Al Isrā’

لاَ تَجْعَلْ مَعَ اللَّهِ إِلَهاً ءَاخَرَ فَتَقْعُدَ مَذْمُوماً مَّخْذُولاً

22. “Do not associate with Allah any other god, lest you will sit reproved, despised.”

The blissful Prophet (S) is being addressed in this verse, but the verse is meant for the public who are under the leadership of him. Man’s flourishing nature as well as his glory, rest with monotheism and his paganism and worship of any other being is degradation to him and makes him despised and mean. Therefore, this noble verse begins with the statement of the issue of monotheism and faith, that kind of monotheism which is the core of all positive activities and good deeds of man as well as his constructive deeds.

At first, the Qur’an says:

“Do not associate with Allah any other god…”

It does not state do not worship any other god along with Allah, but it says: ‘Do not associate’, so as to present a wider scope of meaning; that is, neither in ideas, nor in practice, nor in prayers, desires, nor in worshipping associate any other god along with Allah. Then, alluding to the devastating effect of paganism, the verse implies that if you associate with Him any other god, you will be demised, despised and will be neglected (isolated).

It says:

“…lest you will sit reproved, despised.”

One can conclude from the above sentence that paganism has got three formidable disgraceful effects on man:

1) Paganism leads to, and is a source of, weakness, disability, and humiliation.

2) Paganism is the source of demise and blame, for it depicts a deviating line and method in face of logic, rationality, and it is an obvious neglect of Allah’s blessings.

3) Paganism will cause Allah to abandon the pagan to his self-made gods and stop protecting him.

Consequently, the ‘neglected one’ is he who has got no helpful companions and is blamed by Allah, the angels, the believers, and the awakened conscience of the enlightened people as well as the wise men of the world.