Surah Raad ayat 16 Tafsir Quran 13:16

﴿قُلْ مَن رَّبُّ السَّمَاوَاتِ وَالْأَرْضِ قُلِ اللَّهُ ۚ قُلْ أَفَاتَّخَذْتُم مِّن دُونِهِ أَوْلِيَاءَ لَا يَمْلِكُونَ لِأَنفُسِهِمْ نَفْعًا وَلَا ضَرًّا ۚ قُلْ هَلْ يَسْتَوِي الْأَعْمَىٰ وَالْبَصِيرُ أَمْ هَلْ تَسْتَوِي الظُّلُمَاتُ وَالنُّورُ ۗ أَمْ جَعَلُوا لِلَّهِ شُرَكَاءَ خَلَقُوا كَخَلْقِهِ فَتَشَابَهَ الْخَلْقُ عَلَيْهِمْ ۚ قُلِ اللَّهُ خَالِقُ كُلِّ شَيْءٍ وَهُوَ الْوَاحِدُ الْقَهَّارُ﴾
[ الرعد: 16]

13:16 Say, "Who is Lord of the heavens and earth?" Say, "Allah." Say, "Have you then taken besides Him allies not possessing [even] for themselves any benefit or any harm?" Say, "Is the blind equivalent to the seeing? Or is darkness equivalent to light? Or have they attributed to Allah partners who created like His creation so that the creation [of each] seemed similar to them?" Say, "Allah is the Creator of all things, and He is the One, the Prevailing."

Say O Muhammad (s) to your people ‘Who is the Lord of the heavens and the earth?’ Say ‘God’ — and even if they do not say it there can be no other response. Say to them ‘Then have you taken beside Him other than Him protectors idols to worship who have no power to benefit or harm themselves?’ and you abandon the One Who is their Possessor? an interrogative meant as a rebuke. Say ‘Are the blind one and the seer respectively the disbeliever and the believer equal? Or are darkness disbelief and the light faith equal? No! Or have they set up for God associates who have created the like of His creation so that creation seems alike that is is what the associates create and the creation of God alike to them?’ so that they believe them worthy of being worshipped on account of what these associates have created? an interrogative of disavowal; in other words not so! None save the Creator is worthy of being worshipped. Say ‘God is the Creator of all things having no associate therein and so He cannot have an associate in terms of worship; and He is the One the Subjugator’ of His servants.

Ask them O Muhammad: Who is the Creator of the heavens and the earth! and say to them: It is Allah. and ask them: Have you taken besides Him other deities who have no control over what befalls You of good or harm!. Ask them: Do you compare the one without the sense of sight or who lacks spiritual perception with the other who perceives objects by sight or perceives mentally and apprehends by thought ! Does darkness or want of spiritual or intellectual sight compare with light or spiritual enlightenment?. Or did those whom they incorporate with Allah call into existence or form out of nothingness any creature, animate or inanimate, identical with any of those created by Allah, to the extent that they cannot tell the difference! Say to them: It is Allah Who is the Creator of the whole and of all in all; He is the One and only Ilah, the Supreme controlling and influencing power inherent in the whole and in all in all

Affirming Tawhid Allah affirms here that there is no deity worthy of worship except Him, since they admit that He alone created the heavens and the earth and that He is their Lord and the Disposer of all affairs.
Yet, they take as lords others besides Allah and worship them, even though these false gods do not have the power to benefit or harm themselves, or those who worship them.
Therefore, the polytheists will not benefit or have harm removed from them by these false deities.
Are those who worship the false deities instead of Allah equal to those who worship Him alone, without partners, and thus have a light from their Lord This is why Allah said here, قُلْ هَلْ يَسْتَوِى الاٌّعْمَى وَالْبَصِيرُ أَمْ هَلْ تَسْتَوِى الظُّلُمَـتُ وَالنُّورُ أَمْ جَعَلُواْ للَّهِ شُرَكَآءَ خَلَقُواْ كَخَلْقِهِ فَتَشَابَهَ الْخَلْقُ عَلَيْهِمْ ( Say: "Is the blind equal to the one who sees Or darkness equal to light Or do they assign to Allah partners who created the like of His creation, so that the creations seemed alike to them" ) Allah asks, `Do these polytheists worship gods besides Him that rival Him in what He created Have their false deities created similar creations to those Allah created and, thus, they are confused between the two types of creations, not knowing which was created by others besides Allah' Rather, the Ayah proves that the truth is nothing like this.
There is none similar to Allah, nor does He have an equal, a rival, anyone like Him, a minister, a son, or a wife.
Allah is glorified in that He is far away from all that is ascribed to Him.
These idolators worship gods that they themselves admit were created by Allah and are subservient to Him.
They used to say during their Talbiyah: "Here we rush to Your obedience.
There is no partner for You, except Your partner, You own him and he owns not." Allah also mentioned their polytheistic statements in other Ayat, مَا نَعْبُدُهُمْ إِلاَّ لِيُقَرِّبُونَآ إِلَى اللَّهِ زُلْفَى ( We worship them only that they may bring us near to Allah. ) 39:3 Allah admonished them for this false creed, stating that only those whom He chooses are allowed to intercede with Him, وَلاَ تَنفَعُ الشَّفَـعَةُ عِندَهُ إِلاَّ لِمَنْ أَذِنَ لَهُ ( Intercession with Him profits not except for him whom He permits. ) 34:23 وَكَمْ مِّن مَّلَكٍ فِى السَّمَـوَتِ ( And there are many angels in the heavens..... )53:26, and, إِن كُلُّ مَن فِى السَّمَـوَتِ وَالاٌّرْضِ إِلاَّ آتِى الرَّحْمَـنِ عَبْداً - لَّقَدْ أَحْصَـهُمْ وَعَدَّهُمْ عَدّاً - وَكُلُّهُمْ ءَاتِيهِ يَوْمَ الْقِيَـمَةِ فَرْداً ( There is none in the heavens and the earth but comes unto the Most Gracious (Allah ) as a servant.
Verily, He knows each one of them, and has counted them a full counting.
And everyone of them will come to Him alone on the Day of Resurrection.) 19:93-95 If all are Allah's servants, then why do any of them worships each other without proof or evidence that allows them to do so Rather, they rely on sheer opinion and innovation in the religion, even though Allah has sent all of His Prophets and Messengers, from beginning to end, prohibiting this practice ( polytheism ) and ordering them to refrain from worshipping others besides Allah.
They defied their Messengers and rebelled against them, and this is why the word of punishment struck them as a worthy recompense, e وَلاَ يَظْلِمُ رَبُّكَ أَحَدًا ( And your Lord treats no one with injustice ) 18:49

(13:16) Ask them, "Who is the Lord of the heavens and the earth ?" Say, "Allah". *26 Then say to them, "When this is the fact, have you then made beside Him such deities your protectors as can do neither good nor harm even to themselves ?" Say, "Are the blind man and the seeing man alike ? *27 Are light and darkness alike ?" *28 And if it is not so, have the partners, they have set up with Allah, created anything like His creation so as to make the matter of creation doubtful for them? *29 Say, Allah alone is the Creator of everything; and He is the Unique, the Almighty. *30

Say, "Who is Lord of the heavens meaning

*26) It will be worth while to note that though the question, " Who is the Lord of the heavens and the earth? " was put to the disbelievers, Allah told the Holy Prophet to answer it himself and say, " Allah ".
This was because the disbelievers hesitated to answer it one way or the other.
They could not say that it was not Allah for they themselves believed that Allah was the Creator of everything.
On the other hand, they could not acknowledge this fact in so many words in answer to such question, for, they would, then, have to acknowledge the doctrine of Tauhid for no basis could have been left in favour of shirk.
As they realised their weak position, they would not give any answer to such questions.
That is why Allah asks His Messenger to put such questions to the disbelievers: " Who is the Creator of the heavens and the earth? Who is the Lord of the Universe? Who sustains you with provisions of life? " When they do not give any answer to such questions, Allah asks His Messenger to say " Allah " in answer.
He then proceeds on with this argument: " When Allah does all these things, how do the deities you worship come in? "
*27) The blind tnan is the person who cannot see any of the countless signs of the Oneness of AIlah, though these lie spread over before him in the universe.
On the other hand, the seeing man is the person who can see in every particle of the universe and in every leaf of grass and tree Signs pointing to their Creator.
Thus the question that has been posed means: " O disbelievers ! if you are blind to the Signs, why should the one who can see the Signs should behave like a blind man and stumble along like you? "
*28) Here " light " means the light of the knowledge of the Truth which the Holy Prophet and his followers possessed.
In contrast to this, there was the " darkness " of ignorance in which the disbelievers were wandering about.
The question that has been posed means to ask this: " Why should those, who have got the `light', extinguish it and wander about in the darkness like you? Well, if you do not know the worth of the `light', you may choose to wander in the darkness, but how can you expect the one who has got the 'light', who appreciates the difference between the light and the darkness, and who is seeing the right way as if in broad daylight, to Dave the light and wander about in the darkness? "
*29) The question is intended to impress on the disbelievers that there is absolutely no reason why they should practice shirk.
When they themselves admit that their gods did not create even an iota in the universe and that they have not even the smallest and most insignificant share in the creation, there remains no ground for them to cherish any doubts about it.
Why should, then, their false gods and deities share the rights and powers of the Real Creator?
*30) The Arabic word ( Qah-har ) literally means " the one who rules over all by virtue of one's own power, and keeps all under one's complete control.
"
This fact that " He is the Unique, the Almighty " follows naturally from the preceding fact that " Allah alone is the Creator of everything, " for this fact was also acknowledged by the mushriks and was never denied by them.
This is so because the Creator of everything should logically be Unique, and every other thing or being must necessarily be His creation.
Therefore nothing could be the equal of the Creator or partner in His Being, attributes, powers and rights.
Likewise, the Creator must have complete power and control over His Creation.

For it can never be imagined that the Creator would create anything over which He has not full control.
Therefore, the one who acknowledges Allah to be the Creator must also acknowledge Him to be the Unique and the All-Powerful.
After this, there remains no reason why one should worship any one other than the Creator or invoke some one else for help in resolving one's difficulties and fulfilling one's needs.

 

Affirming Tawhid Allah affirms here that there is no deity worthy of worship except Him, since they admit that He alone created the heavens and the earth and that He is their Lord and the Disposer of all affairs.
Yet, they take as lords others besides Allah and worship them, even though these false gods do not have the power to benefit or harm themselves, or those who worship them.
Therefore, the polytheists will not benefit or have harm removed from them by these false deities.
Are those who worship the false deities instead of Allah equal to those who worship Him alone, without partners, and thus have a light from their Lord This is why Allah said here, قُلْ هَلْ يَسْتَوِى الاٌّعْمَى وَالْبَصِيرُ أَمْ هَلْ تَسْتَوِى الظُّلُمَـتُ وَالنُّورُ أَمْ جَعَلُواْ للَّهِ شُرَكَآءَ خَلَقُواْ كَخَلْقِهِ فَتَشَابَهَ الْخَلْقُ عَلَيْهِمْ ( Say: "Is the blind equal to the one who sees Or darkness equal to light Or do they assign to Allah partners who created the like of His creation, so that the creations seemed alike to them" ) Allah asks, `Do these polytheists worship gods besides Him that rival Him in what He created Have their false deities created similar creations to those Allah created and, thus, they are confused between the two types of creations, not knowing which was created by others besides Allah' Rather, the Ayah proves that the truth is nothing like this.
There is none similar to Allah, nor does He have an equal, a rival, anyone like Him, a minister, a son, or a wife.
Allah is glorified in that He is far away from all that is ascribed to Him.
These idolators worship gods that they themselves admit were created by Allah and are subservient to Him.
They used to say during their Talbiyah: "Here we rush to Your obedience.
There is no partner for You, except Your partner, You own him and he owns not." Allah also mentioned their polytheistic statements in other Ayat, مَا نَعْبُدُهُمْ إِلاَّ لِيُقَرِّبُونَآ إِلَى اللَّهِ زُلْفَى ( We worship them only that they may bring us near to Allah. ) 39:3 Allah admonished them for this false creed, stating that only those whom He chooses are allowed to intercede with Him, وَلاَ تَنفَعُ الشَّفَـعَةُ عِندَهُ إِلاَّ لِمَنْ أَذِنَ لَهُ ( Intercession with Him profits not except for him whom He permits. ) 34:23 وَكَمْ مِّن مَّلَكٍ فِى السَّمَـوَتِ ( And there are many angels in the heavens..... )53:26, and, إِن كُلُّ مَن فِى السَّمَـوَتِ وَالاٌّرْضِ إِلاَّ آتِى الرَّحْمَـنِ عَبْداً - لَّقَدْ أَحْصَـهُمْ وَعَدَّهُمْ عَدّاً - وَكُلُّهُمْ ءَاتِيهِ يَوْمَ الْقِيَـمَةِ فَرْداً ( There is none in the heavens and the earth but comes unto the Most Gracious (Allah ) as a servant.
Verily, He knows each one of them, and has counted them a full counting.
And everyone of them will come to Him alone on the Day of Resurrection.) 19:93-95 If all are Allah's servants, then why do any of them worships each other without proof or evidence that allows them to do so Rather, they rely on sheer opinion and innovation in the religion, even though Allah has sent all of His Prophets and Messengers, from beginning to end, prohibiting this practice ( polytheism ) and ordering them to refrain from worshipping others besides Allah.
They defied their Messengers and rebelled against them, and this is why the word of punishment struck them as a worthy recompense, e وَلاَ يَظْلِمُ رَبُّكَ أَحَدًا ( And your Lord treats no one with injustice ) 18:49

( Say ) O Muhammad, to the people of Mecca: ( Who is Lord ) who is the Creator ( of the heaven and the earth? ) if they answer and say Allah, then fine; if not, ( Say: Allah ) is their Creator! ( Say ) O Muhammad: ( Take ye ) worship you ( then (others ) beside Him) beside Allah ( for protectors ) lords from among idols, ( which, even for themselves, have neither benefit ) neither procuring benefit ( nor hurt ) nor driving away harm? ( Say ) to them, O Muhammad: ( Is the blind man equal to the seer ) is the unbeliever equal to the believer, ( or is darkness equal to light ) i.e. disbelief and faith? ( Or assign they ) describe ( unto Allah partners ) from among idols ( who created ) creation ( the like of His creation so that the creation (which they made and His creation ) seemed alike to them) such that they do not distinguish Allah’s creation from the creation of their idols? ( Say ) O Muhammad: ( Allah is the Creator of all things ) while their idols have created nothing, ( and He is the One, the Almighty ) He is All-Conquering above His created beings.

Say (O Muhammad SAW): "Who is the Lord of the heavens and the earth?" Say: "(It is) Allah." Say: "Have you then taken (for worship) Auliya' (protectors, etc.) other than Him, such as have no power either for benefit or for harm to themselves?" Say: "Is the blind equal to the one who sees? Or darkness equal to light? Or do they assign to Allah partners who created the like of His creation, so that the creation (which they made and His creation) seemed alike to them." Say: "Allah is the Creator of all things, He is the One, the Irresistible."

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