except while they associate others with Him." He said: "That is the hypocrite who, when he performs an action, does so to show off to the people, and he is a polytheist (mushrik) through that action of his."

12037 - My father narrated to us, al-Hasan ibn Sawwar narrated to us, al-Nadr ibn ‘Arabiyy narrated to us, regarding His saying: "And most of them believe not in Allah except while they associate others with Him," he said: "Part of their belief is that it is said to them, 'Who is your Lord?' and they say, 'Allah.' 'And who manages the heavens and the earth?' and they say, 'Allah.' 'And who sends down the rain upon them?' and they say, 'Allah.' 'And who makes the earth grow?' and they say, 'Allah.' Then, after that, they are polytheists (mushrikun), for they say: 'Indeed Allah has a son,' and they say: 'He is the third of three.'"

12038 - Abu Yazid al-Qaratisi informed us in what he wrote to me, Asbagh narrated to us, he said: I heard ‘Abd al-Rahman ibn Zayd ibn Aslam say regarding the saying of Allah: "And most of them believe not in Allah except while they associate others with Him," he said: "There is no one who worships something other than Allah along with Him except that he believes in Allah; he knows that Allah, the Mighty and Majestic, is his Lord and that Allah created him and provided for him, and [yet] he is a polytheist towards Him. Do you not see how Ibrahim said: 'Have you then considered what you have been worshipping, you and your ancient forefathers? Indeed, they are enemies to me, except the Lord of the worlds.' He recognized that they were worshipping the Lord of the worlds, along with what they worshipped. He said: So there is no one who associates partners with Allah except that he is a believer in Him. Do you not see how the Arabs used to say the Talbiyah: 'Labbayka Allahumma Labbayk, Labbayka la sharika laka Labbayk, illa sharikan huwa laka, tamlikuhu wa ma malak' (At Your service, O Allah, at Your service, at Your service, You have no partner except a partner who is Yours; You possess him and all that he possesses). The polytheists used to say this."

12039 - ‘Ali ibn al-Husayn narrated to us, al-Muqaddami narrated to us, Zakariyya ibn Zurara narrated to us, my father narrated to us, [who] said: I asked Abu Ja‘far Muhammad ibn ‘Ali about His saying: "And most of them believe not in Allah except while they associate others with Him," Abu Ja‘far said: "It is a shirk (polytheism) of obedience, [like] the saying of a man: 'Were it not for Allah and so-and-so,' 'Were it not for the dog of the family of so-and-so.'"

[The Second Aspect]

12040 - Muhammad ibn al-Husayn ibn Ibrahim ibn Ishkab narrated to us, Yunus ibn Muhammad narrated to us, Hammad ibn Salama narrated to us, from ‘Asim al-Ahwal, from ‘Uzra, who said: Hudhayfa entered upon a sick man and saw a leather strap on his arm, so he cut it or pulled it off, then said: "And most of them believe not in Allah except while they associate others with Him."

His saying, the Exalted: "Then have they felt secure that there will not come to them an overwhelming [gashiyah] from the punishment of Allah?"

12041 - Hajjaj ibn Hamza narrated to us, Shababa narrated to us, Warqa’ narrated to us, from Ibn Abi Najih, from Mujahid, regarding His saying: "An overwhelming [gashiyah] from the punishment of Allah," he said: "It shall overwhelm them."