أَجَعَلَ الآلِهَةَ إِلٰهًا واحِدًا ۖ إِنَّ هٰذا لَشَيءٌ عُجابٌ
Has he reduced the gods to one god? This is indeed an odd thing!’
EXEGESIS
Jaʿala is a very universal verb, said to be even more universal than faʿala (to do), and has a meaning similar to the verb ‘to make’ in English. Here it has the meaning of assuming or thinking, like in the verse, And they have made (jaʿalū) the angels – who are servants of the All-beneficent – females (43:19), meaning they claim and think it is so. In this meaning, the verse would mean: He thinks all of the gods can be one god?! It could also be understood in the sense of ‘made’, as in: He made all the gods into one god. These two meanings are really one and the same though, as ‘making’ here is not actual but conceptual.
ʿUjāb (odd) comes from ʿajab, which was discussed in the previous verse. It is the emphatic version of ʿajīb, or taʿajjub, meaning to find something very strange or surprising.
EXPOSITION
This verse continues with the theme of amazement and wonder introduced in the previous verse. The tone of the Meccans who are being quoted in this verse is mocking, as they intended to ridicule the Prophet by effectively adding a third slander to the two mentioned in the previous verse (magician and liar): madman. In their minds, anyone claiming such a thing should have been insane. Looking at the verse in the context of the theme though, we notice that it is in a way pointing out how ridiculous their beliefs were, when they exclaim wonder and surprise at the most logical of truths, the oneness of God. The Meccan pagans themselves believed in the existence of Allah, the one who created everything, yet strangely they scoffed and guffawed at the notion of Him being the only God. So it is the ridiculers who are in fact ridiculous, and it is their incredulity that is incredible.
We are also told the second reason for the surprise of the faithless Meccans, although this should only be considered the ostensible reason, the true reason being the pride and conceit that was mentioned in the previous verses. This verse is actually continuing the quote from the previous verse. This may then be more akin to a propaganda slogan employed to manipulate people, although some of the Meccan elite may have also sincerely held such views.
According to the pagan beliefs of how the idols supposedly managed their affairs, it was thought impossible that one god could look after all their needs. The Meccan elite knew the beliefs of their people well, and used this to manipulate them and to build resistance and unwillingness amongst the people so they would not accept the Prophet’s call.
REVIEW OF TAFSĪR LITERATURE
Rāzī contemplates the possible reasons for the faithless being surprised and amazed by the message and messenger that came to them. He offers that it could be because their ideas were based on a physical worldview. Looking at the material world, they thought that one agent could not be responsible for maintaining the whole vastness of creation, so they thought the immaterial world should be similar, with many gods looking after its affairs, each responsible for specific duties. Alternatively, he posits that it could be because they looked at the large number of idolaters that had preceded them, thinking it impossible that all of them could have been mistaken, and that this one man from amongst them could be in the right.
[1] Raghib, p. 196.
[2] Zamakhshari, 4/73.
[3] Mizan, 17/182.
[4] Razi, 26/368.
[5] Tabari, 23/79; Suyuti, 5/296.
[6] Razi, 26/368.