Surah Al-A'raaf (7) — Ayah 173

(Ayah 173) {اَوْ تَقُوْلُوْۤا اِنَّمَاۤ اَشْرَكَ …:} Or that you present this excuse that we only followed the path of shirk by observing our elders, what fault is ours? The meaning is that no excuse of imitation will be accepted regarding shirk. { ’’ الْمُبْطِلُوْنَ ‘‘} refers to forefathers, meaning to say that the real criminals are they, not us. There will be no room for such an excuse there, because initially, the recognition of one's Lord and His oneness has been placed in the nature of every person, then for its reminder and explanation, messengers have been sent and books have been revealed, and in the universe, its evidences have been placed, and intellect has also been granted for their understanding.

173. 1. That is, We took this covenant and testimony of Our Lordship so that you may not present the excuse that we were unaware, or that our forefathers used to commit shirk; these excuses will not be accepted in the Divine Court on the Day of Resurrection.

173. Or lest you say, "It was only our forefathers who associated partners (with Allah) before (us), and we were merely their descendants after them. Will You then destroy us for what those who followed falsehood did?" [176]

[176]
The Covenant of Alast and Completion of Proof:

Allah Almighty has stated two purposes for this primordial covenant. One is that proof should be completed against mankind, so that no polytheist, atheist, disbeliever, or disobedient person can say on the Day of Resurrection that they were unaware of this reality, because Allah Almighty has placed within man the capacity to understand this covenant, and externally, He has also sent prophets (peace be upon them) and scriptures. The second is that a person cannot absolve himself of responsibility for his misguidance by blaming his previous generations or a corrupted environment, because this covenant was taken from every individual personally. He cannot say that the real polytheists or wrongdoers were our elders, so why are we being punished merely for being their descendants?

The Denial of the Covenant of Alast by the Mu'tazilah and Its Refutation:

The incident of presenting all the souls of Prophet Adam at the time of the Covenant of Alast is narrated from many Companions in numerous books of hadith, such as Tirmidhi, Abu Dawood, Malik, and Ahmad. Despite this, the Mu'tazilah have denied this incident and rejected such hadiths on the basis that they are solitary reports (khabar wahid). They interpret this verse to mean that Allah Almighty brought forth the progeny of Prophet Adam from their loins in the form of sperm, then transferred them to the wombs of their mothers, then made them pass through the stages of ‘alaqah, then mudghah, etc., and after making them complete in creation, brought them out from their mothers’ wombs, then granted them intellect and senses, by which they could reflect upon the universe and establish proofs of His oneness. Thus, these very proofs are, in a sense, the covenant from Allah Almighty and making them witnesses over this matter, and Allah’s creating such proofs in the universe is, in effect, taking the covenant, and their acknowledgment and bearing witness in this state is by the tongue of their condition. The Mu'tazilah present two arguments in support of their interpretation: one textual, the other rational. The textual argument is that Adam (peace be upon him) is mentioned in this verse, and similarly, due to the mention of Prophet Adam, the words "min zuhoorihim" (from their loins) are used. If this incident were related only to our master Adam (peace be upon him), then instead of "min zuhoorihim," it should have been "min zuhoorihi." The answer to this argument is that Allah Almighty’s intent is that, successively, the offspring of each prophet was brought forth from his loins, who were to be born until the Day of Resurrection. For example, Zaid from the loins of Amr, and Amr from his father Khalid, and so on. Inevitably, this chain will ultimately end with our master Adam (peace be upon him), because he is the father of all Prophet Adam. That is, Adam’s offspring, then his offspring, and so on, until all the souls of Prophet Adam were presented, including Adam (peace be upon him) himself and all his progeny to come until the Day of Resurrection. Now, whether the words are "Adam" and "min zuhoorihi" or "Prophet Adam" and "min zuhoorihim," the meaning remains the same. In other words, the difference in wording does not affect the meaning. Their rational argument is that a covenant is taken from those who possess intellect and understanding, and souls did not possess intellect and understanding, because if they had, we should also remember it, whereas no one remembers such a covenant. The answer to this argument has already been given above. After these two arguments, the interpretation of this verse presented by the Mu'tazilah is that Allah Almighty’s creating proofs in the universe is, in effect, taking the covenant, and people or Prophet Adam, in this state, acknowledge and bear witness by the tongue of their condition. In other words, no actual event took place. Allah created the universe, so that was His taking the covenant, and when people saw this universe, that was their acknowledgment and bearing witness. You may judge for yourself how weighty this interpretation is.