I stand witness that whoever equated Thee with anything out...

I stand witness that whoever equated Thee with anything out of Thy creation took a match for Thee, and whoever takes a match for Thee is an unbeliever, according to what is stated in Thy unambiguous verses and indicated by the evidence of Thy clear arguments.

(I stand witness that) Thou art that Allah who cannot be confined in the fetters of intelligence so as to admit change of condition by entering its imagination nor in the shackles of mind so as to become limited and an object of alterations.”[^5] The word ‘equate’ clearly indicates that polytheists believed that Allah and idols were in the same category and latitudinal with each other.

Taking the aforementioned issues into consideration, all the Qur’anic verses which have the word ‘ nidd ’ (like, the same as, image) and ‘ indād ’ (rivals) demonstrate polytheistic beliefs that conceived idols as being equal with Allah. Third verse: “He who made the earth a place of repose for you, and the sky a canopy, and He sends down water from the sky, and with it He brings forth crops for your sustenance.

So do not set up equals to Allah, while you know.” This verse explains and refutes the beliefs of idolaters, and states that polytheists believed that Allah had an equal and partner, that idols were latitudinal and equal with Allah. The second proof: applying the word ‘god’ to idols The second reason for asserting that polytheists held that idols were latitudinal to Allah is that Qur’anic verses [state that idolaters used to] apply the word ‘ ilāh ’ (god) to idols.

Ascribing the word god to idols indicates that this word was employed in the same sense that it is used with respect to Allah, and it shows that they believed in the multiplicity of gods, the first of whom is Allah and the rest are idols.

Consider the following verses: First verse: “Your god [ilāh] is the One God [ilāhun wāhidun]; there is no god except Him, the All-beneficent, the All-merciful.” [^6] In this verse, all gods have been confined in the One God and Allah has been described as the All-beneficent, the All-merciful. Evidently, this verse explains that idolaters imagined that the world had a number of gods.

Therefore, this verse bespeaks that polytheists used to call their gods ‘ ilāh ’ (god) in the same sense it is applied to Allah. It is for this reason that the existence of other gods is repudiated. Second verse: “This is indeed the true account, for sure.