سُوْرَةُ النَّحْلِ
Surah An-Nahl (16) — Ayah 71
وَٱللَّهُ فَضَّلَ بَعْضَكُمْ عَلَىٰ بَعْضٍ فِى ٱلرِّزْقِ ۚ فَمَا ٱلَّذِينَ فُضِّلُوا۟ بِرَآدِّى رِزْقِهِمْ عَلَىٰ مَا مَلَكَتْ أَيْمَـٰنُهُمْ فَهُمْ فِيهِ سَوَآءٌ ۚ أَفَبِنِعْمَةِ ٱللَّهِ يَجْحَدُونَ ﴿71﴾
Translation by Dr. Muhammad Muhsin Khan & Dr. Taqi-ud-Din al-Hilali
And Allâh has preferred some of you above others in wealth and properties. Then, those who are preferred will by no means hand over their wealth and properties to those (slaves) whom their right hands possess, so that they may be equal with them in respect thereof. Do they then deny the Favour of Allâh?
Word by Word — Arabic, Transliteration & Meaning
وَٱللَّهُ
wal-lahu
And Allah
فَضَّلَ
faḍḍala
has favored
بَعْضَكُمْ
baʿḍakum
some of you
عَلَىٰ
ʿalā
over
بَعْضٍۢ
baʿḍin
others
فِى
fī
in
ٱلرِّزْقِ ۚ
l-riz'qi
[the] provision
فَمَا
famā
But not
ٱلَّذِينَ
alladhīna
those who
فُضِّلُوا۟
fuḍḍilū
were favored
بِرَآدِّى
birāddī
would hand over
رِزْقِهِمْ
riz'qihim
their provision
عَلَىٰ
ʿalā
to
مَا
mā
whom
مَلَكَتْ
malakat
possess
أَيْمَـٰنُهُمْ
aymānuhum
their right hands
فَهُمْ
fahum
so (that) they
فِيهِ
fīhi
(are) in it
سَوَآءٌ ۚ
sawāon
equal
أَفَبِنِعْمَةِ
afabiniʿ'mati
Then is it the Favor
ٱللَّهِ
l-lahi
of Allah
يَجْحَدُونَ
yajḥadūna
they reject
Tafsir Taiseer ul-Quran — Maulana Abdul Rahman Kilani
Tafsir Taiseer ul-Quran (Facilitation of the Quran) is a comprehensive Quran commentary by Maulana Abdul Rahman Kilani, a renowned Salafi (Ahl al-Hadith) scholar from Pakistan. Known for his eloquent and accessible writing style, Kilani authored this tafsir with a focus on clarity — making Quranic meanings understandable to the common reader. The tafsir provides detailed historical context for verses related to battles and expeditions, and firmly refutes modernist ideologies using strong scriptural evidence. It is widely regarded as an invaluable resource for understanding the Quran and countering deviant interpretations. The tafsir is originally written in Urdu, translated to English by tohed.com.
71. And Allah has favored some of you over others in provision. But those who have been given more do not hand over their provision to those whom their right hands possess so that they become equal in it. Do they then deny the favors of Allah [70]?
[70]
Shirk is Injustice and Ingratitude Towards Allah:
This address is to the polytheists, and a simple, understandable argument is presented in refutation of shirk: that among you, if a person is wealthy and owns property and has several slaves, would he be willing to distribute all his wealth and property among his slaves in such a way that his own share becomes equal to that of every slave? Obviously, no owner would ever tolerate such a thing. Then the next question is: when you yourselves are not willing to tolerate such equality for yourselves, can Allah tolerate such equality? He is the Owner and Master of everything; He has granted you all these blessings. Now, what was required of you was to thank Him alone and worship Him alone, but in this matter, you have made Allah’s owned slaves equal partners with Him. Can there be any greater injustice towards Allah, any greater ingratitude for His favors, or any greater denial of His blessings than this?
The Created and the Owned Can Never Become Partners:
Here, it is also worth considering that if an owner gives his slave ownership of something or the authority to dispose of it, all of this is only temporary. In reality, the true owner of these things remains the original owner. In this sense, we say that in reality, Allah Almighty is the Owner of everything, and our ownership or authority over anything is only for a few days or temporary. An important conclusion from this is that being owned and being a partner are two things that cannot be combined. That is, a slave cannot become a partner. The only way to make a slave an owner is to first set him free. Now, he may become an owner, but he is no longer a slave. Inevitably, the conclusion is that since everything is the creation and property of Allah Almighty, it can never become His partner in the attributes of divinity.
Refutation of Communism:
Some proponents of communism have taken the wrong meaning from this verse and have drawn a very absurd conclusion. According to them, the meaning of this verse is: “Those among you who are wealthy should distribute their wealth and property among their slaves so that all become equal, and if you do not do so, you will be considered deniers of Allah’s blessings.” In this way, they try to pave the way for communism. Now, it is obvious that to ignore the context and take a verse from the middle and extract a meaning according to one’s own ideology is the worst kind of distortion of meaning. Even before this verse, the affirmation of tawheed and the refutation of shirk are being discussed. The same subject is mentioned in this verse, and the following verses also continue with the same subject. Therefore, to separate this verse from its original meaning and attach it to a false economic philosophy of the present age is extremely unreasonable. Furthermore, this meaning is also wrong in that the verse mentions slaves, not the poor class, which the communists use for their own purposes.
[70]
Shirk is Injustice and Ingratitude Towards Allah:
This address is to the polytheists, and a simple, understandable argument is presented in refutation of shirk: that among you, if a person is wealthy and owns property and has several slaves, would he be willing to distribute all his wealth and property among his slaves in such a way that his own share becomes equal to that of every slave? Obviously, no owner would ever tolerate such a thing. Then the next question is: when you yourselves are not willing to tolerate such equality for yourselves, can Allah tolerate such equality? He is the Owner and Master of everything; He has granted you all these blessings. Now, what was required of you was to thank Him alone and worship Him alone, but in this matter, you have made Allah’s owned slaves equal partners with Him. Can there be any greater injustice towards Allah, any greater ingratitude for His favors, or any greater denial of His blessings than this?
The Created and the Owned Can Never Become Partners:
Here, it is also worth considering that if an owner gives his slave ownership of something or the authority to dispose of it, all of this is only temporary. In reality, the true owner of these things remains the original owner. In this sense, we say that in reality, Allah Almighty is the Owner of everything, and our ownership or authority over anything is only for a few days or temporary. An important conclusion from this is that being owned and being a partner are two things that cannot be combined. That is, a slave cannot become a partner. The only way to make a slave an owner is to first set him free. Now, he may become an owner, but he is no longer a slave. Inevitably, the conclusion is that since everything is the creation and property of Allah Almighty, it can never become His partner in the attributes of divinity.
Refutation of Communism:
Some proponents of communism have taken the wrong meaning from this verse and have drawn a very absurd conclusion. According to them, the meaning of this verse is: “Those among you who are wealthy should distribute their wealth and property among their slaves so that all become equal, and if you do not do so, you will be considered deniers of Allah’s blessings.” In this way, they try to pave the way for communism. Now, it is obvious that to ignore the context and take a verse from the middle and extract a meaning according to one’s own ideology is the worst kind of distortion of meaning. Even before this verse, the affirmation of tawheed and the refutation of shirk are being discussed. The same subject is mentioned in this verse, and the following verses also continue with the same subject. Therefore, to separate this verse from its original meaning and attach it to a false economic philosophy of the present age is extremely unreasonable. Furthermore, this meaning is also wrong in that the verse mentions slaves, not the poor class, which the communists use for their own purposes.
