سُوْرَةُ الزُّخْرُفِ
Surah Az-Zukhruf (43) — Ayah 20
وَقَالُوا۟ لَوْ شَآءَ ٱلرَّحْمَـٰنُ مَا عَبَدْنَـٰهُم ۗ مَّا لَهُم بِذَٰلِكَ مِنْ عِلْمٍ ۖ إِنْ هُمْ إِلَّا يَخْرُصُونَ ﴿20﴾
Translation by Dr. Muhammad Muhsin Khan & Dr. Taqi-ud-Din al-Hilali
And they said: "If it had been the Will of the Most Gracious (Allâh), we should not have worshipped them (false deities)." They have no knowledge whatsoever of that. They do nothing but lie!
Word by Word — Arabic, Transliteration & Meaning
وَقَالُوا۟
waqālū
And they say
لَوْ
law
If
شَآءَ
shāa
had willed
ٱلرَّحْمَـٰنُ
l-raḥmānu
the Most Gracious
مَا
mā
we would not have worshipped them
عَبَدْنَـٰهُم ۗ
ʿabadnāhum
we would not have worshipped them
مَّا
mā
Not
لَهُم
lahum
they have
بِذَٰلِكَ
bidhālika
about that
مِنْ
min
any
عِلْمٍ ۖ
ʿil'min
knowledge
إِنْ
in
Nothing
هُمْ
hum
they (do)
إِلَّا
illā
but
يَخْرُصُونَ
yakhruṣūna
lie
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.
20. And they say, "If Allah had willed, we would not have worshipped them." They have no knowledge of this; they do nothing but guess [20].
[20]
The Argument of Divine Will for Sins is Invalid:
It has always been the practice of the ignorant that they use the Divine Will as a pretext for their reprehensible beliefs and sinful actions. The reason for this is their ignorance in not understanding the difference between Allah’s Will (Mashi’ah) and Allah’s Pleasure (Rida), and thus they present such arguments. In this sense, even a tyrant or a robber could say that whatever I am doing, Allah is pleased with it, that is why I am given the opportunity to do such things. And in this sense, there would be no evil left in the world; rather, everything would have to be considered good. However, no one accepts this notion. Disbelief, polytheism, and mischief are widespread in the world, even though Allah absolutely does not like these things. Therefore, whatever is happening in the world is indeed under the Divine Will, but what ought to happen, or what is Allah’s Pleasure, is mentioned in Allah’s Book.
[20]
The Argument of Divine Will for Sins is Invalid:
It has always been the practice of the ignorant that they use the Divine Will as a pretext for their reprehensible beliefs and sinful actions. The reason for this is their ignorance in not understanding the difference between Allah’s Will (Mashi’ah) and Allah’s Pleasure (Rida), and thus they present such arguments. In this sense, even a tyrant or a robber could say that whatever I am doing, Allah is pleased with it, that is why I am given the opportunity to do such things. And in this sense, there would be no evil left in the world; rather, everything would have to be considered good. However, no one accepts this notion. Disbelief, polytheism, and mischief are widespread in the world, even though Allah absolutely does not like these things. Therefore, whatever is happening in the world is indeed under the Divine Will, but what ought to happen, or what is Allah’s Pleasure, is mentioned in Allah’s Book.
