Surah Al-Isra 17:57

The gods of the Idolators can neither benefit nor harm; rather they themselves seek to draw close to Allah

Allah says:

(Say) O Muhammad to these idolators who worship things other than Allah,

(Call upon those - besides Him whom you pretend.) such as idols and rivals of Allah. Even if you turn to them,

(They have neither the power to remove the adversity from you) they have no such power at all,

(nor even to shift (it from you to another person.)) to lift the distress from you and give it to someone else. The meaning is that the only one Who is able to do that is Allah Alone, with no partner or associate, Who is the One Who creates and issues commands.

(Say: "Call upon those whom you pretend) Al-`Awfi reported from Ibn `Abbas, "The people of Shirk used to say, `we worship the angels and the Messiah and `Uzayr,' while these (the angels and the Messiah and `Uzayr) themselves call upon Allah."

(Those whom they call upon, desire) Al-Bukhari recorded from Sulayman bin Mahran Al-A`mash, from Ibrahim, from Abu Ma`mar, from `Abdullah:

(Those whom they call upon, desire a means of access to their Lord,) "Some of the Jinn used to be worshipped, then they became Muslims." According to another report: "Some humans used to worship some of the Jinn, then those Jinn became Muslim, but those humans adhered to their religion (of worshipping the Jinn)."

(they hope for His mercy and fear His torment.) Worship cannot be complete or perfect unless it is accompanied by both fear and hope. Fear stops one from doing things that are forbidden, and hope makes one do more good deeds.

(Verily, the torment of your Lord is (something) to be afraid of!) meaning, one should beware of it and be afraid lest it happen. We seek refuge with Allah from that.

Di atas telah disebutkan bahwa kaum musyrik menyembah para malaikat, jin, Nabi Isa, dan 'Uzair. Mereka menganggapnya sebagai tuhan yang dapat menghilangkan bahaya dan kemudaratan mereka. Lalu Allah menyebutkan bahwa yang mereka sembah itu sendiri sebenarnya mencari wasilah (jalan) untuk mendekatkan diri kepada-Nya. Jalan itu tidak lain ialah taat kepada perintah Allah dan menjauhi larangan-Nya.

Imam at-Tirmidzi dan Ibnu Mardawaih meriwayatkan sebuah hadis dari Abu Hurairah, ia berkata:

Rasulullah saw bersabda, "Mohonkanlah wasilah untukku kepada Allah." Mereka bertanya, "Apakah wasilah itu? Nabi pun berkata, "Mendekatkan diri kepada Allah." Kemudian Nabi membaca ayat ini (ayat 57).

Lebih lanjut Allah menjelaskan bahwa orang-orang yang paling dekat sekalipun, di antara para malaikat, jin, Nabi Isa, dan 'Uzair, kepada Allah tetap mencari wasilah untuk mendekatkan diri kepada-Nya, dengan menaati dan menghambakan diri kepada-Nya. Oleh karena itu, apakah mereka layak disembah? Mengapa kamu tidak langsung saja menyembah Allah?

Pada bagian akhir ayat ini, Allah swt menyebutkan bahwa sesungguhnya azab Tuhan adalah hal yang (harus) ditakuti oleh siapa pun, baik para malaikat, para rasul dan nabi-Nya, maupun manusia seluruhnya.