ﲝ ﲞ ﲟ ﲠ ﲡ ﲢ ﲣ ﲤ ﲥ ﲦ ﲧ ﲨ ﲩ ﲪ ﲫ ﲬ ﲭ ﲮ ﲯ ﲰ ﲱ ﲲ ﲳ ﲴ
Or have they other deities who have ordained for them a religion to which Allah has not consented? But if not for the decisive word, it would have been concluded between them. And indeed, the wrongdoers will have a painful punishment.
Tafsir
Verse range: 42:21
"Or" (Am): The hamza in Am is for the purpose of affirmation and reproach.
"Their partners": Their devils who adorned for them polytheism, the denial of the Resurrection, and working for the worldly life; for they know nothing else. This is the religion that the devils legislated for them, while Allah is exalted far above permitting or commanding it.
It is also said: "Their partners" refers to their idols. They are attributed to them because they took them as partners to Allah; thus, they are sometimes attributed to them due to this association, and sometimes to Allah. Since they were the cause of their misguidance and temptation, they were described as "legislating" a religion of disbelief, as Ibrahim (peace be upon him) said: "They have led many people astray."
"And were it not for the word of decision": That is, the prior decree to delay the recompense. Meaning: Were it not for the promise that the decision will take place on the Day of Resurrection, "it would have been judged between them"—that is, between the disbelievers and the believers, or between the polytheists and their partners.
Muslim ibn Jundub read it as wa-anna al-ẓālimīn (and that the wrongdoers) with a fatha, connecting it to "the word of decision." This means: Were it not for the word of decision and the decree of punishing the wrongdoers in the Hereafter, it would have been judged between them in this world.
