34:24 Saba (Sheba)

يأمر تعالى, نبيه محمدا صلى اللّه عليه وسلم, أن يقول لمن أشرك باللّه ويسأله عن حجة شركه: { مَنْ يَرْزُقُكُمْ مِنَ السَّمَاوَاتِ وَالْأَرْضِ } فإنهم لا بد أن يقروا أنه اللّه، ولئن لم يقروا فـ { قُلِ اللَّهُ } فإنك لا تجد من يدفع هذا القول، فإذا تبين أن اللّه وحده الذي يرزقكم من السماوات والأرض, وينزل [لكم] المطر, وينبت لكم النبات, ويفجر لكم الأنهار, ويطلع لكم من ثمار الأشجار, وجعل لكم الحيوانات جميعها, لنفعكم ورزقكم, فلم تعبدون معه من لا يرزقكم شيئا, ولا يفيدكم نفعا؟.وقوله: { وَإِنَّا أَوْ إِيَّاكُمْ لَعَلَى هُدًى أَوْ فِي ضَلَالٍ مُبِينٍ } أي: إحدى الطائفتين منا ومنكم, على الهدى, مستعلية عليه, أو في ضلال مبين، منغمرة فيه، وهذا الكلام يقوله من تبين له الحق, واتضح له الصواب, وجزم بالحق الذي هو عليه, وبطلان ما عليه خصمه.أي: قد شرحنا من الأدلة الواضحة عندنا وعندكم, ما به يعلم علما يقينا لا شك فيه, من المحق منا, ومن المبطل, ومن المهتدي ومن الضال؟ حتى إنه يصير التعيين بعد ذلك, لا فائدة فيه، فإنك إذا وازنت بين من يدعو إلى عبادة الخالق, لسائر المخلوقات المتصرف فيها, بجميع أنواع التصرفات, المسدي جميع النعم, الذي رزقهم وأوصل إليهم كل نعمة, ودفع عنهم كل نقمة, الذي له الحمد كله, والملك كله, وكل أحد من الملائكة فما دونهم, خاضعون لهيبته, متذللون لعظمته, وكل الشفعاء تخافه, لا يشفع أحد منهم عنده إلا بإذنه العلي الكبير, في ذاته, وأوصافه, وأفعاله, الذي له كل كمال, وكل جلال, وكل جمال, وكل حمد وثناء ومجد، يدعو إلى التقرب لمن هذا شأنه, وإخلاص العمل له, وينهى عن عبادة من سواه, وبين من يتقرب إلى أوثان, وأصنام, وقبور, لا تخلق, ولا ترزق, ولا تملك لأنفسها, ولا لمن عبدها, نفعا ولا ضرا, ولا موتا ولا حياة, ولا نشورا، بل هي جمادات, لا تعقل, ولا تسمع دعاء عابديها, ولو سمعته ما استجابت لهم، ويوم القيامة يكفرون بشركهم, ويتبرأون منهم, ويتلاعنون بينهم، ليس لهم قسط من الملك, ولا شركة فيه, ولا إعانة فيه، ولا لهم شفاعة يستقلون بها دون اللّه، فهو يدعو مَنْ هذا وصفه, ويتقرب إليه مهما أمكنه, ويعادي من أخلص الدين للّه, ويحاربه, ويكذب رسل اللّه, الذين جاءوا بالإخلاص للّه وحده، تبين لك أي الفريقين, المهتدي من الضال, والشقي من السعيد؟ ولم يحتج إلى أن يعين لك ذلك, لأن وصف الحال, أوضح من لسان المقال.

يقول تعالى مقررا تفرده بالخلق والرزق وانفراده بالإلهية أيضا فكما كانوا يعترفون بأنهم لا يرزقهم من السماء والأرض أي بما ينزل من المطر وينبت من الزرع إلا الله فكذلك فليعلموا أنه لا إله غيره وقوله تعالى " وإنا أو إياكم لعلى هدى أو فى ضلال مبين " هذا من باب اللف والنشر أي واحد من الفريقين مبطل والآخر محق لا سبيل إلى أن تكونوا أنتم ونحن على الهدى أو على الضلال بل واحد منا مصيب ونحن قد أقمنا البرهان على التوحيد فدل على بطلان ما أنتم عليه من الشرك بالله تعالى ولهذا قال " وإنا أو إياكم لعلى هدى أو في ضلال مبين ".قال قتادة قد قال ذلك أصحاب محمد صلى الله عليه وسلم للمشركين والله ما نحن وإياكم على أمر واحد إن أحد الفريقين لمهتد وقال عكرمة وزياد بن أبي مريم معناها إنا نحن لعلى هدى وإنكم لفي ضلال مبين.

Allah has no partner in anything whatsoever

Allah tells us that He is unique in His power of creation and His giving of provision, and that He is unique in His divinity also. As they used to admit that no one in heaven or on earth except Allah gave them provision, i.e., by sending down water and causing crops to grow, so they should also realize that there is no god worthy of worship besides Him.

وَإِنَّآ أَوْ إِيَّاكُمْ لَعَلَى هُدًى أَوْ فِى ضَلَـلٍ مُّبِينٍ

(And verily, (either) we or you are rightly guided or in plain error.) `One of the two sides must be speaking falsehood, and one must be telling the truth. There is no way that you and we could both be following true guidance, or could both be misguided. Only one of us can be correct, and we have produced the proof of Tawhid which indicates that your Shirk must be false.' Allah says:

وَإِنَّآ أَوْ إِيَّاكُمْ لَعَلَى هُدًى أَوْ فِى ضَلَـلٍ مُّبِينٍ

(And verily, (either) we or you are rightly guided or in plain error.) Qatadah said, "The Companions of Muhammad ﷺ said this to the idolators: `By Allah, we and you cannot be following the same thing, only one of us can be truly guided."' `Ikrimah and Ziyad bin Abi Maryam said, "It means: we are rightly guided and you are in plain error."

قُل لاَّ تُسْـَلُونَ عَمَّآ أَجْرَمْنَا وَلاَ نُسْـَلُ عَمَّا تَعْمَلُونَ

(Say: "You will not be asked about our sins, nor shall we be asked of what you do.") This indicates disowning them, saying, `you do not belong to us and we do not belong to you, because we call people to Allah, to believe that He is the Only God and to worship Him alone. If you respond, then you will belong to us and we to you, but if you reject our call, then we have nothing to do with you and you have nothing to do with us.' This is like the Ayat:

وَإِن كَذَّبُوكَ فَقُل لِّى عَمَلِى وَلَكُمْ عَمَلُكُمْ أَنتُمْ بَرِيئُونَ مِمَّآ أَعْمَلُ وَأَنَاْ بَرِىءٌ مِّمَّا تَعْمَلُونَ

(And if they deny you, say: "For me are my deeds and for you are your deeds! You are innocent of what I do, and I am innocent of what you do!") (10:41)

قُلْ يأَيُّهَا الْكَـفِرُونَ - لاَ أَعْبُدُ مَا تَعْبُدُونَ - وَلاَ أَنتُمْ عَـبِدُونَ مَآ أَعْبُدُ - وَلاَ أَنَآ عَابِدٌ مَّا عَبَدتُّمْ وَلاَ أَنتُمْ عَـبِدُونَ مَآ أَعْبُدُ لَكُمْ دِينُكُمْ وَلِىَ دِينِ

(Say: "O disbelievers! I worship not that which you worship, Nor will you worship that which I worship. And I shall not worship that which you are worshipping. Nor will you worship that which I worship. To you be your religion, and to me my religion.") (104:1-6).

قُلْ يَجْمَعُ بَيْنَنَا رَبُّنَا

(Say: "Our Lord will assemble us all together...") means, `on the Day of Resurrection, He will bring all of creation together in one arena, then He will judge between us with truth, i.e., with justice.' Each person will be rewarded or punished according to his deeds; if they are good, then his end will be good, and if they are bad, then his end will be bad. On that Day they will know who has attained victory, glory and eternal happiness, as Allah says: U

وَيَوْمَ تَقُومُ السَّاعَةُ يَوْمَئِذٍ يَتَفَرَّقُونَ - فَأَمَّا الَّذِينَ ءَامَنُواْ وَعَمِلُواْ الصَّـلِحَـتِ فَهُمْ فِى رَوْضَةٍ يُحْبَرُونَ - وَأَمَّا الَّذِينَ كَفَرُواْ وَكَذَّبُواْ بِـَايَـتِنَا وَلِقَآءِ الاَّخِرَةِ فَأُوْلَـئِكَ فِى الْعَذَابِ مُحْضَرُونَ

(And on the Day when the Hour will be established -- that Day shall (all men) be separated. Then as for those who believed and did righteous good deeds, such shall be honored and made to enjoy luxurious life (forever) in a Garden of Delight. And as for those who disbelieved and denied Our Ayat, and the meeting of the Hereafter, such shall be brought forth to the torment.) (30:14-16). Allah says:

وَهُوَ الْفَتَّاحُ الْعَلِيمُ

(And He is the Just Judge, the All-Knower of the true state of affairs.)

قُلْ أَرُونِىَ الَّذيِنَ أَلْحَقْتُمْ بِهِ شُرَكَآءَ

(Say: "Show me those whom you have joined with Him as partners...") means, `show me those gods whom you made as rivals and equals to Allah.'

كَلاَّ

Nay means, He has no peer, rival, partner or equal. Allah says:

بَلْ هُوَ اللَّهُ

But He is Allah, meaning, the One and Only God Who has no partner.

العَزِيزُ الحَكِيمُ

the Almighty, the All-Wise. means, the Owner of might with which He subjugates and controls all things, the One Who is Wise in all His Words and deeds, Laws and decrees. Blessed and exalted and sanctified be He far above all that they say. And Allah knows best.

وَمَآ أَرْسَلْنَـكَ إِلاَّ كَآفَّةً لِّلنَّاسِ بَشِيراً وَنَذِيراً وَلَـكِنَّ أَكْثَرَ النَّاسِ لاَ يَعْلَمُونَ

Say ‘Who provides for you from the heavens rain and from the earth?’ vegetation. Say ‘God!’ — even if they do not say it there is no other valid answer. And indeed either we or you are — in other words either one of the two parties is — rightly guided or in manifest error. The ambiguity here concerning which of the two is rightly guided is intended as a gentle invitation for them to embrace faith if their way to it is facilitated by God.

Consideration of the psychology of the addressee in debates and avoidance of any approach that may provoke violent attitude

In verse 24: وَإِنَّا أَوْ إِيَّاكُمْ لَعَلَىٰ هُدًى أَوْ فِي ضَلَالٍ مُّبِينٍ (And We or you are either on the right path or in open error - 34:24), this address is beamed at polytheists and disbelievers. In their case, what was needed was already done. That Allah Ta’ ala was the creator, the master, and all-powerful in the absolute sense was proved decisively and explicitly. That idols and everything else other than Allah was weak and helpless was demonstrated clearly. After having done all this, the occasion demanded that Mushriks are told in clear terms that they were ignorant and astray in bypassing Allah and electing to worship idols and shaitans. But, the noble Qur'an has opted for a wonderfully wise form of address, something that should serve as guidance for all those who are engaged in the mission of da'wah and tabligh or in debates against opponents of Islam and votaries of the false. It will be noticed that the disbelieving adversaries addressed in this verse were not called kafirs, infidels, disbelievers or the ones gone astray. Rather, a change was introduced in the mode and content of the address. The arguments and proofs were already clear. In their presence, no sensible person could say that tauhid (Oneness of Allah or pure monotheism) and shirk (the attribution of partners in the pristine divinity of Allah) are equally true and that the adherents of both are following the truth. Instead of that, it is certain that one of these two is following the path of truth while the other is in error. Now, it is up to you. You think and you decide as to who is on the side of truth. Is it we or is it you? Had the addressee been called a disbeliever or someone who had gone off the track of truth, it could have made him angry. This approach was avoided. In its place, the approach was kept so affectionate and disarming that it would make even the most diehard adversary left with no choice but to consider what was being proposed (from Qurtubi and Bayan-ul-Qur an)

This method of prophetic call, good counsel and good-mannered debate - in line with the command of the Qur'an: وَجَادِلْهُم بِالَّتِي هِيَ أَحْسَنُ (wa jadilhum bil-lati hiya ahsan: (and argue with them in the best manners - 16:125) - is something ` Ulama' should keep in sight all the time. Once this stands ignored, everything done in the fair name of da'wah, tabligh and debate becomes ineffective, rather harmful. As a result, adversaries turn adamant and cling to their error far more firmly.