The interpretation of the Shaykh al-Islam of (except to worship Him) as commanding them to worship: is it a correct interpretation?
Machine translationRead the Arabic original
The questioner:
The second question, Shaykh: Shaykh Sulayman ibn 'Abd Allah, in *Taysir al-'Aziz al-Hamid*, quotes Shaykh al-Islam regarding the saying of Allah the Exalted,[Adh-Dhariyat 51:56], that the meaning of "so that they worship" is "so that I command them to worship." Is this an acceptable interpretation, Shaykh?
The Shaykh:
It is sound. Commanding them and forbidding them to worship Me means by what He commanded them and by what He forbade them.
The questioner:
Well, this contradicts the apparent meaning of the verse, Shaykh.
The Shaykh:
Commanding them and forbidding them.
The questioner:
I say this contradicts the apparent meaning of the verse, Shaykh.
The Shaykh:
No, that is the meaning, because worship is nothing but command and prohibition. That is the meaning.
The questioner:
Because what is it?
The Shaykh:
By this, not by jihad, or rather by what He commanded them and forbade them, they worship Me by what He commanded them. That is the intended meaning: what He commanded them and forbade them, they worship Me by that.
The questioner:
Well, is there a context or evidence, Shaykh, for this interpretation?
The Shaykh:
Does it mean the evidence that they have no knowledge except by what He commands them, that they have no knowledge of the worship you perform except by His command and prohibition?
The second question, Shaykh: Shaykh Sulayman ibn 'Abd Allah, in *Taysir al-'Aziz al-Hamid*, quotes Shaykh al-Islam regarding the saying of Allah the Exalted,
And I did not create the jinn and mankind except to worship Me.
وَمَا خَلَقْتُ الْجِنَّ وَالْإِنسَ إِلَّا لِيَعْبُدُونِThe Shaykh:
It is sound. Commanding them and forbidding them to worship Me means by what He commanded them and by what He forbade them.
The questioner:
Well, this contradicts the apparent meaning of the verse, Shaykh.
The Shaykh:
Commanding them and forbidding them.
The questioner:
I say this contradicts the apparent meaning of the verse, Shaykh.
The Shaykh:
No, that is the meaning, because worship is nothing but command and prohibition. That is the meaning.
The questioner:
Because what is it?
The Shaykh:
By this, not by jihad, or rather by what He commanded them and forbade them, they worship Me by what He commanded them. That is the intended meaning: what He commanded them and forbade them, they worship Me by that.
The questioner:
Well, is there a context or evidence, Shaykh, for this interpretation?
The Shaykh:
Does it mean the evidence that they have no knowledge except by what He commands them, that they have no knowledge of the worship you perform except by His command and prohibition?
Source
قناة «فضيلة الشيخ ابن باز Alsheikh Binbaz»، [251 /400] تفسير شيخ الإسلام لـ (إلا ليعبدون) أي آمرهم بالعبادة، هل هو تفسير مستقيم؟ Iالإمام ابن باز — youtube.com
The Arabic text is a machine transcription of the audio recording.