Tafsir of Al-`Ankabut 29:25

Surah Al-'Ankabut (The Spider): Verse 25

(And he said: "You have only taken idols besides Allah for affection between yourselves...)

When Abraham (peace be upon him) emerged from the fire, he returned to admonishing the disbelievers and clarifying the corruption of their ways.

He said: If I have made clear to you the falsehood of your doctrine, and you have no response to it nor can you turn away from it, then this is nothing but blind imitation (taqlid). Perhaps there is affection between some of you, so none of you wishes to separate from his companion in conduct and path, or there is affection between you and your forefathers, so you inherited their views, adopted their sayings, and clung to their misguidance and ignorance.

Therefore, His saying: {You have only taken idols between yourselves for affection} means that this (idolatry) is not based on any proof whatsoever.

There is another, more subtle interpretation: His saying: {You have only taken idols between yourselves for affection} means the affection between the idols and their worshippers. This affection is rooted in the fact that a human being comprises a body and an intellect. The body has physical pleasures, and the intellect has intellectual pleasures.

1. The Dominance of the Corporeal: Whoever is dominated by his physicality does not pay attention to intellectual pleasures.
2. The Dominance of the Intellectual: Whoever is dominated by his intellect does not pay attention to physical pleasures.

For example, a madman, if he needs to satisfy a bodily need like eating, drinking, or relieving himself while among esteemed people in a gathering, he seeks the physical pleasure derived from eating and voiding, and pays no heed to the intellectual pleasure derived from good conduct, praiseworthy attributes, and noble character.

The rational person endures physical pain to attain intellectual pleasure, to the extent that if his expulsive force overcomes his retentive force and wind or a drop of urine escapes, he is almost dead from shame and intellectual pain.

Given this, they (the idolaters) were deficient in intellect, and their physicality dominated them. Their intellects could not encompass a deity that was not above them, nor below them, nor to their right, nor to their left, nor in front of them, nor behind them, nor was it a physical body, nor anything that could enter the imagination. They saw the physical bodies that suited their dominant nature adorned with precious things, so they devoted themselves to them. Thus, their taking of idols was an affection between them and the idols.

Then the Almighty said: {Then on the Day of Resurrection, some of you will deny others}. This means on the Day when the blindness of the hearts is removed and matters become clear to the discerning and the heedless, some of you will deny others, recognizing the falsehood of their former state. The worshipper will say, "This is not my deity," and the deity will say, "These are not my worshippers." Some will curse others. One will say to the other, "You caused me to suffer punishment by worshipping me," and the other will say to him, "You caused me to suffer by misleading me through your worship." Each one desires to distance himself from the other through cursing, but they will not be separated; rather, they will be gathered in the Fire, just as they were gathered in this world, as the Almighty said: {And your refuge will be the Fire}.

Then the Almighty said: {And you will have no helpers}. This means that this Fire is not like the fire from which Allah saved Abraham and aided him. You are in the Fire, and you have no helper.

Here are some related issues:

Previously, He said: {And you have no protector or helper besides Allah} (At-Tawbah: 116) using the singular form. Here, He uses the plural form: {And you will have no helpers}.

The wisdom behind this is that when they intended to burn Abraham (peace be upon him), they said, "We will help our gods," as Allah recounted from them: {Burn him and help your gods} (Al-Anbiya: 68). So, He responds to them: You claimed that these idols have helpers, so what help is there for you and them (the idols and their worshippers)? As for the previous verse, since no claim of helpers had preceded from them, He negated the entire category by saying: {nor a helper} (singular).

He said previously: {You have no protector or helper besides Allah}. Why is the term Wali (protector/intercessor) not mentioned here?

We have explained that Wali here means intercessor (Shafi'). There will be no intercessor for you, nor a helper to repel (punishment). Here, since the address includes the idols, meaning "None of you all," He did not say "intercessor" because they were already admitting that none of them had an intercessor, as they claimed their gods were intercessors, like His saying about them: {These are our intercessors} (Yunus: 18). An intercessor cannot have an intercessor. Thus, He did not need to negate the intercessor for them because they already admitted this lack of need for negation. However, in the previous context, the address was to them while they claimed to have intercessors for themselves, so He negated it.

Previously He said: {You have no protector or helper besides Allah}, using the structure of exception, implying that they do have a Protector and Helper, which is Allah, and no one else. Here He says: {You will have no helpers} without exception.

We say: The previous statement was directed to them in this world. He told them: Do not think you can defeat Allah; no one will help you except Allah. Rather, Allah is a Helper prepared for you whenever you seek His help through repentance. This verse, however, pertains to the Day of Resurrection, as He said: {Then on the Day of Resurrection, some of you will deny others}. The absence of a helper is absolute because repentance on that Day will not be accepted. So, whether they repent or not, Allah will not help them, and they will have no helper other than Him; thus, they have absolutely no helper.

{And he said: "Indeed, I am emigrating to my Lord. Indeed, He is the All-Mighty, the All-Wise."}