Transliteration:( Amwaatun ghairu ahyaaa'inw wa maa yash'uroona aiyaana yub'asoon (section 2) )
39. By this is meant the idols of the polytheists of Arabia i.e. the trees, the stones, etc. This verse has no link with Hazrat Isa (On whom be peace) and Hazrat Uzair (On whom be peace). Their excellent ranks and attributes are mentioned in other verses. Even the angels are excluded from this verse. Regarding the martyrs Allah Almighty says: "And say not of those who are killed in the path of Allah as dead" (S2:V154). Hence to include the Prophets in this verse is incorrect.Â
40. This means that these lifeless idols are neither aware of your present worship nor do they have any knowledge of your future conditions when you would be resurrected from the grave. To worship such ignorant objects is indeed foolish.
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The tafsir of Surah An-Nahl verse 21 by Ibn Kathir is unavailable here.
Please refer to Surah Nahl ayat 19 which provides the complete commentary from verse 19 through 21.
19. The words employed here to refute man made deities clearly indicate that these deities were deceased prophets, saints, martyrs and pious and other extraordinary beings buried in their graves and not angels, jinns, devils or idols. For the angels and devils are alive: therefore, the words, “They are dead, not living†cannot apply to them, and it is out of the question to say about idols of stone or wood that “They do not know at all when they shall again be raised to life†in the Hereafter. As regards the objection to this version that there were no such deities in Arabia, this is based on the lack of knowledge of the history of the pre- Islamic period. It is well known that there was a large number of Jews and Christians living among many clans of Arabia, who used to invoke and worship their Prophets, saints, etc. It is also a fact that many gods of the mushriks of Arabia were human beings, whose idols they had set up for worship after their death. According to a tradition cited in Bukhari on the authority of Ibn Abbas: “Wadd, Sua, Yaghuth, Yauq, and Nasr were pious human beings, whom the succeeding generations had made gods.†In another tradition, related by Aishah: “Asaf and Nailah were human beings.†There are also traditions to the same effect about Lat, Munat and Uzza. So much so that according to some traditions of the mushriks, Lat and Uzza were the beloved ones of Allah who used to pass His winter with Lat and summer with Uzza. But Allah is absolutely free from such absurd things they attribute to Him.
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