harm from you. For they are incapable of doing so, because they do not possess in the universe even the weight of the tiniest ant as an independent dominion; they have not the slightest share with Allah in the cosmos; none of them assists Allah in directing its affairs; and they cannot step forward before Him to intercede for you unless He gives them leave—yet He grants no permission for intercession on behalf of a polytheist. Thus they own nothing independently, have no part in sovereignty, do not help the Owner, and hold no power of intercession with Him without His authorization. Their worship besides Allah is therefore null and void.
Relevance of the two verses to the chapter: they contain a rebuttal of the polytheists who seek closeness to the so-called saints, asking them for intercession and invoking them to bring benefit or ward off harm.
Lessons derived from the two verses:
- A refutation of the polytheists who, alongside Allah, call upon deities—whether angels or others—claiming they can bestow benefit or avert harm.
- The permissibility of disputing with polytheists to invalidate shirk and debating them on that basis.
- Cutting off the causes to which the polytheists cling, for the idolater only worships his object hoping for some benefit, and benefit can come only from one who possesses one of four qualities:
- that he owns what the worshipper seeks from him;
- or that he is a partner with the Owner;
- or that he is His supporter or helper;
- or that he is an intercessor with Him.
Allah—glorified is He—has negated all four of these grounds with regard to the polytheists’ gods; therefore their worship is invalid.