Surah Furqan Notes (17-20)

Source: Ibn Kathir

The gods of the Idolators will disown Them on the Day of Resurrection

 (17) And on the Day when He will gather them together and that which they worship besides Allah [idols, angels, pious men, saints, 'Iesa (Jesus) - son of Maryam (Mary), etc.]. He will say: "Was it you who misled these My slaves or did they (themselves) stray from the (Right) Path?"

(And on the Day when He will gather them together and that which they worship besides Allah.) Mujahid said, "This means `Isa, `Uzayr and the angels.''

(He will say: "Was it you who misled these My servants...'') Allah will say to those who were worshipped: `Did you call these people to worship you instead of Me, or was it their own idea to worship you, without any call to that on your part' 

 (18) They will say: "Glorified be You! It was not for us to take any Auliya' (Protectors, Helpers, etc.) besides You, but You gave them and their fathers comfort till they forgot the warning, and became a lost people (doomed to total loss).

("...for us to take (Nattakhidh) any Awliya' besides You,'') meaning, `it is not right for any created being, neither us nor them, to worship anyone except You; we did not call them to do that, but they did it of their own accord, without us telling them to do it or accepting what they did. We are innocent of them and their worship.'

(but You gave them and their fathers comfort) means, `You made such a long period of time pass that they forgot the Reminder, i.e., they forgot what had been sent down to them through the Messengers, calling them to worship You alone with no partner or associate.'

(and became a lost people.) Ibn `Abbas said, "This means, they were destroyed.'' Al-Hasan Al-Basri and Malik narrated from Az-Zuhri: "There was no good in them.''

 (19) Thus they (false gods all deities other than Allah) will give you (polytheists) the lie regarding what you say (that they are gods besides Allah), then you can neither avert (the punishment), nor get help. And whoever among you does wrong (i.e. sets up rivals to Allah), We shall make him taste a great torment.

(Thus they will deny you because of what you say;) meaning, `those whom you used to worship besides Allah will show you to be liars in your claims that they were your helpers and protectors bringing you closer to Allah.

(then you can neither avert nor find help.) means: they will not be able to avert the punishment from themselves, nor will they be able to help themselves.

(And whoever among you does wrong,) means by associating others in worship with Allah,

All of the Previous Messengers were Human

(20) And We never sent before you (O Muhammad SAW) any of the Messengers but verily, they ate food and walked in the markets. And We have made some of you as a trial for others: will you have patience? And your Lord is Ever All-Seer (of everything).

Allah tells us about the previous Messengers He sent: they all used to eat food needing the nourishment in it. They used to go around in the marketplaces seeking to engage in trade and earn a livelihood. This should not, however, affect their status as Messengers, for Allah gave them good characteristics and caused them to speak fine words and do noble deeds, and gave them miracles and clear proofs, from which any person with sound insight may see the confirmation that what they brought from Allah was true. 

(And We have made some of you as a trial for others; will you have patience) means, `We test some of you by means of others, so that We may see who will be obedient and who will be disobedient.' Allah says:

(will you have patience And your Lord is Ever All-Seer.) meaning, He knows who deserves to receive revelation, as Allah says elsewhere:

(Allah knows best with whom to place His Message) (6:124). 

And He knows who deserves to be guided to the Message with which He sent them, and who does not deserve to be guided.

(And We have made some of you as a trial for others. Will you have patience) Muhammad bin Ishaq said: Allah is saying, "If I had willed that the world be such that no one would oppose My Messengers, I could have made it so, but I wanted to test My servants by means of them.'' 

In Sahih Muslim it is narrated from `Iyad bin Himar that the Messenger of Allah said: (Allah says: "I will test you and test others by means of you.'') In the Sahih it is recorded that he was given the choice between being a Prophet and king, or being a servant and Messenger, and he chose to be a servant and Messenger.