Surah Tur ayat 41 Tafsir Quran 52:41

﴿أَمْ عِندَهُمُ الْغَيْبُ فَهُمْ يَكْتُبُونَ﴾
[ الطور: 41]

52:41 Or have they [knowledge of] the unseen, so they write [it] down?

Or do they have access to the Unseen that is the knowledge of it so that they can write it down? and are hence able to dispute with the Prophet s regarding the Resurrection and the matters relating to the Hereafter as they claim.

Or do they realize the unseen or have knowledge of the invisible not apprehended by sight, and they commit it to writing

Affirming Tawhid and annulling the Plots of the Idolators.
This is the position where Tawhid of Allah's Lordship andDivinity are affirmed Allah the Exalted said, أَمْ خُلِقُواْ مِنْ غَيْرِ شَىْءٍ أَمْ هُمُ الْخَـلِقُونَ ( Or were they created by nothing Or were they themselves the creators ) Allah asks them, were they created without a maker or did they create themselves Neither is true.
Allah is the One Who created them and brought them into existence after they were nothing.
Al-Bukhari recorded that Jubayr bin Mut`im said, "I heard the Prophet recite Surat At-Tur in Al-Maghrib prayer and when he reached this Ayah, أَمْ خُلِقُواْ مِنْ غَيْرِ شَىْءٍ أَمْ هُمُ الْخَـلِقُونَ - أَمْ خَلَقُواْ السَّمَـوَتِ وَالاٌّرْضَ بَل لاَّ يُوقِنُونَ - أَمْ عِندَهُمْ خَزَآئِنُ رَبِّكَ أَمْ هُمُ الْمُسَيْطِرُونَ ( Or were they created by nothing Or were they themselves the creators Or did they create the heavens and the earth Nay, but they have no firm belief.
Or are with them the treasures of your Lord Or are they the tyrants with the authority to do as they like ), I felt my heart would fly away." This Hadith is collected in the Two Sahihs using various chains of narration.
Jubayr bin Mut`im went to the Messenger of Allah ﷺ after the battle of Badr to ransom the captured idolators.
At that time, he was still an idolator.
Hearing the Prophet recite this Ayah was one of the reasons that he later embraced Islam.
Allah the Exalted said, o أَمْ خَلَقُواْ السَّمَـوَتِ وَالاٌّرْضَ بَل لاَّ يُوقِنُونَ ( Or did they create the heavens and the earth Nay, but they have no firm belief. ) meaning, Allah is censuring the idolators for their idolatry, while asking them if they created the heavens and earth.
They knew that Allah Alone is the Creator without partners with Him.
However, they fell into idolatry because they had no firm belief, أَمْ عِندَهُمْ خَزَآئِنُ رَبِّكَ أَمْ هُمُ الْمُسَيْطِرُونَ ( Or are with them the treasures of your Lord Or are they the tyrants with the authority to do as they like ) meanings, do they have the authority to do whatever they will in His kingdom Do they hold the keys to His treasures in their hands أَمْ هُمُ الْمُسَيْطِرُونَ ( or are they the tyrants with the authority to do as they like ) meanings, are they the tyrants who would hold the creation to account Never, Allah the Exalted and Most Honored is the Only King and Owner of the existence and He does what He wills.
Allah the Exalted said, أَمْ لَهُمْ سُلَّمٌ يَسْتَمِعُونَ فِيهِ ( Or have they a stairway, by means of which they listen. ) meaning, do they have a stairway to heaven ( to the place where the angels are ), فَلْيَأْتِ مُسْتَمِعُهُم بِسُلْطَـنٍ مُّبِينٍ ( Then let their listener produce some manifest proof. ) meaning, let their listener produce evidence to the truth of their actions and statements.
They will never be able to do so and therefore, they have nothing and have no evidence for their stance.
Allah admonishes them regarding their claim that He has daughters and that the angels are females! The pagans chose for themselves male offspring and preferred them instead of females, and when one of them would be brought the good news of a daughter being born, his face would turn dark on account of his suppressed anger! Yet, they made the angels Allah's daughters and worshipped them besides Allah, أَمْ لَهُ الْبَنَـتُ وَلَكُمُ الْبَنُونَ ( Or has He only daughters and you have sons ) Allah sends a strong warning and stern admonition to them in this Ayah and a sure promise.
Allah said, أَمْ تَسْـَلُهُمْ أَجْراً ( Or is it that you ask a wage from them ) meaning, `as a remuneration for your preaching Allah's Message to them Nay, you, do not ask them for a wage,' فَهُم مِّن مَّغْرَمٍ مُّثْقَلُونَ ( so that they are burdened with a load of debt ), meaning, for in this situation, one will complain of the least bothersome thing and feel it difficult and burdensome for him, أَمْ عِندَهُمُ الْغَيْبُ فَهُمْ يَكْتُبُونَ ( Or that the Unseen is with them, and they write it down ) means, they do not have knowledge of the Unseen, for none in the heavens or earth knows the Unseen except Allah, أَمْ يُرِيدُونَ كَيْداً فَالَّذِينَ كَفَرُواْ هُمُ الْمَكِيدُونَ ( Or do they intend a plot But those who disbelieve are themselves plotted against! ) Allah the Exalted is asking, `Do these people who utter such statements about the Messenger ﷺ and his religion seek to deceive the people and plot against the Messenger ﷺ and his Companions If they do, then let them know that their plots will only harm them.
Therefore, they are being plotted against rather than being the plotters!' أَمْ لَهُمْ إِلَـهٌ غَيْرُ اللَّهِ سُبْحَـنَ اللَّهِ عَمَّا يُشْرِكُونَ ( Or have they a god other than Allah Glorified be Allah from all that they ascribe as partners (to Him ).) This Ayah contains harsh refutation directed at the idolators for worshipping the idols and calling upon rivals along with Allah.
Allah next glorifies His Most Honorable Self from what they ascribe to Him, their lies and idolatry, سُبْحَـنَ اللَّهِ عَمَّا يُشْرِكُونَ ( Glorified be Allah from all that they ascribe as partners (to Him ).)

(52:41) Or is it that they have access to (the Truths in) the realm beyond sense-perception which they are writing down? *32

Or have they [knowledge of] the unseen, meaning

*32) That is, " What particular knowledge do you have to refute the truths that the Messenger is presenting before you, which you may present with the claim that you directly know the realities hidden behind the phenomenal world? Do you really have the knowledge that God is not One, but all those whom you have set up as deities also possess godly attributes and powers ? Have you really seen the angels and found that they are girls, and, God forbid, are begotten of God? Do you really know that the Revelation has neither come to Muhammad ( upon whom be Allah's peace and blessings ), nor it can come to any man, from God ? Do you really have the knowledge that no Resurrection will take place, that there is going to be no life after death, that there will be no Hereafter when man will be subjected to accountability and rewarded or punished according to his deeds? If you claim to possess any such knowledge, can you give in writing that you are belying what the Prophet says about the unseen realities on the ground that you have peeped into the hidden realities and seen that the truth is not that which the Prophet presents.
" Here, one may express the misgiving that if in response to this, those people had given this in writing, in their stubbornness, will not this reasoning have become meaningless? But this misgiving is misplaced because even if they had given this in writing on account of their stubbornness, the common people of society in which this challenge had been given openly were not blind: everyone of them would have understood that the writing had been given out of sheer stubbornness, and no one, in fact, was refining what the Prophet said on the basis that he had the knowledge that it was false.

 

Affirming Tawhid and annulling the Plots of the Idolators.
This is the position where Tawhid of Allah's Lordship andDivinity are affirmed Allah the Exalted said, أَمْ خُلِقُواْ مِنْ غَيْرِ شَىْءٍ أَمْ هُمُ الْخَـلِقُونَ ( Or were they created by nothing Or were they themselves the creators ) Allah asks them, were they created without a maker or did they create themselves Neither is true.
Allah is the One Who created them and brought them into existence after they were nothing.
Al-Bukhari recorded that Jubayr bin Mut`im said, "I heard the Prophet recite Surat At-Tur in Al-Maghrib prayer and when he reached this Ayah, أَمْ خُلِقُواْ مِنْ غَيْرِ شَىْءٍ أَمْ هُمُ الْخَـلِقُونَ - أَمْ خَلَقُواْ السَّمَـوَتِ وَالاٌّرْضَ بَل لاَّ يُوقِنُونَ - أَمْ عِندَهُمْ خَزَآئِنُ رَبِّكَ أَمْ هُمُ الْمُسَيْطِرُونَ ( Or were they created by nothing Or were they themselves the creators Or did they create the heavens and the earth Nay, but they have no firm belief.
Or are with them the treasures of your Lord Or are they the tyrants with the authority to do as they like ), I felt my heart would fly away." This Hadith is collected in the Two Sahihs using various chains of narration.
Jubayr bin Mut`im went to the Messenger of Allah ﷺ after the battle of Badr to ransom the captured idolators.
At that time, he was still an idolator.
Hearing the Prophet recite this Ayah was one of the reasons that he later embraced Islam.
Allah the Exalted said, o أَمْ خَلَقُواْ السَّمَـوَتِ وَالاٌّرْضَ بَل لاَّ يُوقِنُونَ ( Or did they create the heavens and the earth Nay, but they have no firm belief. ) meaning, Allah is censuring the idolators for their idolatry, while asking them if they created the heavens and earth.
They knew that Allah Alone is the Creator without partners with Him.
However, they fell into idolatry because they had no firm belief, أَمْ عِندَهُمْ خَزَآئِنُ رَبِّكَ أَمْ هُمُ الْمُسَيْطِرُونَ ( Or are with them the treasures of your Lord Or are they the tyrants with the authority to do as they like ) meanings, do they have the authority to do whatever they will in His kingdom Do they hold the keys to His treasures in their hands أَمْ هُمُ الْمُسَيْطِرُونَ ( or are they the tyrants with the authority to do as they like ) meanings, are they the tyrants who would hold the creation to account Never, Allah the Exalted and Most Honored is the Only King and Owner of the existence and He does what He wills.
Allah the Exalted said, أَمْ لَهُمْ سُلَّمٌ يَسْتَمِعُونَ فِيهِ ( Or have they a stairway, by means of which they listen. ) meaning, do they have a stairway to heaven ( to the place where the angels are ), فَلْيَأْتِ مُسْتَمِعُهُم بِسُلْطَـنٍ مُّبِينٍ ( Then let their listener produce some manifest proof. ) meaning, let their listener produce evidence to the truth of their actions and statements.
They will never be able to do so and therefore, they have nothing and have no evidence for their stance.
Allah admonishes them regarding their claim that He has daughters and that the angels are females! The pagans chose for themselves male offspring and preferred them instead of females, and when one of them would be brought the good news of a daughter being born, his face would turn dark on account of his suppressed anger! Yet, they made the angels Allah's daughters and worshipped them besides Allah, أَمْ لَهُ الْبَنَـتُ وَلَكُمُ الْبَنُونَ ( Or has He only daughters and you have sons ) Allah sends a strong warning and stern admonition to them in this Ayah and a sure promise.
Allah said, أَمْ تَسْـَلُهُمْ أَجْراً ( Or is it that you ask a wage from them ) meaning, `as a remuneration for your preaching Allah's Message to them Nay, you, do not ask them for a wage,' فَهُم مِّن مَّغْرَمٍ مُّثْقَلُونَ ( so that they are burdened with a load of debt ), meaning, for in this situation, one will complain of the least bothersome thing and feel it difficult and burdensome for him, أَمْ عِندَهُمُ الْغَيْبُ فَهُمْ يَكْتُبُونَ ( Or that the Unseen is with them, and they write it down ) means, they do not have knowledge of the Unseen, for none in the heavens or earth knows the Unseen except Allah, أَمْ يُرِيدُونَ كَيْداً فَالَّذِينَ كَفَرُواْ هُمُ الْمَكِيدُونَ ( Or do they intend a plot But those who disbelieve are themselves plotted against! ) Allah the Exalted is asking, `Do these people who utter such statements about the Messenger ﷺ and his religion seek to deceive the people and plot against the Messenger ﷺ and his Companions If they do, then let them know that their plots will only harm them.
Therefore, they are being plotted against rather than being the plotters!' أَمْ لَهُمْ إِلَـهٌ غَيْرُ اللَّهِ سُبْحَـنَ اللَّهِ عَمَّا يُشْرِكُونَ ( Or have they a god other than Allah Glorified be Allah from all that they ascribe as partners (to Him ).) This Ayah contains harsh refutation directed at the idolators for worshipping the idols and calling upon rivals along with Allah.
Allah next glorifies His Most Honorable Self from what they ascribe to Him, their lies and idolatry, سُبْحَـنَ اللَّهِ عَمَّا يُشْرِكُونَ ( Glorified be Allah from all that they ascribe as partners (to Him ).)

( Or possess they the Unseen ) and therefore know that they will not be resurrected ( so that they can write (it ) down?) that is to say, or do they have a book in which they write whatever they will from the Guarded Tablet, such that they write down what they say and do?

Or that the Ghaib (unseen) is with them, and they write it down?

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