Surah An Nisa Tafseer

إِن يَدْعُونَ مِن دُونِهِ إِلاَّ إِنَاثًا

They invoke nothing but female deities besides Him (Allah),

Juwaybir said that Ad-Dahhak said about Allah's statement,

"The idolators claimed that the angels are Allah's daughters, saying, `We only worship them so that they bring us closer to Allah.'

So they took the angels as gods, made the shapes of girls and decided, `These (idols) resemble the daughters of Allah (i.e., the angels), Whom we worship."'

This is similar to Allah's statements,

أَفَرَءَيْتُمُ اللَّـتَ وَالْعُزَّى

Have you then considered Al-Latand Al-`Uzza! (53:19)

وَجَعَلُواْ الْمَلَـيِكَةَ الَّذِينَ هُمْ عِبَادُ الرَّحْمَـنِ إِنَـثاً

And they make the angels who themselves are servants of the Most Gracious (Allah) females. (43:19)

and,

وَجَعَلُواْ بَيْنَهُ وَبَيْنَ الْجِنَّةِ نَسَباً

And they have invented a kinship between Him and the Jinn. (37:158)

Allah's statement,

وَإِن يَدْعُونَ إِلاَّ شَيْطَانًا مَّرِيدًا

and they invoke nothing but Shaytan, a persistent rebel!

means, Shaytan has commanded them to do this and made it seem fair and beautiful in their eyes. Consequently, they are worshipping Shaytan in reality, just as Allah said in another Ayah,

أَلَمْ أَعْهَدْ إِلَيْكُمْ يبَنِى ءَادَمَ أَن لاَّ تَعْبُدُواْ الشَّيطَـنَ

Did I not command you, O Children of Adam, that you should not worship Shaytan. (36:60)

Allah said that, on the Day of Resurrection, the angels shall proclaim about the idolators who worshipped them in this life:

بَلْ كَانُواْ يَعْبُدُونَ الْجِنَّ أَكْـثَرُهُم بِهِم مُّوْمِنُونَ

Nay, but they used to worship the Jinn; most of them were believers in them. (34:41)

Allah's statement