Tafsir of Surah Ar-Ra'd - Verse 33

There is no Similarity between Allah and False Deities in any Respect

Allah said,

أَفَمَنْ هُوَ قَآئِمٌ عَلَى كُلِّ نَفْسٍ بِمَا كَسَبَتْ

(Is then He (Allah) Who takes charge of every person and knows all that he has earned) Allah is the guard and watcher over every living soul and knows what everyone does, whether good or evil, and nothing ever escapes His perfect observation. Allah said in other Ayat,

وَمَا تَكُونُ فِى شَأْنٍ وَمَا تَتْلُواْ مِنْهُ مِن قُرْءَانٍ وَلاَ تَعْمَلُونَ مِنْ عَمَلٍ إِلاَّ كُنَّا عَلَيْكُمْ شُهُودًا إِذْ تُفِيضُونَ فِيهِ

(Neither you do any deed nor recite any portion of the Qur'an, nor you do any deed, but we are witness thereof, when you are doing it.) 10:61 and Allah said,

وَمَا تَسْقُطُ مِن وَرَقَةٍ إِلاَّ يَعْلَمُهَا

(Not a leaf falls, but He knows it.) 6:59

وَمَا مِن دَآبَّةٍ فِي الاٌّرْضِ إِلاَّ عَلَى اللَّهِ رِزْقُهَا وَيَعْلَمُ مُسْتَقَرَّهَا وَمُسْتَوْدَعَهَا كُلٌّ فِى كِتَابٍ مُّبِينٍ

(And no moving creature is there on earth but its provision is due from Allah. And He knows its dwelling place and its deposits. All is in a Clear Book.)11:6,

سَوَآءٌ مِّنْكُمْ مَّنْ أَسَرَّ الْقَوْلَ وَمَنْ جَهَرَ بِهِ وَمَنْ هُوَ مُسْتَخْفٍ بِالَّيْلِ وَسَارِبٌ بِالنَّهَارِ

(It is the same (to Him) whether any of you conceals his speech or declares it openly, whether he be hid by night or goes forth freely by day.) 13:10

يَعْلَمُ السِّرَّ وَأَخْفَى

(He knows the secret and that which is yet more hidden.) 20:7 and,

وَهُوَ مَعَكُمْ أَيْنَ مَا كُنتُمْ وَاللَّهُ بِمَا تَعْمَلُونَ بَصِيرٌ

(And He is with you wherever you may be. And Allah is the All-Seer of what you do.) 57:4 Is He Who is like this similar to the idols, that the polytheists worship, which can neither hear nor see nor do they have a mind nor able to bring good to themselves or to their worshippers nor prevent harm from themselves or their worshippers The answer to the question in the Ayah was omitted, because it is implied, for Allah said next,

وَجَعَلُواْ للَّهِ شُرَكَآءَ

(Yet, they ascribe partners to Allah.) which they worshipped besides Him, such as idols, rivals and false deities,

قُلْ سَمُّوهُمْ

(Say: "Name them!") make them known to us and uncover them so that they are known, for surely, they do not exist at all! So Allah said,

أَمْ تُنَبِّئُونَهُ بِمَا لاَ يَعْلَمُ فِى الاٌّرْضِ

(Is it that you will inform Him of something He knows not in the earth) for had that thing existed in or on the earth, Allah would have known about it because nothing ever escapes His knowledge,

أَم بِظَـهِرٍ مِّنَ الْقَوْلِ

(or is it (just) a show of words) or doubts expressed in words, according to Mujahid, while Ad-Dahhak and Qatadah said, false words. Allah says, you (polytheists) worshipped the idols because you thought that they had power to bring benefit or harm, and this is why you called them gods,

إِنْ هِىَ إِلاَّ أَسْمَآءٌ سَمَّيْتُمُوهَآ أَنتُمْ وَءَابَآؤُكُم مَّآ أَنزَلَ اللَّهُ بِهَا مِن سُلْطَـنٍ إِن يَتَّبِعُونَ إِلاَّ الظَّنَّ وَمَا تَهْوَى الاٌّنفُسُ وَلَقَدْ جَآءَهُم مِّن رَّبِّهِمُ الْهُدَى

(They are but names which you have named - you and your fathers - for which Allah has sent down no authority. They follow but a guess and that which they themselves desire, whereas there has surely come to them the guidance from their Lord!)53:23 Allah said next,

بَلْ زُيِّنَ لِلَّذِينَ كَفَرُواْ مَكْرُهُمْ

(Nay! To those who disbelieved, their plotting is made fair seeming,) or their words, according to Mujahid. This Ayah refers to the misguidance of the polytheists and their propagation night and day. Allah said in another Ayah,

وَقَيَّضْنَا لَهُمْ قُرَنَآءَ فَزَيَّنُواْ لَهُم

(And We have assigned for them (devils) intimate companions, who have made fair-seeming to them.) Allah said next,

وَصُدُّواْ عَنِ السَّبِيلِ

(and they have been hindered from the right path;) Some read with Fatha over the Sad (i.e. wa Saddu), which would mean, `and they hindered from the right path, feeling fond of the misguidance they are in, thinking that it is correct, they called to it and thus hindered the people from following the path of the Messengers.' Others read it with Damma over the Sad (i.e. wa Suddu), which would mean, `and they have been hindered from the right path,' explained it this way: because they thought that their way looked fair or correct, they were hindered by it from the right path, so Allah said,

وَمَن يُضْلِلِ اللَّهُ فَمَا لَهُ مِنْ هَادٍ

(and whom Allah sends astray, for him there is no guide.) Allah said in similar instances,

وَمَن يُرِدِ اللَّهُ فِتْنَتَهُ فَلَن تَمْلِكَ لَهُ مِنَ اللَّهِ شَيْئاً

(And whomsoever Allah wants to suffer a trial, you can do nothing for him against Allah.) 5:41, and,

إِن تَحْرِصْ عَلَى هُدَاهُمْ فَإِنَّ اللَّهَ لاَ يَهْدِى مَن يُضِلُّ وَمَا لَهُمْ مِّن نَّـصِرِينَ

(If you covet for their guidance, then verily, Allah guides not those whom He makes to go astray. And they will have no helpers.)16:37

In the verse: أَفَمَنْ هُوَ قَائِمٌ عَلَىٰ كُلِّ نَفْسٍ (Is then He, who is watchful over everyone ... 33), the ignorance and irrationality of the disbelievers has been exposed by saying that these people are certainly short on sense when they equate inert idols with His pure Being, a Being that watches everyone and is the ultimate reckoner of everyone's deeds. Then, it was said that the real reason behind their unreasonable attitude is that shaitan has made their very ignorance look good in their sight and, therefore, this they take to be 'achievement' and 'success.'

Research shows that there is a system of recording in this universe. Whatever a man says or whatever a man does is immediately recorded by a universal arrangement. In view of this, only such a Being can be treated as God of this universe who possesses the powers of Hearing and Observing. But the so-called partners of God, presumed to be such by human beings, are all such as possess no power of hearing or power of observing. In view of this, how can they be the Creator and Lord of a world like the present universe? How can one who is not capable of hearing create the capacity to hear in his creations, and how can he make other things capable of observing, when he himself is not capable of observing? There is so much uniformity in this universe that it leaves no scope for the idea of partnership. The universe rejects any kind of partnership in godhead. ‘Indeed, their devices, seem fair to the unbelievers’ — here ‘devices’ means their utterances. Whenever a man rejects the truth, his mind invents something to justify his rejection, though what he says may be a combination of pointless words, but, those who are not serious in the matter of truth, are prone to utter empty words and think that they have justified their rejection, irrespective of the fact that the words uttered by them may not have any value outside their own minds. Such false words can give solace or satisfaction to a man only in the present world. In the Hereafter, when the reality of everything will be made plain, these beautiful words will carry so little weight that a man will be ashamed of repeating them.