Tafsir of Al-Baqarah 2:163

It has been narrated from Ibn Abbas that this was revealed when the disbelievers of Quraysh said to the Prophet (may Allah bless him and grant him peace): "Describe your Lord for us." The address is general to everyone who is fit to be addressed, as is the apparent meaning, not restricted to the occasion of the revelation. The sentence is connected to "Indeed, those who conceal..." (Al-Baqarah: 159), a connection of one narrative to another; the link is that the former was brought to establish his (may Allah bless him and grant him peace) prophethood, and this one is to establish the Oneness of the Almighty.

It is said: The address is to those who conceal [the truth], and in this is a shift from rebuking them for how they treat His Messenger to rebuking them for how they treat their Lord, as they conceal His Oneness and say, "Ezra and Jesus are the sons of Allah the Exalted." Although this transition is well-composed, it removes the occasion of the revelation from the verse, which is invalid.

Attributing "God" to the pronoun of the addressed refers to [His] entitlement, not to [their] occurrence, for the gods that are not entitled [to worship] are many. Repeating the word "God" and describing it with "one" is to indicate that what is meant is unity in divinity and the entitlement to worship. Were it not for this, "And your God is one" would have sufficed. It is like describing a man by saying, "He is a unique leader and a unique scholar."

Abu al-Baqa said: "God" is the predicate of the subject, and "one" is an adjective for it. The purpose here is the adjective; if one had said, "And your God is one," that would have been the intended meaning, yet mentioning it [again] adds emphasis. This is similar to the "preparatory" state (al-hal al-muwatti'ah), as when you say, "I passed by a man who is a righteous person," or as you say in a statement: "Zayd is a person who is righteous." Perhaps the former is more refined.

Most people hold that "the One" here means He who has no peer or likeness in His Essence, His attributes, or His actions. It is also said that it means He who has no parts, is not subject to division, and does not admit to being partitioned at all; the meaning here is not the numerical beginning. The most correct view among those with sound intellects is that He is the One who has no peer or likeness in the entitlement to worship, which necessitates every perfection and denies any taint or deficiency.

"There is no god except Him" is a second predicate for the subject, or another adjective for the predicate, or a parenthetical sentence with no place in grammatical inflection. In any case, it confirms the Oneness and removes, as it is said, what might be imagined—that there exists a god in reality but who is not entitled to worship. The nominative pronoun [in "Him"] is, according to the correct view, a substitute for the hidden pronoun in the elided predicate; thus, it is a nominative substitute for a nominative pronoun.

There has been disagreement regarding what is being negated: is it the "rightfully worshipped" or the "falsely worshipped"? Muhammad al-Shishini said: The negation is only directed at gods worshipped falsely, treating them as if they are non-existent. Abdullah al-Habti said: It is directed at the gods worshipped rightfully. Each side has its proponents. Al-Malwi mentioned that the truth lies with the second [view], because the falsely worshipped has an existence externally, and an existence in the mind of the believer as being false, and an existence in the mind of the disbeliever as being true. Therefore, in terms of its external existence in itself, it is not negated, for an essence cannot be negated. Likewise, in terms of being "falsely worshipped," it is not negated, for the state of being falsely worshipped is a true fact that cannot be denied; otherwise, it would be a lie. It is only negated as it exists in the mind of the disbeliever, [who perceives it] as being "rightfully worshipped." Thus, the false deities were not negated except in their capacity as being "rightfully worshipped." Consequently, nothing is negated in this phrase except that which is worshipped rightfully other than the Almighty. Understand this. The verification of this blessed phrase will follow in its proper place, God willing.

"The Entirely Merciful, the Especially Merciful" are two other predicates after a predicate or two, or for the phrase "your God," or for an elided subject, or the sentence is parenthetical, or they are substitutes according to one opinion. They were brought to distinguish the Essence described by Oneness from everything else, and so that the answer would conform to what they asked. In that is a sign for the argument of Oneness: for since He is the Master of all blessings—the roots and the branches, in this world and the hereafter—and everything else is either pure goodness or predominantly good, and is either a blessing or one blessed, no one else is entitled to worship, as all are equal in their need for Him in existence and the perfections that follow it.