But today you do not hold for one another [the power of] benefit or harm
فَالْيَوْمَ لا يَمْلِكُ بَعْضُكُمْ لِبَعْضٍ نَفْعًا وَلا ضَرًّا
But as for the Day
فاليوم
The alif here is for the definite article (al-‘ahd). What type is it?
The student: Mental (al-dhahni).
The Shaykh : No, the intended meaning is presence, meaning presence today. This is the definite article of mention (al-‘ahd al-dhikr), and the mentioned thing is His saying:
And the day when We gather them
ويوم نحشرهم
meaning, so on the day when We gather them, none of you can benefit or harm another. And His saying:
the Day
اليوم
Why is it in the accusative case, or by what is it made accusative?
The student: ...
The Shaykh : No.
The student: ...
The Shaykh : No.
The student: By the circumstance of time (al-zarfiyyah).
The Shaykh : regarding the circumstantial phrase, and the word governing it is His saying:
None of you can benefit
لا يملك
meaning, so on that Day, none of you will have the power to benefit or harm another.
But today you do not hold for one another
فَالْيَوْمَ لا يَمْلِكُ بَعْضُكُمْ لِبَعْضٍ
that is, some of those who are worshipped for some of those who worship.
For another, benefit
لِبَعْضٍ نَفْعًا
intercession
Nor harm
وَلا ضَرًّا
torment, good
you do not hold for one another
لا يَمْلِكُ بَعْضُكُمْ لِبَعْضٍ
Who is it whose power is negated? The worshippers or the ones being worshipped? It is the one being worshipped who has no power, because the worshipper hopes for benefit or harm from the one being worshipped. So we say: The worshipper has no power over the one being worshipped to cause harm or benefit, just as the one being worshipped has no power over the worshipper to cause harm or benefit. And this, may Allah know best, is the wisdom, because Allah (Mighty and Majestic) said:
But today you do not hold for one another
فَالْيَوْمَ لا يَمْلِكُ بَعْضُكُمْ لِبَعْضٍ
He made it ambiguous to include the worshipper and the one being worshipped, the follower and the one followed. So everyone on the Day of Resurrection has no power to benefit or harm anyone. The author says:
"Intercession"Even though the word "benefit" is broader than "intercession," it appears that he (may Allah have mercy on him) restricted it to intercession because of their saying:
We only worship them that they may bring us nearer to Allah in position
مَا نَعْبُدُهُمْ إِلَّا لِيُقَرِّبُونَا إِلَى اللَّهِ زُلْفَى
They call upon them because their worship of them is for the sake of their intercession with Allah (Glorified and Exalted is He) and to bring them closer to Him
But today you do not hold for one another [the power of] benefit or harm
فَالْيَوْمَ لا يَمْلِكُ بَعْضُكُمْ لِبَعْضٍ نَفْعًا وَلا ضَرًّا
meaning benefit in your worship of them, in intercession, and more correctly, in other matters
Nor harm
ولا ضراً
by the fact that you do not worship them, that if you do not worship them, they will not harm you. And just as they do not possess the power to benefit or harm on that Day, so too they do not possess the power to benefit or harm in this world. If you say, "A person may worship other than Allah and call upon them to remove a hardship, and that hardship is removed; what is the answer to this verse and others like it?" We say: This occurrence did not happen by the supplication or the worship, nor did it happen because of them, so that is not the cause. If you say, "It happened because of them, not because of the supplication," that claim requires proof. Otherwise, the matter must be attributed to the apparent cause, which is the supplication to these idols. Do you understand this negation? No? Okay, so you might say, "This thing happened at the time of the supplication, but not because of the supplication." It will be said to you: "To whom is this supplication addressed? Since this idol is supposed to heal, and he was healed, the default is to attribute the ruling to the apparent cause, which is this supplication. So the claim that it happened by other than this apparent cause requires evidence. The answer is that we have evidence for that, and it is the saying of Allah the Exalted:
And they worship other than Allah that which neither harms them nor benefits them, and they say, "These are our intercessors with Allah
وَيَعْبُدُونَ مِنْ دُونِ اللَّهِ مَا لا يَضُرُّهُمْ وَلا يَنْفَعُهُمْ وَيَقُولُونَ هَؤُلاءِ شُفَعَاؤُنَا عِنْدَ اللَّهِ
[Yunus:18] And He the Exalted said:
And who is more astray than he who invokes besides Allah those who will not respond to him until the Day of Resurrection, and they, of their invocation, are unaware.
وَمَنْ أَضَلُّ مِمَّنْ يَدْعُو مِنْ دُونِ اللَّهِ مَنْ لا يَسْتَجِيبُ لَهُ إِلَى يَوْمِ الْقِيَامَةِ وَهُمْ عَنْ دُعَائِهِمْ غَافِلُونَ
These two verses, along with those similar to them, all indicate that these idols are of no benefit, neither in bringing about good nor in warding off harm. If something happens after the supplication, it happened at that time, but not because of it. If you ask how this can be, and what is the wisdom behind Allah the Exalted causing this benefit to occur or this harm to be averted at the time of supplicating to these idols? Yes, we say it is a trial and a test. For Allah the Exalted may test a servant with a forbidden thing that he persists in, or He may afflict him with a forbidden thing and he refrains from it. And Allah is capable of all things. Yes.
The student: ...?
