قُلِ ٱدْعُوا۟ ٱلَّذِينَ زَعَمْتُم مِّن دُونِهِۦ فَلَا يَمْلِكُونَ كَشْفَ ٱلضُّرِّ عَنكُمْ وَلَا تَحْوِيلًا 56
Translations
Say, "Invoke those you have claimed [as gods] besides Him, for they do not possess the [ability for] removal of adversity from you or [for its] transfer [to someone else]."
Transliteration
Qul ud'u alladhina za'amtum min dūnihi falā yamlikusū kashf al-durri 'ankum wa lā tahwīlā
Tafsir (Explanation)
Allah commands the Prophet (peace be upon him) to challenge the polytheists to call upon their false deities besides Allah, asserting that these idols lack any power to remove harm from them or redirect it elsewhere. This ayah powerfully establishes Allah's exclusive dominion over the removal of adversities and the inability of false gods to provide any real benefit, refuting the foundation of polytheistic belief. Ibn Kathir notes this is a decisive argument proving the futility of shirk (associating partners with Allah), while Al-Tabari emphasizes that the inability to remove harm is the clearest evidence of false deity status.
Revelation Context
Revealed in the Meccan period during the early Islamic mission when polytheists stubbornly clung to idol worship despite the Prophet's clear message of monotheism. This ayah appears within Surah Al-Isra's broader context of establishing tawhid (monotheism) and refuting pagan arguments. It represents Allah's direct challenge to the fundamental irrationality of polytheistic practices.
Related Hadiths
The Prophet (peace be upon him) said in Sahih Muslim: 'When you ask, ask from Allah alone, and when you seek help, seek help from Allah alone' - emphasizing reliance upon Allah as the sole source of assistance. Also related is the hadith in Sunan At-Tirmidhi where the Prophet taught that 'supplication is the weapon of the believer,' underscoring that only Allah truly responds to calls.
Themes
Key Lesson
This ayah teaches believers that turning to anyone or anything besides Allah for deliverance from hardship is both logically indefensible and spiritually empty; true security and relief come only through sincere reliance upon Allah alone. It encourages Muslims to reject false hope in intermediaries and to recognize that direct supplication to the Almighty is the most rational and effective recourse in times of need.
Related Ayahs
قَالَ أَرَءَيْتَكَ هَـٰذَا ٱلَّذِى كَرَّمْتَ عَلَىَّ لَئِنْ أَخَّرْتَنِ إِلَىٰ يَوْمِ ٱلْقِيَـٰمَةِ لَأَحْتَنِكَنَّ ذُرِّيَّتَهُۥٓ إِلَّا قَلِيلًا
[Iblees] said, "Do You see this one whom You have honored above me? If You delay me [i.e., my death] until the Day of Resurrection, I will surely destroy his descendants, except for a few."
وَٱسْتَفْزِزْ مَنِ ٱسْتَطَعْتَ مِنْهُم بِصَوْتِكَ وَأَجْلِبْ عَلَيْهِم بِخَيْلِكَ وَرَجِلِكَ وَشَارِكْهُمْ فِى ٱلْأَمْوَٰلِ وَٱلْأَوْلَـٰدِ وَعِدْهُمْ ۚ وَمَا يَعِدُهُمُ ٱلشَّيْطَـٰنُ إِلَّا غُرُورًا
And incite [to senselessness] whoever you can among them with your voice and assault them with your horses and foot soldiers and become a partner in their wealth and their children and promise them." But Satan does not promise them except delusion.
أَفَأَصْفَىٰكُمْ رَبُّكُم بِٱلْبَنِينَ وَٱتَّخَذَ مِنَ ٱلْمَلَـٰٓئِكَةِ إِنَـٰثًا ۚ إِنَّكُمْ لَتَقُولُونَ قَوْلًا عَظِيمًا
Then, has your Lord chosen you for [having] sons and taken [i.e., adopted] from among the angels daughters? Indeed, you say a grave saying.
قُل لَّوْ كَانَ مَعَهُۥٓ ءَالِهَةٌ كَمَا يَقُولُونَ إِذًا لَّٱبْتَغَوْا۟ إِلَىٰ ذِى ٱلْعَرْشِ سَبِيلًا
Say, [O Muḥammad], "If there had been with Him [other] gods, as they say, then they [each] would have sought to the Owner of the Throne a way."