The Ocean of the Quran

A verse by verse explanation of The Ultimate Scripture

Al-Najm – Verse 19

أَفَرَأَيتُمُ اللّاتَ وَالعُزّىٰ

Have you considered al-Lāt and al-ʿUzzā?

EXEGESIS

Al-Lāt‎[1] was the name of one of the idols originally worshipped by the tribe of Thaqīf, whilst al-ʿUzzā was originally worshipped by the tribe of Ghaṭfān and was said to be a large acacia tree.‎[2] Many reports indicate that these idols existed in different places, which, considering idol worship, makes sense since idols were constructed to imitate the ‘original’;‎[3] this is why it has also been reported that all three (including Manāt mentioned in the next verse) were names of idols that were kept in the Kaaba by the polytheists.‎[4]

Raʾaytum (considered) comes from ruʾyah, meaning to see, to opine, and to consider. Its repeated usage here is a literary tool is meant to draw a parallel in the reader’s mind to the earlier verses that spoke of the Prophet seeing the angel Gabriel.

EXPOSITION

Have you considered: the address here is to the Meccan polytheists. After finishing with the initial example of the Prophet seeing Gabriel and the wonders of the Night of Ascension, the surah now turns to the Meccan polytheists to ask them a rhetorical question in order that those with sense may ponder the truth of the matter. The verse is asking them if they have truly considered what they say about these deities being daughters of God. This is a strange and incongruous claim coming from those who detest daughters and want only sons for themselves.

INSIGHTS FROM HADITH

  1. There is a fabricated story related to these verses, which has unfortunately been mentioned by some exegetes, so we must here refer to it only to demonstrate its falsehood. The tale is known as the story of the Satanic verses. It was alleged that after the twentieth verse of this surah was revealed, Satan intervened and whispered to the Prophet some other verses. It is reported in two main sources, Ṭabarī and Ibn Saʿd. The following is quoted from Ibn Saʿd: ‘The Messenger of God (s) saw that his people were turning away from him, so when he was sitting alone he thought to himself: “I wished something would not be revealed that would drive them away from me.” The Messenger of God (s) came closer to his people and they came closer to him. One day, when he was sitting in one of the halls near the Kaaba, he recited to them, By the star when it sets, until he reached, Have you considered al-Lāt and al-ʿUzzā, and Manāt the third one, when Satan inserted two sentences unto his tongue: “Those are the high-flying cranes, their intercession is desired.”‎[5] The Messenger of God (s) spoke those words and then continued reciting the whole surah and then prostrated and all the people prostrated together. Even al-Walīd ibn al-Mughīrah lifted dust to his forehead and prostrated upon it as he was an old man and incapable of prostrating … They were pleased with what the Messenger of God had said, and declared: “We know that God gives and takes life, and creates and sustains, but these our gods intercede for us with Him. If you were to give them a portion then we are with you.” Hearing this was very difficult for the Messenger of God and when he was sitting at home in the evening, Gabriel came to him and [the Prophet] recited the surah to him. Gabriel said: “Did I bring you these two sentences?” The Messenger of God said: “Did I say something that God has not said?” Then God revealed to him, They were about to beguile you from what Allah has revealed to you so that you may fabricate against Us something other than that, whereat they would have befriended you … and then you would have not found for yourself any helper against Us [17:73-75].’‎[6]

Qurṭubī reports the comments of various scholars rejecting the validity of this story and criticising its chain of narrators, after which he himself agrees with them in this rejection, wishing that no one would have related this fabrication in the first place. He relates a few attempts by some to explain the story in a more acceptable manner – such as that Satan whispered the words to the Meccan polytheists, who thought they heard the Prophet whisper it – but correctly concludes that due to the weakness of the report there is no need to try and explain it in any way.‎[7]

There are several reasons why this story is a fabrication:

  1. Its chain of narration is flawed.‎[8]
  2. It contradicts the Quran, which promises that God protects His message from corruption (72:26-28, 15:9, 41:42). This is the bare minimum of prophetic infallibility that is necessitated by reason.
  3. According to this story, no one, not the Prophet, not the Muslims, and not the polytheistic Meccans, were taken aback by the sudden change in theology. It is incredulous that the Prophet would somehow mechanically keep reciting the surah without realising what he said, doing so even a second time to Gabriel.
  4. Such an event would have been far more well-known and spoken of instead of being only related through problematic or mursal
  5. It contradicts everything else we know about the character of the Prophet, who was unwavering in his determination, a man of principle who was never willing to give up his call for anything. Instead, it paints him as wishing for revelation that would appease the tyrannical and oppressive ideologies of the Meccan polytheists against which he fought and struggled for so many years.
  6. The Meccan polytheists were staunchly opposed to the idea of resurrection and a Day of Judgement, which is spoken of several times in the surah, yet this story claims their only qualm with the Prophet was about rejection of idolatry. The reality is that there was a host of beliefs and traditions held by the idolaters that Islam rejected unequivocally, many of these are even brought up later in this surah, such as resurrection and the existence of a Day of Judgement. Accepting three idols would not have brought about a rapprochement.
  7. The verse from Sūrat al-Isrāʾ (17:74) that is mentioned to have been revealed is in fact denying the possibility of such an event; since it is actually saying that God protected the Prophet from doing such a thing.

Some of these reports then claim that some of the Muslims who had emigrated to Abyssinia even returned to Mecca after this event, hearing of a truce between the Prophet and Quraysh. Some orientalists have argued for the authenticity of this story based on this,‎[9] however, even if we accept that some of them returned, there might be a variety of reasons for that,‎[10] and there is no reason to accept a clearly fabricated report and link it to that solely on this basis.

Finally, there are some reports regarding Sūrat al-Najm that claim it to be the first surah which the Prophet read aloud in the sanctuary of Mecca, after which all the Muslims and polytheists prostrated together.‎[11] Such reports should be based on the conjecture of the story we mentioned above, as there is no reason for the polytheists to prostrate for the Quran.

See also the commentary on verse 22:52.

REVIEW OF TAFSĪR LITERATURE

It is also reported that al-Lāt was a house carved into a palm tree which the Quraysh used to worship. In other reports it is said the name belonged to a man who used to grind flour and give to the pilgrims of the Kaaba, and his grave became a place of worship.‎[12] Others have claimed that the name al-Lāt comes from liwā, meaning that the worshippers would throw themselves upon it.‎[13] Finally, some say that the man who used to feed the pilgrims used to make the food in a house carved into a tree.‎[14] In this sense all these various reports can be combined.

[1] It has been said that the letter tāʾ (t) in al-Lāt is the feminine indicator, but it has been written as open (maftūḥah) rather than closed (marbūṭah) so that the one who stops on the word would not pronounce it as the h sound and in this way confuse it with the lāh of allāh (Razi, 28/247).
[2] Tibyan, 9/427; Tabari, 27/35. It has been reported that the Prophet later commanded Khālid ibn al-Walīd to cut it down (Tabrisi, 9/266). Other reports say it was a large, white rock.
[3] Muhit, 10/14-15.
[4] Tabrisi, 9/267; Tabari, 27/36.
[5] Tilka al-gharānīq al-ʿulā, wa shafāʿatuhunna la-turjā. The exact meaning of gharānīq is a matter of debate. See Subḥānī, Furūgh-e Abadiyyat, 1/334.
[6] Ibn Sad, 1/205-206. See also Tabari, 17/131. Ṭabarī discussed this under the commentary of verse 22:52 instead of Sūrat al-Najm, as he sees it to be a case of abrogation of recitation (naskh al-tilāwah). See the commentary on that verse for more.
[7] Qurtubi, 12/81-83. See also Ibn Kathir, 5/389. This possibility is entertained by Nemuneh as well, which relates that the statement ‘those are the high-flying cranes’ was known as a slogan amongst the polytheists (Nemuneh, 22/522).
[8] Ibn Kathir points out that all of its chains are mursal except for one (Ibn Kathir, 5/388-389, in his commentary of verse 22:52).
[9] See for example Muir, William, The Life of Mahomet, 2/153.
[10] For example rumours could have been spread that there was truce to lure them back; or they could have simply found it too difficult to start a new life in Abyssinia, or a host of other possible reasons.
[11] See for example Muhit, 10/9.
[12] Tabari, 27/35. According to some other reports it was located in Taif.
[13] Zamakhshari, 4/422.
[14] Baghawi, 4/308.