Tafseer of The Night Journey · Al-Israa · 17:57
Those whom they invoke seek means of access to their Lord, [striving as to] which of them would be nearest, and they hope for His mercy and fear His punishment. Indeed, the punishment of your Lord is ever feared.
Important: The Arabic source text is always authoritative. This translation is a study aid and has not been verified by scholars — do not use it as a basis for religious proof or for deriving rulings (ahkam). When in doubt, always consult the Arabic text and a qualified scholar.
Allah the Exalted says: Those who call upon these polytheists as lords يَبْتَغُونَ إِلَى رَبِّهِمُ الْوَسِيلَةَ (themselves seek the wāsila to their Lord) — He says:
Those who are called upon as lords themselves seek nearness and access to their Lord, for they are people who believe in Him. Yet the polytheists worship them besides Allah. أَيُّهُمْ أَقْرَبُ (which of them is nearest) — which of them, through his righteous deed and his zeal in his worship, is nearest to Allah in access. وَيَرْجُونَ (And they hope), through those deeds of theirs, for رَحْمَتَهُ (His mercy) and they fear, through transgressing His command, عَذَابَهُ إِنَّ عَذَابَ رَبِّكَ (His punishment — truly, the punishment of your Lord), O Muḥammad, كَانَ مَحْذُورًا (is something to be on guard against) — to be heeded and feared.
An interpretation similar to what we have said has been shared by the exegetes, although they differed concerning those who are called upon. Some said: they are a group of the jinn.
* Mention of who said that:
Abū al-Sāʾib related to me, saying: Abū Muʿāwiya related to us, on the authority of al-Aʿmash, on the authority of Ibrāhīm, on the authority of ʿAbd Allāh, concerning His word أُولَئِكَ الَّذِينَ يَدْعُونَ يَبْتَغُونَ إِلَى رَبِّهِمُ الْوَسِيلَةَ: he said: "There were people among the people who worshipped a group of the jinn. The jinn converted to Islam, while the people remained in their unbelief. Allah the Exalted revealed: أُولَئِكَ الَّذِينَ يَدْعُونَ يَبْتَغُونَ إِلَى رَبِّهِمُ الْوَسِيلَةَ — meaning thereby the jinn."
Ibn al-Muthannā related to us, saying: Abū al-Nuʿmān al-Ḥakam ibn ʿAbd Allāh al-ʿIjlī related to us, saying: Shuʿba related to us, on the authority of Sulaymān, on the authority of Ibrāhīm, on the authority of Abū Maʿmar, he said: ʿAbd Allāh said concerning this verse أُولَئِكَ الَّذِينَ يَدْعُونَ يَبْتَغُونَ إِلَى رَبِّهِمُ الْوَسِيلَةَ أَيُّهُمْ أَقْرَبُ: he said: "A tribe of the jinn that was worshipped and accepted Islam."
ʿAbd al-Wārith ibn ʿAbd al-Ṣamad related to me, saying: my father related to me, saying: al-Ḥusayn related to me, on the authority of Qatāda, on the authority of Maʿbad ibn ʿAbd Allāh al-Zimmānī, on the authority of ʿAbd Allāh ibn ʿUtba ibn Masʿūd, on the authority of Ibn Masʿūd, concerning His word أُولَئِكَ الَّذِينَ يَدْعُونَ يَبْتَغُونَ إِلَى رَبِّهِمُ الْوَسِيلَةَ: he said: "It was revealed concerning a group of Arabs who worshipped a group of the jinn. The jinn converted to Islam, but the people who worshipped them were not aware of their Islam. So it was revealed: الَّذِينَ يَدْعُونَ يَبْتَغُونَ إِلَى رَبِّهِمُ الْوَسِيلَةَ أَيُّهُمْ أَقْرَبُ."
Bishr related to us, saying: Yazīd related to us, saying: Saʿīd related to us, on the authority of Qatāda, on the authority of ʿAbd Allāh ibn ʿUtba ibn Masʿūd, on the authority of the report of his uncle ʿAbd Allāh ibn Masʿūd, he said: "This verse was revealed concerning a group of Arabs who worshipped a group of the jinn. The jinn converted to Islam, but the group of Arabs did not know that."
Ibn ʿAbd al-Aʿlā related to us, saying: Muḥammad ibn Thawr related to us, on the authority of Maʿmar, on the authority of Qatāda, concerning الَّذِينَ يَدْعُونَ يَبْتَغُونَ إِلَى رَبِّهِمُ الْوَسِيلَةَ: "A people who worshipped the jinn, and those jinn converted to Islam. Then Allah the Exalted said: أُولَئِكَ الَّذِينَ يَدْعُونَ يَبْتَغُونَ إِلَى رَبِّهِمُ الْوَسِيلَةَ."
Muḥammad ibn Bashshār related to us, saying: ʿAbd al-Raḥmān related to us, saying: Sufyān related to us, on the authority of al-Aʿmash, on the authority of Ibrāhīm, on the authority of Abū Maʿmar, on the authority of ʿAbd Allāh, concerning أُولَئِكَ الَّذِينَ يَدْعُونَ يَبْتَغُونَ إِلَى رَبِّهِمُ الْوَسِيلَةَ: he said: "There was a group of people who worshipped a group of the jinn. The jinn-group converted to Islam, but the people held fast to their worship of them. Allah said: أُولَئِكَ الَّذِينَ يَدْعُونَ يَبْتَغُونَ إِلَى رَبِّهِمُ الْوَسِيلَةَ."
Al-Ḥasan ibn Yaḥyā related to us, saying: ʿAbd al-Razzāq informed us, saying: Ibn ʿUyayna informed us, on the authority of al-Aʿmash, on the authority of Ibrāhīm, on the authority of Abū Maʿmar, he said: ʿAbd Allāh said: "There were people who worshipped a group of the jinn. Those jinn converted to Islam, but the people remained in their worship of them. Allah the Blessed and Exalted said: أُولَئِكَ الَّذِينَ يَدْعُونَ يَبْتَغُونَ إِلَى رَبِّهِمُ الْوَسِيلَةَ."
Al-Ḥasan related to us, saying: ʿAbd al-Razzāq related to us, saying: Maʿmar informed us, on the authority of Qatāda, concerning His word أُولَئِكَ الَّذِينَ يَدْعُونَ يَبْتَغُونَ إِلَى رَبِّهِمُ الْوَسِيلَةَ أَيُّهُمْ أَقْرَبُ: he said: "There were people of the Jāhiliyya who worshipped a group of the jinn. When the Prophet ﷺ was sent, they all converted to Islam, and they sought which of them was the nearest."
Others said: No, they are the angels.
Al-Ḥusayn ibn ʿAlī al-Ṣadāʾī related to me, saying: Yaḥyā ibn al-Sakan related to us, saying: Abū al-ʿAwwām informed us, saying: Qatāda informed us, on the authority of ʿAbd Allāh ibn Maʿbad al-Zimmānī, on the authority of ʿAbd Allāh ibn Masʿūd, he said: "Tribes of the Arabs worshipped a kind of angels who were called jinn, and they said: They are the daughters of Allah. Allah the Almighty revealed: أُولَئِكَ الَّذِينَ يَدْعُونَ — O assembly of the Arabs — يَبْتَغُونَ إِلَى رَبِّهِمُ الْوَسِيلَةَ."
Yūnus related to me, saying: Ibn Wahb informed us, saying: Ibn Zayd said concerning أُولَئِكَ الَّذِينَ يَدْعُونَ يَبْتَغُونَ إِلَى رَبِّهِمُ الْوَسِيلَةَ: he said: "Those who call upon the angels themselves seek the wāsila to their Lord. أَيُّهُمْ أَقْرَبُ وَيَرْجُونَ رَحْمَتَهُ — until he reached إِنَّ عَذَابَ رَبِّكَ كَانَ مَحْذُورًا. And he said: These are those among the polytheists (mushrikīn) who worshipped the angels."
Others said: No, they are ʿUzayr, ʿĪsā, and his mother.
* Mention of who said that:
Yaḥyā ibn Jaʿfar related to me, saying: Yaḥyā ibn al-Sakan informed us, saying: Shuʿba informed us, on the authority of Ismāʿīl al-Suddī, on the authority of Abū Ṣāliḥ, on the authority of Ibn ʿAbbās, concerning His word أُولَئِكَ الَّذِينَ يَدْعُونَ يَبْتَغُونَ إِلَى رَبِّهِمُ الْوَسِيلَةَ: he said: "ʿĪsā, his mother, and ʿUzayr."
Muḥammad ibn al-Muthannā related to us, saying: Abū al-Nuʿmān al-Ḥakam ibn ʿAbd Allāh al-ʿIjlī related to us, saying: Shuʿba related to us, on the authority of Ismāʿīl al-Suddī, on the authority of Abū Ṣāliḥ, on the authority of Ibn ʿAbbās, he said: "ʿĪsā ibn Maryam and his mother and ʿUzayr — they belong to this verse: أُولَئِكَ الَّذِينَ يَدْعُونَ يَبْتَغُونَ إِلَى رَبِّهِمُ الْوَسِيلَةَ."
Muḥammad ibn ʿAmr related to me, saying: Abū ʿĀṣim related to us, saying: ʿĪsā related to us; and al-Ḥārith related to me, saying: al-Ḥasan related to us, saying: Warqāʾ related to us — both on the authority of Ibn Abī Najīḥ, on the authority of Mujāhid, concerning يَبْتَغُونَ إِلَى رَبِّهِمُ الْوَسِيلَةَ: he said: "ʿĪsā ibn Maryam and ʿUzayr and the angels."
Al-Qāsim related to us, saying: al-Ḥusayn related to us, saying: Ḥajjāj related to me, on the authority of Ibn Jurayj, on the authority of Mujāhid, similarly.
Ibn Ḥumayd related to us, saying: Jarīr related to us, on the authority of Mughīra, on the authority of Ibrāhīm, he said: Ibn ʿAbbās used to say concerning His word أُولَئِكَ الَّذِينَ يَدْعُونَ يَبْتَغُونَ إِلَى رَبِّهِمُ الْوَسِيلَةَ: he said: "They are ʿUzayr, the Messiah, the sun, and the moon."
The interpretation closest to the explanation of this verse is the word of ʿAbd Allāh ibn Masʿūd as we have transmitted it from Abū Maʿmar on his authority. For Allah the Exalted gave tidings concerning those whom the polytheists called upon as gods, that they themselves sought the wāsila to their Lord in the time of the Prophet ﷺ. And it is known that ʿUzayr no longer existed in the time of our Prophet — upon him be peace and blessings — so as to seek the wāsila to his Lord, and that ʿĪsā had been raised up. Only one who is present and alive and acts in obedience to Allah, and who through righteous deeds seeks to draw nearer to Allah, can seek the wāsila to his Lord. But one who has no possibility of doing so — by what means would he then seek the wāsila to his Lord? And when there is no meaning for this word, then there is no interpretation other than the interpretation we chose in its explanation, or the interpretation of him who said: they are the angels. These are two interpretations that the outward meaning of the revelation can bear. As for the wāsila — we have clarified that it is nearness and access.
An interpretation similar to what we have said has been shared by the exegetes.
* Mention of who said that:
Al-Qāsim related to us, saying: al-Ḥusayn related to us, saying: Ḥajjāj related to me, on the authority of Ibn Jurayj, he said: Ibn ʿAbbās said: "Al-wāsila: nearness."
Ibn ʿAbd al-Aʿlā related to us, saying: Muḥammad ibn Thawr related to us, on the authority of Maʿmar, on the authority of Qatāda: "Al-wāsila: he said: nearness and access."
