Insulting Allah
- philhoraia
- Jun 19, 2022
- 4 min read
S 6:108 And do not abuse those they invoke instead of Allah so they abuse Allah in enmity without knowledge. Thus have we adorned for every nation their work. Then to their lord is their return and he informs them of what they used to do.
Asbab al-Nuzul:
(Revile not those unto whom they pray beside Allah lest they wrongfully revile Allah through ignorance…) [5:108]. Said ibn ‘Abbas, according to the report of al-Walibi: “They [the idolaters] said: ‘O Muhammad, either you stop reviling our idols or we will revile your Lord’. And so Allah, exalted is He, warned against reviling their idols lest they wrongfully revile Allah through ignorance”. Qatadah said: “The Muslims used to revile the idols of the unbelievers and the latter used to react against them. Allah, exalted is He, therefore, warned the Muslims against being the cause which drives ignorant unbelievers, who have no knowledge of Allah, to revile Allah as a result of reviling their idols”. Said al-Suddi: “When Abu Talib was dying, [some chiefs of] the Quraysh said: ‘let us go to this man and ask him to forbid his nephew from reviling our idols, for we feel shame to kill him after he passes away and drive the Arabs to say: ‘He used to defend him but once he passed away, they killed him’. And so Abu Sufyan, Abu Jahl, al-Nadr ibn al-Harith, Umayyah and Ubayy the sons of Khalaf, ‘Uqbah ibn Abi Mu‘ayt, ‘Amr ibn al-‘As, al-Aswad ibn al-Bukhturi went to see Abu Talib. They said to him: ‘You are our master and chief, but Muhammad has harmed us and harmed our idols. We would like you to call him and warn him against speaking ill of our idols. And from our part, we will leave him alone to his Allah’. The Prophet, Allah bless him and give him peace, went when he was summoned. Abu Talib said to him: ‘These are your people and cousins!’ The Messenger of Allah, Allah bless him and give him peace, asked them: ‘What do you want?’ They said: ‘We want you to leave us alone with our idols and we will leave you alone with your Allah’. Abu Talib said: ‘Your people are being fair with you, so give your consent’. The Messenger of Allah, Allah bless him and give him peace, said: ‘If I agree to this would you agree to give me one sentence, if you were to utter it, you would rule over the Arabs and non-Arabs alike?’ Abu Jahl said: ‘Yes, by your father, we will give it to you and also give you ten other things like it; but what is it? He said: ‘Say: there is no god but Allah!’ They refused and expressed their aversion at this proposal, upon which Abu Talib said; ‘Son of my brother, ask for something else, for your people are wary of this’. https://www.altafsir.com/Tafasir.asp?tMadhNo=0&tTafsirNo=86&tSoraNo=6&tAyahNo=108&tDisplay=yes&UserProfile=0&LanguageId=2
Ibn Kathir:
"Allah prohibits His Messenger and the believers from insulting the false deities of the idolators, although there is a clear benefit in doing so. Insulting their deities will lead to a bigger evil than its benefit, for the idolators might retaliate by insulting the God of the believers, Allah, none has the right to be worshipped but He. `Ali bin Abi Talhah said that Ibn `Abbas commented on this Ayah 6:108; "They (disbelievers) said, `O Muhammad! You will stop insulting our gods, or we will insult your Lord.' Thereafter, Allah prohibited the believers from insulting the disbelievers' idols,فَيَسُبُّواْ اللَّهَ عَدْواً بِغَيْرِ عِلْمٍ(lest they insult Allah wrongfully without knowledge.)'' `Abdur-Razzaq narrated that Ma`mar said that Qatadah said, "Muslims used to insult the idols of the disbelievers and the disbelievers would retaliate by insulting Allah wrongfully without knowledge." https://quranx.com/Tafsir/Kathir/6.108
The founder of Islam would mock and revile objects of worship and when threatened with like action towards Allah, he came up with the verse. His buddy and future caliph Abu Bakr had this to say regarding Al-Lat recorded in Al-Tabari's History:
Resumption of the account of Ibn 'Abd al-Ala and Ya'qub: 'Urwah said: "This man has offered you a sensible proposal. Accept it, and let me go to him." They said, "Go to him." So 'Urwah went to the Prophet and began speaking to him . The Prophet spoke as he had spoken to Budayl. Then 'Urwah said: "Muhammad, tell me: if you extirpate your tribesmen, have you ever heard of any of the Arabs who destroyed his own race before you? And if the contrary comes to pass,324 by God I see both prominent people and rabble who are likely to flee and leave you ." Abu Bakr said, "Go suck the clitoris of al-Lat! "-al-Lat325 was the idol of Thagif, which they used to worship-"Would we flee and leave him?" "Who is this?" asked'Urwah. They said, "Abu Bakr."'Urwah said, "By the One who holds my soul in His hand, were it not for a favor you did me for which I have not repaid you, I would answer you. " Tabari_Volume_08.pdf Page 76
In non-Quranic hadith we read:
Narrated `Abdullah bin Mas`ud:
The Prophet (ﷺ) entered Mecca and (at that time) there were three hundred-and-sixty idols around the Ka`ba. He started stabbing the idols with a stick he had in his hand and reciting: "Truth (Islam) has come and Falsehood (disbelief) has vanished."
It has been narrated by Ibn Abdullah who said:
The Prophet (ﷺ) entered Mecca. There were three hundred and sixty idols around the Ka'ba. He began to thrust them with the stick that was in his hand saying:" Truth has come and falsehood has vanished. Lo! falsehood was destined to vanish" (xvii. 8). Truth has arrived, and falsehood can neither create anything from the beginning nor can It restore to life
Allah is supposedly a deity that both the founder of Islam and Muslims revere, yet the former called it such names as Al-Mutakabbir 'The Arrogant'. See my post: https://philhoraia.wixsite.com/website/post/al-mutakabbir Do Muslims get upset? See also: https://philhoraia.wixsite.com/website/post/the-99-names
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