Surah Al-Anbiyaa (21) — Ayah 101

(Ayah 101){ اِنَّ الَّذِيْنَ سَبَقَتْ لَهُمْ مِّنَّا الْحُسْنٰۤى …:’’ الْحُسْنٰۤى ‘‘ ’’اَلْأَحْسَنُ‘‘} is the feminine form of ''اَلْأَحْسَنُ'', meaning the best thing. The intended meaning is the happiness and good fortune that Allah Almighty has already written in their destiny. After mentioning those who will enter Hell due to shirk, Allah Almighty mentioned those who have faith in Allah and His Messenger. These are the people for whom Allah Almighty has already destined happiness, the ability to do good deeds, or forgiveness, and they will be kept far from Hell. Some commentators have interpreted this verse to refer to the righteous, prophets, and angels whom the polytheists used to worship. According to them, this verse was revealed in response to the objection of the polytheists who said that if those worshipped besides Allah will enter Hell, then people have also worshipped angels and prophets. The answer given was that these people will be kept far from Hell. Although this verse contains the answer to that objection, the words of the verse are general, so along with angels, prophets, and the righteous, all fortunate believers are included, and this is the special style of Allah Almighty that He mentions Paradise and Hell, and the good and the evil, together. Thus, Allah Almighty has mentioned five blessings that will be granted to the fortunate people, the first of which is that they will be kept far from Hell.

11. 1. Some people might have had this objection in their minds, or it could have been raised by the polytheists, as indeed it is raised, that worship is also offered to ʿIsa and ʿUzayr عليهما السلام, angels, and many righteous people, so will they too be thrown into Hell along with their worshippers? In this verse, this has been clarified that these people were righteous servants of Allah, and because of their righteousness, Allah has already decreed for them goodness, that is, eternal happiness or the glad tidings of Paradise. They will remain far from Hell.

Indeed, those for whom the best reward [89] from Us has already been decreed will be kept far away from Hell.

[89]
Which Deities Will Be Saved from Hell:

When this verse was revealed that all the polytheists, along with their deities, will become the fuel of Hell, the polytheists began to say that besides these idols, we also worship angels. Similarly, the Christians have made Jesus (peace be upon him) and the Jews have made Uzair (peace be upon him) their deities, so will these angels, Jesus (peace be upon him), and Uzair (peace be upon him) all go to Hell? The answer to this question was given by the Messenger of Allah ﷺ that whoever himself desires to be worshipped will certainly enter Hell. And in reference to this, Allah Almighty revealed this verse, and according to both answers, the angels, Jesus (peace be upon him), Uzair (peace be upon him), and all other personalities are also excluded, who themselves were righteous servants of Allah and worshipped only Allah, but later people began to worship them. As has come in the authentic hadiths, the five idols—Wadd, Suwa', Yaghuth, Ya'uq, and Nasr—whom the people of Noah (peace be upon him) used to call upon, were in reality righteous servants of Allah. And seeing them would remind one of Allah. Later, Satan taught people to make statues of these elders and keep them with themselves, so that they would experience the same pleasure in worshipping Allah as they did in the presence of these elders. Thus, initially, their statues were carved for this purpose, but later people began to worship these statues. [بخاري، كتاب التفسير]
And in this way, Satan succeeded in his evil and the beginning of shirk (polytheism) occurred among mankind. Then, shirk is not only that a person prostrates before someone or performs acts reserved for Allah, or offers sacrifices or vows before them, but even considering anything as a remover of difficulties and fulfiller of needs and calling upon it is also clear shirk. And there is no shortage in this world of such "elders" who desire this kind of reverence and honor. Such people will also, in reality, become the fuel of Hell. And those people who were later made into deities, even though they themselves kept forbidding such things, Hell will not even touch them.