً

(then you can neither avert nor find help.) means: they will not be able to avert the punishment from themselves, nor will they be able to help themselves.

وَمَن يَظْلِم مِّنكُمْ

(And whoever among you does wrong,) means by associating others in worship with Allah,

نُذِقْهُ عَذَاباً كَبِيراً

(We shall make him taste a great torment.)

They will say ‘Glory be to You — exalted be You above what does not befit You! It was not it would not have been right for us to take any guardians besides You that is other than You min awliyā’a the first direct object the min being extra added to emphasise the negation; the preceding min dūnika ‘besides You’ is the second direct object. So how can we command that we be worshipped? But You gave them and their fathers before them ease of living by granting them long life and abundant provision until they forgot the Remembrance until they became remiss about admonitions and belief in the Qur’ān and became a lost folk’ a folk destroyed. God exalted be He says

The Second Objection was that if the Holy Prophet ﷺ was a prophet, he should not have been eating and drinking like common people; instead he should have been free from eating and drinking like angels. And if this was not so, he should have at least enough wealth and gardens to take care of his day to day needs, so that he may not need to care for his living. Furthermore, how could he be accepted as a prophet when he is neither an angel nor does an angel accompany him to endorse what he preaches, therefore it appears that he has been charmed by someone which has turned his head and that is why he talks like this. A general answer to this objection is given in the verse انظُرْ‌ كَيْفَ ضَرَ‌بُوا لَكَ لِلْعَالَمِينَ at is (See how they coined similes for you, so they have gone astray and cannot find a way. - 25:9). The detailed answer to the objection is given in the next few verses.