Reply to the doubt about Surat Al-Anbiya, verse 98

  Al-Razi

says: Know that His statement: { Indeed, you } is addressed to the polytheists of Mecca and idol worshippers.

As for His statement: { And what you worship besides Allah }, it was narrated that the Prophet, peace be upon him, entered the mosque and the leaders of Quraish were in Al-Hutaym and around the Kaaba were three hundred and sixty idols. He sat with them and Al-Nadr ibn Al-Harith approached him, so the Messenger of Allah, peace be upon him, spoke to him and silenced him. Then he recited to them:

{ Indeed, you and what you worship besides Allah are fuel for Hell }

. Then Abdullah ibn Al-Zubayri came and saw them whispering, so he said: Why are you whispering? Al-Walid ibn Al-Mughirah informed him of the statement of the Messenger of Allah, peace be upon him. Abdullah said: By Allah, if I had found him, I would have argued with him, so leave him. Ibn Al-Zubayri said: Did you say that? He said: Yes. He said: I have argued with you, by the Lord of the Kaaba. Did not the Jews worship Ezra, and the Christians worship Christ, and the sons of Malih worship the angels? Then two narrations were narrated about that:

One of them

: That the Messenger of God, may God bless him and grant him peace, was silent and did not answer, so the people laughed, and then the words of God Almighty were revealed: { And when the son of Mary was made an example, at once your people turned away from him. And they said: Are our gods better, or is he? They do not compare him to you except to argue. Rather, they are a quarrelsome people .}
[ Az-Zukhruf: 57-58 ]

And it was revealed about Jesus and the angels:

{ Indeed, those for whom the best has preceded from Us .}
[ Al-Anbiya: 101 ]

the verse. This is what Ibn Abbas said.


The second narration : He, peace be upon him, answered and said, “Rather, they worshipped the devils who commanded them to do that.” So Allah, the Exalted, revealed:
{ Indeed, those for whom the best has preceded from Us }
[ Al-Anbiya: 101 ]

, meaning Ezra, the Messiah, and the angels. Know that Ibn Al-Zubayri’s question is invalid for several reasons: First: His statement, { Indeed, you } is a direct address, and that was to the polytheists of Mecca, and they only worshipped idols.

Second : He did not say, “And whom do you worship?” Rather, he said, “What do you worship,” and the word “what” does not include rational beings.

As for the saying of Allah the Almighty:
{ And the heaven and He who constructed it }
[ Ash-Shams: 5 ]

and His saying:

{ I do not worship what you worship }
[ Al-Kafirun: 2 ]

, it is carried on the thing and its equivalent here is to say: You and the thing that you worship besides Allah, but the wording of the thing does not indicate generality, so Ibn Az-Zubayri’s question is not applicable.

The third : That whoever worships the angels does not claim that they are gods, and Allah the Almighty said: { If these were gods, they would not have entered it }.

The fourth : Suppose that the generality is proven, but it is specific by rational and auditory evidence in the right of the angels, the Messiah, and Ezra because of their innocence from sins and transgressions, and Allah promised them every honor, and this is what is meant by His saying the Almighty:

{{Indeed, those for whom the best has preceded from Us - those will be removed from it .}
[ Al-Anbiya: 101 ].

Fifth : The answer mentioned by the Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, which is that they used to worship the devils. If it is said that the devils are rational beings, and the wording does not include them, then how did the Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, say that? We say that it is as if he, peace be upon him, said: If it is proven to you that it includes rational beings, then your question is also not necessary from this aspect.

( 2 )

His saying: { Indeed, you and what you worship besides God } with idols is more appropriate because of the inclusion of the word “what ,” and this speech with devils is more appropriate because of his saying “these,” and it is possible that he means devils and idols, so it is more likely that they are mentioned with the expression of rational people, and God Almighty pointed out that whoever is thrown into the fire cannot be a god.

Those who believe in her divinity do not believe that she is the manager of the world, otherwise they would be crazy. Rather, they believe that she is a statue of the planets or an image of intercessors, and that does not prevent her from entering Hell.

Al-Zamakhshari (Al-Kashf) said: { What you worship besides God } may refer to idols, Satan, and his followers, because by obeying them and following their footsteps, they are considered to be worshipping them.

There is not one of you but will pass over it

quote:

Al-Razi apologized by saying that the word “ma” is used for non-rational beings. We say that it is stated in the Qur’an: “And by the soul and He who proportioned it, and inspired it with its wickedness and its righteousness” (Ash-Shams 91:8). So, is “ma” here used for non-rational beings?

Al-Zamakhshari said (Al-Kashf)

He made “ma” a source in his saying: { And what built it } { And what flattened it } { And what proportioned it }, and it is not correct because of his saying: { Then inspired it } and what it leads to of corruption of the system, and the correct way is that it is a relative, and it was preferred over “min” to mean the meaning of description, as if it was said: And the sky, and the Almighty, the Great, who built it, and the soul, and the Wise, the dazzling, the wise, who proportioned it, and in their speech: Glory be to Him who subjected you to us. If you say: Why did you deny the soul? I say: There are two aspects to it.

One of them : that he means a specific soul from among the souls, which is the soul of Adam, as if he said: and one of the souls.

The second : that he means every soul and denies for the sake of multiplication in the manner mentioned in His statement:
{ A soul has known }
[ At-Takwir: 14 ].

Imam Al-Razi says:

{ And by the soul and He who proportioned it .}

If we attribute the soul to the body, then its formation is the adjustment of its organs, as attested by the science of anatomy. If we attribute it to the controlling power, then its formation is giving it many powers, such as the power of hearing, seeing, imagination, thinking, and remembering, as attested by the science of psychology.

If it is said: Why did we deny the soul?

We said: There are two aspects to it.

One of them : That he means by it a special soul from among the souls, which is the holy prophetic soul, and that is because every multitude, there must be one who is the leader, so the compounds are a genus under which there are species and their leader is the animal, and the animal is a genus under which there are species and their leader is the human, and the human is species and classes and their leader is the prophet. And the prophets were many, so there must be one who is the absolute leader, so his saying: {and a soul} is a reference to that soul which is the leader of the world of compounds, a leadership by itself.

The second : That he means every soul, and what is meant by the indefiniteness is the multiplicity in the manner mentioned in His statement: { Every soul will know what it has brought forth }. This is because animals are of different types, and their number is innumerable except for God, as He said after mentioning some animals:

{ And He creates what you do not know .}
[ An-Nahl: 8 ]

Each species has a special soul that is distinguished from the rest by the virtue that constitutes its essence and the properties necessary for that distinction. So who can comprehend in his mind a few of the properties of the soul of the bug and the mosquito, let alone delve into the seas of the secrets of God Almighty?

What is wrong with what Al-Razi said: The word “what” is used for something other than a rational being?