Surah Al-Ahqaf (46) — Ayah 4

(Ayah 4) ➊ { قُلْ اَرَءَيْتُمْ مَّا تَدْعُوْنَ مِنْ دُوْنِ اللّٰهِ …:} As has been explained in detail in the commentary of the previous verse, the greatest and clearest proof of Allah being the only deity and all other deities being false is His creation of the universe. This is a rational argument that no person of intellect can reject. To make clear the helplessness of the disbelievers in responding to this, it was commanded to present it in a dialectical manner, that you say to them: Tell me, those beings whom you call upon besides Allah, show me what thing on earth they have created, or if they have any share in the heavens, then show that? Obviously, they cannot show any such thing, so then why do they worship any other deity? Here, a long matter has been summarized; the original was: Show me what thing in the earth or the heavens is there that they have created entirely, or show me anything in the earth or the heavens, if not entirely, at least in whose making or running they have any share. In the first sentence, only the earth is mentioned and the heavens are omitted; in the second sentence, the heavens are mentioned and the earth is omitted. It is self-evident that both are meant in both sentences; in the terminology of rhetoric, this is called ihtibak.

Some commentators have written here that the negation of creating anything on earth and the negation of partnership in anything in the heavens is because, apparently, in some things of the earth, there seems to be their partnership, which is not even apparent in the heavens. But this is not correct, because elsewhere Allah has clearly negated their partnership in anything of both the earth and the heavens. Therefore, the correct commentary is the one given above. See, Allah says: « قُلِ ادْعُوا الَّذِيْنَ زَعَمْتُمْ مِّنْ دُوْنِ اللّٰهِ لَا يَمْلِكُوْنَ مِثْقَالَ ذَرَّةٍ فِي السَّمٰوٰتِ وَ لَا فِي الْاَرْضِ وَ مَا لَهُمْ فِيْهِمَا مِنْ شِرْكٍ وَّ مَا لَهٗ مِنْهُمْ مِّنْ ظَهِيْرٍ» [ سبا :۲۲] “Say: Call upon those whom you claim besides Allah; they do not possess even an atom’s weight in the heavens nor in the earth, nor do they have any share in either of them, nor is any of them a helper to Him.”

➋ {اِيْتُوْنِيْ بِكِتٰبٍ مِّنْ قَبْلِ هٰذَاۤ اَوْ اَثٰرَةٍ مِّنْ عِلْمٍ ……: ’’ اَثٰرَةٍ ‘‘ ’’أَثَرَ يَأْثِرُ أَثَرًا وَ أَثَارَةً وَ أَثْرَةً‘‘} (Ḍ, N) {الْحَدِيْثَ‘‘} To transmit a statement. {’’مَأْثُوْرٌ‘‘} Meaning “transmitted.” {’’ اَثٰرَةٍ مِّنْ عِلْمٍ ‘‘} Transmitted or the remaining knowledge of previous people. This is the transmitted proof against shirk, meaning if you cannot present a rational proof for shirk, then bring any reliable transmitted proof. Bring proof of shirk from any previous heavenly book, such as the Torah or the Gospel, etc., a proof that has reached us through a trustworthy method, because without that, its being a heavenly book is not established. Or bring any transmitted hadith from the sayings of previous prophets, which is not merely based on conjecture but brings knowledge and certainty, such that it is transmitted with an authentic chain or through tawatur, because something based on doubt and conjecture is not called knowledge, as He said: « وَ مَا لَهُمْ بِهٖ مِنْ عِلْمٍ اِنْ يَّتَّبِعُوْنَ اِلَّا الظَّنَّ وَ اِنَّ الظَّنَّ لَا يُغْنِيْ مِنَ الْحَقِّ شَيْـًٔا» [النجم : ۲۸ ] “Although they have no knowledge about it, they only follow conjecture, and indeed conjecture is of no use against the truth at all.” But you will not find any such reliable ancient heavenly book or any prophet’s hadith in which there is even a hint of shirk, because every messenger taught only tawhid. He said: « وَ لَقَدْ بَعَثْنَا فِيْ كُلِّ اُمَّةٍ رَّسُوْلًا اَنِ اعْبُدُوا اللّٰهَ وَ اجْتَنِبُوا الطَّاغُوْتَ» [ النحل : ۳۶ ] “And indeed, We sent to every nation a messenger, [proclaiming]: Worship Allah and avoid Taghut.” And He said: « وَ مَاۤ اَرْسَلْنَا مِنْ قَبْلِكَ مِنْ رَّسُوْلٍ اِلَّا نُوْحِيْۤ اِلَيْهِ اَنَّهٗ لَاۤ اِلٰهَ اِلَّاۤ اَنَا فَاعْبُدُوْنِ» [ الأنبیاء : ۲۵ ] “And We did not send any messenger before you except that We revealed to him that there is no deity except Me, so worship Me.” Some scholars have said that “even if here by ‘book’ is not meant the divine book and by ‘remaining knowledge’ is not meant the knowledge left by prophets and righteous people, then even in any scientific book of the world or in the research of any expert of religious or worldly sciences, it has never been pointed out that such and such thing of the earth or the heavens was created by any saint or deity besides God, or among the blessings that humans enjoy in this universe, such and such blessing was created by any deity instead of God.” But this is not entirely correct, because many atheist scientists try to prove through their research that the universe came into being by itself and is running by itself. Those who consider time as the creator and owner call this ignorance of theirs “research.” Therefore, by “book” should be meant the heavenly book, because from another verse it is clear that by “book” is meant the book revealed by Allah, as He said: «قُلْ اَرَءَيْتُمْ شُرَكَآءَكُمُ الَّذِيْنَ تَدْعُوْنَ مِنْ دُوْنِ اللّٰهِ اَرُوْنِيْ مَا ذَا خَلَقُوْا مِنَ الْاَرْضِ اَمْ لَهُمْ شِرْكٌ فِي السَّمٰوٰتِ اَمْ اٰتَيْنٰهُمْ كِتٰبًا فَهُمْ عَلٰى بَيِّنَتٍ مِّنْهُ بَلْ اِنْ يَّعِدُ الظّٰلِمُوْنَ بَعْضُهُمْ بَعْضًا اِلَّا غُرُوْرًا » [ فاطر: ۴۰ ] “Say: Have you seen your partners whom you call upon besides Allah? Show me what they have created of the earth, or do they have any share in the heavens, or have We given them a book so that they are upon a clear proof from it? Nay, the wrongdoers promise one another nothing but delusion.” From these verses, it is known that as proof in religion, only a heavenly book or hadiths containing heavenly revelation can be presented; besides these, no one’s writings or statements can be presented as proof.

4. 1. Ara'aytum means "inform me" or "show me," that is, apart from Allah, those idols or personalities whom you worship, tell me or show me what part they have had in the creation of the earth and the heavens. The meaning is that when they have no share even in the creation of the heavens and the earth, but rather the sole Creator of all is only Allah, then why do you associate these false deities with Allah in worship?

4. 2. That is, if this matter is written in any scripture revealed to a prophet or in any transmitted narration, then bring it forth so that your truthfulness may become clear. Some have interpreted "atharah min 'ilm" as a clear rational proof; in this case, "kitab" refers to a transmitted (textual) proof and "atharah min 'ilm" refers to a rational proof, meaning present either a rational or textual proof. The first meaning is based on "athar" being derived from "trace," so it is interpreted as a narration, or as "baqiyyah min 'ilm", meaning the remaining part of the teachings of previous prophets which has been transmitted through a reliable source, and if this matter is found in it.

4. Say, "Have you considered those whom you invoke besides Allah? Show me what they have created of the earth, or do they have any share [4] in the creation of the heavens? Bring me any scripture revealed before this, or any trace of knowledge [5], if you are truthful."

[4]
The Demand for Rational Proof from the Polytheists Regarding Shirk:

In the previous verses, the denial of the Hereafter by the polytheists of Makkah was refuted. In this verse and the following verses, their shirk is being criticized. They are being asked to state any reason for worshipping those whom they worship besides Allah. Only that being can be worthy of worship who has any role in the creation of the universe. Tell us, which thing in this universe have they created? Or which part of the earth or the heavens have they made? And if they have not created anything, then how did they become the owners of something in which they have the authority to exercise control?

[5]
The Demand for Scriptural or Traditional Proof:

On one hand, you admit that your deities have no share or partnership in the creation of the universe. On the other hand, you keep insisting that they have authority to exercise control in the universe. They can fix our problems, and if they are disrespected, they can also take revenge. So, this is wrong from a rational perspective. Then, if you cannot present a rational proof, at least present a scriptural proof. Show us anywhere in the Book of Allah where it is written that others besides Allah also have some authority in the universe. Or that certain authorities of Allah, for example, the giving of sustenance, have been delegated to such-and-such idol, deity, or saint, and certain authorities, for example, giving life, have been entrusted to someone else. And if such a statement is not present in the Divine Book, then show it from any scholarly tradition. What is meant by traditions? By scholarly tradition is meant those commentaries and explanations of the Book of Allah which are authentic. (For example, we have the Book of Allah, the Noble Quran, and the practical tradition is the Ahadith, in which the chain of transmission is also mentioned, through which it can be investigated what status a particular hadith holds and whether it is accepted or rejected.) And if you have neither any rational proof nor any scriptural proof, then understand that your beliefs are based merely on conjecture and illusions.