Chapter: It is an act of shirk to seek relief from, or to call upon, anyone other than Allah

And the saying of Allah, the Exalted: “Do not invoke, besides Allah, that which can neither benefit you nor harm you. If you do so, you will surely be among the wrongdoers.” (Yunus 10:106)

Relevance of this chapter to the Book of Monotheism: it sets out a type of shirk that contradicts tawhid—namely, seeking relief from other than Allah or calling upon someone else.

“To seek relief” (an yastaghīth): istighāthah is to request rescue, the removal of hardship.

“Or to supplicate” (aw yad‘ū): the difference between istighāthah and du‘ā’ is that istighāthah is made only by one in distress, whereas du‘ā’ may be offered by a person whether in hardship or not.

“That which can neither benefit you”: should you worship it.

“Nor harm you”: should you refrain from worshipping it.

“If you do so”: that is, if you invoke, instead of Allah, something that can neither benefit nor harm you.

“Of the wrongdoers”: of the polytheists, for shirk is the greatest injustice.

Overall meaning of the verse: Allah forbids His Prophet to call upon any created being that is powerless to bring benefit or avert harm, and He makes it clear that, were the Prophet—hypothetically—to do so, he would thereby become one of the polytheists. The prohibition, therefore, applies to the entire ummah.

Connection of the verse to the chapter: it contains a prohibition against calling upon anyone other than Allah and declares such an act to be shirk that negates tawhid.