At-Tur · Makki · ayah 39 of 49

At-Tur 52:39

أَمْ لَهُ ٱلْبَنَـٰتُ وَلَكُمُ ٱلْبَنُونَ

“Or has He daughters while you have sons?”

Saheeh International

Essence

They gave God daughters, whom they despised, and kept sons: one question exposes a lie about God and a cruelty towards girls.

A reflection

The Ever-Living needs no heir

The Quraysh said that the angels were Allah's daughters. A classical commentator went beneath the claim to the idea of a child itself. Why do people have children at all?

His answer was simple. Children exist because people die. If there were no birth, the line would be cut off and nothing would remain to take a person's place. That is why, he noted, there will be no birth in the Garden. It is the home of permanence. No parent dies there, so no child is needed to keep the house standing.

Then he connected this to two names of Allah. Al-Ḥayy, the Ever-Living, who does not die and so needs no child to inherit from Him. Al-Qayyūm, the Self-Sustaining, who does not change or weaken and so needs no child to stand in His place.

Picture an old clockmaker with no children. Every evening, after he locks the shop, he worries. Who will wind the long-case clocks when he is gone? Who will know which one runs slow in winter? He starts training a neighbour's son on Saturdays, anxious to pass on everything before it is too late. His need for an heir is the measure of his mortality.

Allah has no such need. To give Him a child, even a son, is to give Him a mortal's anxiety. That is why the Quran treats the claim as an insult to His majesty, not a compliment.

And here is where the ego is humbled. People constantly picture Allah in their own image: needing what we need, fearing what we fear. The ayah breaks that habit. He is not a larger version of us. He does not age, does not tire, does not need anyone to carry His name. We are the ones who need continuation. He is the One who gives it.

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.