Az-Zukhruf · Makki · ayah 15 of 89

Az-Zukhruf 43:15

وَجَعَلُوا۟ لَهُۥ مِنْ عِبَادِهِۦ جُزْءًا ۚ إِنَّ ٱلْإِنسَـٰنَ لَكَفُورٌ مُّبِينٌ

“But they have attributed to Him from His servants a portion.[1434] Indeed, man is clearly ungrateful.”

Saheeh International

Essence

Those who admitted Allah made the heavens then carved off a piece of His creation and called it His: the human being openly covers gifts.

A reflection

The Maker of everything has no parts

Wa jaʿalū lahu min ʿibādihi juzʾan: they assigned to Him, from His own servants, a part. The commentaries explain what they meant. The Makkans said the angels were daughters of Allah. A child is a part of its parent, a piece of it. So they had made some of His servants into a piece of Him.

One commentary points out the contradiction. These were the same people who, asked who made the heavens and the earth, answered at once: the Mighty, the Knowing (43:9). Having said that, they went on to describe Him with the qualities of created things. Another commentary marvels at their ignorance. Whoever can create the heavens and the earth needs nothing to support Him or keep Him company. Needing such things is a mark of deficiency.

A thing with parts can be divided. A father who has a son needs a son: to continue him, help him, carry his name. Every one of those needs belongs to creatures. None belongs to the One who made them all.

The ego does something similar, in miniature. We like to imagine that Allah's work in the world needs us: our organisation, our cause, our family's name. Picture a man who has funded the extension of his local mosque. Over the years he begins to speak as though the mosque's future depends on him, and he grows irritable when decisions are made without him. He means well. He has simply started to think of himself as a part of the work, rather than a servant in it.

Someone may ask why Allah rejects these claims so firmly. Is it wounded pride? He is beyond being wounded. The rejection protects us. A God with parts and needs could be bargained with and flattered. The God of this ayah needs nothing, which is exactly why He can be trusted completely.

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.