Explanation of the author's statement: "And the saying of Allah the Exalted: 'Have you then considered al-Lat and al-'Uzha?'"

The Shaykh : The author (may Allah have mercy on him) says: "And the saying of Allah the Exalted:

Have you seen al-Lat and al-'Uzza

أفرأيتم اللات والعزى

" As you know, these verses come after Allah mentioned the Night Journey. In the phrase "Glory be to Him who took His servant by night," there is a reference to the Night Journey. The opening of Surat al-Najm also contains a reference to the Ascension, and so on. All these verses indicate the Ascension. When Allah mentioned this great Ascension, He said, the Exalted and Majestic: The correct view is that "the greatest" is an attribute of "signs" and not the object of "saw," because what he saw was not the greatest of Allah's signs. Some grammarians say: "He saw the greatest of the signs of Allah." And some grammarians say: "He saw of the signs of Allah the greatest." According to the first opinion, what the Messenger saw was the greatest thing. According to the second opinion, it was among the greatest things. This is the correct view. After Allah mentioned what the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) saw of these signs, He moved on to disparaging these idols and disparaging their worshippers, saying: Tell me, what is their status and what is their condition in relation to these great signs? Are they something? Yes or no? No?
The student: No.

The Shaykh : No. The interrogative here is for belittling and disparaging these idols. "Have you then considered" means "Tell me, what is their condition and what is their status?" Al-Lat is read as "al-Lat" with a shaddah (emphasis) and as "al-Lat" without a shaddah. However, "al-Lat" is not a Sabaan reading. There is a reading of Ibn 'Abbas with a shaddah. According to the reading with the shaddah, it is an active participle from "al-latt," and this idol was originally a man who mixed the flour of the pilgrims, meaning he would add fat to it, enrich it, and feed it to the pilgrims. When he died, they stayed at his grave and made it an idol. As for the reading without the shaddah, "al-Lat" is derived from "Allah," yes, or from "al-Ilah." They derived a name for this idol from the names of Allah and called it al-Lat. It was worshipped by Quraysh. As for al-'Uzha, al-'Uzha is the feminine of "aziz" (noble). They said it is taken from "al-Aziz," which is one of the names of Allah, al-Aziz. It is also an idol worshipped besides Allah, the Exalted and Majestic. Manat is an idol at al-Mash'ar al-Haram. This Manat is also an idol that is worshipped. They said it is derived from "al-Mannan," taken from the name of Allah the Exalted, al-Mannan. So they derived a name for this idol from the names of Allah. It is also said to be derived from "Mina" because of the abundance of blood shed there. "Yumna" means to shed, and Mina was named so because of the abundance of blood shed in it. The polytheists would visit this idol and slaughter animals at it. They called it Manat. In His saying, the Exalted: there is an indication that this one which you magnify, at which you slaughter, and around which you shed much blood, is "al-akhra," meaning late, despicable, and lowly. It is taken from their saying, "So-and-so is al-akhir," meaning the despicable and lowly one. What is the condition of these three famous idols worshipped by the Arabs in relation to what the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) saw? Nothing. The author says: "the signs" This means that he wants us to continue explaining the verses. He said:
Allah the Exalted said: This is also a rhetorical question of denial directed at whom? At the polytheists who assign daughters to Allah the Exalted and sons to themselves. When a male child is born to them, they rejoice in it and are glad. And when a female is born, the face of the man among them remains dark and he is full of suppressed anger. And yet they say that the angels are daughters of Allah. They assign daughters to Allah, may Allah protect us from that. "Dhiziy" means unjust. Because at the very least, if you want to divide, give yourselves a share of the daughters and give Allah a share of the sons. But to assign the sons that you choose for yourselves and assign to Allah what you dislike, that is an unjust division. The pronoun "they" refers to the idols, meaning these idols which you named al-Lat, al-'Uzha, and Manat, and which you made and took as gods to worship. They are names that you named them, but Allah has not sent down any authority, meaning any proof or evidence, for them. Did Allah send down that these idols are gods? No, rather He, the Exalted and Majestic, invalidated them. .