Surah Yunus (10) — Ayah 28

(Ayah 28) ➊ {وَ يَوْمَ نَحْشُرُهُمْ جَمِيْعًا: } In this verse as well, a disgrace of the disbelievers is mentioned, that on the Day when We will gather all the jinn and mankind, from the beginning to the end, Muslims and disbelievers, righteous and wicked (see Kahf: 47, Maryam: 93, 94), on that Day those who committed shirk and those whom they associated as partners will all be gathered together. Allah Almighty has used the plural form "We" here to express His greatness and majesty, that "We" will gather them. Otherwise, there is no doubt in Allah Almighty being One and Unique; the entire Quran was revealed to explain that He is absolutely One, without any partner.

➋ { ثُمَّ نَقُوْلُ لِلَّذِيْنَ اَشْرَكُوْا …:} Then We will say to those who committed shirk: "You and those whom you associated as partners, stay in your places," so that the reality of your shirk and your partners becomes clear to you.

➌ { فَزَيَّلْنَا بَيْنَهُمْ :} The separation between them means, firstly, that Muslims and disbelievers will be separated, as He said: «{ وَ امْتَازُوا الْيَوْمَ اَيُّهَا الْمُجْرِمُوْنَ }» [ یٰسٓ : ۵۹ ] "And separate yourselves this Day, O you criminals!" and see Surah Rum (14 to 16, 43). Another meaning is that those who committed shirk and those whom they declared as partners will be ordered to stay in their respective places, and then they will be made to converse. The polytheists will say to them: "We used to worship you in the world, call upon you in times of difficulty, consider you owners of benefit and harm, and on the Day of Resurrection, we hoped to take refuge with you and be saved from punishment."

➍ {وَ قَالَ شُرَكَآؤُهُمْ مَّا كُنْتُمْ اِيَّانَا تَعْبُدُوْنَ :} Those partners will say: "You did not worship us; we do not know whom you used to worship." Among those who were worshipped in the world, some were those who wanted to be worshipped, like Pharaoh, Iblis, etc., and some were those who did not want this, rather they forbade anyone from being made a partner with Allah, like the Prophets and the righteous. Now, when Allah Almighty will gather everyone, all those who were worshipped and revered will clearly disassociate themselves from their worshippers—those who wanted to be worshipped, as mentioned in Surah Baqarah (165 to 167), and those who forbade the worship of others besides Allah, like Masih (Jesus) and other Prophets and righteous people. All of them will have several reasons to disown and disassociate from their worshippers and callers, the first of which is that these polytheists used to consider others besides Allah as All-Knowing, aware of their conditions, and able to hear their pleas, and thus would call day and night: "O Ali, O Hasan, O Husain, O Dastgir, O Data, O Shakar Ganj," etc., whereas these personalities had no knowledge that anyone was calling them. Thus, Allah Almighty said: «{ وَ مَنْ اَضَلُّ مِمَّنْ يَّدْعُوْا مِنْ دُوْنِ اللّٰهِ مَنْ لَّا يَسْتَجِيْبُ لَهٗۤ اِلٰى يَوْمِ الْقِيٰمَةِ وَ هُمْ عَنْ دُعَآىِٕهِمْ غٰفِلُوْنَ (5) وَ اِذَا حُشِرَ النَّاسُ كَانُوْا لَهُمْ اَعْدَآءً وَّ كَانُوْا بِعِبَادَتِهِمْ كٰفِرِيْنَ }» [ الأحقاف : ۵، ۶ ] "And who is more astray than one who calls upon, besides Allah, those who will not respond to him until the Day of Resurrection, and they are unaware of their supplication. And when the people are gathered, they will be enemies to them and will deny their worship."

The second reason is that these people believed that others besides Allah could also bring benefit or harm, whereas the Quran was revealed to explain that no one besides Allah can bring benefit or harm, for example, see Surah Yunus (106, 107), Zumar (38), Mu’minun (86 to 89), Jinn (21), and many other verses. Therefore, all the partners will say: "We had no authority at all; we do not know whom you used to call upon; in any case, you were not calling us." The third reason is that the polytheists, in reality, only worshipped the helpers of their own imagination, whereas all those whom they called upon, not a single one was a partner of Allah or owner of any authority. Now, after worshipping their own imagination and attaching their names, those personalities will be angry with them. See Surah Yunus (66). The fourth reason is that due to the shirk of these wrongdoers, those Prophets and righteous people will have to appear before Allah on the Day of Resurrection and will be questioned, and they will present their excuse of innocence and unawareness. So, because of their shirk and the questioning, what will pass over their hearts and the anxiety of being summoned—we cannot even estimate how much they will be disgusted with them and how great enemies they will be. See Surah Ma’idah (116 to 118). As for those kings, pirs, and devils who wanted to be worshipped and led them to shirk, they themselves will be caught up in their own calamity; they will not be able to help them at all, even Satan will say: "Did I send any army against you? I only invited you; you did not have to accept. Now I cannot help you in any way, nor can you help me." See Surah Ibrahim (21, 22).

➎ From all this detail, it is clear that shirk is not just calling upon stone idols or graves, but calling upon those personalities whose idols or graves they are. Otherwise, what was the need to make idols? They could have worshipped any stone. The offerings and prostrations at the idol or grave clearly mean the worship of those personalities whose idols or graves they are. See the commentary of Surah Nuh, verse (23).

28. 1. By جَمَیْعًا is meant all the inhabitants of the earth, humans and jinn, from the beginning to the end of time; Allah Almighty will gather them all together, just as it is stated elsewhere (ۙ وَّحَشَرْنٰهُمْ فَلَمْ نُغَادِرْ مِنْهُمْ اَحَدًا) 18. Al-Kahf:47) We will gather them all together, not leaving a single one of them behind.

28. 2. In contrast to them, the people of faith will be placed on the other side, meaning the believers and the disbelievers and polytheists will be separated and distinguished from each other, as it is said (وَامْتَازُوا الْيَوْمَ اَيُّهَا الْمُجْرِمُوْنَ) 36. Ya-Sin:59) On that day, people will be divided into groups, that is, into two groups (Ibn Kathir).

28. 3. That is, the special relationships they had among themselves in the world will be ended, and they will become enemies of each other, and their deities will deny that these people used to worship them, call upon them for help, or make vows and offerings in their names.

28. And on the Day We gather them all together, then We will say to those who associated partners with Allah: "Stay in your place, you and your partners." Then We will separate them from one another [41], and their partners will say to them: "You were not worshipping us [42][43]."

[41] The meaning of ﴿زَيّل﴾ is to remove something from its original place in such a way that it becomes distinct from others; that is, on the Day of Resurrection, first We will say to the polytheists and their deities, "You stand in your place," then the worshippers will be separated and the deities will be separated, and they will be brought face to face with each other so that they can question and answer each other directly.

[42] This includes all those things that were worshipped in the world; this includes trees and stones, cattle such as cows and oxen, angels, prophets such as ‘Isa ؑ and Uzair ؑ, as well as saints, religious elders, and spiritual guides. Also included are goddesses, gods, and their idols. In short, whatever has been worshipped in any form will all be gathered there.

[43]
The Inhabitants of the Graves Do Not Hear the Callers:

Among the deities, there are some things that are lifeless, such as stone idols, and some that are speechless, such as the sun, moon, stars, snakes, oxen, etc. Allah Almighty will grant all these things the power of speech, and they will deny the worship of their worshippers in front of them, because they have neither life nor intellect. How could they know what worship is and what shirk is? Therefore, they will be fully justified in expressing complete ignorance. As for those deities who belong to the intelligent beings, such as angels, prophets, and saints, who were worshipped in their absence, their denial resolves an important issue regarding the hearing of the dead, which has often become the basis of shirk. The practice of grave worship has arisen solely due to this false belief that the dead hear. In this verse and some other verses, this has been clearly refuted. For further details, see my book "Ruh, ‘Adhab Qabr, and Sama‘ Mauta."