The Arabic phrase /nazallu/ is applied for the things which...

The Arabic phrase /nazallu/ is applied for the things which are usually done during the day, and now that it has been used in the simple present form, it shows the continuity and permanence of the action. The Qur’anic word /‘akif/ is derived from /‘akuf/ which means: ‘paying attention to something and taking care of it Respectfully’. This is also a further emphasis on the former meaning.

The Arabic word /’asnam/ is the plural form of/sanam/ in the sense of a statue which had been made of gold, silver, wood, and the like, and the polytheists worshipped it while considering it the symbol of their venerable and sacred things. Surah Ash-Shu‘ara - Verses 72-73 قَالَ هَلْ يَسْمَعُونَكُمْ إِذْ تَدْعُونَ أَوْ يَنفَعُونَكُمْ أَوْ يَضُرُّونَ 72. “Said (Abraham): ‘Do they hear you when you call (them)?’” 73.

“Or do they profit you, or harm?” In the method of propagation, we should awaken the consciences by asking questions, because man, by nature, is worshipper, and if he does not adorn the right, he tends to wrong. (When the Qur’an refers to some matters of history, it usually does not point to the number, name, time, and place of the event, but it states its instructive content and message.) When you want to forbid someone from doing evil, you may begin from important evils.

(Yes, the most important evil is to associate something with Allah.) Reasoning and logic is the first step of propagation. The motivation of worshipping is either giving benevolence or removing vice, and idols have neither of them. However, we must have some clear and understandable reasonings when confronting ordinary people. The idolaters also believe in futility of the idols very well, they only follow their ancestors “... but we found our fathers so doing”.

[^1] Anyway, through these two verses, Abraham, by hearing their words, protested them and condemned them by means of two severe logical sentences.

The Qur’an says: “Said (Abraham): ‘Do they hear you when you call (them)?’” Then he (as) continued saying: “Or do they profit you, or harm?” The least thing that is necessary to be found in the object of worship is that the deity hears the call of its worshipper and hastens to help him in his difficulties, or there would be at least a kind of fear from opposition with its command.

But there is nothing seen in these idols to show that they have the slightest amount of understanding, or the least effect in the fate of men.

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