An-Nahl (The Bee)

21. “(They are) dead, not alive, and they do not know when they will be raised.”

As the worshippers of the idols used to manufacture idols in the shape of man, and they used to treat them as if they were conscious beings, therefore, Allah in this verse calls the idols as dead ones which are used for the conscious living beings.

All beings except Allah are regarded as dead, whether be it inanimate ones or human beings from the point of being worshipped.

The verse says:

“(They are) dead, not alive, and they do not know when they will be raised.”

This is the fifth characteristic which the worshipped one must possess, and which the idols are lacking.

Idols and idolatry have got a wide range of meanings in the logic of the Qur’an. Whomever and whatever is juxtaposed as against Allah in respect to its leaning and supporting power and we imagine in whose hands our destiny is laid, that will be regarded as an idol for us.

It is for this reason that whatever is mentioned in the above verses are in connection with those who claim apparently seem to be worshippers of Allah, but they have lost the independence of a faithful and truthful believer, leaning on the support of some weak subjects on whom they count for their livelihood, they are the target of them.