Tafsir of Ibraheem 14:36

“My Lord, indeed they [i.e., the idols] have led many of the people astray” — meaning, they were the cause of their misguidance. Attributing the act of misguiding to them is metaphorical, for they are inanimate objects from which no such action can be intended; the true Misguider is Allah (Exalted be He). This is a justification for his (peace be upon him) aforementioned prayer, and it is preceded by the invocation (calling upon the Lord) to demonstrate care for it and a desire for its acceptance.

“So whoever follows me” — among them, in that which I call to, namely Monotheism and the religion of Islam — “then he is of me.” It is possible that the “min” (of) is partitive (denoting a portion), based on analogy, meaning: he is like a part of me in the state of inseparable connection. It is also possible that it is connective (as in the saying of the Prophet, blessings and peace be upon him, to Ali, may Allah honor his face: “You are to me as Aaron was to Moses”), meaning: he is connected to me and inseparable from me in matters of religion. It is called “connective” because it conveys the connection of a thing to the object of the preposition, even though it is grammatically an “initial” preposition; yet its initial nature is based on the aspect of connection—this is as stated in the marginalia of the Sharh al-Miftah by al-Sharifi. This means the object of the preposition is not the source or origin of what precedes it, but rather is so due to its connection. Therefore, one must either posit that its dependent is a specific verb—as al-Jalal al-Suyuti stated in explaining the predicate, that “minni” (of me) constitutes the predicate of the subject, that “min” is connective, the dependent of the predicate is specific, and the ba (in the bi-manzilat - as the station of) is an additive, meaning: “You are connected to me and descend from me in the station of Aaron to Moses”—or one posits a general verb, as al-Sharif preferred in that context, meaning: “His station is a station existing and originating from me, like the station of Aaron to Moses (peace be upon them both).” Positing it as specific here, as we have done, upon the premise of it being connective, is something a sound taste finds pleasant, unlike positing it as general.

“And whoever disobeys me” — meaning, does not follow me. The expression of this as “disobedience,” as has been said, is to signal that he (peace be upon him) is persistent in his invitation, and that the failure of those who did not follow him to do so is due to their disobedience, not because the invitation did not reach them. In al-Bahr, it is stated that there is a semantic antithesis between “following” and “disobedience,” because following is obedience. “Then You are Forgiving, Merciful” — meaning, You are capable of forgiving him and having mercy upon him. Within the discourse, as some have pointed out, there is an ellipsis, the estimation being: “And whoever disobeys me, I do not pray against him, for You are Forgiving, Merciful,” etc.

The verse contains evidence that it is permissible for polytheism to be forgiven. There is no problem in this based on what al-Nawawi said in his Sharh Muslim: that the forgiveness of polytheism was permissible in the ancient religious laws of their nations, and only became prohibited in our Law. Those who hold that the forgiveness of polytheism was never permissible in any religious law have differed in their interpretation of the verse:

Some have gone to the view that it means “Forgiving, Merciful” after repentance, attributing this to al-Suddi. Others have gone to limiting “disobedience” to that which is less than polytheism, ignoring what the parallel phrasing (the balance of the verse) necessitates; this is reported from Muqatil. In another narration from him, he said: “The meaning is: ‘And whoever disobeys me by persisting in disbelief, You are capable of forgiving him and having mercy upon him by moving him from disbelief to faith and Islam, and guiding him to the truth.’”

Others have said: “The meaning is: ‘Whoever does not follow me in the Monotheism I call to and persists in polytheism, You are capable of shielding him and having mercy upon him by not hastening his punishment.’” Similar to this is the saying of the Almighty: “And your Lord is full of forgiveness for the people, despite their wrongdoing.”

Others have said: “The statement is to be taken at its apparent meaning, and this was from him (peace be upon him) before he knew that Allah (Sublime is He) does not forgive polytheism.” There is no defect in this ignorance, for the forgiveness of polytheism is rationally permissible, as established in the principles of jurisprudence, but the authoritative proof (revelation) prohibits it, and it is not required for a Prophet to know all authoritative proofs in a single day.

The Imam (al-Razi) did not find most of these views satisfactory and considered this statement from him (peace be upon him) to be an intercession for the lifting of punishment from the people of major sins before they repent, and that it is evidence for such an occurrence for our Prophet (blessings and peace be upon him). He said: “The ‘disobedience’ understood from the verse must be either minor sins, or major sins after repentance, or major sins before repentance. The first and second are invalid because ‘whoever disobeys me’ is absolute, and restricting it is a departure from the apparent meaning. Furthermore, minor sins and major sins after repentance are forgiven by obligation according to the opponent, so the expression cannot refer to them. Thus, it is proven that the verse is an intercession for the people of major sins before repentance. And once it is proven from him (peace be upon him), it is proven regarding our Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) due to [the command] ‘Follow the religion of Abraham’ and the like, and so that no defect may be attributed to him.” That is as you see it; you have already encountered what will benefit you in this matter, so remember, may Allah guide you.