Surah al-Isrā’

Shaykh al-Islām—may Allah have mercy on him—said, while discussing the words of the Most High:

“Say, ‘Call upon those whom you claim [to be gods] besides Him,’”

and the following verse, after mentioning that some of the early generations identified them as angels, others as humans, and others as jinn:

The early generations indicate the category intended by the verse through examples, just as an interpreter shows a loaf to someone who asks him about bread. Here, the verse is intended to encompass everything called upon besides Allah. Thus, anyone who calls upon a dead or absent prophet or righteous person—whether he phrases it as an appeal for rescue or otherwise—is covered by this verse, just as it covers anyone who calls upon angels or jinn.

It is known that these beings serve as intermediaries in what Allah decrees through their actions. Nevertheless, He has forbidden calling upon them and has made clear that they have no power to remove harm from those who call upon them or to alter it. They can neither remove it altogether nor shift it from one place to another, nor change it from one state to another by altering its nature or extent. Hence His words:

“Nor any alteration.”

He thus used an indefinite noun encompassing every kind of alteration.