مَا تَعْبُدُونَ مِن دُونِهِۦٓ إِلَّآ أَسْمَآءً سَمَّيْتُمُوهَآ أَنتُمْ وَءَابَآؤُكُم مَّآ أَنزَلَ ٱللَّهُ بِهَا مِن سُلْطَـٰنٍ ۚ إِنِ ٱلْحُكْمُ إِلَّا لِلَّهِ ۚ أَمَرَ أَلَّا تَعْبُدُوٓا۟ إِلَّآ إِيَّاهُ ۚ ذَٰلِكَ ٱلدِّينُ ٱلْقَيِّمُ وَلَـٰكِنَّ أَكْثَرَ ٱلنَّاسِ لَا يَعْلَمُونَ 40
Translations
You worship not besides Him except [mere] names you have named them, you and your fathers, for which Allāh has sent down no evidence. Legislation is not but for Allāh. He has commanded that you worship not except Him. That is the correct religion, but most of the people do not know.
Transliteration
Mā ta'budūna min dūnihi illā asmā'an sammaytumūhā antum wa ābā'ukum mā anzala allāhu bihā min sulṭān. Ini al-ḥukmu illā lillāh. Amara allā ta'budū illā iyyāh. Dhālika al-dīn al-qayyim wa lākin akthara al-nās lā ya'lamūn.
Tafsir (Explanation)
This ayah, spoken by Prophet Yusuf (Joseph) to his fellow prisoners, addresses the futility of worshipping idols and false deities. The verse emphasizes that the idols worshipped by the pagans are merely names without any divine authority or basis—creations of human invention passed down through generations. According to Ibn Kathir and Al-Tabari, Yusuf uses this powerful argument to redirect worship solely to Allah, establishing that true governance and judgment belong to Allah alone, and this tawhīd (monotheism) is the straight path, though most people remain ignorant of this truth.
Revelation Context
This ayah occurs within Surah Yusuf during Yusuf's imprisonment in Egypt. While Yusuf himself is addressing the two prisoners who sought his interpretation of their dreams, the broader Meccan context reveals the Quran responding to Meccan idolatry. The surah uses Yusuf's story to teach the Meccan community about tawhīd and resistance to polytheistic practices, making this ayah particularly relevant to early Islamic preaching against Arabian idolatry.
Related Hadiths
Sahih Bukhari (Book of Tawhid): The Prophet ﷺ said, 'The best speech is the speech of Allah, and the best guidance is the guidance of Muhammad.' This relates to the ayah's emphasis on authentic divine guidance versus human inventions. Additionally, in Tirmidhi, there is emphasis on the oneness of Allah as the central message of all prophets, reflecting Yusuf's monotheistic teaching.
Themes
Key Lesson
This ayah teaches believers to question inherited beliefs and practices that lack divine authority, encouraging critical thinking grounded in revelation rather than blind tradition. For contemporary Muslims, it serves as a reminder that true worship must be based on knowledge ('ilm) and evidence from Allah's guidance, not on cultural customs or societal norms divorced from divine truth.