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wa-yaʿbudūna min dūni llāhi mā lam yunazzil bihī sulṭānan wa-mā laysa lahum bihī ʿilmun wa-mā li-ẓ-ẓālimīna min naṣīrin
They worship besides Allah that for which He has not sent down any authority, and of which they have no knowledge. The wrongdoers will have no helper.
— Ali Quli Qarai
Surah Al-Hajj – Verse 71
71. “And they worship, besides Allah, things for which He has sent no authority, and of which they have no knowledge, and for the unjust there shall be no helper.”
The viewpoint of the pagans was that Allah had given the ability of contrivance and decision to some things and the idols while He is above all. They imagined that the world was under the control of gods and considered Allah as the Lord of lords. This verse implies that Allah has given no authority to any of their gods and the world of existence is under the control of Allah, the One. Appropriate to the content of the previous verses which were about Monotheism and polytheism, in this holy verse the words are again upon the polytheists and their wrong manner.
And, in view of the fact that one of the most manifest reasons of the invalidity of polytheism and idolatry is that there is no rational and traditional evidence to indicate to permissibility of this action; the abovementioned verse says:
In fact, this verse is the nullification of the belief of idolaters who believed Allah had allowed them idolatry and those idols were some intercessors to Him. Then the Qur’an adds:
This means that neither by means of Allah’s commandment nor by means of intellect they have absolutely any proof and evidence for their action. It is evident that he who has no clear reason for his belief and deeds is unjust. He has been unjust both to himself and others, and when he inflicts in Divine punishment none can defend him. Thus, at the end of the verse, it says:
Some of the commentators have said that the Qur’anic word /nasir/, mentioned here, means: ‘reason and evidence’, because the real helper is the same.2 There is another probability that says the objective of the word /nasir/ is a guide, and this is a complement for the previous discussion, that is, they have neither an evidence from Allah, nor a rational proof that they themselves have obtained it, nor a leader, a guide, and a teacher who can help them in this way, because they are unjust and do not submit the truth.
These three commentaries do not contrast each other, though the first commentary seems better.
A Few Traditions Concerning Polytheism
1- The Holy Prophet (S) told Ma‘ath:
“Whoever dies while he has never associated anything with Allah, will enter Paradise.” 3
2- Jabir, May Allah be pleased with him, said:
“Once a man came to the Messenger of Allah (S) and said:
‘O’ Messenger of Allah! What are the deeds which cause (a man) to enter Paradise or Hell?’
He (S) said:
‘Whoever from among my Ummah dies and has not associated anything with Allah, will enter Paradise, and whoever dies while he has been associating things with Allah will enter Hell’.” 4
3- Amir-ul-Mu’mineen Ali (as) said:
“Once a man said to the Holy Prophet:
‘O’ Messenger of Allah! Bequeath me!’
He (S) said:
‘I bequeath you that you never associate anything with Allah even if you are to be torn to pieces and to be burnt in fire; and that you should not repulse your parents (from yourself) either…’.” 5
4- The holy Prophet (S) said:
“There are two bad qualities above which there is no other bad quality: associating something with Allah, and to cause damage against the servants of Allah.” 6
5- Amir-ul-Mu’mineen Ali (as) said:
“…you should know that even the smallest hypocrisy is like believing in more than one God, and keeping company of people who follow their low desires is the key to obliviousness from religion, and is the seat of Satan.’…” 7
6- The Messenger of Allah (S) said:
“The one who has associated a partner with Allah will be told to get his reward from whom he has acted for.” 8
Footnotes