ভূমিকা

('They do not own') This holy verse continues the previous discussion about struggling with polytheism, idol worshipping, and baseless claims of idol worshippers about their idols and then-accusations of the holy Qur'an and the Prophet (p.b.u.h.) mentioned in former verses.

First, polytheists are in fact called to trial and, to pick then-conscience with a clear, simple, decisive logic, it says: "Yet they have taken gods, besides Him, gods that do not create anything while they are themselves created ..." The real deity is the Creator of the universe, but they did not have such a claim about idols and they knew them as creatures of Allah. But what was their motivation for worshipping idols?

Idols that possess not hurt nor profit for themselves, and possess not death nor life, nor power to raise the dead (let alone others). The verse in this regard says: "... and they do not own for themselves any hurt or profit, nor can they control death nor life nor resurrection." The principles that are important for man are as follows: profit, loss, death, life, and resurrection. Does one who is the owner of these affairs deserve worshipping?

But idols cannot do such things for themselves, let alone they want to protect and support their worshippers? What a shameful logic is that man follows a creature and worships it, while it cannot even control itself let alone others. Neither does this idol solve a problem in this world nor can it do anything in the other world.

This sentence shows that this group of polytheists, who have been addressed in this verse, had accepted resurrection in a way (although not physical one but spiritual resurrection). Or the Qur'an was certain about their lack of belief in the resurrection and talked to them in a certain and decisive way.