Tafheem ul Quran

Surah 21 Al-Anbya, Ayat 19-33

وَلَهٗ مَنۡ فِى السَّمٰوٰتِ وَالۡاَرۡضِ​ؕ وَمَنۡ عِنۡدَهٗ لَا يَسۡتَكۡبِرُوۡنَ عَنۡ عِبَادَتِهٖ وَلَا يَسۡتَحۡسِرُوۡنَ​ۚ‏ ﴿21:19﴾ يُسَبِّحُوۡنَ الَّيۡلَ وَالنَّهَارَ لَا يَفۡتُرُوۡنَ‏ ﴿21:20﴾ اَمِ اتَّخَذُوۡۤا اٰلِهَةً مِّنَ الۡاَرۡضِ هُمۡ يُنۡشِرُوۡنَ‏ ﴿21:21﴾ لَوۡ كَانَ فِيۡهِمَاۤ اٰلِهَةٌ اِلَّا اللّٰهُ لَـفَسَدَتَا​ۚ فَسُبۡحٰنَ اللّٰهِ رَبِّ الۡعَرۡشِ عَمَّا يَصِفُوۡنَ‏ ﴿21:22﴾ لَا يُسۡـئَـلُ عَمَّا يَفۡعَلُ وَهُمۡ يُسۡـئَـلُوۡنَ‏ ﴿21:23﴾ اَمِ اتَّخَذُوۡا مِنۡ دُوۡنِهٖۤ اٰلِهَةً ​ ؕ قُلۡ هَاتُوۡا بُرۡهَانَكُمۡ​ ۚ هٰذَا ذِكۡرُ مَنۡ مَّعِىَ وَذِكۡرُ مَنۡ قَبۡلِىۡ​ ؕ بَلۡ اَكۡثَرُهُمۡ لَا يَعۡلَمُوۡنَ ۙ الۡحَـقَّ​ فَهُمۡ مُّعۡرِضُوۡنَ‏ ﴿21:24﴾ وَمَاۤ اَرۡسَلۡنَا مِنۡ قَبۡلِكَ مِنۡ رَّسُوۡلٍ اِلَّا نُوۡحِىۡۤ اِلَيۡهِ اَنَّهٗ لَاۤ اِلٰهَ اِلَّاۤ اَنَا فَاعۡبُدُوۡنِ‏ ﴿21:25﴾ وَقَالُوا اتَّخَذَ الرَّحۡمٰنُ وَلَدًا​ سُبۡحٰنَهٗ​ ؕ بَلۡ عِبَادٌ مُّكۡرَمُوۡنَ ۙ‏ ﴿21:26﴾ لَا يَسۡبِقُوۡنَهٗ بِالۡقَوۡلِ وَهُمۡ بِاَمۡرِهٖ يَعۡمَلُوۡنَ‏ ﴿21:27﴾ يَعۡلَمُ مَا بَيۡنَ اَيۡدِيۡهِمۡ وَمَا خَلۡفَهُمۡ وَ لَا يَشۡفَعُوۡنَۙ اِلَّا لِمَنِ ارۡتَضٰى وَهُمۡ مِّنۡ خَشۡيَـتِهٖ مُشۡفِقُوۡنَ‏ ﴿21:28﴾ وَمَنۡ يَّقُلۡ مِنۡهُمۡ اِنِّىۡۤ اِلٰـهٌ مِّنۡ دُوۡنِهٖ فَذٰلِكَ نَجۡزِيۡهِ جَهَـنَّمَ​ؕ كَذٰلِكَ نَجۡزِى الظّٰلِمِيۡنَ‏ ﴿21:29﴾ اَوَلَمۡ يَرَ الَّذِيۡنَ كَفَرُوۡۤا اَنَّ السَّمٰوٰتِ وَالۡاَرۡضَ كَانَـتَا رَتۡقًا فَفَتَقۡنٰهُمَا​ ؕ وَجَعَلۡنَا مِنَ الۡمَآءِ كُلَّ شَىۡءٍ حَىٍّ​ ؕ اَفَلَا يُؤۡمِنُوۡنَ‏ ﴿21:30﴾ وَجَعَلۡنَا فِى الۡاَرۡضِ رَوَاسِىَ اَنۡ تَمِيۡدَ بِهِمۡ وَجَعَلۡنَا فِيۡهَا فِجَاجًا سُبُلًا لَّعَلَّهُمۡ يَهۡتَدُوۡنَ‏ ﴿21:31﴾ وَجَعَلۡنَا السَّمَآءَ سَقۡفًا مَّحۡفُوۡظًا ۖۚ وَّهُمۡ عَنۡ اٰيٰتِهَا مُعۡرِضُوۡنَ‏  ﴿21:32﴾ وَهُوَ الَّذِىۡ خَلَقَ الَّيۡلَ وَالنَّهَارَ وَالشَّمۡسَ وَالۡقَمَرَ​ؕ كُلٌّ فِىۡ فَلَكٍ يَّسۡبَحُوۡنَ‏ ﴿21:33﴾

(21:19) To Him18 belongs whosoever dwells in the heavens and on earth. Those (angels) that are with Him19 neither disdain to serve Him out of pride, nor do they weary of it.20 (21:20) They glorify Him night and day, without flagging. (21:21) Have they taken earthly gods who are such that they raise up the dead to life?21 (21:22) Had there been any gods in the heavens and the earth apart from Allah, the order of both the heavens and the earth would have gone to ruins.22 Glory be to Allah, the Lord of the Throne,23 Who is far above their false descriptions of Him. (21:23) None shall question Him about what He does, but they shall be questioned. (21:24) Have they taken gods other than Him? Say, (O Muhammad): "Bring forth your proof! Here is the Book with admonition for those of my time and there are also scriptures with admonition for people before me."24 But most people do not know the Truth, and have, therefore, turned away from it.25 (21:25) Never did We send any Messenger before you to whom We did not reveal: "There is no god but Me. So serve Me alone." (21:26) They say: "The Most Compassionate Lord has taken to Himself a son."26 Glory be to Him! Those whom they so designate are only His honoured servants. (21:27) They do not outstrip Him in speech and only act as He commands. (21:28) He knows whatever is before them and whatsoever is remote from them and they do not intercede except for him, intercession on whose behalf pleases Him, and they stand constantly in awe of Him.27 (21:29) And if anyone of them were to claim: "Indeed I am a god apart from Him," We shall recompense both with Hell. Thus do We recompense the wrong-doers. (21:30) Did the unbelievers (who do not accept the teaching of the Prophet) not realize that the heavens and the earth were one solid mass, then We tore them apart,28 and We made every living being out of water?29 Will they, then, not believe (that We created all this)? (21:31) And We placed firm mountains on earth lest it should sway with them,30 and We made wide paths31 in them that they may find their way;32 (21:32) and We made the sky a secure canopy;33 and yet they turn away from these Signs.34 (21:33) It is He Who created the night and the day, and the sun and the moon. Each of them is floating in its orbit.35

Notes

18. From here begins the discourse on the confirmation of Tauhid and the refutation of shirk for these were the actual bases of the conflict between the Prophet (peace be upon him) and the disbelievers of Makkah. The line of argument is this: The whole system of the universe is a clear proof that there is One Allah Who is its Creator, Sovereign, Ruler, and Lord and it is a falsehood that there are many gods who are partners in His Kingdom and Sovereignty, or that there is a Supreme God Who has under Him some minor gods to conduct the affairs of His Kingdom. This proof is also based on the preceding verses in which it has been stated that the universe has not been created as a pastime or a plaything, but for a serious purpose and that there has always been a conflict between the truth and falsehood, and falsehood has always been defeated and destroyed.

19. That is, the angels whom the mushriks of Arabia believed to be the children of God and worshiped them as partners in Godhead.

20. That is, they are engaged in His service day and night without grumbling or ever feeling wearied.

21. This question has been posed to bring home to the disbelievers that when they themselves believed that there is no being other than Allah who can give life to inanimate matter, why do they then acknowledge other deities besides Allah?

22. This concise sentence contains two arguments:

(1) The obviously simple argument is that no institution, no household, not to speak of the vast universe containing multitudes of countless distant stars, can function smoothly and properly, if it has two masters.

(2) The deeper argument is that the system of the whole universe, including that of the earth, is functioning according to a universal law. It could not work so even for a moment, if there had been no proper proportion, balance, harmony and coordination between the different powers and countless things. This is a clear proof that there is a universal and all powerful law and system which binds and forces these powers and things to cooperate and coordinate between themselves with a perfect proportion and harmony and this could not have happened if there had been different independent rulers. The existence of such a system is itself a clear proof that there must be One All Powerful Manager and Administrator governing and ruling the entire universe. For further details, please see (E.N. 47 of Surah Bani-Israil).

23. That is, The Sovereign of the whole universe.

24. The first two were rational arguments and this is a historical one. This means that the study of all the former Scriptures shows that the Creator of the universe is One Allah and He alone is worthy of service and worship, while your religion is neither supported by rational arguments nor by historical evidence.

25. It is their lack of the knowledge of the reality which has created this indifference towards the message of the Prophet, and the same has made them heedless of the message.

26. Here it refers to the angels as is clear from Ayat

27. These two verses refute the two reasons for which the mushriks had made the angels their deities:

(1) They took them for the offspring of Allah.

(2) They thought that if they worshiped the angels, they would be so pleased that they would intercede with Allah on their behalf. See (Surah Younus, Ayat 18); (Surah AzZumur, Ayat 3).

In this connection, it should also be noted that the Quran refutes the doctrine of intercession of the mushriks, saying, that their so called intercessors are not qualified to intercede for anyone. This is so because they have no knowledge of the hidden things, whereas Allah knows all that is hidden from or open to them. Therefore, the angels or Prophets or saints shall be allowed intercession only with the prior permission of Allah. As Allah alone has the power to hear or accept intercession, none else is entitled to divine worship or rights. For further details, please see (Surah TaHa, E. Ns 85-86).

28. From the wording of the text, it appears that at first the whole universe was a single mass of matter; then it was split into different parts and the earth and the other heavenly bodies were formed. For more details, please see (Surah HaMim, E.Ns 13-15).

29. From the wording of the text, it appears that Allah made water the cause and origin of life. See also (Surah An- Nur, Ayat 45).

30. For explanation, see (E. N. 12 of Surah An-Nahl).

31. “Broad highways” are the passes between high mountains and the valleys and ravines made by the rivers in the mountainous regions and other natural ways that connect different regions on the earth.

32. This is a very meaningful sentence. It may mean that the people may find paths for traveling on the earth, and it may also mean that the wisdom that underlies the skill and the system of their creation may guide them to the reality.

33. For explanation, see (Surah Al-Hijr, E. Ns 8 and 10-12).

34. That is, those signs which are in the sky.

35. The use of the words kullun (all) and yasbahun (float) in the plural (for more than two) indicates that not only the sun and the moon but all the heavenly bodies are floating in their own separate orbits and none of them is fixed or stationary. These (verses 30-33) are capable of being interpreted in the modern scientific terms in accordance with the present day conceptions of Physics, Biology and Astronomy.

Here it should also be noted that( verses 19-23) refute shirk while verses 30-33 present positive proofs of Tauhid. They imply that the creation and regular functioning of the universe clearly show that it is the work of One All- Powerful Creator, and no sensible person can say that it has been created as a mere pastime for the sake of fun. When the fact is this and you see proofs of the doctrine of Tauhid all around you, in the earth and heavens, why do you reject the message of the Prophet (peace be upon him) and demand other signs from him.