Surah Al-Mu'minun, Ayah 89

The Idolators believe in Tawhid Ar-Rububiyyah, which requires them to believe in Tawhid Al-Uluhiyyah

Allah states that the fact that He is One and that He is independent in His creation, control, dominion and guides one to realize that there is no God except Him and that none should be worshipped except Him Alone, with no partner or associate. He tells His Messenger Muhammad ﷺ to say to the idolators who worship others besides Him, even though they admit His Lordship, that He has no partner in Lordship. But despite this they still attributed partners in divinity to Him, and worshipped others besides Him even though they recognized the fact that those whom they worshipped could not create anything, did not own anything, nor do they have any control over anything. However, they still believed that these creatures could bring them closer to Allah,

Commentary

وَهُوَ يُجِيرُ‌ وَلَا يُجَارُ‌ عَلَيْهِ (And who gives protection and no protection can be given against him - 23:88) The meaning of the verse is that Allah alone can deliver a person from pain and suffering as He wills, but there is none who can save a person from divine punishment. This is true of this world because nobody can stop Allah from rewarding virtuous people nor can anyone protect someone whom He chooses to punish. And the same is true of the Hereafter also. (Qurtubi)

In these verses, a certain contradiction in thinking has been referred to by which the majority of people in every age have been afflicted. Most people admit that the Creator of the earth and the heavens is the one and only God; that He is their Lord and He controls them; that He enjoys all the superior powers. Yet their lives do not in any way reflect this acknowledgement. Such sublime truth demands that it permeates their thinking. The realisation of God should make them truly God-conscious. It should so become a part of their nature that, when they come face to face with the Truth, they admit it immediately. Their whole life should be moulded upon it. But, in actual fact, none of this happens. They accept God as a formal belief, but their real lives are not affected by it. The conception of God does not cast any spell over such individuals. On the contrary, they remain enamoured of trivial things. How strange is man’s behaviour!