Tafsir of Yusuf 12:106

{And most of them believe not in Allah} regarding their acknowledgement of His existence, Exalted is He, and His being the Creator {except while they associate partners with Him}. The sentence is in the position of a state (ḥāl) for "the most of them," meaning: most of them do not believe except in a state of their polytheism.

Ibn Abbas, Mujahid, ‘Ikrimah, al-Sha‘bi, and Qatadah said: They are the people of Mecca. They believed and associated partners; they used to say in their talbiyah (pilgrimage chant): "At Your service, O Allah, at Your service. At Your service, You have no partner, except for a partner who is Yours, whom You own and whatever he owns." Hence, when the Messenger of Allah, peace and blessings of Allah be upon him, heard one of them saying, "At Your service, You have no partner," he would say to him: "Enough, enough," meaning: that suffices you, do not add "except for a partner," etc.

It is said: They are those who believed when the smoke covered them during the years of drought, and returned to polytheism after it was lifted. From Ibn Zayd, ‘Ikrimah, Qatadah, and Mujahid also, it is narrated that these are the disbelievers of the Arabs in general; they acknowledged the Creator, the Provider, and the Giver of death, yet they associated partners by worshipping idols and statues.

It is said: They associated partners by saying, "The angels are the daughters of Allah," Exalted is He. From Ibn Abbas, it is also narrated that they are the People of the Book; they acknowledged Allah the Exalted but associated partners with Him in that they disbelieved in His Prophet, may Allah exalt his mention and grant him peace, or in that they worshipped Ezra and the Messiah, peace be upon them.

It is said: They associated partners by taking sons, and by taking their rabbis and monks as lords.

It is said: They are the disbelievers who are sincere in supplication during adversity but associate partners when saved from it; this is narrated from ‘Ata’.

It is said: They are the dualists who believed in light and darkness.

It is said: They are the hypocrites who manifested faith and concealed disbelief; this is attributed to al-Balkhi.

From al-Ḥibr (Ibn Abbas), it is narrated that they are the anthropomorphists (al-Mushabbihah) who believed in general terms but disbelieved in detail.

From al-Ḥasan, it is narrated that they are those who show off in their deeds, and showing off (riyā’) is a hidden form of polytheism.

It is said: They are those who look to secondary causes and rely upon them.

It is said: They are those who obey the creation in the disobedience of the Creator.

It may be said, regarding the implication of the verse, that it encompasses everyone who acknowledges Allah the Exalted and His being the Creator, for example, while committing that which is considered polytheism in any form. Among them are the worshippers of graves who make vows to them and believe they can bring benefit or harm—those whom Allah the Exalted knows best regarding their state therein—and they are today more numerous than ants. The Karramiyyah used this verse as evidence that faith is merely an acknowledgement by the tongue, but this is a matter that requires scrutiny.