(213–216) “So do not invoke another god alongside Allah, lest you be among those punished. Warn your closest kindred. Lower your wing to those believers who follow you. If they disobey you, say, ‘I am free of what you do.’”
Allah Most High primarily forbids His Messenger—and, following his example in this, his community—from invoking any created being besides Allah. He makes clear that doing so entails eternal torment and everlasting punishment because it constitutes ⦗599⦘ shirk (associating partners with Allah): “Whoever associates partners with Allah, Allah has certainly forbidden Paradise to him, and the Fire will be his abode.” A prohibition against something is a command to its opposite. Thus, the prohibition of shirk is a command to devote worship sincerely to Allah alone, who has no partner, with love, fear, hope, humility, and constant return to Him at all times. Having commanded him to do that which would perfect him, Allah commanded him to help others attain perfection, saying, “Warn your closest kindred.”
These are the people closest to you and most entitled to your kindness in religious and worldly matters. This does not conflict with his being commanded to warn all people. It is like a person being commanded to show kindness universally and then being told, “Show kindness to your relatives.” This specific instruction (1) emphasizes the command and their greater right to it. The Prophet—may Allah bless him and grant him peace—complied with this divine command, calling all the clans of Quraysh and addressing them both collectively and individually. He reminded and admonished them. He—may Allah bless him and grant him peace—spared no effort within his power to counsel and guide them. Thus, those who were guided were guided, and those who turned away turned away.
“Lower your wing to those believers who follow you” by being gentle with them, speaking kindly to them, showing them affection and love, displaying good character, and treating them with consummate kindness. The Prophet—may Allah bless him and grant him peace—did exactly that, as Allah Most High says, “It was by mercy from Allah that you were gentle with them. Had you been harsh and hard-hearted, they would have dispersed from around you. So pardon them, seek forgiveness for them, and consult them in matters.” Such were his—may Allah bless him and grant him peace—character traits, the most perfect of all character traits. Through them, as can plainly be seen, immense benefits are attained and harms averted.
Is it then fitting for one who believes in Allah and His Messenger and claims to follow and emulate him to be a burden upon Muslims—ill-tempered, unyieldingly severe with them, hard-hearted, and coarse and appalling in speech? [And] whenever he sees them commit a sin or breach proper conduct, he shuns, detests, and hates them. He is devoid of gentleness and courtesy and bereft of divine aid. Such conduct has caused untold harm and obstructed untold benefits. Yet despite this, you find him looking down on anyone who embodies the noble Messenger’s qualities, accusing him of hypocrisy and compromising the truth, while regarding himself as perfect and superior and admiring his own conduct. Is this anything but the result of his ignorance and of Satan making his conduct seem fair to him and deceiving him?
For this reason, Allah said to His Messenger, “If they disobey you.” If they disobey you in any matter, do not disavow them and do not cease treating them with gentleness and tenderness. Rather, disavow their wrongdoing: admonish them about it, advise them, and exert yourself to the utmost in turning them away from it and bringing them to repent of it. This dispels the mistaken assumption of anyone who imagines that His words, “Lower your wing to the believers,” require approving everything they do so long as they remain believers. The latter statement thus dispels this misunderstanding of the former. Allah knows best.