إِن هِيَ إِلّا أَسماءٌ سَمَّيتُموها أَنتُم وَآباؤُكُم ما أَنزَلَ اللَّهُ بِها مِن سُلطانٍ ۚ إِن يَتَّبِعونَ إِلَّا الظَّنَّ وَما تَهوَى الأَنفُسُ ۖ وَلَقَد جاءَهُم مِن رَبِّهِمُ الهُدىٰ
These are but names which you have coined – you and your fathers – for which Allah has not sent down any authority. They follow nothing but conjectures and the desires of the [lower] soul, while there has already come to them the guidance from their Lord.
EXEGESIS
These is referring to the three idols previously mentioned; it is meant to belittle them, saying that they only exist as names. In other words, they have no reality and exist simply on a conceptual level as referents, These are but names. This understanding is supported by the verse, You do not worship besides Him but [mere] names that you and your fathers have coined (12:40).
When something is only a name without a real referent it has no real effect or influence. Those idols and their worship which dictated so much of pagan society and their manners, customs, and beliefs, were only names. Once the pagans that believed in them cease to do so or perish, those idols wield no power of their own. They only existed in the minds of the pagans that believed in them. Similar is the power of tyrants, who only exert influence and power because others are willing to obey them.
Alternatively, These has been said to refer to the names, meaning that these names are only names invented by you and your fathers.
Ẓann (conjecture) is that which one reaches via some kind of evidence or indication. Thus, when it is strong it can sometimes be considered knowledge, but when it is weak it is nothing but supposition. However, when the term is juxtaposed to knowledge it means baseless conjecture.
Anfus (souls) is actually the plural of nafs, meaning soul. It is here referring to the soul that commands to evil. See the commentary on verses 75:2 and 91:7-8 for more on this. The plural here is used to indicate that each person is following their own individual desires.
EXPOSITION
These are but names which you have coined is alluding to one of the root causes of polytheism. Because people in their conjectures compared God to themselves, they thought it impossible for one being to maintain and manage all things, so they assumed that for every sphere there must be a separate maintainer and manager. Therefore, they named a god for each such affair; one for harvest, one for war, one for offspring, and so on. It has been argued that because of the influence of Abrahamic teachings in the Arabian Peninsula, polytheism was then amalgamated with monotheism, which resulted in the idolatry of the pre-Islamic Arabia that still believed in Allah as the creator.
We are told these names were given by you and your fathers. This is alluding to the fact that because the polytheistic creed is based on conjecture and desires it is always in flux. Every generation moves the boundaries and changes the ideology as they wish. There are no foundational principles as it is all fiction. This is the reality of individualistic hedonism and moral ephemerality. This, while the religion of God has always been Islam: your Lord, and the Lord of your forefathers (26:26).
There is no evidence that compels one to believe in the idols, for which Allah has not sent down any authority. No one had seen them in the way the Prophet saw Gabriel and witnessed the great signs of God on the Night of Ascension. Furthermore, if the idols were to truly manage creation they should have done that on God’s authority, and He declares that He has not sent down any such authority to them.
They follow nothing but conjectures and the desires of the [lower] soul. The address here changes as the verb switches to the third person. It is as if God is turning away from the idolaters to His Prophet in order to convey that you, the listener, should also turn away from the idolaters, perhaps to show that there is no use arguing with people who only follow conjectures and desires. As the saying goes, you cannot reason someone out of a position they didn’t reason themselves into. This understanding is supported by what is said later in verse 29.
Also, it should be pointed out that in this statement, following conjecture and desires are equated to one another. These conjectures are not based on reasoning or evidence, even though a thin veil of reasoning may be given to such beliefs, but rather its true source is the desires of the person who came up with them. Since he wishes to follow that, he then presents conjecture as justification: Have you seen him who has taken his desire to be his god and whom Allah has led astray knowingly (45:23).
While there has already come to them the guidance from their Lord. Whereas the previous statement censured following ẓann (conjectures) and linked it to following the desires of the lower soul, that does not mean that following ẓann is never allowed. Indeed, sometimes following ẓann becomes incumbent, as is the case in many rulings of the shariah. However, following ẓann is not allowed when guidance (which represents knowledge) is available, while there has already come to them the guidance. Following knowledge rather than speculation should be a dictate of common sense, but unfortunately, even in today’s society, this seems lost on many. The definitive al in al-hudā (the guidance) suggests that the guidance is complete and sufficient and leaves no need for following conjectures in this matter.
Finally, this verse is also the first explicit mention of an important subtheme in this surah, and that is the matter of knowledge versus speculation, which is linked to following guidance versus following one’s desires. This subtheme is referred to several times later in the surah and is one that appears repeatedly in the Quran. It is also linked to the main theme of spiritual eminence. The Prophet, due to having reached a station of spiritual eminence, spoke based on knowledge, revelation, and guidance, whilst his opponents spoke based on speculation, desires, and baseless traditions. The foray into the exploration of this subtheme is marked by the change in meter as well, as the verses get significantly lengthier from here until verse 33 (with the exception of the next two verses).
See also the commentary on verse 7:71 and 12:40.
REVIEW OF TAFSĪR LITERATURE
Rāzī argues that These are but names which you have coined – you and your fathers addresses both the current and the previous generations. The current generation might claim that they have not coined or come up with these names, rather they have inherited them from their forefathers. Rāzī says the verse is subtly trying to point out the invalidity of this response by arguing that since God did not give authority to their fathers to name these idols as gods, the current generation has no excuse to follow them. It is logically invalid to take the forefathers, who had no authority, as authorities and sources of emulation. If one follows a blind man and gets lost they cannot blame the blind man. The problem with Rāzī’s argument is that it focuses on the names, whereas the name itself is not actually the matter of discussion, as one thing may have many names (as does God) and it is not of central importance what name the idol is called, but rather that a partner is ascribed to God. God is not criticising the idolaters for coming up with names for their false gods, but rather that they came up with such concepts and worshipped other than Him and innovated their religion.
Rāzī also interprets They follow nothing but conjectures and the desires of the [lower] soul to mean that they follow conjectures in their matters of belief, and desires in matters of action.
INSIGHTS FROM OTHER TRADITIONS
- If you do not oppress the foreigner, the fatherless or the widow and do not shed innocent blood in this place, and if you do not follow other gods to your own harm, then I will let you live in this place, in the land I gave your ancestors for ever and ever. But look, you are trusting in deceptive words that are worthless. Will you steal and murder, commit adultery and perjury, burn incense to Baal and follow other gods you have not known?
- ‘Our ancestors possessed nothing but false gods, worthless idols that did them no good. Do people make their own gods? Yes, but they are not gods!’ ‘Therefore I will teach them – this time I will teach them my power and might. Then they will know that my name is the Lord.’
[1] Tabrisi, 9/268; Thalabi, 9/147; Muhit, 17/103; Mizan, 38/19.
[2] Mudarrisi, 14/162.
[3] Zamakhshari, 4/423; Razi, 25/250.
[4] Raghib, p. 539. See for example 38:24, where ẓann should mean knowledge.
[5] Razi, 28/252.
[6] Nemuneh, 22/519.
[7] It is reported from Muqātil that authority here means that God sent no book confirming what the idolaters said (Tabrisi, 9/268).
[8] Razi, 28/251. Razi also suggests that it is possible They is speaking of the forefathers, as if to say that they followed nothing but conjecture when they came up with these idols. However, this explanation suffers from the fact that the verb used in the verse is in the present tense.
[9] Mizan, 19/39.
[10] Razi, 25/252.
[11] Tantawi, 14/71.
[12] Razi, 28/250.
[13] Razi, 28/252.
[14] Jeremiah 7:6-9.
[15] Jeremiah 16:19-21.