Fussilat · Makki · ayah 15 of 54

Fussilat 41:15

فَأَمَّا عَادٌ فَٱسْتَكْبَرُوا۟ فِى ٱلْأَرْضِ بِغَيْرِ ٱلْحَقِّ وَقَالُوا۟ مَنْ أَشَدُّ مِنَّا قُوَّةً ۖ أَوَلَمْ يَرَوْا۟ أَنَّ ٱللَّهَ ٱلَّذِى خَلَقَهُمْ هُوَ أَشَدُّ مِنْهُمْ قُوَّةً ۖ وَكَانُوا۟ بِـَٔايَـٰتِنَا يَجْحَدُونَ

“As for ʿAad, they were arrogant upon the earth without right and said, "Who is greater than us in strength?" Did they not consider that Allāh who created them was greater than them in strength? But they were rejecting Our signs.”

Saheeh International

Essence

ʿĀd asked who could be stronger than them, and never thought to ask who had made them strong.

A reflection

The question they never asked

ʿĀd asked a question they thought was unanswerable. Man ashaddu minnā quwwatan? Who is stronger than us? The ayah answers with a question of its own. Did they not see that Allah, who created them, is stronger than them?

The answer turns on one phrase: who created them. Their strength was not their own invention. One classical commentator puts it simply. A servant is able only because Allah makes him able, so Allah is more able. Another commentary adds the obvious question they never stopped to consider: whom were they challenging?

A third commentator raises a subtle point. "Stronger" compares two things of the same kind. But human strength is limited, and Allah's has no limit; there is no real ratio between them. Why then say "stronger"? His answer: it is like saying Allāhu akbar, Allah is greater. Greater than anything you could set beside Him, without that thing being His rival.

The ego lives on comparison. Stronger than him, richer than her, cleverer than the rest of the room. ʿĀd had won every comparison they could imagine, so they concluded there was nothing above them. They never thought to look up from the scoreboard.

Picture a man who once held a national weightlifting record. After a hernia operation in his fifties, his teenage daughter carries his shopping from the car for six weeks. He jokes with her that strength turns out to be a loan, and the bank wants it back in instalments. He means it lightly. It is the truest thing he has said in years.

A sceptic might hear "Allah is stronger than you" as a bigger bully silencing a smaller one. But nothing here threatens people for being weak. It rebukes people for being proud of a loan. The One who created their strength is not their rival. He is its source. Every time you say Allāhu akbar in prayer, you are answering ʿĀd's question correctly.

The full entry has 5 more reflections, questions to sit with, and "Live it today" - with the words, the roots and the tafsir alongside. Free, no account, works offline.