Surah Az-Zumar (39) — Ayah 38

(Ayah 38) ➊ { وَ لَىِٕنْ سَاَلْتَهُمْ مَّنْ خَلَقَ السَّمٰوٰتِ وَ الْاَرْضَ … :} In this verse, the ignorance of the polytheists and the contradiction between their words and actions is highlighted. It is said, if you ask them who created the heavens and the earth, they will surely say, Allah did. The necessary result of this admission is that when He is the Creator, then He is also the Owner; then how can anyone else have any authority over benefit or harm? Therefore, after this admission, to make them confess that those beings besides Allah have no power over benefit or harm, it is said, say to them, then tell me, those beings whom you call upon besides Allah, if Allah intends to harm me or cause me any loss, can they remove His harm or loss, or if He wants to show mercy to me, can they withhold His mercy? Allah did not mention the answer of the disbelievers here. Either because the answer is absolutely clear that when Allah is the Creator and Owner, then what can anyone else do against His will, or because the polytheists, even knowing that their deities have no power, will not say that they can neither remove harm nor withhold His mercy, rather, they will be left speechless and remain silent.

➋ { قُلْ حَسْبِيَ اللّٰهُ … :} That is, if the disbelievers remain silent in response to this question, then you yourself say that Allah is sufficient for me; all those who trust, place their trust in Him alone. The meaning is that all those who trust must place their trust in Him, because when something needs to be emphasized strongly, it is stated in the form of a declaration, for example, if it is to be said that today everyone should pray Asr at a certain place, it will be said, today everyone is praying Asr at that place or will pray.

➌ {هَلْ هُنَّ كٰشِفٰتُ ضُرِّهٖۤ … :} Mentioning the beings besides Allah in the feminine form is meant to express their powerlessness and to belittle them.

➍ "No one besides Allah has ownership over benefit or harm"—this subject has been stated by Allah in various ways throughout the Qur'an. See Surah Ra'd (14–16), Furqan (3), An'am (17), and Surah Yunus (106, 107).

38. 1 Some say that when the Prophet ﷺ presented the aforementioned question before them, they said that indeed they cannot avert Allah’s decree, however, they will intercede, upon which this passage was revealed that Allah alone is sufficient for me in my matters.

38. 2 When everything is in His control, then what is the benefit of relying on others? That is why the people of faith place their trust only in Him; they do not rely on anyone else besides Him.

38. And if you ask them, “Who created the heavens and the earth?” they will surely say, “Allah.” Say, “Have you considered those you invoke besides Allah? If Allah intended harm for me, could they remove His harm? Or if He intended mercy for me, could they withhold His mercy [54]?” Say, “Allah is sufficient for me; in Him alone do those who trust put their trust.”

[54] Even the polytheists admit that Allah Almighty is the Creator of the earth and the heavens, that is, of this universe. And the Creator has the authority to exercise every kind of control over what He has created or made. And such authority to exercise control cannot belong to any being other than the Creator—especially when that being is itself a creation of Allah and under His control. Now, on one side is Allah Almighty, who possesses vast powers to exercise control over His creation, and on the other side, whoever else is taken as a deity will, in any case, be a creation of Allah and will have no authority whatsoever in comparison to Allah. Now tell me, between these two, whom should one trust and whom should one consider sufficient for help? And the state of these deities is such that even if they all combine, they cannot remove the hardship that Allah has decreed for me, and if Allah wishes to bestow His mercy upon me, then all of them together cannot prevent it. Because in comparison to Allah, they have no authority at all. Then, to rely on things that are utterly powerless regarding my benefit or harm would be sheer foolishness. It should be clear that, besides the Messenger of Allah ﷺ, many other messengers were also threatened by the polytheists in this manner: that if you do not stop disrespecting our deities, they will drive you mad, destroy you, do this to you, and do that to you. In response, the messengers always replied in this way.

The Response to the Threat of the Polytheists:

Say to those deities that whatever harm they wish to inflict upon me, let them do it, and let them all together take action against me immediately and do not grant me any respite. So that I may also know whether they can do anything or not, and so that you may also know.