Surah Fatir 35:40

The Helplessness of the false gods and the Power of Allah

Allah tells His Messenger to say to the idolators:

(Have you considered your partners whom you call upon besides Allah) the idols and rivals.

(Show Me what they have created of the earth. Or have they any share in the heavens) meaning, they have nothing at all of that, they do not possess even the membrane covering the stone of a date.

(Or have We given them a Book, so that they act on clear proof therefrom) meaning, `have We revealed to them a Book on which they base their Shirk and disbelief' This is not the case at all.

(Nay, the wrongdoers promise one another nothing but delusions.) means, they are merely following their own whims, opinions and wishes which are their personal desires, and they are no more than misguidance and falsehood. Then Allah tells us of His mighty power, by which the heavens and the earth stand by His command, and the forces that He has placed between them to hold them. He says:

(Verily, Allah grasps the heavens and the earth lest they should move away from their places,) means, lest they should shift from where they are. This is like the Ayat:

(He withholds the heaven from falling on the earth except by His leave) (22:65), and

(And among His signs is that the heaven and the earth stand by His command) (30:25).

(and if they were to move away from their places, there is not one that could grasp them after Him.) means, no one can make them stay and preserve them except Him. He is Ever Most Forbearing and Oft-Forgiving because He sees His servants disbelieving in Him and disobeying Him, yet He is patient and gives them time, He waits and does not hasten the punishment, and He conceals the faults of others and forgives them. He says:

(Truly, He is Ever Most Forbearing, Oft-Forgiving.)

Dalam ayat ini, Allah memerintahkan Nabi Muhammad agar mengajak orang-orang musyrik itu untuk berdialog menjajaki jalan pikiran mereka yang salah. Apa sebab orang-orang musyrik itu meminta pertolongan kepada patung dan berhala yang mereka sekutukan kepada Allah. Adakah bukti yang menunjukkan bahwa berhala itu pantas disembah. Orang-orang musyrik Mekah itu tidak paham benar akan hakikat tuhan mereka, bagaimana keadaannya. Seandainya mereka menyadari bahwa tuhan-tuhan mereka itu tidak sanggup berbuat apa-apa, tentulah mereka tidak menyembahnya. Tetapi sebaliknya, kalau memang betul berhala-berhala itu mempunyai kekuatan (untuk mencipta), tentulah mereka mampu memperlihatkan hasilnya. Demikian juga, apabila Allah mempunyai sekutu dalam menciptakan langit, tentu sekutu itu juga berhak disembah seperti yang mereka duga. Apakah ada kitab suci (yang benar isinya) yang dapat menguatkan dalil-dalil tentang adanya sekutu bagi Tuhan itu?

Nabi Muhammad memberi kesempatan kepada kaum musyrik agar mengemukakan alasan penyembahan mereka terhadap berhala, terutama kemampuan tuhan-tuhan itu untuk menciptakan makhluk, sehingga ia berhak disembah dan dipersekutukan dengan Allah dalam soal penciptaan. Karena kepercayaan demikian hanya semata-mata warisan dari nenek moyang mereka (lihat Surah al-Baqarah/2: 170), maka tiada satu alasan yang dapat mereka kemukakan, baik alasan yang diterima dari dalil naqli (nas) maupun alasan aqli (logika). Di mana pun tidak pernah ada dijumpai suatu kitab suci yang menyerukan manusia menyembah berhala, sebab semuanya hanyalah imajinasi dan khayalan orang-orang dahulu saja. Setelah Al-Qur'an menyalahkan dan mematahkan jalan pikiran mereka, dan bahwa apa yang mereka turuti itu adalah jalan pikiran pemimpin-pemimpin mereka yang sesat, maka tentulah pendapat mereka batil dan membawa kepada kesengsaraan.