Tafsir of Surah Saba' - Verse 27

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

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.

The Universe is unimaginably great. Moreover, perfect wisdom and meaningfulness is inherent in it. Such a universe can be the accomplishment of the All-powerful, All-wise God alone. No one can seriously believe that those beings, whom ancient or modern man has invented can be the creators or lords of this universe. This being so, who other than God can be the one who enjoys the position of supremacy in this Universe? The fact is that the study of the universe invalidates all polytheistic theories. As such, only that theory can be correct which is based on the oneness of God. Any theory which projects the instrumentality of any being other than God is self-contradictory.