“And (remember) the Day He will say: “Call those (so-called) partners of Mine whom you pretended.” Then they will cry unto them, but they will not answer them, and We shall put a barrier between them.”(18:52)
When Allah says “them” who is he referring to? By placing a barrier between the deities that people are worshipping—is Allah referring to the the actual beings, deities, jinn, shayateen people worshipped—or to the idols which have no existence whatsoever? If it is including idols—why would a barrier even be needed if they don’t have an existence?
I read a Sunni tafsir that said the following:
“Allah ta’ala will order the mushrikeen (pagans) to call upon their shurakaa (partners setup in worship with Allah). These partners can be idols, Shaytan or whatever being they associated with Allah in worship. When they call upon these partners, they will not respond to them. The scholars mention for two reasons: 1- If the partners were idols, then there is no reality to their existence. 2- if they worshiped a being, then that being cannot help them.”
I thought this tafsir made sense, so I’m inclined to agree with it, but wanted to get a Shia tafsir of verse 52 of Surah Kahf as well—and if you could answer my earlier question as well. And what websites or books would you recommend for authentic Shia tafsir of the Quran?
The above is one of the Tafsirs and it’s accepted. Kindly read “Tafsir al-Mizan”, “ enlightening commentary in the Holy Qur’an”, or “ Tafsir Namooneh etc for more information on this verse.