Surah Ash-Shu’ara Ayat 213 (26:213 Quran) With Tafsir

Ala-Maududi

(26:213) So do not call any other god beside Allah lest you become of those who will be punished,^[134]

134. Just as there could be no concession or favor for the person of the Prophet (peace be upon him) in a matter concerning Allah’s religion, so there could be no question of a favor being shown to the Prophet’s (peace be upon him) family or his nearest kinsfolk. Here the case of everybody will be judged on merit, and nobody will be shown any favor on account of his ancestry or relation with somebody else. The accountability of the Hereafter and punishment for deviation and misdeeds are the same for everybody and even the Prophet’s (peace be upon him) nearest kinsfolk are no exception. Therefore, the Prophet (peace be upon him) was commanded to warn his relatives and kindred to attain the right belief and to act righteously because they would not escape punishment only by virtue of being his relations.

There are authentic traditions to show that after the revelation of this verse, the Prophet (peace be upon him) first of all addressed the sons and daughters of his grandfather. Calling each one of them by name, he said: O children of Abdul Muttalib, O Abbas, O Safiah, paternal aunt of Allah’s Messenger, O Fatimah, daughter of Muhammad! You are warned to beware and save yourselves from the torment of the Hell-Fire. I cannot protect you from Allah’s punishment. You may, however, demand whatever you like from my worldly property. Then as was the custom in Arabia, to warn the people of an impending calamity, he stood on top of Mount Safa one morning and called out: O people of Quraish, O children of Kaab bin Luayy, O children of Murrah, O children of Qasayy, O children of Abd Manaf, O children of Abd Shams, O children of Hashim, O children of Abdul Muttalib, and in this way he called out each branch and clan of the Quraish by name. When all the people had come together, he said: O People, if I tell you that on the other side of this hill, there is a huge army ready to attack you, will you believe my word? With one voice they replied in the affirmative, saying that they had never heard a lie from him in the past. Thereupon the Prophet (peace be upon him) said: Well, I warn you of the impending scourge of Allah. Save yourselves from His punishment. I cannot be of any help to you against Him. On the Day of Resurrection, the only righteous will be nearest to me. Let it not happen that others should come forth with good deeds and you should appear with the burden of sins on your heads. Then you will call me for help, but I shall be constrained to turn my face away from you. Of course, here in this world, I am bound to you by blood relations, and I shall treat you with all possible politeness as a good relation should. (Several traditions on this subject have been reported in Bukhari, Muslim, Musnad Ahmad, Tirmizi, Ibn Jarir on the authority of Aishah, Abu Hurairah, Abdullah bin Abbas, Zubair bin Amr and Qabisah bin Makhariq).

The matter was not simply this that on receipt of the command to warn your nearest kinsfolk, the Prophet (peace be upon him) called together all his relatives and complied with it. In fact, the principle it meant to stress was that in the matter of religion the Prophet (peace be upon him) and his relations enjoyed no special privilege of which the other people might be deprived. What was harmful for one man was harmful for everybody. The Prophet (peace be upon him) was supposed to first protect himself from this and then warn his nearest kinsfolk and the common people of its fatal consequences. On the other hand, what was good and beneficial for one man was good and beneficial for all. As such, the Prophet (peace be upon him) should first adopt it himself and then exhort his relatives also to adopt it, so that everybody may see that the Prophet does not only preach his message to others but also practices it himself sincerely. The Prophet (peace be upon him) followed this principle throughout his life. On the conquest of Makkah, when he entered the city, he declared: Every kind of interest payable from the people during the age of ignorance, is trampled under my feet, and first of all, I remit the interest payable to my uncle Abbas.” (It should be noted that before the prohibition of interest, Abbas traded money on interest, and a substantial amount of interest payable to him at that time was outstanding against the people). Once the Prophet (peace be upon him) ordered cutting off of the hand of a Quraishite woman, named Fatimah, on the charge of theft, Usamah bin Zaid came to intercede for her, whereupon the Prophet (peace be upon him) said: By God, even if Fatimah, daughter of Muhammad, had committed the theft, I would have ordered amputation of her hand, too.

Ibn-Kathir

213. So, invoke not with Allah another god lest you should be among those who receive punishment. 214. And warn your tribe of near kindred. 215. And be kind and humble to the believers who follow you. 216. Then if they disobey you, say: “I am innocent of what you do.” 217. And put your trust in the All-Mighty, the Most Merciful, 218. Who sees you when you stand up. 219. And your movements among those who fall prostrate. 220. Verily, He, only He, is the All-Hearer, the All-Knower.

Here Allah commands (His Prophet ) to worship Him alone, with no partner or associate, and tells him that whoever associates others in worship with Him, He will punish them. Then Allah commands His Messenger to warn his tribe of near kindred, i.e., those who were most closely related to him, and to tell them that nothing could save any of them except for faith in Allah. Allah also commanded him to be kind and gentle with the believing servants of Allah who followed him, and to disown those who disobeyed him, no matter who they were. Allah said:

(Then if they disobey you, say: “I am innocent of what you do.”) This specific warning does not contradict the general warning; indeed it is a part of it, as Allah says elsewhere:

(In order that you may warn a people whose forefathers were not warned, so they are heedless.) (36:6),

(that you may warn the Mother of the Towns and all around it) (42:7),

(And warn therewith those who fear that they will be gathered before their Lord) (6:51),

(that you may give glad tidings to those who have Taqwa, and warn with it the most quarrelsome people.) (19:97),

(that I may therewith warn you and whomsoever it may reach) (6:19), and

(but those of the sects that reject it, the Fire will be their promised meeting place) (11:17). According to Sahih Muslim, ﴿the Prophet said:﴾

(By the One in Whose Hand is my soul, no one from these nations — Jewish or Christian — hears of me then does not believe in me, but he will enter Hell.) Many Hadiths have been narrated concerning the revelation of this Ayah, some of which we will quote below: Imam Ahmad, may Allah have mercy on him, recorded that Ibn `Abbas, may Allah be pleased with him, said: “When Allah revealed the Ayah,

(And warn your tribe of near kindred.), the Prophet went to As-Safa’, climbed up and called out,

(O people!) The people gathered around him, some coming of their own accord and others sending people on their behalf to find out what was happening. The Messenger of Allah said:

(O Bani `Abd Al-Muttalib, O Bani Fihr, O Bani Lu’ayy! What do you think, if I told you that there was a cavalry at the foot of this mountain coming to attack you — would you believe me) They said, “Yes.” He said:

(Then I warn you of a great punishment that is close at hand.) Abu Lahab said, “May you perish for the rest of the day! You only called us to tell us this” Then Allah revealed:

(Perish the two hands of Abu Lahab and perish he!) ﴿111:1﴾ This was also recorded by Al-Bukhari, Muslim, At-Tirmidhi and An-Nasa’i. Imam Ahmad recorded that `A’ishah, may Allah be pleased with her said: “When the Ayah:

(And warn your tribe of near kindred) was revealed, the Messenger of Allah stood up and said:

(O Fatimah daughter of Muhammad, O Safiyyah daughter of `Abd Al-Muttalib, O Bani `Abd Al-Muttalib, I cannot help you before Allah. Ask me for whatever you want of my wealth.) This was recorded by Muslim. Imam Ahmad recorded that Qabisah bin Mukhariq and Zuhayr bin `Amr said: “When the Ayah:

(And warn your tribe of near kindred.) was revealed, the Messenger of Allah climbed on top of a rock on the side of a mountain and started to call out:

(O Bani `Abd Manaf, I am indeed a warner, and the parable of me and you is that of a man who sees the enemy so he goes to save his family, fearing that the enemy may reach them before he does.) And he started to call out, (O people!) It was also recorded by Muslim and An-Nasa’i. Allah’s saying:

(And put your trust in the All-Mighty, the Most Merciful,) means, `in all your affairs, for He is your Helper, Protector and Supporter, and He is the One Who will cause you to prevail and will make your word supreme.’

(Who sees you when you stand up. ) means, He is taking care of you. This is like the Ayah,

(So wait patiently for the decision of your Lord, for verily, you are under Our Eyes) (52:48) Ibn `Abbas said that the Ayah,

(Who sees you when you stand up.) means, “To pray.” `Ikrimah said: “He sees him when he stands and bows and prostrates.” Al-Hasan said:

(Who sees you when you stand up.) “When you pray alone.” Ad-Dahhak said:

(Who sees you when you stand up.) “When you are lying in bed and when you are sitting.” Qatadah said:

(Who sees you) “When you are standing, when you are sitting, and in all other situations.”

(And your movements among those who fall prostrate.) Qatadah said:

(Who sees you when you stand up. And your movements among those who fall prostrate.) “When you pray, He sees you when you pray alone and when you pray in congregation.” This was also the view of `Ikrimah, `Ata’ Al-Khurasani and Al-Hasan Al-Basri.

(Verily, He, only He, is the All-Hearer, the All-Knower.) He hears all that His servants say and He knows all their movements, as He says:

(Neither you do any deed nor recite any portion of the Qur’an, nor you do any deed, but We are Witness thereof, when you are doing it) (10:61).