nor the disbelievers among the People of the Book—neither Jews nor Christians—nor any other category of disbelievers. For He said:

“I do not worship what you worship.”

He used the word mā (“what”), rather than saying “whom you worship.” As explained earlier, mā indicates an attribute. As for the explanation given by al-Mahdawī and others—that He said “what I worship” rather than “whom I worship” to parallel “Nor am I a worshipper of what you have worshipped,” where idols are meant—it is exceedingly weak. It distorts linguistic usage, restricts the Quran’s deliberately general scope, and removes the very meaning upon which this disavowal rests. For in Arabic, mā is used either for entities without knowledge or for the attributes of those endowed with knowledge, as in His words:

“Marry those who please you,”

“and Him who fashioned it,”

and “and Him who created the male and the female.”

Likewise, among the transmitted expressions of glorification to be said upon hearing thunder is: “Glory be to Him whom it glorifies.” There are many similar examples. Thus, His words,

“Nor are you worshippers of what I worship,”

conform to ordinary Arabic usage.

Furthermore, His words,

“I do not worship what you worship,”

address disbelievers without restriction. Thus, he does not worship the angels or anything else worshipped besides Allah, even when those worshipped possess knowledge and reason and are therefore referred to using man (“who”). Restricting this disavowal of polytheism to the polytheism of the Arab idolaters is a grave error. Rather, it is a disavowal of every form of polytheism. For the Lord to be characterized by the lack of knowledge characteristic of idols is something that cannot