⦗20–21⦘ “Do you not see that Allah has subjected to you whatever is in the heavens and whatever is on the earth, and has lavished upon you His blessings, both apparent and hidden? Yet among people are those who dispute concerning Allah without knowledge, guidance, or an illuminating Book. * When it is said to them, ‘Follow what Allah has sent down,’ they say, ‘Rather, we follow what we found our forefathers following.’ Even if Satan were calling them to the punishment of the Blaze?”
Allah Most High reminds His servants of His blessings and calls upon them to recognize and give thanks for them rather than remain heedless of them. He therefore said, “Do you not see”—that is, do you not witness and perceive with your eyes and hearts—“that Allah has subjected to you whatever is in the heavens,” including the sun, moon, and stars, all of which have been subjected for the benefit of His servants;
“and whatever is on the earth,” including animals, trees, crops, rivers, minerals, and the like. As Allah Most High said, “He is the One who created for you all that is on the earth.”
“And has lavished upon you”—that is, He has encompassed and overwhelmed you with—“His blessings, both apparent and hidden”: those of which we are aware and those concealed from us; the blessings of this world and of religion; the attainment of benefits and the prevention of harm. Your duty, therefore, is to give thanks for these blessings by loving the Bestower and submitting to Him, using them as a means of obeying Him, and never using any of them to disobey Him.
Yet, despite this succession of blessings, “among people are those who” do not give thanks for them but instead deny them, disbelieve in the One who bestowed them, and reject the truth with which He sent down His Books and sent His messengers. Such a person “disputes concerning Allah”—that is, he argues in defence of falsehood in order to refute the truth and repel what the Messenger brought: the command to worship Allah alone.
This disputant has no insight. His argument is not grounded in knowledge, such that he might be left to his own devices and allowed to speak; “nor guidance” by which he might follow the rightly guided; “nor an illuminating Book” [without making the truth clear: he has neither rational argument nor transmitted proof, nor does he follow the rightly guided]. (1) Rather, his dispute concerning Allah is based ⦗650⦘ upon blindly following forefathers who were not rightly guided but were themselves astray and led others astray.
He therefore said, “When it is said to them, ‘Follow what Allah has sent down’” through His messengers—for it is the truth, whose manifest proofs have been made clear to them—“they say,” objecting to this, “‘Rather, we follow what we found our forefathers following.’” That is, we will not abandon what we found our forefathers following for the word of anyone, whoever he may be.
Allah Most High replied to them and their forefathers: “Even if Satan were calling them to the punishment of the Blaze?” Their forefathers answered his call, followed in his footsteps, became disciples of Satan, and were overcome by confusion.
Does this warrant their following their forefathers and proceeding upon their way? Or should it instead frighten them away from taking their path and openly proclaim the misguidance of both their forefathers and those who follow them?
Satan’s call to their forefathers and to them does not arise from love or affection for them. Rather, it stems from enmity toward them and a plot against them. In truth, his followers are among his enemies: those over whom he has gained mastery and prevailed. He delights in their deserving the punishment of the Blaze because they accepted his call.