they love Allah; for He has said:
“But those who believe are stronger in their love for Allah.”
Thus, it cannot be said that the polytheists worship their gods as those who affirm Allah’s oneness worship Allah. Rather, they love them as they themselves love Allah, for they set their gods equal to the Lord of all worlds. As He says:
“Yet those who disbelieve set others equal to their Lord.”
And He says:
“By Allah, we were clearly misguided when we made you equal to the Lord of all worlds.”
Some who supported the first interpretation, responding to the argument for (the second interpretation), said: “The Quran commentators have said that His words, ‘But those who believe are stronger in their love for Allah,’ mean that their love for Allah is stronger than the polytheists’ love for their gods.”
The reply is: No. What these commentators said contradicts your position. You say that they love these equals as the believers love Allah, yet this contradicts the believers’ having a stronger love for Allah than the polytheists have for their lords. The weakness of this interpretation is therefore clear. It is established that the believers love Allah more than the polytheists love Allah and their gods, because the latter associate others with Him in their love, whereas the believers devote all of it exclusively to Allah.
(Furthermore, in His words), “with a love like that for Allah,” the verbal noun “love” is linked to its object—the one loved—while its subject—the one who loves—is omitted. Either the intended meaning is “as Allah is loved,” without specifying who loves Him, so that it remains general and applies to both groups; but this contradicts His words:
“But those who believe are stronger in their love for Allah.”
Or the intended meaning is “like their love for Allah.” It cannot mean “as others love Allah,” since nothing in the passage indicates this. Their own love, by contrast, is indicated by His words:
“Among people are those who take others besides Allah as equals, loving them with a love like that for Allah.”
He thus attributes to them the love being compared