Tafsir of Al-Anbiya' 21:22

"If there were within them..."

If you ask: What prevented you from using the nominative case (al-rafʿ) as a substitute (badal)?

I say: Because law (if) is in the position of in (if) in that the speech accompanying it is affirmative (mūjab), and a substitute is not permissible except in non-affirmative speech. An example is the Almighty’s saying: "And let not any among you look back, except your wife" (Hud: 81). This is because the most general of the general can be negated, but it cannot be affirmed.

The meaning: If there were various gods other than the One who is their Creator managing them and directing their affairs, they would have been corrupted.

In this is an indication of two matters:

1. The necessity that their manager be only One.
2. That this One be none other than Him alone, due to His saying: "Except Allah."

If you ask: Why are both matters necessary?

I say: Because we know that subjects are corrupted by the governance of two kings due to the rivalry, mutual denial, and disagreement that occurs between them. It is narrated from ʿAbd al-Malik ibn Marwān, when he killed ʿAmr ibn Saʿīd al-Ashdaq: "By Allah, he was dearer to me than the blood of my eyes, but two stallions cannot gather in one herd." This is evident.

As for the method of "mutual prevention" (al-tamānuʿ), the theologians have much debate and discourse regarding it, and because these actions require that Essence distinguished by those attributes in order to be established and settled.

"He is not questioned about what He does, while they will be questioned."