The Foremost Doubt of the Mushrikīn: “We Worship Them (Intermediaries) Only That They May Bring Us Near to Allāh.”
Imām Ibn Kathīr
An explanation of āyāt from the Qurʾān responding to the doubts of those who refuse to call upon Allāh alone.
Allāh says:
إِنَّا أَنزَلْنَا إِلَيْكَ الْكِتَابَ بِالْحَقِّ فَاعْبُدِ اللَّهَ مُخْلِصًا لَّهُ الدِّينَ ﴿٢﴾ أَلَا لِلَّهِ الدِّينُ الْخَالِصُ ۚ وَالَّذِينَ اتَّخَذُوا مِن دُونِهِ أَوْلِيَاءَ مَا نَعْبُدُهُمْ إِلَّا لِيُقَرِّبُونَا إِلَى اللَّهِ زُلْفَىٰ إِنَّ اللَّهَ يَحْكُمُ بَيْنَهُمْ فِي مَا هُمْ فِيهِ يَخْتَلِفُونَ ۗ إِنَّ اللَّهَ لَا يَهْدِي مَنْ هُوَ كَاذِبٌ كَفَّارٌ ﴿٣﴾
“Verily, We have sent down the Book to you [O’ Muḥammad صلى الله عليه وسلم] in truth. So worship Allāh [alone] by doing religious deeds sincerely for Allāh’s sake only. Surely, the religion (i.e., the worship and obedience) is for Allāh only. And those who take awliyāʾ (protectors and helpers) besides Him [say], ‘We worship them only that they may bring us near to Allāh.’ Verily, Allāh will judge between them concerning that wherein they differ. Truly, Allāh guides not him who is a liar, and a disbeliever.”
[Al-Zumar, 39:2-3]
“Verily, We have sent down the Book to you [O’ Muḥammad صلى الله عليه وسلم] in truth”, that is, worship Allāh alone and ascribe none as a partner with Him in worship, call the creation to that, inform them that it is not befitting to direct any act of worship except to Allāh, and that He has no partner, equal, or rival. Because of this Allāh says, “Surely, the religion (i.e., the worship and obedience) is for Allāh only.” Meaning, He only accepts those actions performed sincerely for His sake alone, with no partner or associate. Regarding Allāh’s saying, “Surely, the religion is for Allāh only”, Qatādah said, “It refers to the testimony of Lā Illāha Illā Allāh.”[1]
Thereafter, Allāh informs that the idolaters among the polytheists say [concerning their idols], “We worship them only that they may bring us near to Allāh.” Hence, what evoked them to worship their idols is that they would sculpt them in the image of angels, according to what they claim, considering their worship of those images to be worship of the angels in hopes that they may intercede on their behalf before Allāh, that He grants them aid, provision and other worldly needs. However, as far as the hereafter is concerned, they denied and rejected it.
Regarding Allāh’s saying, “We worship them only that they may bring us near to Allāh”, Qatādah, al-Suddī, and Mālik relate that Zayd b. Aslam and Ibn Zayd explained, “That is, that they intercede on our behalf and draw us nearer to Him.” In the days of pre-Islamic ignorance, they used to say in their talbiyyah during Ḥajj, “We are at your service, O’ Allāh! You have no partner except the partner which you have, You possess him and he does not possess (any share of creation).”[2]
This is the argument the polytheists have relied upon throughout time which all the messengers (صلوات الله وسلامه عليهم) came to refute and forbid. They would instead invite their respective nations to worship Allāh alone without ascribing any partners onto Him, informing them that this (i.e., shirk) is but an invention of the polytheists which they conjured from their own selves — Allāh did not grant them permission for it nor did He approve of it. Rather, He hates and forbids it. Allāh says:
وَلَقَدْ بَعَثْنَا فِي كُلِّ أُمَّةٍ رَّسُولًا أَنِ اعْبُدُوا اللَّهَ وَاجْتَنِبُوا الطَّاغُوتَ
“And verily We have sent among every nation a Messenger [proclaiming]: ‘Worship Allah [alone] and avoid (or keep away from) all false deities.’”
[Al-Naḥl, 16:36]
He also said:
وَمَا أَرْسَلْنَا مِن قَبْلِكَ مِن رَّسُولٍ إِلَّا نُوحِي إِلَيْهِ أَنَّهُ لَا إِلَٰهَ إِلَّا أَنَا فَاعْبُدُونِ
“And We did not send any Messenger before you [O’ Muhammad صلى الله عليه وسلم] but We inspired him [saying], ‘None has the right to be worshipped but I (Allah), so worship Me [alone].’”
[Al-Anbiyāʾ, 21:25]
Allāh informs us that the angels in the heavens, whether from those drawn-near or otherwise, are all humble servants of Him. They intercede not except with His permission, for those whom He pleases. They are not like the ministers of kings, interceding before them without permission on behalf of individuals whom the king may like or dislike.
فَلَا تَضْرِبُوا لِلَّهِ الْأَمْثَالَ
“So put not forward similitudes for Allāh (as there is nothing similar to Him, nor He resembles anything).”
[Al-Naḥl, 16:74]
Exalted be Allāh above that.[3]
Endnotes
[1] Collected by ʿAbd al-Razzāq in his tafsīr (3/128).
[2] He is alluding to the ḥadīth collected by Imām Muslim in his Ṣaḥīḥ (no. 1185). Note: Shaykh Muḥammad b. ʿAlī al-Ityūbī clarified in his explanation of Ṣaḥīḥ Muslim entitled al-Baḥr al-Muḥīṭ al-Thajjāj (22/161-162), that the particle “ما” in the Arabic language is best suited as being negatory, as the polytheists at the time of the Prophet (صلى الله عليه وسلم) affirmed that all dominion belongs to Allāh, and that He is the creator, Lord of all that which exists. Refer to 23:84-89 of the Qurʾān.
[3] Tafsīr al-Qurʾān al-ʿAẓīm (6/438-439) of Ibn Kathīr.
Translated by: Omar ibn Bilal
