“Say,” O Messenger, to your people when you call them to Allah and explain the duties they owe Him and the rights He has over them, but they refuse to submit to His command, follow their desires, and persist in their polytheism: “O my people, carry on in your way”—that is, in the condition you have adopted and chosen for yourselves. “Indeed, I too am carrying on” in accordance with Allah’s command and pursuing what pleases Him. “You will soon know who will have the final abode”—whether it will be I or you. This is fairness in the highest degree: the deeds and those who perform them are clearly set out, while the judgment concerning the recompense is left to the discerning observer. An explicit declaration is passed over because the allusion renders it unnecessary. It is already known that the good outcome in this world and the Hereafter belongs to the righteous, that the believers will have the final abode, and that everyone who turns away from what the messengers brought will meet an evil and wretched end. Thus He says, “The wrongdoers will certainly not prosper.” Every wrongdoer, regardless of whatever worldly enjoyment he may have, will ultimately [therein] fade away and perish. “Allah grants the wrongdoer respite, but when He seizes him, He does not let him escape.” ⦗275⦘
(136–140) “They assign to Allah a share of the crops and livestock He has produced, saying—according to their claim—‘This is for Allah, and this is for our partners.’ Yet what is assigned to their partners never reaches Allah, while what is assigned to Allah does reach their partners. Evil indeed is their judgment. * Likewise, their partners have made killing their children seem appealing to many of the polytheists, so as to bring them to ruin and confuse them regarding their religion. Had Allah willed, they would not have done so. Therefore, leave them to their fabrications.”
Allah Most High informs us of the foolish minds, shallow understanding, and profound ignorance of the polytheists who rejected the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him). He recounts some of their superstitions in order to expose their misguidance, warn against them, and show that the opposition of such fools to the truth brought by the Messenger does not discredit it in the least, for they are in no position to challenge the truth.
Among the practices He mentions is that “they assign to Allah a share of the crops and livestock He has produced,” and another share to their partners, even though Allah Most High is the One who produced these things for His servants and brought them into existence as provision. They thus combined two forbidden evils—indeed, three: their presumption that they were conferring a favor upon Allah by assigning Him a share, while believing this to be a voluntary gift from themselves; their association with Him of partners that had neither provided for them nor brought any of it into existence; and their unjust rule whereby they paid no heed or care to what belonged to Allah, even if it passed to their partners, while carefully tending and preserving what belonged to their partners so that none of it would reach Allah. Whenever they obtained anything from their crops, fruits, and livestock—all of which Allah had brought into existence for them—they divided it into two portions.
One portion, according to their words and claims, was for Allah. Yet Allah accepts only what is devoted sincerely to Him, and He does not accept the deed of anyone who associates partners with Him.
The other portion they allotted to their partners among the idols and rivals.
If any part of what they had allotted to Allah reached and became mixed with what they had allotted to others, they paid no attention to it. They would say, “Allah has no need of it,” and would not return it. But if any part of what they had allotted to their gods reached what they had allotted to Allah, they returned it to its proper place, saying, “They are in need, so their share must be returned.”
Could any judgment be worse or more unjust than this? They strove harder, showed greater care, and guarded what was due to a created being more diligently than they did Allah’s right.
The noble verse may also be interpreted in light of the authentic report from the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) that Allah Most High said: “Of all partners, I have the least need of partnership. Whoever associates anything with Me, I abandon him and his association.”
On this interpretation, whatever they allotted and offered to draw near to their idols was devoted entirely to other than Allah, and Allah had no share in it. As for what they allotted to Allah—as they falsely claimed—it did not reach Him because it was tainted by polytheism; rather, it became the share of their partners and rivals. Allah has no need of it and does not accept any deed in which one of His creatures is associated with Him.
Another manifestation of the polytheists’ foolishness and misguidance was that their partners—that is, their leaders and devils—made killing their children seem appealing to many of them. This refers to burying children alive: they buried their sons for fear of poverty and their daughters for fear of disgrace.
All of this arose from the deceptions of the devils, who sought to cast them into destruction and confuse them regarding their religion. They consequently committed acts of the utmost ugliness, while their partners continued to make those acts appear attractive until they regarded them as good and praiseworthy practices. Had Allah willed to prevent them, separate them from these deeds, and protect their children from being killed by their parents, they would not have done so. His wisdom, however, entailed leaving them to their deeds, gradually drawing them toward destruction, granting them respite, and treating their condition as unworthy of concern. He therefore said, “Leave them to their fabrications”—that is, leave them with their lies and inventions, and do not grieve over them, for they will never harm Allah in the least.