Az-Zukhruf · Makki · ayah 86 of 89

Az-Zukhruf 43:86

وَلَا يَمْلِكُ ٱلَّذِينَ يَدْعُونَ مِن دُونِهِ ٱلشَّفَـٰعَةَ إِلَّا مَن شَهِدَ بِٱلْحَقِّ وَهُمْ يَعْلَمُونَ

“And those they invoke[1452] besides Him do not possess [power of] intercession; but only those who testify to the truth [can benefit], and they know.[1453]”

Saheeh International

Essence

No one called upon besides Allah owns intercession; it stands only beside those who bore witness to the truth, knowing what they said.

A reflection

A court with no back door

Wa-lā yamliku alladhīna yadʿūna min dūnihi al-shafāʿah. Those they call on besides Him do not own intercession.

The commentators explain the claim being answered. The idolaters believed their gods were their intercessors with Allah, who would plead their case for them. The ayah says: they own nothing of the kind. Elsewhere the Quran says it in full: qul li-llāhi al-shafāʿatu jamīʿā, say: to Allah belongs all intercession (39:44).

The verb yamliku matters. Intercession is not something anyone possesses as their own, to hand out at will. It belongs to Allah. Where it exists, it exists by His permission, for those He approves.

That should humble a very human instinct. In this world, much depends on connections. Knowing the right person, being related to someone important, having a name that opens doors.

Picture a young man pulled over for driving far too fast on a motorway at night. He tells the officer, with a slight smile, that his uncle is a senior officer in the same force. The officer listens politely, writes the ticket, and hands it over. 'Then your uncle will be pleased I've done my job properly.' The young man drives home slowly, the smile gone.

Allah's court has no back door of that kind. No name, lineage or relationship owns a claim over Him. The idols of Makkah could not intercede. Neither, on their own account, can saints, ancestors or anyone else.

Does Allah need to assert this? No. His dominion is complete with or without our acknowledgement. The assertion is for us: to stop us building our hopes on borrowed names, and to send us straight to Him.

There is freedom in that. No believer needs a connection to reach Allah. The door is open to anyone who comes sincerely.

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.