Study the Quran

Tafsir

Scholarly commentary explaining a verse — its context, its meaning and how the scholars have understood it.

Al-Isra 17:40

Word by word

أَفَأَصْفَىٰكُمْ رَبُّكُم بِٱلْبَنِينَ وَٱتَّخَذَ مِنَ ٱلْمَلَـٰٓئِكَةِ إِنَـٰثًا ۚ إِنَّكُمْ لَتَقُولُونَ قَوْلًا عَظِيمًا

Then, has your Lord chosen you for [having] sons and taken [i.e., adopted] from among the angels daughters? Indeed, you say a grave saying.

Ibn Kathir (Abridged) English Ma'arif al-Qur'an English Tafsir Muyassar Arabic Tafsir Ibn Kathir Arabic All sources

Ibn Kathir (Abridged)

Hafiz Ibn Kathir

Refutation of Those Who claim that the Angels are Daughters of Allah

Allah refutes the lying idolators who claim, may the curse of Allah be upon them, that the angels are the daughters of Allah. They made the angels, who are the servants of Ar-Rahman (the Most Beneficent), females, and called them daughters of Allah, then they worshipped them. They were gravely wrong on all three counts. Allah says, denouncing them:أَفَأَصْفَـكُمْ رَبُّكُم بِالْبَنِينَ(Has then your Lord preferred for you sons,) meaning, has He given only you sonsوَاتَّخَذَ مِنَ الْمَلَـئِكَةِ إِنَاثًا(and taken for Himself from among the angels daughters) meaning, has He chosen for Himself, as you claim, daughters Then Allah denounces them even more severely, and says:إِنَّكُمْ لَتَقُولُونَ قَوْلاً عَظِيمًا(Verily, you indeed utter an awful saying.) meaning, in your claim that Allah has children, then you say that His children are female, which you do not like for yourselves and may even kill them by burying them alive. That is indeed a division most unfair!

Allah says:وَقَالُواْ اتَّخَذَ الرَّحْمَـنُ وَلَداً - لَقَدْ جِئْتُمْ شَيْئاً إِدّاً - تَكَادُ السَّمَـوَتُ يَتَفَطَّرْنَ مِنْهُ وَتَنشَقُّ الاٌّرْضُ وَتَخِرُّ الْجِبَالُ هَدّاً - أَن دَعَوْا لِلرَّحْمَـنِ وَلَداً - وَمَا يَنبَغِى لِلرَّحْمَـنِ أَن يَتَّخِذَ وَلَداً - إِن كُلُّ مَن فِى السَّمَـوَتِ وَالاٌّرْضِ إِلاَّ آتِى الرَّحْمَـنِ عَبْداً - لَّقَدْ أَحْصَـهُمْ وَعَدَّهُمْ عَدّاً - وَكُلُّهُمْ ءَاتِيهِ يَوْمَ الْقِيَـمَةِ فَرْداً (And they say: "The Most Beneficent (Allah) has begotten a child." Indeed you have brought forth (said) a terrible evil thing. Whereby the heavens are almost torn, and the earth split asunder, and the mountains fall in ruins. That they ascribe a son child to the Most Beneficent. But it is not suitable for (the majesty of) the Most Beneficent that he should beget a child. There is none in the heavens and the earth but comes unto the Most Beneficent as a servant. Verily, He knows each one of them, and has counted them a full counting. And every one of them will come to Him alone on the Day of Resurrection.) (19:88-95)

Ma'arif al-Qur'an

Mufti Muhammad Shafi

After having described details of the injunctions appearing above, it was said in the last verse: كُلُّ ذَٰلِكَ كَانَ سَيِّئُهُ عِندَ رَ‌بِّكَ مَكْرُ‌وهًا (That which is evil, of all these, is detestable in the sight of your Lord - 38).

As for what has been forbidden in the said injunctions, their repugnance is obvious. But, within these there are some commandments where rights of parents and relatives have been enjoined or fulfillment of promises has been made mandatory. Here too, the purpose is to avoid doing the opposite of it, like hurting parents, breaking off from relatives and going back on solemn promises. Since all these things are haram or reprehensible, therefore, it has been called 'makruh' in a general sense of 'detestable' which includes the haram and makruh both. (Bayan al-Qur an)Note

The injunctions described in the fifteen verses cited above are, in a way, the explanation of the effort acceptable in the sight of Allah mentioned in: وَسَعَىٰ لَهَا سَعْيَهَا (and makes effort for it as due - 19). There it was said that not every effort is acceptable with Allah. Instead, the effort made in accordance with the Sunnah and teaching of the Holy Prophet ﷺ is the only one acceptable with Him. Main divisions of such acceptable effort have been mentioned in these injunctions which take up the rights of Allah first and then the rights of the servants of Allah.

A gist of Torah in fifteen verses

Sayyidna ` Abdullah ibn ` Abbas ؓ said that the commandments of the entire Torah have been reduced to fifteen verses of Surah Bani Isra'il. (Mazhari)

Tafsir Muyassar

Ministry of Islamic Affairs, Saudi Arabia

أفخصَّكم ربكم -أيها المشركون- بإعطائكم البنين، واتخذ لنفسه الملائكة بنات؟ إن قولكم هذا بالغ القبح والبشاعة، لا يليق بالله سبحانه وتعالى.

Tafsir Ibn Kathir

Hafiz Ibn Kathir

يقول تعالى رادا على المشركين الكاذبين الزاعمين عليهم لعائن الله أن الملائكة بنات الله فجعلوا الملائكة الذين هم عباد الرحمن إناثا ثم ادعوا أنهم بنات الله ثم عبدوهم فأخطئوا في كل من المقامات الثلاث خطأ عظيما قال تعالى منكرا عليهم ( أفأصفاكم ربكم بالبنين ) أي خصصكم بالذكور ( واتخذ من الملائكة إناثا ) أي اختار لنفسه على زعمكم البنات ثم شدد الإنكار عليهم فقال ( إنكم لتقولون قولا عظيما ) أي في زعمكم لله ولدا ثم جعلكم ولده الإناث التي تأنفون أن يكن لكم وربما قتلتموهن بالوأد فتلك إذا قسمة ضيزى وقال الله تعالى : ( وقالوا اتخذ الرحمن ولدا لقد جئتم شيئا إدا تكاد السماوات يتفطرن منه وتنشق الأرض وتخر الجبال هدا أن دعوا للرحمن ولدا وما ينبغي للرحمن أن يتخذ ولدا إن كل من في السماوات والأرض إلا آتي الرحمن عبدا لقد أحصاهم وعدهم عدا وكلهم آتيه يوم القيامة فردا ) [ مريم 88 - 95 .

Tafsir is provided for educational reference. Paragraph breaks are added for readability — the wording of each commentary is unchanged. For religious guidance, consult a qualified scholar.