Prophet Yūsuf: Part 1 — The Well, the House and the Prison
Section 30 of 31 · Lives of the Prophets
Only Names
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
“Whatever you worship, other than Him, are nothing but names you have coined, you and your fathers. Allah has sent down no authority for them. Sovereignty belongs to none but Allah. He has ordained that you shall not worship anyone but Him. This is the only right path. But most of the people do not know.”” (12:40)
He told them: you do not worship besides Him except names which you have forged, you and your fathers, for which Allah has sent down no authority. Asmāʾ: names. What is a name? A name is an abstract thing; the name itself has no value. It is the substance being named that has the value. Yūsuf was telling them that these gods have no substance. They do not even exist; there is nothing behind them. It is only a name, only a label; there is nothing behind it. Asmāʾun sammaytumūhā — names you forged, with your fathers before you. Allah (swt) did not instruct or command us to do this.