أَلَكُمُ ٱلذَّكَرُ وَلَهُ ٱلْأُنثَىٰ 21
Translations
Is the male for you and for Him the female?
Transliteration
Alakum al-dhakaru wa lahu al-untha
Tafsir (Explanation)
This ayah criticizes the pre-Islamic Arab practice of attributing daughters to Allah while reserving sons for themselves, exposing the illogical and unjust nature of their polytheistic beliefs. Classical scholars like Ibn Kathir and Al-Tabari emphasize that this verse highlights the absurdity of the Meccan idolaters' theological contradictions—they would reject daughters as inferior for themselves yet assigned female deities (like Al-Lat, Al-Uzza, and Manat) to Allah. The ayah serves as both a refutation of shirk (polytheism) and a defense of the oneness and justice of Allah's nature.
Revelation Context
This ayah was revealed in Mecca during the early Islamic period when the Quraysh were heavily invested in their pagan religious system. The immediate context of Surah An-Najm addresses the false claims of the idolaters regarding their invented deities and their unjust gender-based discrimination, which Allah condemns as hypocritical and illogical.
Related Hadiths
Hadith in Sunan An-Nasai and Jami' at-Tirmidhi from 'Aishah (RA) regarding the refutation of those who attribute daughters to Allah, emphasizing that such beliefs contradict reason and divine justice.
Themes
Key Lesson
This ayah teaches believers to recognize and reject contradictory beliefs and unjust practices, whether in theology or society, while understanding that true faith requires logical consistency and respect for all of Allah's creation regardless of gender.
Related Ayahs
لَوْ كَانَ هَـٰٓؤُلَآءِ ءَالِهَةً مَّا وَرَدُوهَا ۖ وَكُلٌّ فِيهَا خَـٰلِدُونَ
Had these [false deities] been [actual] gods, they would not have come to it, but all are eternal therein.
أَفَمَنْ هُوَ قَآئِمٌ عَلَىٰ كُلِّ نَفْسٍۭ بِمَا كَسَبَتْ ۗ وَجَعَلُوا۟ لِلَّهِ شُرَكَآءَ قُلْ سَمُّوهُمْ ۚ أَمْ تُنَبِّـُٔونَهُۥ بِمَا لَا يَعْلَمُ فِى ٱلْأَرْضِ أَم بِظَـٰهِرٍ مِّنَ ٱلْقَوْلِ ۗ بَلْ زُيِّنَ لِلَّذِينَ كَفَرُوا۟ مَكْرُهُمْ وَصُدُّوا۟ عَنِ ٱلسَّبِيلِ ۗ وَمَن يُضْلِلِ ٱللَّهُ فَمَا لَهُۥ مِنْ هَادٍ
Then is He who is a maintainer of every soul, [knowing] what it has earned, [like any other]? But to Allāh they have attributed partners. Say, "Name them. Or do you inform Him of that which He knows not upon the earth or of what is apparent [i.e., alleged] of speech?" Rather, their [own] plan has been made attractive to those who disbelieve, and they have been averted from the way. And whomever Allāh sends astray - there will be for him no guide.
قُلْ أَفَغَيْرَ ٱللَّهِ تَأْمُرُوٓنِّىٓ أَعْبُدُ أَيُّهَا ٱلْجَـٰهِلُونَ
Say, [O Muḥammad], "Is it other than Allāh that you order me to worship, O ignorant ones?"