Tafsir of Yunus 10:18

(And they worship other than Allah that which neither harms them nor benefits them) – A narrative of another of their offenses, connected to His saying (Exalted be He): "And when Our verses are recited to them..." It is a linking of one narrative to another.

"Other than" (min duni) is in the position of a circumstantial qualifier (hal) related to the agent of "they worship" (ya‘budun), meaning: bypassing Allah (Exalted be He). This is either in the sense of abandoning His worship entirely—because worship is not valid nor does it take place alongside association—or in the sense of not being content with it alone and making it a partner to the worship of other than Him (Exalted be He), as some have chosen.

"That which" (ma) is either a relative pronoun or functions as a description, and it refers to the idols. The meaning of them not being able to harm or benefit is that they are incapable of doing so, as they are inanimate objects. The intent of this description is to negate the validity of their being worshipped, for it is the nature of the worshipped to have the power to do what was mentioned.

It is said: The meaning is that they do not harm them if they abandon their worship, and do not benefit them if they worship them. The intent remains the negation of the validity of their divinity, for it is the nature of the worshipped to reward the one who worships it and punish the one who does not. The difference between the two interpretations, according to Al-Qutb, is that the first is a general statement regarding benefit and harm, whereas the second limits it to the act of worship and its abandonment.

It is also said: The intent of the first interpretation is specifically the idols, while the second refers to anyone lacking the attributes of divinity. It is permissible for this to include others besides idols, such as angels and the Messiah (peace be upon them). However, it is apparent that the intent here is the idols, for the Arabs used to worship them—the people of Ta'if worshipped Al-Lat, while the people of Mecca worshipped Manat, Hubal, Asaf, and Na'ilah.

(And they say, "These are our intercessors before Allah.") Ibn Abi Hatim narrated from ‘Ikrimah that he said: An-Nadr ibn al-Harith used to say, "When the Day of Resurrection comes, Al-Lat and Al-‘Uzza will intercede for me." It was concerning this that the verse was revealed.

It is apparent that the rest of the polytheists used to make this statement. Perhaps this was on their part by way of hypothesis and supposition, meaning: "If there is a resurrection as you claim, then these will intercede for us." Thus, it cannot be said that the immediate understanding of intercession "before Allah" is that it occurs in the Hereafter, which implies a resurrection that they deny—as indicated by His saying (Exalted be He): "And they swore by Allah their strongest oaths that Allah will not resurrect those who die," and likewise the aforementioned: "Those who do not expect to meet Us." This would create a contradiction between the concepts of the verses. It is for this reason that Al-Hasan (may mercy be upon him) said: They intended by this intercession the intercession in this world for the rectification of their livelihood; in that case, there is no contradiction. The majority, however, hold the first view. Whoever examines the state of the people sees them wavering, which is why their statements differed.

The attribution of intercession to the idols is said to be based on causality, because—as is well-known—they fashioned them in the images of righteous men of high status among them, claiming that whenever they busied themselves with their worship, those men would intercede for them. It is also said: They believed that every region was managed by a specific spirit from the spirits of the spheres, so they designated an idol for that spirit and busied themselves with its worship, intending the worship of the celestial bodies. Others have said besides this. The truth is that some idols were fashioned according to the first manner, while others were fashioned as physical forms for spiritual entities.

(Say: "Do you inform Allah...") – By way of rebuke for them.

("...of what He does not know?") – That is, do you inform Him (Exalted be He) of what has no existence or reality whatsoever, which is the claim that these idols are their intercessors before Him (Glorified be His Majesty)? For that which is not known to the All-Knowing of the Unseen, whose knowledge encompasses everything general and specific, has no reality at all. They stated that such a thing is not called a "thing" (shay') based on the premise that, as Sibawayh said: "It is what can be known and informed about," which includes both existence and non-existence, as some of our colleagues—such as the Mu‘tazila—have established. They called that which is not known "the negated" (al-manfi), such as a partner [to God] or the conjunction of two opposites. Sheikh Ibrahim al-Kurani researched this in an independent treatise, in which he brought forth amazing wonders. It is permissible that the relative pronoun "what" (ma) refers to the claim that He (Exalted be He) has a partner. The intention in both interpretations of mentioning "informing Allah of what He does not know" is to mock and ridicule them; otherwise, there is no information [of a real thing].

His saying (Exalted be He): ("...in the heavens nor on the earth") is in the position of a circumstantial qualifier (hal) for the omitted object [of the verb "to know"], meaning: of that which He does not know existing in those places. The intent is to emphasize the negation signified by what preceded it, for it is customary when emphasizing the negation of something to say, "This is not in the heaven nor on the earth," due to the common belief that everything that exists is either in the heaven or on the earth, as is the opinion of the theologians regarding everything other than Allah; for He (Exalted be He) is the Worshipped, transcending dwelling in space. The verses that appear to imply such [dwelling] are among the ambiguous ones, and the schools of thought regarding them are well-known. This holds if "heaven and earth" are intended to mean the directions of "above" and "below." It is also said: The discourse is binding (ilzami) because of the polytheists' claim that the matter is as such. It is also said: The meaning of the verse is: "Do you inform Allah of a partner or intercessor, while He knows nothing in the heavens nor on the earth?" just as in His saying (Exalted be He): "And they worship other than Allah that which does not possess for them provision from the heavens and the earth."

("...Glorified be He and Exalted above what they associate [with Him]") – That is, above their association, which necessitates that false assertion, or above the partners whom they believe to be partners. It was recited (tanbu'una) with the light form [of the letter nun]. Hamza and Al-Kisa'i recited it as (tushrikun) with the second-person prefix, as if it were part of the speech He was commanded to utter. According to the first [recitation], it is a parenthetical sentence of condemnation from Him (Exalted be He).

(And mankind was not but one community) – Meaning: Mankind, from the beginning, was in agreement upon the Truth and monotheism without disagreement. This was narrated from Ibn ‘Abbas, As-Suddi, Mujahid, Al-Jubba'i, and Abu Muslim, and it is supported by the recitation of Ibn Mas‘ud (may Allah be pleased with him).