Tafsir al-Baghawi - Al-Baghawi - (5/14)

Tafsir al-BaghawiAl-Baghawi

Qatadah said: Allah created the stars only for three purposes: to adorn the sky, to serve as landmarks for the roads, and as missiles against the devils. Whoever claims anything beyond this has ventured into that of which he has no knowledge. (1)

“Is, then, He who creates like one who does not create? Will you not take heed? (17) If you were to count the blessings of Allah, you could not enumerate them. Surely Allah is Most Forgiving, Most Merciful. (18) And Allah knows what you conceal and what you disclose. (19) Those whom they invoke besides Allah create nothing; rather, they themselves are created. (20) They are dead, not living, and they do not know when they will be resurrected. (21) Your God is One God. As for those who do not believe in the Hereafter, their hearts are in denial, and they are arrogant.” (22)

“Is, then, He who creates”—that is, Allah, exalted is He—“like one who does not create”—that is, the idols—“Will you not take heed? If you were to count the blessings of Allah, you could not enumerate them. Surely Allah is Most Forgiving” of your shortcomings in giving thanks for His blessings, “Most Merciful” toward you, in that He has abundantly bestowed His blessings upon you and has not withheld them from you because of your shortcomings and sins.

“Those whom they invoke besides Allah”—that is, the idols. Asim and Yaqub recited “they invoke” with the letter ya. “They create nothing, while they themselves are created. They are dead”—that is, the idols—“not living, and they do not know”—that is, the idols—“when”—that is, at what time—“they will be resurrected.” (2) The Quran indicates that the idols will be resurrected and given life, whereupon they will disavow their worshippers.

It was also said: The disbelievers who worship idols do not know when they themselves will be resurrected. His saying, exalted is He: “Your God is One God. As for those who do not believe in the Hereafter, their hearts are in denial”—that is, rejecting the truth—“and they are arrogant”—that is, haughty.

(1) Reported by al-Bukhari in suspended form in Bad' al-Khalq (The Beginning of Creation), chapter on the stars, 6:295; its chain was connected by al-Tabari in his Tafsir, 14:91-92. It was also reported by Abd al-Razzaq, Ibn al-Mundhir, Ibn Abi Hatim, and Abd ibn Humayd, with the following addition at the end: “Some people, ignorant of Allah’s command, have introduced divination through these stars: whoever plants under such-and-such a star will have such-and-such a result, and whoever travels under such-and-such a star will have such-and-such a result. By my life, there is no star under which the tall and the short, the red and the white, the handsome and the ugly are not born. These stars, this animal, and this bird know nothing of the unseen.” See Fath al-Bari, 6:295; Tafsir Ibn Kathir, 4:397. For a discussion of the ruling on astrology and its details, see Tafsir al-Qurtubi, 11:1, 19:28-29; Fath al-Majid: Sharh Kitab al-Tawhid, pp. 365-370; and Alam al-Ghayb wa-al-Shahadah, by Uthman Jum'ah Dumayriyyah, pp. 128-131. (2) Omitted from manuscript “B.”

وَقَالَ قَتَادَةُ: إِنَّمَا خَلْقَ اللَّهُ النُّجُومَ لِثَلَاثَةِ أَشْيَاءَ: لِتَكُونَ زِينَةً لِلسَّمَاءِ، وَمَعَالِمَ لِلطُّرُقِ، وَرُجُومًا لِلشَّيَاطِينِ، فَمَنْ قَالَ غَيْرَ هَذَا فَقَدْ تَكَلَّفَ مَا لَا عِلْمَ لَهُ بِهِ (١) ﴿أَفَمَنْ يَخْلُقُ كَمَنْ لَا يَخْلُقُ أَفَلَا تَذَكَّرُونَ (١٧) وَإِنْ تَعُدُّوا نِعْمَةَ اللَّهِ لَا تُحْصُوهَا إِنَّ اللَّهَ لَغَفُورٌ رَحِيمٌ (١٨) وَاللَّهُ يَعْلَمُ مَا تُسِرُّونَ وَمَا تُعْلِنُونَ (١٩) وَالَّذِينَ يَدْعُونَ مِنْ دُونِ اللَّهِ لَا يَخْلُقُونَ شَيْئًا وَهُمْ يُخْلَقُونَ (٢٠) أَمْوَاتٌ غَيْرُ أَحْيَاءٍ وَمَا يَشْعُرُونَ أَيَّانَ يُبْعَثُونَ (٢١) إِلَهُكُمْ إِلَهٌ وَاحِدٌ فَالَّذِينَ لَا يُؤْمِنُونَ بِالْآخِرَةِ قُلُوبُهُمْ مُنْكِرَةٌ وَهُمْ مُسْتَكْبِرُونَ (٢٢) ﴾ ﴿أَفَمَنْ يَخْلُقُ﴾ يَعْنِي: اللَّهَ تَعَالَى، ﴿كَمَنْ لَا يَخْلُقُ﴾ يَعْنِي الْأَصْنَامَ، ﴿أَفَلَا تَذَكَّرُونَ﴾ ﴿وَإِنْ تَعُدُّوا نِعْمَةَ اللَّهِ لَا تُحْصُوهَا إِنَّ اللَّهَ لَغَفُورٌ﴾ لِتَقْصِيرِكُمْ فِي شُكْرِ نِعَمِهِ، ﴿رَحِيمٌ﴾ بِكُمْ حَيْثُ وَسَّعَ عَلَيْكُمُ النِّعَمَ، وَلَمْ يَقْطَعْهَا عَنْكُمْ بِالتَّقْصِيرِ وَالْمَعَاصِي. ﴿وَالَّذِينَ يَدْعُونَ مِنْ دُونِ اللَّهِ﴾ يَعْنِي: الْأَصْنَامَ، وَقَرَأَ عَاصِمٌ وَيَعْقُوبُ " يَدْعُونَ " بِالْيَاءِ. ﴿لَا يَخْلُقُونَ شَيْئًا وَهُمْ يُخْلَقُونَ﴾ ﴿أَمْوَاتٌ﴾ أَيِ: الْأَصْنَامُ ﴿غَيْرُ أَحْيَاءٍ وَمَا يَشْعُرُونَ﴾ يَعْنِي: الْأَصْنَامَ ﴿أَيَّانَ﴾ مَتَى (٢) ﴿يُبْعَثُونَ﴾ وَالْقُرْآنُ يَدُلُّ عَلَى أَنَّ الْأَصْنَامَ تُبْعَثُ وَتُجْعَلُ فِيهَا الْحَيَاةُ فَتَتَبَرَّأُ مِنْ عَابِدِيهَا. وَقِيلَ: مَا يَدْرِي الْكُفَّارُ عَبَدَةُ الْأَصْنَامِ مَتَى يُبْعَثُونَ. قَوْلُهُ تَعَالَى: ﴿إِلَهُكُمْ إِلَهٌ وَاحِدٌ فَالَّذِينَ لَا يُؤْمِنُونَ بِالْآخِرَةِ قُلُوبُهُمْ مُنْكِرَةٌ﴾ جَاحِدَةٌ، ﴿وَهُمْ مُسْتَكْبِرُونَ﴾ مُتَعَظِّمُونَ.

(١) أخرجه البخاري تعليقا في بدء الخلق، باب في النجوم: ٦ / ٢٩٥، ووصله الطبري في التفسير: ١٤ / ٩١-٩٢، وأخرجه عبد الرزاق، وابن المنذر، وابن أبي حاتم، وعبد بن حميد، وزاد في آخره: "وإن ناسا جهلة بأمر الله، قد أحدثوا في هذه النجوم كهانة: من غرس بنجم كذا كان كذا، ومن سافر بنجم كذا كان كذا، ولعمري ما من النجوم نجم إلا ويولد به الطويل والقصير، والأحمر والأبيض، والحسن والدميم. وما علم هذه النجوم وهذه الدابة وهذا الطائر شيء من الغيب". انظر: فتح الباري: ٦ / ٢٩٥، تفسير ابن كثير: ٤ / ٣٩٧. وراجع حكم التنجيم وتفصيل القول فيه: تفسير القرطبي: ١١ / ١، ١٩ / ٢٨-٢٩، فتح المجيد شرح كتاب التوحيد ص ٣٦٥-٣٧٠، عالم الغيب والشهادة تأليف عثمان جمعة ضميريه ص (١٢٨-١٣١) . (٢) ساقط من "ب".