Yunus (Jonas)

105. “And (I have also been commanded) that ‘Set your face towards the Religion uprightly, and never be of the polytheists.’”

106. “And do not call other than Allah on that which will neither profit you nor hurt you: for if you do, then verily you will on that case be of the unjust.”

In the last verses of this Surah, Allah, the Supreme, has designated the responsibilities of the Messenger (the Prophet) as to what he must do in case the people did not follow him or hesitated in accepting his mission.

The verse says:

“And (I have also been commanded) that ‘Set your face towards the Religion uprightly, and never be of the polytheists.’” The Prophet’s responsibility is to get the people to desist from the worship of self-styled gods and induce the sincere worship of the one Allah, “Allah”, to inculcate an honest faith in Him and to execute His Commandments whether apparent or hidden. They should not worship other gods and man-made idols, for by doing this they would be oppressing themselves because these false deities are of no advantage or disadvantage to them. He Who is really the only source of benefit and loss is no one but “Allah”.

The verse says:

“And do not call other than Allah on that which will neither profit you nor hurt you: for if you do, then verily you will on that case be of the unjust.”

Man’s submission to idols and those manufactured deities he has made as partners with the Creator, is injustice to himself. If he does this, he will lose his identity which is one of the most precious endowments he is blessed with, and if he tries to persuade others to follow this road this can also be considered as oppressing the people by misleading them in their thinking.

Though this speech is addressed to the Prophet, in reality it is targeted at the people.