فَاسْتَفْتِهِمْ Then ask them اَلِرَبِّكَ Does your Lord الْبَنَاتُ (have) daughters وَ لَهُمُ while for them الْبَنُوْنَۙ (are) sons اَمْ Or خَلَقْنَا did We create الْمَلٰٓىِٕكَةَ the Angels اِنَاثًا females وَّ هُمْ while they شٰهِدُوْنَ (were) witnesses اَلَاۤ No doubt اِنَّهُمْ indeed they مِّنْ of اِفْكِهِمْ their falsehood لَیَقُوْلُوْنَۙ [they] say وَلَدَ Allah has begotten اللّٰهُ ۙ Allah has begotten وَ اِنَّهُمْ and indeed, they لَكٰذِبُوْنَ surely (are) liars اَصْطَفَی Has He chosen الْبَنَاتِ [the] daughters عَلَی over الْبَنِیْنَؕ sons 37. As-Saffat Page 452 مَا What is with you لَكُمْ ۫ What is with you كَیْفَ How تَحْكُمُوْنَ you judge اَفَلَا Then will not تَذَكَّرُوْنَۚ you pay heed اَمْ Or لَكُمْ (is) for you سُلْطٰنٌ an authority مُّبِیْنٌۙ clear فَاْتُوْا Then bring بِكِتٰبِكُمْ your book اِنْ if كُنْتُمْ you are صٰدِقِیْنَ truthful
(37:149) So ask their opinion:86 “(Are you convinced) that your Lord should have daughters and you should have sons?87
(37:150) Did We create the angels as females the while they witnessed?”
(37:151) Behold, it is one of their fabrications that they say:
(37:152) “Allah has begotten.” They are liars!
(37:153) Did He choose daughters rather than sons?
(37:154) What is the matter with you that you make such strange judgements?
(37:155) Will you then not take heed?
(37:156) Do you have any clear authority for such claims?
(37:157) Bring your Book, if you are truthful.88
86. This marks the beginning of a new discourse. The earlier discourse commenced with verse 11. It began with posing to the Makkan unbelievers the question: “Were they harder to create than the objects We created?” At this stage, they are asked another question. The objective of the former question was to jolt the unbelievers, those who had ruled out the possibility of the Afterlife, Resurrection and Divine retribution, and mocked the Prophet (peace be on him) because he expounded these doctrines. The present question, however, seeks to alert them to their ignorance, for they ascribed children to God. They gave free rein to their imagination and confirmed ties of kinship between God and whomsoever they wanted.
87. We learn from traditions in a variety of sources that the Quraysh, Juhaynah, Band Salimah, Khuza‘ah, Bani Mulayh and some other tribes considered angels to be the daughters of God. The Qur’an refers to this in the following instances: al-Nisa’ 4:117; al-Nahl 16:57-58; Bani Isra’il 17:40; al-Zukhruf 43:16-19, and al-Najm 53:21-27.
88. There could evidently be no more than two grounds for considering the angels tc be God’s daughters. The first of these could be observation.
Alternatively, it could have a scriptural basis. In other words, there should be a statement on God’s authority that the angels are His daughters. The unbelievers, however, cannot substantiate their claim on either of these two grounds. It was the height of their ignorance and folly that they entertained a baseless notion as an article of faith. They attributed to God what was patently ridiculous and outrageous.