Exegesis of the saying of Allah the Exalted: “Say, ‘Call upon those you claim [to be gods] besides Allah. They do not possess the weight of an atom in the heavens or on the earth, and they have no share in them, nor do they have any helper from them.”

He said: “O Muhammad, to the disbelievers of Makkah”. Here, the author made the address specific in two respects: regarding the one being addressed and regarding those being called upon. As for the one being addressed, he said: and as for those being called upon, they are the disbelievers of Makkah. However, this is not established for the author or the exegete. Rather, we say: “Say” can be directed to you, O Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him), or to anyone else in his Ummah who inherits his role, meaning “Say, O people.” As for those being called upon, we say: the most correct view is that it is general for everyone who calls upon anyone other than Allah, whether they are from the disbelievers of Makkah or others. Thus, we must have a rule: when the matter revolves around whether the address is specific or general, it must be general, because the general includes the specific, not the other way around. And the broader the meaning of the Qur'an, the more appropriate it is. So we say: “Say, O one being addressed, to those who call upon anyone other than Allah: Call upon those you claimed, meaning you claimed them to be gods. Call upon them. Is the meaning of “call” here the call of seeking help or the call of summoning? “Call upon them” means summon them, or the call of seeking help, meaning ask them and request your needs from them. Will they respond to you or not? Yes, it is possible that both meanings are intended: it could mean summon them so we can debate them, or call upon them in the sense of seeking help, meaning ask them, just as you say: “Call upon Allah,” meaning ask Him. And the author’s statement: “meaning you claimed them to be gods”—look at what the author assumed? He assumed a pronoun and an explicit noun. The pronoun is “you claimed them” (hum), and the explicit noun is “gods.” So he informed us, may Allah have mercy on him, that “zama” (to claim) takes two objects, and that the two objects are omitted, and the assumed meaning of the speech is “you claimed them to be gods.” Did you understand, everyone? Because “zama” is one of the verbs that take two objects, the original form of which is the subject and the predicate, so it is one of the sisters of “zanna” (to think). He said: “other than Him”.