Disclaimers Availing Nothing.

A Commentary by Sayyid Qutb.

بِسْمِ اللّهِ الرَّحْمـَنِ الرَّحِيمِ

In the Name of God, the Merciful, the Beneficent.

On that day, He will call to them and ask: “Where are those whom you alleged to be My partners?” Those against whom the word (of judgment) has come to pass will say: “Our Lord! Those whom we have led astray, we only led them astray as we ourselves had gone astray. We now disown them before You. It was not us that they worshipped. They will be told: ‘Call on those you alleged to be (God’s) partners,’ and they will call to them, but the latter will not respond to them. They will then see the suffering (that awaits them). If only they had been open to guidance! On that day, He will call to them and ask: ‘What answer did you give to My messengers?’” But to them all information will be blotted out and they will not even ask any questions. However, anyone who repents, believes and does righteous deeds may well be among those who are successful. (The Story, Al-Qasas: 28: 62-67)

The surah now takes us on another round in which it portrays certain images of the Day of Judgment. It shows us the inevitable end to which associating partners with God leads: “On that day, He will call to them and ask: ‘Where are those whom you alleged to be My partners?’ Those against whom the word (of judgment) has come to pass will say: ‘Our Lord! Those whom we have led astray, we only led them astray as we ourselves had gone astray. We now disown them before You. It was not us that they worshipped.’”

The first question is one of rebuke: “Where are those whom you alleged to be My partners?” (Verse 62) God certainly knows that such alleged partners are not to be found on that day, and that those who made the claims about their alleged status know nothing about them, they cannot even reach them.

The question is asked so as to disgrace them. Therefore, those who are asked will give no answer, because no answer is needed or expected. They only try to exonerate themselves for having led others astray, preventing them from following divine guidance, as the elders of the Quraysh used to do with their subordinates. They will say: “Our Lord! Those whom we have led astray, we only led them astray as we ourselves had gone astray. We now disown them before You. It was not us that they worshipped.” (Verse 63)

We did not force them into error, nor had we any power over their hearts. They went astray knowingly and by choice, just like we did. “We now disown them before you,” having had nothing to do with the crime of leading them astray. “It is not us that they worshipped.” They worshipped idols, statues and other creatures. As for us, we did not present ourselves to them as deities, nor did they address their worship rituals to us.

This attempt at diverting the questions will not, however, benefit them. They are forced back to the central point, which is the farce of associating partners with God: “They will be told: Call on those you alleged to be (God’s) partners.” (Verse 64) If those alleged partners could do any good, now is the time to call on them. Hence, they are urged to appeal to them to come to their help. In their misery, they know all too well that calling on them is futile. But they have no choice but to do as they are told: “They will call to them, but the latter will not respond to them.” (Verse 64) Nothing else was expected and so the unbelievers are humiliated: “They will then see the suffering (that awaits them).” (Verse 64) They see it in this dialogue, just as they see it before them. Their inevitable end is one of great suffering.

When the image we see is at its climax, they are shown the guidance they continued to reject. This is the dear wish of anyone in that position on that great day. Guidance is available to them in this life if they will only take it up: “If only they had been open to guidance!” (Verse 64)

They are immediately returned to that dreaded scene: “On that day, He will call to them and ask: What answer did you give to My messengers?” (Verse 65) God certainly knows how they answered His messengers, but the question is put to them as a form of rebuke. In their state of total loss, they have no answer to give: “But to them all information will be blotted out and they will not even ask any questions.” (Verse 66) For “blotted out” the Arabic text uses the word amiyat, which denotes blindness. Indeed, it imparts an air of invisibility to the whole scene. It is as if all information has been blinded and cannot reach them, leaving them with nothing. They can neither ask nor answer any questions. They remain silent, totally lost.

“However, anyone who repents, believes and does righteous deeds may well be among those who are successful.” (Verse 67)

This is the opposite image. At the moment the unbelievers are at the height of their distress, the surah depicts the person who repents of his sins, believes in God and does righteous deeds. This is the person who hopes to be successful. The choice is open to all and the time is there to make such a choice.

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