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ʾinna lladhīna tadʿūna min dūni llāhi ʿibādun ʾamthālukum fa-dʿūhum fa-l-yastajībū lakum ʾin kuntum ṣādiqīna
Indeed those whom you invoke besides Allah are creatures like you. So invoke them: they should answer you, if you are truthful.
— Ali Quli Qarai
Surah al-‘Araf – Verse 194
194. “Verily those whom you call upon other than Allah are creatures like your own selves. So call on them, then they should answer you if you are truthful.”
The objective meaning of the Arabic term /‘ibād/ (worshipping creatures) may be the creatures or men who are taken as deities, like Jesus (as) or the angels. Or, the purpose may be the very idols which the idol-worshippers imagine as ‘gods’. Therefore, worshipping needs both reason and privilege. Worshipping creatures or human beings, like our own selves, has neither any reason nor any privilege. The verse says:
Another matter is the silence of deities which itself is the sign of their inability and incompetence. Besides, a deity must promote its servant, not to stop him. The verse continues saying: