Tafseer of The Spider · Al-Ankaboot · 29:25
And [Abraham] said, "You have only taken, other than Allah, idols as [a bond of] affection among you in worldly life. Then on the Day of Resurrection you will deny one another and curse one another, and your refuge will be the Fire, and you will not have any helpers."
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.
The statement concerning the explanation of His word, the Exalted: وَقَالَ إِنَّمَا اتَّخَذْتُمْ مِنْ دُونِ اللَّهِ أَوْثَانًا مَوَدَّةَ بَيْنِكُمْ فِي الْحَيَاةِ الدُّنْيَا ثُمَّ يَوْمَ الْقِيَامَةِ يَكْفُرُ بَعْضُكُمْ بِبَعْضٍ وَيَلْعَنُ بَعْضُكُمْ بَعْضًا وَمَأْوَاكُمُ النَّارُ وَمَا لَكُمْ مِنْ نَاصِرِينَ (25) ("And he said: You have only taken, apart from Allah, idols out of affection between you in the worldly life; then on the Day of Resurrection you will deny one another and curse one another, and your abode is the Fire, and you will have no helpers").
The Exalted, whose praise is exalted, says, reporting the statement of Ibrāhīm to his people: وَقَالَ ("And he said"), namely Ibrāhīm to his people: O my people, إِنَّمَا اتَّخَذْتُمْ مِنْ دُونِ اللَّهِ أَوْثَانًا ("you have only taken, apart from Allah, idols").
The reciters differ over the recitation of His word مَوَدَّةَ بَيْنِكُمْ . The majority of the reciters of Medina, Syria, and some of those of Kūfa read it مَوَدَّةً with fatḥa on "mawadda" without iḍāfa (genitive construction), and بَيْنَكُمْ likewise with fatḥa. Some reciters of Kūfa read مَوَدَّةَ بَيْنِكُمْ with fatḥa on "al-mawadda" and with its iḍāfa to His word بَيْنِكُمْ , and with kasra on بَيْنِكُمْ . It appears that those who read His word مَوَدَّةً in the accusative directed the meaning of the statement toward: إنَّمَا اتَّخَذْتُمْ ("You have only taken"), O people, أَوْثَانًا مَّوَدَّةً بَيْنَكُمْ ("idols as affection among you"). They made "innamā" a single word, and made His word اتخَذْتُمْ ("you have taken") govern the idols, and put them in the accusative with the meaning: you have taken them as affection among you in the worldly life, whereby you love one another for the sake of their worship and are affectionate to one another for the sake of their service, so that you are thereby bound to one another. Some reciters of Mecca and Basra read it مَوَدَّةُ بَيْنِكُمْ with ḍamma on "al-mawadda" and with its iḍāfa to "al-bayn," and with kasra on "al-bayn." It appears that those who read it thus made "inna mā" two words, with the interpretation: indeed, that which you have taken as idols apart from Allah is only your affection for the worldly. They put مَوَدَّةُ in the nominative as the predicate of "inna." It is also possible that with this recitation they used the nominative because "innamā" is a single word, whereby the report ends at His word إِنَّمَا اتَّخَذْتُمْ مِنْ دُونِ اللَّهِ أَوْثَانًا ("you have only taken, apart from Allah, idols"). Then a new report begins, so that it is said: that affection of yours for those idols will not benefit you; it is only an affection among you in your worldly life, and thereafter it is cut off. When this meaning is intended, "al-mawadda" stands in the nominative on account of its being determined by His word فِي الْحَيَاةِ الدُّنْيَا ("in the worldly life"). It is also possible that by the nominative of "al-mawadda" they intended the nominative on the basis of an implicit "hiya" ("it is").
These three recitations are close to one another in meaning, for those who took the idols as gods that they worshipped took them as affection among themselves, and they had in the worldly life an affection, which is thereafter cut off from them. With whichever of these recitations the reciter recites, he is correct, on account of the close affinity of these meanings and the well-attested currency of the recitation with each of these variants among the reciters of the cities.
And in accordance with what we have said concerning this, the people of interpretation have spoken.
* Mention of those who said that:
Bishr related to us, saying: Yazīd related to us, saying: Saʿīd related to us, on the authority of Qatāda: وَقَالَ إِنَّمَا اتَّخَذْتُمْ مِنْ دُونِ اللَّهِ أَوْثَانًا مَوَدَّةَ بَيْنِكُمْ فِي الْحَيَاةِ الدُّنْيَا ثُمَّ يَوْمَ الْقِيَامَةِ يَكْفُرُ بَعْضُكُمْ بِبَعْضٍ وَيَلْعَنُ بَعْضُكُمْ بَعْضًا ("And he said: You have only taken, apart from Allah, idols out of affection between you in the worldly life; then on the Day of Resurrection you will deny one another and curse one another"). He said: Every friendship in the worldly life will, on the Day of Resurrection, turn into enmity for those who held it, except the friendship of the God-fearing.
And His word: ثُمَّ يَوْمَ الْقِيَامَةِ يَكْفُرُ بَعْضُكُمْ بِبَعْضٍ وَيَلْعَنُ بَعْضُكُمْ بَعْضًا ("Then on the Day of Resurrection you will deny one another and curse one another"). The Exalted, whose praise is exalted, says: Then, on the Day of Resurrection, O you who were affectionate to one another for the sake of the worship of the idol-images and the statues and who were bound to one another for the sake of their service — when you are brought before your Lord and behold with your own eyes what Allah has prepared for you, because of that mutual bond and affection in the worldly life, of painful punishment — يَكْفُرُ بَعْضُكُمْ بِبَعْضٍ ("one of you will deny the other"). He says: One of you will disavow the other, and one of you will curse the other.
And His word: وَمَأْوَاكُمُ النَّارُ ("And your abode is the Fire"). The Exalted, whose praise is great, says: And the final destination of all of you, O you who worship the idols and worship what you worship, is the Fire (al-nār). وَمَا لَكُمْ مِنْ نَاصِرِينَ ("And you will have no helpers"). He says: And you will, O people who have taken gods apart from Allah مَوَدَّةَ بَيْنِكُمْ ("out of affection between you"), have no helpers who help you against Allah when He makes you burn in the Fire of Hell (jahannam), so that they might save you from His punishment.
