Surah Yunus (10) — Ayah 49

(Ayah 49) ➊ {قُلْ لَّاۤ اَمْلِكُ لِنَفْسِيْ ضَرًّا وَّ لَا نَفْعًا اِلَّا مَا شَآءَ اللّٰهُ :} That is, this determination is not in my control, but only in the hands of Allah Almighty. For every nation, there is a fixed time from Allah Almighty; when it comes, then there will be no delay or advancement by even a moment.

➋ {قُلْ لَّاۤ اَمْلِكُ لِنَفْسِيْ …:} That is, the time of your death or the coming of punishment is all dependent on the will and wish of Allah Almighty; whenever He wills, He will send punishment upon you, and as long as He does not will, He will not send it. As for your insistence upon me, what can I tell you? I do not even possess for myself any harm or benefit, except what Allah wills. If it were in my control, punishment would have already come upon you. See Surah Al-An'am (57, 58). Qadi Shawkani says that in this verse there is a severe warning for those people who, in times of calamity and hardship, which no one except Allah can avert, call upon the Prophet (peace be upon him) and seek help from him, or ask the Prophet (peace be upon him) for such things which no one except Allah Almighty can fulfill. This position belongs only to the Lord of the worlds, who created all the Prophets, the righteous, and all creatures; He alone provides them sustenance and life, and whenever He wills, He takes them from this world. Then how can any Prophet or angel or even the most pious servant be asked for something over which he has no power? The special aspect of admonition in this verse is that when, regarding the Prophet (peace be upon him), who is the leader of all the children of Adam and superior to all the Prophets, Allah Almighty has clearly stated that he does not possess any harm or benefit for himself, then how can any saint or Imam or Pir possess harm or benefit for himself or anyone else? It is a matter of great astonishment that even then, some people, who call themselves Muslims, bow at the graves of the dead and ask them for such wishes which no one except Allah has the power to fulfill. This is clearly shirk and an open violation of the word {’’ لاَ إِلٰهَ إِلاَّ اللّٰهُ ‘‘}, and even more regrettable are their scholars and elders who do not stop them from this act. This is the same ignorance that was found among the Arabs before the Prophet (peace be upon him), rather, its case is even more severe than that ignorance, because the Arab polytheists considered only Allah Almighty as the owner of harm and benefit and regarded the idols only as their intercessors, but these people consider the inhabitants of the graves as owners of harm and benefit and sometimes call upon them separately and sometimes along with Allah Almighty. There are so many people in this Ummah whom the accursed Satan has led to the path of disbelief through this means, and they keep advancing further and further upon it, thinking that «{ اَنَّهُمْ يُحْسِنُوْنَ صُنْعًا }» [ الکہف : ۱۰۴ ] "they are doing a great good deed." [ فَإنَّا لِلّٰہِ وَ إِنَّا إِلَیْہِ رَاجِعُوْنَ ] May Allah Almighty protect His religion. Ameen! (Summarized from Shawkani)

49. 1. This is being said in response to the polytheists demanding the punishment of Allah, that I do not even have the authority to bring benefit or harm to myself. How then could I bring benefit or harm to anyone else? Yes, all authority is in the hands of Allah, and He alone decides, according to His will, whom to benefit or harm. Furthermore, Allah has appointed a fixed time for every nation; He grants respite until that time. But when that time comes, they can neither delay it by a moment nor advance it.

Note: Here, it is extremely important to understand that when even the best of creation, the leader of the messengers, Muhammad ﷺ, is not able to bring benefit or harm to anyone, then after him, which human being could possibly have the power to fulfill needs or remove difficulties for anyone? Similarly, seeking help from the Prophet himself, calling out to him, saying "O Messenger of Allah, help," and using words like "Aghithni ya Rasul Allah," etc., for seeking aid and assistance, is in no way permissible, because this is against this verse of the Quran and other clear teachings of this kind. In fact, this falls under the category of shirk.

The tafsir of this ayah is included with the following verse(s).