وَيَعْبُدُونَ مِن دُونِ ٱللَّهِ مَا لَا يَمْلِكُ لَهُمْ رِزْقًا مِّنَ ٱلسَّمَٰوَٰتِ وَٱلْأَرْضِ شَيْـًٔا وَلَا يَسْتَطِيعُونَ
10:19; 22:72; 29:18.
Commentary:
This verse exposes the stupidity of the course followed by polytheists. It purports to say that while they cannot bear to see their property going into the possession of anyone save their own natural descendants, in the case of God they attribute His powers and authority to persons upon whom He has bestowed no such privilege. This course is all the more unjust because the property which they call their own is really not theirs but is entrusted to them by God. If in spite of the fact that they are not the real owners of the property which is in their possession, they consider themselves competent to bequeath it to anyone they like, why should it not be in the power of God to make anyone He likes to be the recipient of His revealed Law?
The verse also points out that polytheistic beliefs tend to mar man’s material and spiritual progress. A polytheist attributes those powers to false gods which they do not possess and thus his attention is turned away from that Being Who is the source of all power and Who can bestow great favours upon him. It is thus that the intellectual progress and mental advancement of those communities and individuals who hold polytheistic beliefs becomes retarded and impeded while those who believe in the Oneness of God continue to make some progress even in the period of their decline and decay.
10:19; 22:72; 29:18.