Page 23 - Loyalty Described in the Qur'an

The Misinterpretation of Loyalty
"We worship idols and will continue to cling to them." He
said, "Do they hear you when you call or do they help you
or do you harm?" They said, "No, but this is what we found

our fathers doing." He said, "Have you really thought about
what you worship, you and your fathers who came before?"
(Surat ash-Shu‘ara', 69-76)
This incident mentioned in the Qur'an shows that these people
were faithful to their ancestors. But, this devotion was ill-formed.
When the real nature of their gods was revealed to them, they ob-
jected, citing that the only reason they worshipped these things was
because their ancestors had. This devotion to idols shows that their

cult is but vanity.
We can see that an unfounded sense of loyalty causes these peo-
ple to oppose the commands of Allah, to rebel against it, and even to
be hostile to anyone who adheres to the principles of its morality
and tries to inform others about it. They went to the point of asking
our Prophet (saas) to change the Qur'an:
When Our Clear Signs are recited to them, those who do
not expect to meet Us say, "Bring a Qur'an other than this

one or change it." Say: "It is not for me to change it of my
own accord. I follow nothing except what is revealed to me.
I fear, were I to disobey my Lord, the punishment of a
Dreadful Day." (Surah Yunus, 15)
Because it refuted their unjust beliefs, these people wanted our
Prophet (saas) to revise or change the Qur'an. Their devotion to
these systems prevented them from obeying the Word of Allah. For
this reason, those messengers that Allah has sent throughout the

centuries, to proclaim His religion, have persistently encountered

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