falls under His words:

“Gather those who committed wrongdoing, their counterparts, and whatever they used to worship besides Allah.”

For these people and those who commanded them to do this will all be punished. He also says:

“Indeed, you and whatever you worship besides Allah are fuel for Hell; you will enter it.”

The only ones excluded from this are those who were worshipped despite their aversion to being worshipped and obeyed in disobedience to Allah. These are the ones for whom the finest reward has already been decreed, such as the Messiah, Ezra and others. They will be “kept far away.” As for anyone who is pleased to be worshipped and obeyed in disobedience to Allah, he deserves the threatened punishment even if he did not command this—so how much more so if he did! The same applies to anyone who commands another to worship someone other than Allah. Such a person is among “their counterparts.” Their “counterparts” may be their leaders or their followers; they are counterparts and alike because they resemble one another in religion.

The context of the verse indicates this, for He, glorified is He, says:

“Gather those who committed wrongdoing, their counterparts, and whatever they used to worship besides Allah, and guide them to the path of Hellfire.”

Ibn ‘Abbās said: “Show them the way.” Al-Dahhāk said the same. Ibn Kaysān said: “Bring them forward.” The meaning is: lead them, just as a guide leads those whom he guides. Hence necks are called al-hawādī (leaders), because they lead the rest of the body. The foremost among wild animals are also called al-hawādī.

“Detain them, for they must be questioned: ‘What is the matter with you that you do not help one another?’”

That is, as you used to help one another uphold falsehood in this world.

“Rather, today they are fully submissive. They will turn to one another, questioning. They will say, ‘You used to come at us from the right.’ They will reply, ‘Rather, you were not believers. We had no authority over you; rather, you were a rebellious people. So our Lord’s sentence against us has come due: we will surely taste the punishment. So we led you astray