Surah Az-Zukhruf — Verse 21

Word Meanings:

• Ātaynāhum: We gave them / We granted them
• Kitāban min qablihī: A Book before it (i.e., before the Qur'an)
• Mustamsikūn: Holding fast / clinging to it as an authority and proof

Tafsir (Explanation):

This verse poses a powerful rhetorical challenge to those who reject the message of the Prophet Muhammad ﷺ and instead worship idols and claim that their forefathers were upon the truth. Allah asks them: "Or have We given them a Book before this Qur'an, to which they are holding fast?"

The meaning is clear: These polytheists claim to have divine sanction for their practices of worshipping other than Allah. But where is their proof? Did Allah send them a scripture before the Qur'an that explicitly permits them to worship idols, associate partners with Him, and deny the resurrection? Absolutely not! No such revelation was ever given to them.

The verse exposes the emptiness of their position. They are not following any revealed Book from Allah — they are merely following inherited customs, conjecture, and the whims of their ancestors. Had they truly been given a Book from Allah, it would have commanded them to worship Him alone, for every single scripture sent down from the heavens — from the Torah to the Gospel to the Psalms — was built upon the foundation of Tawheed (the Oneness of Allah). No prophet ever came with a message that permitted shirk (associating partners with Allah).

This verse is a timeless lesson for all of humanity: True guidance is not found in blind following of tradition or in the opinions of men, but in the revealed Word of Allah. The Qur'an stands as the final, unaltered, and most complete revelation, and it calls humanity to the pure worship of the One True God — a message that brings peace to the heart, clarity to the mind, and success in this life and the Hereafter.

So let every sincere seeker of truth ask themselves: Where is my proof? And let them find the most solid, unshakable proof in the Qur'an — a Book that challenges mankind to produce anything like it, and which has been preserved word-for-word for over 1,400 years. Hold fast to it, for in it is your salvation and your light.