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ʾin naqūlu ʾillā ʿtarāka baʿḍu ʾālihatinā bi-sūʾin qāla ʾinnī ʾushhidu llāha wa-shhadū ʾannī barīʾun mimmā tushrikūna
All we say is that some of our gods have visited you with some evil.’ He said, ‘I call Allah to witness—and you too be [my] witnesses—that I repudiate what you take as [His] partners
— Ali Quli Qarai
Surah Hud – Verse 54
54. “We say nothing but that some of our gods have smitten you with evil. He said: ‘Verily I call Allah to witness and bear you (also) witness that I am quit of what you associate (with Allah).”
The Arabic term /’i‘tira/ means protest and cursing. Ascribing insanity to the prophets, as well as to revolutionaries, and community reformists, who have risen up against superstition, is nothing new. On the contrary, declaring their distance from and abhorrence of idol-worshipping and idol worshippers has always been in keeping with the spirit of all the Divine prophets which itself provides us with an example confirming that one must stand decisively against superstition.
The verse says:
“We say nothing but that some of our gods have smitten you with evil. He said: ‘Verily I call Allah to witness and bear you (also) witness that I am quit of what you associate (with Allah).”
The resistance and challenging spirit of Hud (as) provides the reason for his legitimacy and the decisiveness of his path. It exhibits the fact that prophets fear Allah only and are not frightened by any other power.