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—with respect to Allah—namely, those who set up equals to Him from among His creation and worship them alongside Him.
As for His words,
“And act justly; indeed Allah loves those who are equitable” ⦗al-Ḥujurāt 49:9⦘,
this means: be fair in your dealings, both among yourselves and with other people, for Allah loves those who practice justice.
He also says in another verse,
“Is there a deity alongside Allah? No, they are but a people who ascribe equals” ⦗an-Naml 27:60⦘—that is, they commit shirk. This is the very matter about which the heretics entertained doubts.1
(1) See: al-Tabari, Tafsir, vol. 2, p. 113; Ibn Kathir, Tafsir, vol. 2, p. 64 and vol. 4, p. 457.
بالله، الذين يجعلون لله عدلا من خليقته فيعبدونه مع الله.
وأما قوله:
{وَأَقْسِطُوا إِنَّ اللَّهَ يُحِبُّ الْمُقْسِطِينَ}
[الحجرات: ٩]
.
يقول:
اعدلوا فيما بينكم وبين الناس، إن الله يحب الذين يعدلون.
وقال في آية أخرى:
{أَئِلَهٌ مَعَ اللَّهِ بَلْ هُمْ قَوْمٌ يَعْدِلُونَ}
[النمل: ٦٠]
يعني: يشركون، فهذا ما شكَّت فيه الزنادقة١.
١ انظر: تفسير الطبري "١١٣/٢٩" وتفسير ابن كثير "٦٤/٢" "٤٥٧/٤".