Surah An-Nahl (16) — Ayah 22

(Ayah22){اِلٰهُكُمْ اِلٰهٌ وَّاحِدٌ … :} After mentioning all the previous arguments and favors, the result and summary is stated that your deity, whose worship is the truth, is only One. The meaning of {’’ وَاحِدٌ ‘‘} is that He is One, there is no equal or partner to Him, neither in essence nor in attributes. Next, those causes are mentioned which lead a person away from monotheism towards polytheism. These causes are as follows: (1) The first cause among them is not believing in the Hereafter. In the verse, only the polytheists are referred to as {’’ فَالَّذِيْنَ لَا يُؤْمِنُوْنَ بِالْاٰخِرَةِ ‘‘}; if one is certain that Allah will resurrect and question, and that reward and punishment will be solely in His hands, with no one else having any share, then how could a person associate anyone else with Him? That is why the deniers of the Hereafter cannot even bear to hear the mention of Allah alone, as He said: «{ وَ اِذَا ذُكِرَ اللّٰهُ وَحْدَهُ اشْمَاَزَّتْ قُلُوْبُ الَّذِيْنَ لَا يُؤْمِنُوْنَ بِالْاٰخِرَةِ وَ اِذَا ذُكِرَ الَّذِيْنَ مِنْ دُوْنِهٖۤ اِذَاهُمْ يَسْتَبْشِرُوْنَ}» [ الزمر : ۴۵ ] "And when Allah alone is mentioned, the hearts of those who do not believe in the Hereafter shrink with aversion, but when those other than Him are mentioned, they rejoice." (2) The second cause is that their hearts are rejecting; they neither accept any argument nor, despite knowing all of Allah's blessings, do they acknowledge any blessing, as He said: «{يَعْرِفُوْنَ نِعْمَتَ اللّٰهِ ثُمَّ يُنْكِرُوْنَهَا }» [ النحل : ۸۳ ] "They recognize the blessing of Allah, then they deny it." They have been distorted and sealed, as Allah said: «{ خَتَمَ اللّٰهُ عَلٰى قُلُوْبِهِمْ وَ عَلٰى سَمْعِهِمْ وَ عَلٰۤى اَبْصَارِهِمْ غِشَاوَةٌ}» [البقرۃ : ۷ ] "Allah has set a seal upon their hearts and upon their hearing, and over their eyes is a heavy covering." In the hadith of Hudhayfah (may Allah be pleased with him), their example is given as an upside-down jug, into which nothing can enter; thus, those hearts neither recognize good as good nor evil as evil, except for their own desires, the love of which has been made to flow in them. [ مسلم، الإیمان، باب رفع الأمانۃ و الإیمان… : ۱۴۴ ]
(3) The third cause is their arrogance, that is, considering themselves very great. Their pride does not let them listen to or accept any advice, and this is the root of all their diseases, and it is such a dangerous thing that Abdullah ibn Mas'ud (may Allah be pleased with him) narrates from the Prophet (peace be upon him), he said: [ لَا يَدْخُلُ الْجَنَّةَ مَنْ كَانَ فِيْ قَلْبِهِ مِثْقَالُ ذَرَّةٍ مِنْ كِبْرٍ ، قَالَ رَجُلٌ إِنَّ الرَّجُلَ يُحِبُّ أَنْ يَكُوْنَ ثَوْبُهُ حَسَنًا، وَنَعْلُهُ حَسَنَةً. قَالَ إِنَّ اللّٰهَ جَمِيْلٌ يُحِبُّ الْجَمَالَ، الْكِبْرُ بَطَرُ الْحَقِّ وَغَمْطُ النَّاسِ ] [ مسلم، الإیمان، باب تحریم الکبر و بیانہ : ۹۱ ] "He who has even an atom's weight of arrogance in his heart will not enter Paradise." A man said: "A person likes that his clothes are good and his shoes are good." He said: "Indeed, Allah is beautiful and loves beauty; arrogance is rejecting the truth and looking down on people."