808 — Ibn Dhurayh informed us: Hannād ibn al-Sarī narrated to us: Abū Muāwiya narrated to us, from Sufyān ibn Ziyād al-Usfurī, from Saīd ibn Jubayr, concerning the words of Allah—Glorious and Exalted is He—“They will say, ‘By Allah, our Lord, we were not polytheists’” [al-Anām: 23]. He said:

“When He ordered those who had affirmed Allah’s oneness and entered the Fire to be brought out, the polytheists therein said, ‘Come, let us say, “There is no deity worthy of worship except Allah,” so that perhaps we may be brought out with these people.’ They said it, but they were not believed. He said: So they swore, ‘By Allah, our Lord, we were not polytheists’ [al-Anām: 23].”

He continued: Allah—Glorious and Exalted is He—then said, “See how they lied against themselves, and how what they used to fabricate has forsaken them” [al-Anām: 24].

Muhammad ibn al-Husayn—may Allah have mercy on him—said: It has been narrated through more than one chain that, on the Day of Resurrection, the Prophet—peace and blessings be upon him—will intercede for all those among Adam’s descendants—peace be upon him—who affirmed Allah’s oneness, so that every such person will be brought out of the Fire. Then Adam—peace and blessings be upon him—will intercede, followed by the prophets, then the angels, and then the believers. We therefore seek refuge in Allah from being among those who deny this. Such a person has indeed strayed far and suffered manifest loss.