An-Nahl 16:51–60

Allah Alone is Deserving of Worship

Allah tells us that there is no god but He, and that no one else should be worshipped except Him, alone, without partners, for He is the Sovereign, Creator, and Lord of all things.

(His is the religion Wasiba) Ibn `Abbas, Mujahid, `Ikrimah, Maymun bin Mahran, As-Suddi, Qatadah and others said that this means forever. It was also reported that Ibn `Abbas said, "It means obligatory." Mujahid said: "It means purely for Him," i.e., worship is due to Him Alone, from whoever is in the heavens and on earth. As Allah says:

(Do they seek other than the religion of Allah, while to Him submitted all creatures in the heavens and the earth, willingly or unwillingly. And to Him shall they all be returned.) (3:83) This is in accordance with the opinion of Ibn `Abbas and `Ikrimah, which is that this Ayah is merely stating the case. According to the opinion of Mujahid, it is by way of instruction, i.e., it is saying: You had better fear associating partners in worship with Me, and be sincere in your obedience to Me. As Allah says:

(Surely, the pure religion (sincere devotion) is for Allah only.) (39:3) Then Allah tells us that He is the One Who has the power to benefit and harm, and that the provisions, blessings, good health and help, His servants enjoy are from His bounty and graciousness towards them.

(Then, when harm touches you, to Him you cry aloud for help.) meaning because you know that none has the power to remove that harm except for Him, so when you are harmed, you turn to ask Him for help and beg Him for aid. As Allah says:

(And when harm touches you at sea, those that you call upon vanish, except for Him. But when He brings you safe to land, you turn away. And man is ever ungrateful.)(17:67) Here, Allah tells us:

(Then, when He has removed the harm from you, behold! some of you associate others in worship with their Lord (Allah). So they are ungrateful for that which We have given them!) (16:54-55) It was said that the Lam here (translated as "So") is an indicator of sequence, or that it serves an explanatory function, meaning, `We decreed that they would conceal the truth and deny the blessings that Allah has bestowed upon them. He is the One Who bestows blessings and the One Who removes distress.' Then Allah threatens them, saying:

(Then enjoy yourselves) meaning, do what you like and enjoy what you have for a little while.

(but you will soon come to know.) meaning the consequences of that.

Among the Behavior of the Idolators was vowing to Things that Allah had provided for Them to their gods

Allah tells us about some of the heinous deeds of those who used to perform baseless worship of other gods besides Him, such as idols and statues, with no grounds for doing so. They gave their idols a share of that which Allah had provided for them,

(They say: "This is for Allah," according to their claim, "and this is for our partners." But the share of their "partners" is not directed to Allah, while the share of Allah is directed to their "partners"! How evil is that with which they judge) (6:136) That is they assigned a share for their idols as well as Allah, but they gave preference to their gods over Him, so Allah swore by His Almighty Self to question them about these lies and fabrications. He will most certainly call them to account for it and give them the unrelenting punishment in the fire of Hell. So He says,

(By Allah, you shall certainly be questioned about (all) that you used to fabricate.) Then Allah tells us how they used to regard the angels, who are servants of the Most Merciful, as being female, and that they considered them to be Allah's daughters, and they worshipped them with Him. In all of the above, they made very serious errors. They attributed offspring to Him when He has no offspring, then they assigned Him the kind of offspring they regarded as inferior, namely daughters, which they did not even want for themselves, as He said:

(Are the males for you and the females for Him That is indeed an unfair division!) (53:21-22) And Allah says here:

(And they assign daughters unto Allah! Glorified (and Exalted) is He.) meaning, above their claims and fabrications.

(But no! It is from their falsehood that they say: "Allah has begotten." They are certainly liars! Has He (then) chosen daughters rather than sons What is the matter with you How do you decide) (37:151-154)

(And for themselves, what they desire;) meaning they choose the males for themselves, rejecting the daughters that they assign to Allah. Exalted be Allah far above what they say!

The Idolators' Abhorrence for Daughters

(And when the news of (the birth of) a female (child) is brought to any of them, his face becomes dark) meaning with distress and grief.

(and he is filled with inner grief!) meaning he is silent because of the intensity of the grief he feels.

(He hides himself from the people) meaning he does not want anyone to see him.

(because of the evil of that whereof he has been informed. Shall he keep her with dishonor or bury her in the earth) meaning should he keep her, humiliating her, not letting her inherit from him and not taking care of her, preferring his male children over her

(or bury her in the earth) meaning bury her alive, as they used to do during the days of ignorance. How could they dislike something so intensely, yet attribute it to Allah

(Certainly, evil is their decision.) meaning how evil are the words they say, the way they want to share things out and the things they attribute to Him. As Allah says:

(And if one of them is informed of the news of (the birth of a girl) that which he sets forth as a parable to the Most Gracious (Allah), his face becomes dark, and he is filled with grief!) (43:17). Here, Allah says:

(For those who do not believe in the Hereafter there is an evil description,) meaning, only imperfection is to be attributed to

(and for Allah is the highest description) meaning He is absolutely perfect in all ways and this absolute perfection is His Alone.

(And He is the All-Mighty, the All-Wise.)