وَٱلَّذِينَ يَدْعُونَ مِن دُونِ ٱللَّهِ لَا يَخْلُقُونَ شَيْـًٔا وَهُمْ يُخْلَقُونَ 20
Translations
And those they invoke other than Allāh create nothing, and they [themselves] are created.
Transliteration
Wa-alladhīna yad'ūna min dūni-llāhi lā yakhluqūna shay'an wa-hum yukhlaqūn
Tafsir (Explanation)
This ayah refutes the worship of idols and false deities by highlighting their complete powerlessness: those who are invoked besides Allah cannot create anything, yet they themselves are created beings. According to Ibn Kathir and Al-Tabari, this establishes the fundamental principle that only Allah possesses the attribute of creation (khalq), making the worship of lifeless idols or created entities logically and theologically absurd. The ayah emphasizes that true divinity requires the power to create, which belongs exclusively to Allah.
Revelation Context
This ayah appears in Surah An-Nahl (Chapter 16), a Meccan surah revealed during the early period of Islam when the Quraysh were actively worshipping idols and associate partners with Allah. The broader context of this surah addresses tawhīd (monotheism) and refutes polytheism through rational arguments about Allah's creation and provision. This specific ayah is part of a series of verses (16:17-23) systematically demonstrating the futility of idol worship.
Related Hadiths
The principle reflected in this ayah connects to the hadith in Sahih Muslim where the Prophet (ﷺ) said: 'The greatest sin is to associate partners with Allah (shirk).' Additionally, the hadith in Sunan Ibn Majah emphasizes that 'Verily, Allah does not accept from an action anything unless it is done sincerely for His sake.'
Themes
Key Lesson
This ayah teaches that worship should only be directed to Allah alone, as all other entities—whether idols, saints, or created beings—lack the fundamental divine attribute of creation and thus cannot deserve worship or intercession. For modern believers, it reinforces that sincere devotion must be reserved for the Creator alone, and seeking help from anyone or anything besides Allah contradicts both reason and revelation.
Related Ayahs
قُلْ أَفَغَيْرَ ٱللَّهِ تَأْمُرُوٓنِّىٓ أَعْبُدُ أَيُّهَا ٱلْجَـٰهِلُونَ
Say, [O Muḥammad], "Is it other than Allāh that you order me to worship, O ignorant ones?"
فَأَقِمْ وَجْهَكَ لِلدِّينِ حَنِيفًا ۚ فِطْرَتَ ٱللَّهِ ٱلَّتِى فَطَرَ ٱلنَّاسَ عَلَيْهَا ۚ لَا تَبْدِيلَ لِخَلْقِ ٱللَّهِ ۚ ذَٰلِكَ ٱلدِّينُ ٱلْقَيِّمُ وَلَـٰكِنَّ أَكْثَرَ ٱلنَّاسِ لَا يَعْلَمُونَ
So direct your face [i.e., self] toward the religion, inclining to truth. [Adhere to] the fiṭrah of Allāh upon which He has created [all] people. No change should there be in the creation of Allāh. That is the correct religion, but most of the people do not know.
۞ وَمَن يَقُلْ مِنْهُمْ إِنِّىٓ إِلَـٰهٌ مِّن دُونِهِۦ فَذَٰلِكَ نَجْزِيهِ جَهَنَّمَ ۚ كَذَٰلِكَ نَجْزِى ٱلظَّـٰلِمِينَ
And whoever of them should say, "Indeed, I am a god besides Him" - that one We would recompense with Hell. Thus do We recompense the wrongdoers.
أَوَلَمْ يَنظُرُوا۟ فِى مَلَكُوتِ ٱلسَّمَـٰوَٰتِ وَٱلْأَرْضِ وَمَا خَلَقَ ٱللَّهُ مِن شَىْءٍ وَأَنْ عَسَىٰٓ أَن يَكُونَ قَدِ ٱقْتَرَبَ أَجَلُهُمْ ۖ فَبِأَىِّ حَدِيثٍۭ بَعْدَهُۥ يُؤْمِنُونَ
Do they not look into the realm of the heavens and the earth and everything that Allāh has created and [think] that perhaps their appointed time has come near? So in what statement [i.e., message] hereafter will they believe?