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qāla ʾa-fa-taʿbudūna min dūni llāhi mā lā yanfaʿukum shayʾan wa-lā yaḍurrukum
He said, ‘Then, do you worship besides Allah that which cannot cause you any benefit or harm?
— Ali Quli Qarai
21Al-'Anbiyā’الأنبياءVerse 66 of 112
The Prophets21. Al-'Anbiyā’الأنبياء
Al Anbiyā’
The Prophets
MeccanVerse 66 of 112
Surah Al-’Anbiya’ – Verses 66 - 68
66. “(Abraham) said: ‘Do you then worship, besides Allah, that which profits you nothing, neither hurts you?”
67. “Fie on you and on what you worship besides Allah! Have you then no sense?”
68. “They said: ‘If you would do aught, burn him, and help your gods’.”
The godly men generally always pursue their holy aims in whatever condition they may be, and they do not stop even for a while, although their struggles may seem to be fulfilled in different shapes. Along the way of his messengership, at first, Abraham (as) goes toward his own uncle and relatives and invites them unto monotheism and Unity, but when he does not gain any positive result, for the second stage, he hastens to the idols and breaks them all.
After that, addressing their innate disposition, he tries to awaken them, and, finally, next to his advice and reprimand, he makes them contemplate. He attacks them using his most violent words, and puts their minds under the frequent logical awakening blames, as the verse says:
Again, this teacher of monotheism goes on his own speech further than that, and by striking the whips of scorn upon their painless souls, he said to them:
However, in blaming and scorning them, Abraham did not leave clemency, lest they would become more obstinate. Thus, by the practical and logical reasoning of Abraham, all of the idol worshippers were condemned, but their intense obstinacy and bigotry hindered them to accept the Truth, and that was why they made a very harsh and dangerous decision about Abraham (as). As for the reaction of the crowd, the Qur’an says:
Similar to that, they said many vain things about Abraham, and they incited people to revolt against him in a way that, instead of a few loads of wood which could be sufficient to burn several persons, the inhabitants piled thousands of loads of wood over there which made a mountainous heap of wood, and, consequently, an ocean of fire was provided.