Surah Al-Qasas, Ayah 63

The Idolators and Their Partners and the Emnity between Them in the Hereafter

Allah informs of how He will rebuke the idolators on the Day of Resurrection, when He will call them and say:

أَيْنَ شُرَكَآئِىَ الَّذِينَ كُنتُمْ تَزْعُمُونَ

("Where are My (so-called) partners whom you used to assert") meaning, `where are the gods which you used to worship in the world, the idols and rivals Can they help you or save you' This is said in the nature of a rebuke and warning, as in the Ayah,

وَلَقَدْ جِئْتُمُونَا فُرَادَى كَمَا خَلَقْنَـكُمْ أَوَّلَ مَرَّةٍ وَتَرَكْتُمْ مَّا خَوَّلْنَـكُمْ وَرَاءَ ظُهُورِكُمْ وَمَا نَرَى مَعَكُمْ شُفَعَآءَكُمُ الَّذِينَ زَعَمْتُمْ أَنَّهُمْ فِيكُمْ شُرَكَآءُ لَقَد تَّقَطَّعَ بَيْنَكُمْ وَضَلَّ عَنكُم مَّا كُنتُمْ تَزْعُمُونَ

Commentary

The very first question infidels and disbelievers will be asked at the Tumultuous Place (mahshar) will be about shirk (associating someone else with Allah), that is, ` where are those Shaitans today whom you used to associate with Us? Can they provide you any help today?' In response to these queries the disbelievers would say that it was not a fault of theirs, as they did not associate them with Allah on their own. It was the Shaitan who deluded them. Then Allah Ta’ ala would ask the Shaitans to say if they had anything in their defense; who, while accepting their role of deceit, would plead that they had only misled them but did not force them to act upon the same. Thus, the Shaitans would confess that they did commit the crime, but the infidels too were not free from its commission. Because just as they led them astray, similarly at the same time, the prophets and their deputies also guided them towards the Right Path with sound arguments; making the Truth crystal clear to them . They rejected the Truth presented by the prophets and instead listened to us using their free will and discretion. So, how could they be free from the blame? It proves that if someone chooses to follow those who wish to put him on the wrong path on his own good will, despite the fact that he has before him clear cut arguments against them and the righteous way to follow, then he has no excuse-to offer.

On Judgement Day, the adherents of misguided leaders (sharik), whose word they accepted as if it were the word of God, will find themselves in a strange predicament. They will find that those great ones, whom they had been so proud to follow, have led them straight to Hell. They will then, in disgust, blame their leaders for their plight. But their leaders will retort that they have nobody to blame but themselves. They will allege that if their followers obtensibly bowed to their will, it was only because it was in accordance with their own desires. They will further accuse their followers of being slaves to their own desires. But they will then admit that they too had given in to temptation and that since leaders and followers had to face the same fate, there was no point in blaming each other.