Waani oAAbudoonee hatha siratun mustaqeem (surah Yasin: 61)

Tafseer Tafheem-ul-Quran by Syed Abu-al-A'la Maududi

(36:61) and serve Me alone: this is the Straight Way? *53

Wa ani`budoonee; haazaa Siraatum Mustaqeem

*53) Here again Allah has used `ibadat in the sense of ita at (obedience). This subject has already been explained above in Al-Baqarah: 172, An-Nisa': 117, AI-An'am: 121, 137, At-Taubah; 31, Ibrahim: 22, Al-Kahf: 52, Maryam: 42, AlQasas: 63 and E.N. 63 of Saba. In this connection, the fine explanation given of it by Imam Razi in his Tafsir Kabir is also noteworthy. He writes: "Do not worship Satan means: Do not obey him, the reason being that only falling prostrate before him is not forbidden, but following him and obeying his commands also is forbidden; therefore, ita et (obedience) is ibadat (worship). " After this, the Imam raises the question: If `ibadat means ita'at, then have the Muslims been commanded to worship the Prophet and the rulers in the verse: Ati `ullaha wa ati '-ur-rasula wa ulil--amr-i min-kum? He himself answers it thus: "If obedience to theta is in accordance with the Commands of Allah, it will be Allah's worship ('ibadat) and His obedience (ita`at. Did not the angels fall prostrate before Adam i' obedience to Allah's Command ? This was nothing but worship of Allah. Obedience of the rulers will be their worship only in cases where they are obeyed in matters in which Allah has not given leave to obey them." Then he writes: "If a person comes to you and commands you to do something, you should see whether his command is in accordance with the Command of Allah or not. If it is not, Satan is with him; and if you obeyed him in this, you worshipped him and his Satan. Likewise, if your self urges you to do something, you should see whether it is permissible to do it according to the Sahari'ah or not. If it is not permissible, your self is Satan itself, or Satan is with it. If you obeyed him, you in fact became guilty of worshipping him." Further on, he writes: "But there are different degrees of the worship of Satan. Sometimes it so happens that a man dces a work and his limbs and his tongue also join him in this, and his heart also cooperates. At another time it so happens that a man uses his limbs to do a work but his heart and tongue do trot cooperate in this. Some people commit a sin while their heart is disagreeable and their tongue is invoking Allah for forgiveness, and they confess that they are committing an evil. This is Satan's worship with external limbs. There are other people who commit a crime with a cool mind and express pleasure and satisfaction with the tongue also. ..........Such people are the worshippers of Satan from outside as well as from inside. (Tafsir Kabir, vol. VII, pp. 103-104).