Chapter: Allah the Exalted says, “So do not set up rivals to Allah while you know” (al-Baqarah 2:22).

Ibn ʿAbbās, commenting on the verse, said: “The ‘rivals’ (andād) are shirk—more subtle than the crawling of an ant across a smooth black stone in the dead of night. It is when you say, ‘By Allah—and by your life, O So-and-so—and by my life’; or when you say, ‘Had this little dog not been here, the thieves would have come,’ or, ‘Were it not for the ducks in the house, the thieves would have come.’ The same applies when a man says to his companion, ‘Whatever Allah and you will,’ or says, ‘Were it not for Allah and So-and-so.’ Do not insert So-and-so into such statements—every bit of that is shirk.” Reported by Ibn Abī Ḥātim.

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Why this chapter belongs in the Book of Monotheism: perfecting tawḥīd requires guarding the tongue against phrases that contain shirk, even when the speaker does not intend it inwardly. The author—may Allah have mercy on him—therefore devoted this chapter to alert the reader and to list some of these expressions so that they, and anything like them, may be avoided.

“So do not set up rivals to Allah” means: do not assign to Him any equals or peers to whom you direct worship, or any part of it.

“While you know” means: while you know that He alone is your Lord, that no one else provides for you, and that no one but Him deserves worship.

“In the verse” here means: in explaining the verse.

“Dabīb al-naml” is an ant’s quiet movement.

“ʿAlā ṣafāh”: ṣafā refers to a smooth stone.