وَلَقَد أوحِيَ إِلَيكَ وَإِلَى الَّذينَ مِن قَبلِكَ لَئِن أَشرَكتَ لَيَحبَطَنَّ عَمَلُكَ وَلَتَكونَنَّ مِنَ الخاسِرينَ

Certainly it has been revealed to you and to those [who have been] before you: ‘If you ascribe a partner to Allah your works shall fail and you shall surely be among the losers.

EXEGESIS

Ḥabaṭa (the root of la-yaḥbaṭanna) means to fail and fade. It is a Quranic term that describes when the acts of someone do not avail him, turn out fruitless, and do not result in any reward.^{‎[1]Kashif, 6/430.} There could be a few reasons for this: 1. The act was not done for God and according to the truth in the first place, but for worldly objectives and according to one’s desires. 2. The act was right at the beginning, but the person nullified and destroyed it by future sin or disbelief.^{‎[2]Raghib; Tahqiq, under ḥ-b-ṭ.} The second meaning is more applicable in this verse.

EXPOSITION

God has declared that Indeed Allah does not forgive that any partner should be ascribed to Him, but He forgives anything besides that to whomever He wishes (4:48, 4:116). The verse also shows that Prophet Muhammad (s) – and all of God’s messengers – were subject to their message just like everybody else, especially to the universal message of monotheism. In chapter 6, after naming and praising several prophets, the Quran says: But were they to ascribe any partners [to Allah], what they used to do would have failed them (6:88). Another example of this is found in what Prophet Jesus (a) said to his people: O Children of Israel! Worship Allah, my Lord and your Lord. Indeed whoever ascribes partners to Allah, Allah shall forbid him [entry into] paradise, and his refuge shall be the fire, and the wrongdoers will not have any helpers (5:72). Therefore, the failing of one’s acts and being among the losers refers to being forbidden from paradise and being sentenced to hell.

This matter of monotheism should be taken most seriously because God has never allowed polytheism from anyone whatsoever.^{‎[3]Furqan, 25/378.} And whoever of you turns away from his religion and dies faithless – they are the ones whose works have failed in this world and the hereafter. They shall be the inmates of the fire, and they shall remain in it [forever] (2:217).

We should also keep in mind that polytheism has various forms and levels; it is not always as blatant as worshipping physical, inanimate objects. Even though Prophet Abraham (a) dedicated his entire life to monotheism and went through many difficult trials and tribulations for this cause, God revealed to him toward the end of his life: Do not ascribe any partners to Me, and purify My house (22:26). Prophet Abraham (a) himself pleaded with God when he was an old man: My Lord! Make this city a sanctuary, and save me and my children from worshiping idols (14:35), and he enjoined his children upon his death that they must live and die as submitters to God (2:132). Not associating any partners with God was also Prophet Jacob’s (a) concern for his children when he was about to die: Were you witnesses when death approached Jacob, when he said to his children: ‘What will you worship after me?’ They said: ‘We will worship your God, and the God of your fathers, Abraham, Ishmael, and Isaac, the one God, and to Him do we submit’ (2:133).

There are a few possible explanations for why Prophet Muhammad (s) has been addressed with such a harsh tone in this verse, even though it is not even imaginable that he would associate anyone with God: 1. The verse is about associating others with God in its most general sense, including the subtlest and most hidden forms of polytheism, which are beyond our imagination. 2. The verse is a general declaration to all nations through their prophets: We revealed to you and the previous prophets this universal message for each and every person: If you ascribe a partner to Allah your works shall fail and you shall surely be among the losers. Rather, worship Allah, and be among the grateful! 3. No matter what degree of infallibility a person has, he owes it to God, because a contingent being has nothing of its own. Therefore, if viewed by himself and without his close connection with God, even the Prophet is completely empty-handed (4:79), and thus the address in this verse.^{‎[4]Bursawi, 8/133, narrated from al-Taʾwīlāt al-Najmiyyah, with some elaboration.} 4. Perhaps the best explanation is to consider the context of the verse, especially its position after the previous verse. This verse is essentially a response to the senseless individuals who wanted to tempt, persuade, and incline the Prophet toward themselves and their idols: Say: ‘Will you, then, bid me to worship other than Allah, O you senseless ones?!’ (verse 64). Therefore, the harsh tone of the verse is really a strong stand and a powerful ‘no’ to those who were hoping for some compromise from the Prophet’s side. So do not obey the deniers, who are eager that you should be pliable, so that they [too] may be pliable [towards you] (68:8-9).

It is important to realise that this verse is not about a merely conventional rule decided by God. Rather, it refers to an existential reality. The following points help to clarify why acting for other-than-God will necessarily result in failure and disappearance:

1. The Day of Judgement is the day of truth (78:39), where the weighing of acts and belief will be by the scale of truth: The weighing [of deeds] on that day is the truth (7:8).
2. However, the only truth is God: That is because Allah is the truth, and what they invoke besides Him is nullity (22:62, 31:30). That is why all truth is from Him: the truth is from your Lord (2:147, 3:60); He is the only source of any good, perfection, or existence: Allah is the creator of all things (verse 62).
3. As for other than Him: falsehood neither originates [anything] nor does it restore [anything] (34:49). This implies that those who invoke others besides Him are under an illusion (13:17, 14:18, 24:39), and they will realise this on the Day of Resurrection, when their objects of worship will fall on their faces: They will be told: ‘Where are those you used to take as partners besides Allah?’ They will say: ‘They have forsaken us. Rather, we did not invoke anything before.’ That is how Allah leads astray the faithless (40:73-74).

It follows from the above premises that the only things that remain are things that are directed at God: Everything is to perish except His face (28:88), because He is the only one that is everlasting: Yet lasting is the face of your Lord, majestic and munificent (55:27). Hence, one will see the results of his acts only if they are aimed at achieving God’s pleasure and proximity: That which is with you comes to an end but what is with Allah shall last (16:96).

An example of this is given in verses that discuss charity and almsgiving, a condition of which is: do not spend but to seek Allah’s pleasure (2:272). The Quran has visualised this by picture language in the following verses: O you who have faith! Do not render your charities void by reproaches and affronts, like those who spend their wealth to be seen by people and have no faith in Allah and the Last Day. Their parable is that of a rock covered with soil: a downpour strikes it, leaving it bare. They have no power over anything of what they have earned, and Allah does not guide the faithless lot. The parable of those who spend their wealth seeking Allah’s pleasure and to confirm themselves, is that of a garden on a hillside: the downpour strikes it, whereupon it brings forth its fruit twofold; and if it is not a downpour that strikes it, then a shower, and Allah sees best what you do (2:264-265).

And you shall surely be among the losers: the losers and their punishments were discussed in verses 15-16.

INSIGHTS FROM HADITH

1. It is narrated that the caliph Maʾmūn had a long discourse with Imam al-Riḍā (a) concerning the infallibility of the prophets. One of the verses that the Imam discussed was this verse, where he said: ‘This is an example of “beat one to frighten another”.’^{‎[5]Uyun, 1/202.}

Notes: 1. This explanation serves to show that there is no contradiction between this verse and the infallibility of the Prophet. 2. It should be noted that the Prophet’s infallibility does not mean that he is no longer subject to injunctions. He would never associate partners with God, but not because he cannot do so. That is why the apparent meaning of the verse is also valid: it prohibits Prophet Muhammad (s) – and all prophets – from polytheism, and by so doing it shows that God’s messengers are the first ones to observe the laws that they brought. Therefore what is meant by this narration is not to exclude the Prophet from the address, but to include others along with him.^{‎[6]Furqan, 25/378-380.} In other words, the hadith does not imply that the Prophet cannot associate partners with God, but it says that since the Prophet does not already do so, the ones that should really take heed of the verse are others who do not have that knowledge, will, and determination.^{‎[7]Mizan, 17/291.}

INSIGHTS FROM OTHER TRADITIONS

The idea of the failing and fading (ḥabṭ) of good deeds is seen in the following lines:

1. But when the righteous turneth away from his righteousness, and committeth iniquity, and doeth according to all the abominations that the wicked man doeth, shall he live? All his righteousness that he hath done shall not be mentioned: in his trespass that he hath trespassed, and in his sin that he hath sinned, in them shall he die.^{‎[8]Ezekiel 18:24.}
2. When the righteous turneth from his righteousness, and committeth iniquity, he shall even die thereby.^{‎[9]Ezekiel 33:18.}

[1] Kashif, 6/430.
[2] Raghib; Tahqiq, under ḥ-b-ṭ.
[3] Furqan, 25/378.
[4] Bursawi, 8/133, narrated from al-Taʾwīlāt al-Najmiyyah, with some elaboration.
[5] Uyun, 1/202.
[6] Furqan, 25/378-380.
[7] Mizan, 17/291.
[8] Ezekiel 18:24.
[9] Ezekiel 33:18.