Surah Yunus (10) — Ayah 18

(Ayah 18) ➊ {وَ يَعْبُدُوْنَ مِنْ دُوْنِ اللّٰهِ … : } The polytheists of Makkah also worshipped Allah Almighty and would also call upon other beings in absentia, and they used to say that we do not consider them to be Allah Almighty, rather they get our tasks done from Allah Almighty (see Zumar: 3). and that Allah Almighty does not reject their intercession, even though they could neither benefit them nor harm them (see Ma'idah: 76; Furqan: 3), rather they were not even aware that anyone was calling upon them or worshipping them. This is exactly the state of those people in our times who consider saints and spiritual leaders as fulfillers of needs and removers of difficulties, and who prostrate at the graves of deceased friends of Allah, circumambulate them, make offerings upon them, and stand before them with folded hands in humility. When someone tries to explain to them, they present the same argument that we do not prostrate to these elders nor ask them for wishes thinking that they themselves are Allah Almighty, rather we only consider them as our intercessors with Allah Almighty, because they have so much influence over Allah Almighty and He is so compelled by His love for them that He cannot reject any of their intercessions. The answer to this is being given in the next sentence.

➋ {قُلْ اَتُنَبِّـُٔوْنَ۠ اللّٰهَ بِمَا لَا يَعْلَمُ … :} That is, Allah Almighty knows every matter and everything in the heavens and the earth, rather He is the very Creator and Sustainer of them at every moment, so how can He be unaware? If, God forbid, these idols of yours or your living and dead deities were His partners or intercessors, then He would surely know them as well. When He is denying the partnership or intercession of any of them, it is clear that they have no existence or reality. Now, your insistence on considering them as partners or intercessors and as those who can benefit or harm means that while Allah knows of no such being in the heavens and the earth, you are telling Him about something which is not even in His knowledge. It is clear that your saying this and all your actions based on it are completely absurd and meaningless. Allah Almighty is absolutely pure and highly exalted above the shirk of these polytheists; He is neither in need of any helper nor compelled by the hands of any intercessor.

18. 1. That is, not by abandoning the worship of Allah, but by exceeding the bounds in Allah's worship. Because the polytheists used to worship Allah, and also others besides Allah.

18. 2. Whereas the status of a deity is such that he is capable of rewarding his obedient servants and punishing his disobedient ones.

18. 3. That is, through their intercession, Allah fulfills our needs, rectifies our misfortunes, or undoes the harm caused by our enemies. That is, even the polytheists did not consider those whom they worshipped besides Allah to be independently beneficial or harmful, but rather regarded them as intermediaries and means between themselves and Allah.

18. 4. That is, Allah does not know that He has any partner, or that there will be any intercessors in His presence; as if these polytheists are informing Allah that You are unaware, but we are telling You that You have partners and intercessors who will intercede for their devotees.

18. 5. Allah Almighty has said that the statements of the polytheists are baseless. Allah Almighty is pure and exalted above all these things.

They worship, besides Allah, things that can neither harm nor benefit them [28], and they say, "These are our intercessors with Allah." Say, "Are you informing Allah of something He does not know in the heavens or in the earth [29]?" Exalted is He and far above what they associate with Him.

[28]
Intercession of ﴿من دون الله﴾?

That is, there is no being besides Allah who can rectify anyone’s affairs or benefit anyone, so to worship anyone else with such a belief is futile, and in this regard, associating others with Allah’s attributes is a great crime. And when they are asked why they worship them, they say that indeed the Great God is only One, but worshipping and pleasing these deities is necessary so that, according to whatever little authority they possess, they may set our affairs right, and for what they cannot do, they may intercede for us. And if there is a life after death, then there too they will intercede for us.

[29]
There is No Evidence for the Popular Belief in Intercession:

The belief of the polytheists regarding prostrating before idols or deities, or showing them reverence, is that in reality, they do not worship or revere these stone statues themselves, but rather they show reverence to the spirits of these statues, which according to their belief, reside in these statues. And these statues are of elders, of Allah’s daughters and sons, and of some angels as well. And today’s Muslim attaches the same belief to the graves of their elders. Allah Almighty said in response to the polytheists that the claim of idols being intercessors and any intercessor being worthy of worship—both are false and baseless. And it is impossible that the reality of something exists, but Allah is unaware of it. So, do these polytheists want to inform Allah of such self-invented things that have no existence whatsoever in the heavens or the earth? Then, which intercessors are they trying to inform Allah about?