Surah al-Anbiya' (The Prophets ) 21 : 52

Explanatory Note

The way he put this question is indicative of his sharp sense of what is right. He gave those stones and wooden shapes their true names, ‘images’. He did not call them ‘deities’. Indeed, he stated his disapproval of their worship of those images by using the word ‘devoted’, which indicates a permanent action. Needless to say, those people did not devote all their time to worshipping such idols, but they nonetheless attached great respect to them. This is, then, devotion in an abstract sense. The way Abraham put the question, describing them as permanent devotees to such idols, indicates that he considered their action absolutely absurd.