Surah Araf ayat 173 Tafsir Quran 7:173

﴿أَوْ تَقُولُوا إِنَّمَا أَشْرَكَ آبَاؤُنَا مِن قَبْلُ وَكُنَّا ذُرِّيَّةً مِّن بَعْدِهِمْ ۖ أَفَتُهْلِكُنَا بِمَا فَعَلَ الْمُبْطِلُونَ﴾
[ الأعراف: 173]

7:173 Or [lest] you say, "It was only that our fathers associated [others in worship] with Allah before, and we were but descendants after them. Then would You destroy us for what the falsifiers have done?"

Or lest you should say ‘It is merely that our fathers were idolaters before that is before our time and we were descendants of theirs and so we followed their example. Will You then destroy us chastise us for that which those who follow falsehood did?’ from among our forefathers by their establishing idolatry? The meaning is they cannot use such arguments when they have been made to testify before their very selves to God’s Oneness. To effect this reminder by the tongue of the bearer of the miracle Muhammad (s) equally serves as a reminder for every soul to remember this within itself.

Or you might say: Our fathers had incorporated with Allah other deities, and as their descendents, they have had much influence on our thoughts; will You O Allah subject us to the torment to pay a debt owed to You by the damned

The Covenant taken from the Descendants of Adam Allah stated that He brought the descendants of Adam out of their fathers' loins, and they testified against themselves that Allah is their Lord and King and that there is no deity worthy of worship except Him.
Allah created them on this Fitrah, or way, just as He said, فَأَقِمْ وَجْهَكَ لِلدِّينِ حَنِيفاً فِطْرَةَ اللَّهِ الَّتِى فَطَرَ النَّاسَ عَلَيْهَا لاَ تَبْدِيلَ لِخَلْقِ اللَّهِ ( So set you (O Muhammad ) your face truly towards the religion, Hanifan.
Allah's Fitrah with which He has created mankind.
No change let there be in Khalqillah.) 30:30 And it is recorded in the Two Sahihs from Abu Hurayrah who said that the Messenger of Allah ﷺ said,
«كُلُّ مَوْلُودٍ يُولَدُ عَلَى الْفِطْرَةِ، فَأَبَوَاهُ يُهَوِّدَانِهِ وَيُنَصِّرَانِهِ وَيُمَجِّسَانِهِ كَمَا تُولَدُ بَهِيمَةً جَمْعَاءَ هَلْ تُحِسُّونَ فِيهَا مِنْ جَدْعَاء»
( Every child is born upon the Fitrah, it is only his parents who turn him into a Jew, a Christian or a Zoroastrian.
Just as animals are born having full bodies, do you see any of them having a cutoff nose (when they are born )) .
Muslim recorded that `Iyad bin `Himar said that the Messenger of Allah ﷺ said;
«يَقُولُ اللهُ: إِنِّي خَلَقْتُ عِبَادِي حُنَفَاءَ فَجَاءَتْهُمُ الشَّيَاطِينُ فَاجْتَالَتْهُمْ عَنْ دِينِهِمْ وَحَرَّمَتْ عَلَيْهِمْ مَا أَحْلَلْتُ لَهُم»
( Allah said, `I created My servants Hunafa' (monotheists ), but the devils came to them and deviated them from their religion, prohibiting what I allowed.) There are Hadiths that mention that Allah took Adam's offspring from his loins and divided them into those on the right and those on the left.
Imam Ahmad recorded that Anas bin Malik said that the Prophet said,
«يُقَالُ لِلرَّجُلِ مِنْ أَهْلِ النَّارِ يَوْمَ الْقِيَامَةِ أَرَأَيْتَ لَوْ كَانَ لَكَ مَا عَلَى الْأَرْضِ مِنْ شَيْءٍ أَكُنْتَ مُفْتَدِيًا بِهِ قَالَ: فَيَقُولُ: نَعَمْ فَيَقُولُ: قَدْ أَرَدْتُ مِنْكَ أَهْوَنَ مِنْ ذَلِكَ قَدْ أَخَذْتُ عَلَيْكَ فِي ظَهْرِ آدَمَ أَنْ لَا تُشْرِكَ بِي شَيْئًا فَأَبَيْتَ إِلَّا أَنْ تُشْرِكَ بِي»
( It will be said to a man from the people of the Fire on the Day of Resurrection, `If you owned all that is on the earth, would you pay it as ransom' He will reply, `Yes.' Allah will say, `I ordered you with what is less than that, when you were still in Adam's loins, that is, associate none with Me (in worship ).
You insisted that you associate with Me ( in worship ).') This was recorded in the Two Sahihs Commenting on this Ayah ( 7:172 ), At-Tirmidhi recorded that Abu Hurayrah said that the Messenger of Allah ﷺ said,
«لَمَّا خَلَقَ اللهُ آدَمَ مَسَحَ ظَهْرَهُ فَسَقَطَ مِنْ ظَهْرِهِ كُلُّ نَسَمَةٍ هُوَ خَالِقُهَا مِنْ ذُرِّيَّتِهِ إِلَى يَوْمِ الْقِيَامَةِ وَجَعَلَ بَيْنَ عَيْنَي كَلِّ إِنْسَانٍ مِنْهُمْ وَبِيصًا مِنْ نُورٍ ثُمَّ عَرَضَهُمْ عَلَى آدَمَ فَقَالَ: أَيْ رَبِّ مَنْ هؤُلَاءِ؟ قَالَ: هؤُلَاءِ ذُرِّيَّتُكَ فَرَأَىَ رَجُلًا مِنْهُمْ فَأَعْجَبَهُ وَبِيصُ مَا بَيْنَ عَيْنَيْهِ قَالَ: أَيْ رَبِّ مَنْ هَذَا؟ قَالَ: هَذَا رَجُلٌ مِنْ آخِرِ الْأُمَمِ مِنْ ذُرِّيَّتِكَ يُقَالُ لَهُ دَاوُدُ قَالَ:رَبِّ وَكَمْ جَعَلْتَ عُمْرَهُ؟ قَالَ: سِتِّينَ سَنَةً، قَالَ: أَيْ رَبِّ وَقَدْ وَهَبْتُ لَهُ مِنْ عُمْرِي أَرْبَعِينَ سَنَةً فَلَمَّا انْقَضَى عُمْرُ آدَمَ جَاءَهُ مَلَكُ الْمَوْتِ قَالَ: أَوَ لَمْ يَبْقَ مِنْ عُمْرِي أَرْبَعُونَ سَنَةً قَالَ: أَوَ لَمْ تُعْطِهَا ابْنَكَ دَاوُدَ؟ قَالَ: فَجَحَدَ آدَمُ فَجَحَدَتْ ذُرِّيَّتُهُ وَنَسِيَ آدَمُ فَنِسَيتْ ذُرِّيَّتُهُ وَخَطِىءَ آدَمُ فَخَطِئَتْ ذُرِّيَّتُه»
( When Allah created Adam, He wiped Adam's back and every person that He will create from him until the Day of Resurrection fell out from his back.
Allah placed a glimmering light between the eyes of each one of them.
Allah showed them to Adam and Adam asked, `O Lord! Who are they' Allah said, `These are your offspring.' Adam saw a man from among them whose light he liked.
He asked, `O Lord! Who is this man' Allah said, `This is a man from the latter generations of your offspring.
His name is Dawud.' Adam said, `O Lord! How many years would he live' Allah said, `Sixty years.' Adam said, `O Lord! I have forfeited forty years from my life for him.' When Adam's life came to an end, the angel of death came to him (to take his soul ).
Adam said, `I still have forty years from my life term, don't I' He said, `Have you not given it to your son Dawud' So Adam denied that and his offspring followed suit ( denying Allah's covenant ), Adam forgot and his offspring forgot, Adam made a mistake and his offspring made mistakes.) At-Tirmidhi said, "This Hadith is Hasan Sahih, and it was reported from various chains of narration through Abu Hurayrah from the Prophet ".
Al-Hakim also recorded it in his Mustadrak, and said; "Sahih according to the criteria of Muslim, and they did not record it." These and similar Hadiths testify that Allah, the Exalted and Most Honored, brought forth Adam's offspring from his loins and separated between the inhabitants of Paradise and those of the Fire.
Allah then said, وَأَشْهَدَهُمْ عَلَى أَنفُسِهِمْ أَلَسْتَ بِرَبِّكُمْ قَالُواْ بَلَى ( and made them testify as to themselves (saying ): "Am I not your Lord" They said: "Yes!") Therefore, Allah made them testify with themselves by circumstance and words.
Testimony is sometimes given in words, such as, قَالُواْ شَهِدْنَا عَلَى أَنْفُسِنَا ( They will say: "We bear witness against ourselves." ) 6:130 At other times, testimony is given by the people themselves, such as Allah's statement, مَا كَانَ لِلْمُشْرِكِينَ أَن يَعْمُرُواْ مَسَاجِدَ الله شَـهِدِينَ عَلَى أَنفُسِهِم بِالْكُفْرِ ( It is not for the Mushrikin, (polytheists ) to maintain the mosques of Allah, while they testify against their own selves of disbelief.) 9:17 This Ayah means that their disbelief testifies against them, not that they actually testify against themselves here.
Another Ayah of this type is Allah's statement, وَإِنَّهُ عَلَى ذَلِكَ لَشَهِيدٌ ( And to that he bears witness (by his deeds ).
) 100:7 The same is the case with asking, sometimes takes the form of words and sometimes a situation or circumstance.
For instance, Allah said, وَآتَاكُم مِّن كُلِّ مَا سَأَلْتُمُوهُ ( And He gave you of all that you asked for. ) 14:34 Allah said here, أَن تَقُولُواْ ( lest you should say ), on the Day of Resurrection إِنَّا كُنَّا عَنْ هَـذَا ( we were of this ) of Tawhid غَـفِلِينَأَوْ تَقُولُواْ إِنَّمَآ أَشْرَكَ ءَابَاؤُنَا ( unaware.
Or lest you should say: "It was only our fathers aforetime who took others as partners in worship along with Allah," ) 7:172-173

(7:173) Or say: 'Our forefathers before us who associated others with Allah in His divinity; we were merely their offspring who followed them. And would You destroy us for that which the unrighteous did?' *135

Or [lest] you say, "It was only meaning

*135).
The verse describes the purpose of the primordial covenant.
The purpose is to make every person responsible for his deeds so that if he rebels against God he will be held fully accountable for that rebelfion.
Because of the covenant, no one will be able either to plead for acquittal on grounds of ignorance, or blame his misdeeds on his ancestors.
In other words, this primordial covenant has been mentioned as the reason for the inherent awareness in every single person that God is the only Lord and Deity.
Thus, none can totally absolve himself of his responsibility on the plea that he was altogether ignorant, or transfer the blame for his error to the corrupt environment in which he was brought up.
Now, it can be argued that even if the covenant did take place, no human being remembers its occurrence.
No human being is aware that a long time ago, at the time of creation, he had affirmed, in response to God's query, that God indeed was his Lord.
This being the case, it can be further argued that no charge can be legitimately brought against man on the ground of a covenant with God which he no longer remembers to have made.
In response to this it can be said that had the covenant been made fully in man's conscious memory, it would be meaningless for God to put man to the test in this world.
Hence, there can be no denying that the covenant is not preserved in man's conscious memory.
But it has doubtlessly been preserved in man's sub-conscious mind.
In this respect the primordial covenant is no different from other pieces of knowledge in man's sub-conscious mind.
Whatever man has so far achieved in the way of culture and civilization can be attributed to his latent potentialities.
All external factors and internal motivations simply account for helping the actualization of those potentialities.
Neither education nor training nor environmental factors can bring out anything which is not potentially found in the human mind.
Likewise, external factors have no power to root out man's latent potentialities.
External factors may, at the most, cause a person to deflect from the course dictated by sound human nature.
However, man's sound nature is inclined to resist the pressure of external forces and exert itself in order to find an outlet.
As we have said earlier, this is not peculiar to man's religious propensity alone, but is equally true of all his mental potentialities.
In this regard the following points are particularly noteworthy:
( 1 ) All man's potentialities exist in the sub-conscious mind and prove their existence when they manifest themselves in the form of human action.

( 2 ) The external manifestation of these potentialities requires external stimuli such as instruction, upbringing.
and attitudinal orientation.
In other words, our actions consist of the responses of our inherent potentialities to external stimuli.

( 3 ) Man's inner potentialities can be suppressed both by false urges within him as well as external influences by trying to pervert and distort those latent potentialities.
The potentialities themselves, however, cannot he totally rooted out.

The same holds true of man's intuitive knowledge regarding his position in the universe and his relationship with his Creator.
In this connection the following points should be borne in mind:
( 1 ) That man has always had such intuitive knowledue is evident from the fact that this knowledge has surfaced throughout history in every period and in every part of the world, and which no power has so far been able to extirpate.

( 2 ) That this intuitive knowledge conforms to objective reality, is borne out by, the fact that whenever this knowledge has influenced human life, it has had beneficial results.

( 3 ) That in order to manifest itself in his practical life, man's intuitive knowledge has always required external stimuli.
The stimuli have consisted of the advent of the Prophets ( peace be on them ), the revelation of the Heavenly Books, and the striving of those who have tried to follow them and invite others to do the same.
It is for this reason that the Qur'an has been desienated as mudhakkir ( the reminder ): dhikr ( remembrance ); tadhkirah ( admonition ).
and the function of the Qur'an has been characterized as tadhkir( reminding ).
What this suggests is that the Prophets, the Heavenly Books and those who invite people to the truth do not seek to provide human beings with something new, something which exists outside of them.
Their task rather consists of bringing to the surface and rejuvenating what is latent, though dormant, in man himself.

Throughout the ages man has always positively responded to this 'Reminder'.
This itself is testimony to the fact that it is embodied in a knowledge which has always been recognized by; man's soul.

Forces arising from ignorance and obscurantism, lust and bigotry, and the erroneous teachings and promptings of devils - human as well as jinn - have always attempted to suppress, conceal, and distort the fact that the truth preached by the Prophets is embedded in man's soul.
These attempts gave rise to polytheism, atheism, religious misdirection and moral corruption.
Despite the combined efforts of the forces of falsehood, however, this knowledge has always had an imprint on the human heart.
Hencel, whenever any effort was made to revive that knowledge, it has proved successful.

Doubtlessly those who are bent on denying the truth can resort to a great deal of sophistry in order to deny or at least create doubt and confusion about the existence of this knowledge.
However on the Day of Resurrection the Creator will revive in man the memory of the first assembly when man made his covenant with God and accepted Him as his Only Lord.
On that occasion God will provide evidence to the effect that the covenant always remained imprinted on man's soul.
He will also show how from time to time man tried to suppress his inner voice which urged him to respond to the call of the covenant; how again and again his heart pressed him to affirm the truth; how his intuition induced him to denounce the errors of belief and practice; how the truth ingrained in his soul tried to express itself and respond to those who called to it; and how on each occasion he lulled his inner self to sleep because of his lust and bigotry.

However a Day will come when man will no longer be in a position to put forth specious arguments to justify his false claims.
That will be the Day when man will have no option but to confess his error.
It will then be impossible for people to say that they were ignorant, or negligent.
In the words of the Qur'an: '...and they will bear witness against themselves that they had disbelieved' ( al-An'am 6: 130 ).

 

The Covenant taken from the Descendants of Adam Allah stated that He brought the descendants of Adam out of their fathers' loins, and they testified against themselves that Allah is their Lord and King and that there is no deity worthy of worship except Him.
Allah created them on this Fitrah, or way, just as He said, فَأَقِمْ وَجْهَكَ لِلدِّينِ حَنِيفاً فِطْرَةَ اللَّهِ الَّتِى فَطَرَ النَّاسَ عَلَيْهَا لاَ تَبْدِيلَ لِخَلْقِ اللَّهِ ( So set you (O Muhammad ) your face truly towards the religion, Hanifan.
Allah's Fitrah with which He has created mankind.
No change let there be in Khalqillah.) 30:30 And it is recorded in the Two Sahihs from Abu Hurayrah who said that the Messenger of Allah ﷺ said, «كُلُّ مَوْلُودٍ يُولَدُ عَلَى الْفِطْرَةِ، فَأَبَوَاهُ يُهَوِّدَانِهِ وَيُنَصِّرَانِهِ وَيُمَجِّسَانِهِ كَمَا تُولَدُ بَهِيمَةً جَمْعَاءَ هَلْ تُحِسُّونَ فِيهَا مِنْ جَدْعَاء» ( Every child is born upon the Fitrah, it is only his parents who turn him into a Jew, a Christian or a Zoroastrian.
Just as animals are born having full bodies, do you see any of them having a cutoff nose (when they are born )) .
Muslim recorded that `Iyad bin `Himar said that the Messenger of Allah ﷺ said; «يَقُولُ اللهُ: إِنِّي خَلَقْتُ عِبَادِي حُنَفَاءَ فَجَاءَتْهُمُ الشَّيَاطِينُ فَاجْتَالَتْهُمْ عَنْ دِينِهِمْ وَحَرَّمَتْ عَلَيْهِمْ مَا أَحْلَلْتُ لَهُم» ( Allah said, `I created My servants Hunafa' (monotheists ), but the devils came to them and deviated them from their religion, prohibiting what I allowed.) There are Hadiths that mention that Allah took Adam's offspring from his loins and divided them into those on the right and those on the left.
Imam Ahmad recorded that Anas bin Malik said that the Prophet said, «يُقَالُ لِلرَّجُلِ مِنْ أَهْلِ النَّارِ يَوْمَ الْقِيَامَةِ أَرَأَيْتَ لَوْ كَانَ لَكَ مَا عَلَى الْأَرْضِ مِنْ شَيْءٍ أَكُنْتَ مُفْتَدِيًا بِهِ قَالَ: فَيَقُولُ: نَعَمْ فَيَقُولُ: قَدْ أَرَدْتُ مِنْكَ أَهْوَنَ مِنْ ذَلِكَ قَدْ أَخَذْتُ عَلَيْكَ فِي ظَهْرِ آدَمَ أَنْ لَا تُشْرِكَ بِي شَيْئًا فَأَبَيْتَ إِلَّا أَنْ تُشْرِكَ بِي» ( It will be said to a man from the people of the Fire on the Day of Resurrection, `If you owned all that is on the earth, would you pay it as ransom' He will reply, `Yes.' Allah will say, `I ordered you with what is less than that, when you were still in Adam's loins, that is, associate none with Me (in worship ).
You insisted that you associate with Me ( in worship ).') This was recorded in the Two Sahihs Commenting on this Ayah ( 7:172 ), At-Tirmidhi recorded that Abu Hurayrah said that the Messenger of Allah ﷺ said, «لَمَّا خَلَقَ اللهُ آدَمَ مَسَحَ ظَهْرَهُ فَسَقَطَ مِنْ ظَهْرِهِ كُلُّ نَسَمَةٍ هُوَ خَالِقُهَا مِنْ ذُرِّيَّتِهِ إِلَى يَوْمِ الْقِيَامَةِ وَجَعَلَ بَيْنَ عَيْنَي كَلِّ إِنْسَانٍ مِنْهُمْ وَبِيصًا مِنْ نُورٍ ثُمَّ عَرَضَهُمْ عَلَى آدَمَ فَقَالَ: أَيْ رَبِّ مَنْ هؤُلَاءِ؟ قَالَ: هؤُلَاءِ ذُرِّيَّتُكَ فَرَأَىَ رَجُلًا مِنْهُمْ فَأَعْجَبَهُ وَبِيصُ مَا بَيْنَ عَيْنَيْهِ قَالَ: أَيْ رَبِّ مَنْ هَذَا؟ قَالَ: هَذَا رَجُلٌ مِنْ آخِرِ الْأُمَمِ مِنْ ذُرِّيَّتِكَ يُقَالُ لَهُ دَاوُدُ قَالَ:رَبِّ وَكَمْ جَعَلْتَ عُمْرَهُ؟ قَالَ: سِتِّينَ سَنَةً، قَالَ: أَيْ رَبِّ وَقَدْ وَهَبْتُ لَهُ مِنْ عُمْرِي أَرْبَعِينَ سَنَةً فَلَمَّا انْقَضَى عُمْرُ آدَمَ جَاءَهُ مَلَكُ الْمَوْتِ قَالَ: أَوَ لَمْ يَبْقَ مِنْ عُمْرِي أَرْبَعُونَ سَنَةً قَالَ: أَوَ لَمْ تُعْطِهَا ابْنَكَ دَاوُدَ؟ قَالَ: فَجَحَدَ آدَمُ فَجَحَدَتْ ذُرِّيَّتُهُ وَنَسِيَ آدَمُ فَنِسَيتْ ذُرِّيَّتُهُ وَخَطِىءَ آدَمُ فَخَطِئَتْ ذُرِّيَّتُه» ( When Allah created Adam, He wiped Adam's back and every person that He will create from him until the Day of Resurrection fell out from his back.
Allah placed a glimmering light between the eyes of each one of them.
Allah showed them to Adam and Adam asked, `O Lord! Who are they' Allah said, `These are your offspring.' Adam saw a man from among them whose light he liked.
He asked, `O Lord! Who is this man' Allah said, `This is a man from the latter generations of your offspring.
His name is Dawud.' Adam said, `O Lord! How many years would he live' Allah said, `Sixty years.' Adam said, `O Lord! I have forfeited forty years from my life for him.' When Adam's life came to an end, the angel of death came to him (to take his soul ).
Adam said, `I still have forty years from my life term, don't I' He said, `Have you not given it to your son Dawud' So Adam denied that and his offspring followed suit ( denying Allah's covenant ), Adam forgot and his offspring forgot, Adam made a mistake and his offspring made mistakes.) At-Tirmidhi said, "This Hadith is Hasan Sahih, and it was reported from various chains of narration through Abu Hurayrah from the Prophet ".
Al-Hakim also recorded it in his Mustadrak, and said; "Sahih according to the criteria of Muslim, and they did not record it." These and similar Hadiths testify that Allah, the Exalted and Most Honored, brought forth Adam's offspring from his loins and separated between the inhabitants of Paradise and those of the Fire.
Allah then said, وَأَشْهَدَهُمْ عَلَى أَنفُسِهِمْ أَلَسْتَ بِرَبِّكُمْ قَالُواْ بَلَى ( and made them testify as to themselves (saying ): "Am I not your Lord" They said: "Yes!") Therefore, Allah made them testify with themselves by circumstance and words.
Testimony is sometimes given in words, such as, قَالُواْ شَهِدْنَا عَلَى أَنْفُسِنَا ( They will say: "We bear witness against ourselves." ) 6:130 At other times, testimony is given by the people themselves, such as Allah's statement, مَا كَانَ لِلْمُشْرِكِينَ أَن يَعْمُرُواْ مَسَاجِدَ الله شَـهِدِينَ عَلَى أَنفُسِهِم بِالْكُفْرِ ( It is not for the Mushrikin, (polytheists ) to maintain the mosques of Allah, while they testify against their own selves of disbelief.) 9:17 This Ayah means that their disbelief testifies against them, not that they actually testify against themselves here.
Another Ayah of this type is Allah's statement, وَإِنَّهُ عَلَى ذَلِكَ لَشَهِيدٌ ( And to that he bears witness (by his deeds ).
) 100:7 The same is the case with asking, sometimes takes the form of words and sometimes a situation or circumstance.
For instance, Allah said, وَآتَاكُم مِّن كُلِّ مَا سَأَلْتُمُوهُ ( And He gave you of all that you asked for. ) 14:34 Allah said here, أَن تَقُولُواْ ( lest you should say ), on the Day of Resurrection إِنَّا كُنَّا عَنْ هَـذَا ( we were of this ) of Tawhid غَـفِلِينَأَوْ تَقُولُواْ إِنَّمَآ أَشْرَكَ ءَابَاؤُنَا ( unaware.
Or lest you should say: "It was only our fathers aforetime who took others as partners in worship along with Allah," ) 7:172-173

( Or lest ye should say ) and so that you do not say: ( (It is ) only ( that ) our fathers ascribed partners to Allah of old) before us, and it is them who broke the covenant and pledge before us ( and we were (their ) seed) small and weak ( after them ) and we just emulated them. ( Wilt Thou destroy us ) will you punish us ( on account of that which those who follow falsehood did? ) on account of what the idolaters did before us in terms of breaking the covenant?

Or lest you should say: "It was only our fathers afortime who took others as partners in worship along with Allah, and we were (merely their) descendants after them; will You then destroy us because of the deeds of men who practised Al-Batil (i.e. polytheism and committing crimes and sins, invoking and worshipping others besides Allah)?" (Tafsir At-Tabari).

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