أَوَمَن يُنَشَّؤُا۟ فِى ٱلْحِلْيَةِ وَهُوَ فِى ٱلْخِصَامِ غَيْرُ مُبِينٍ 18
Translations
So is one brought up in ornaments while being during conflict unevident [attributed to Allāh]?
Transliteration
Awa man yunashaʾu fil-hilyati wa huwa fil-khisami ghayru mubīn
Tafsir (Explanation)
This ayah addresses the absurdity of those who associate daughters with Allah, describing how women are raised adorned with jewelry yet are inarticulate in disputes and arguments. Classical scholars like Al-Tabari and Ibn Kathir interpret this as a rhetorical critique of the pagan Arabs who preferred daughters for themselves yet attributed daughters to Allah—highlighting the inconsistency and illogicality of their polytheistic beliefs. The ayah emphasizes that if they truly valued daughters, they would not reject them as divine attributes for God, and conversely, their dismissal of female offspring as inferior makes their theological position even more contradictory.
Revelation Context
This ayah is part of Surah Az-Zukhruf (Chapter 43), a Meccan surah that comprehensively refutes polytheism and idol worship. The broader context (verses 15-18) addresses the pagan practice of attributing daughters to Allah while rejecting daughters for themselves, which was considered shameful in pre-Islamic Arabian society. This passage serves as a logical argument demonstrating the irrationality of their religious beliefs.
Related Hadiths
While no hadith directly addresses this specific ayah, Hadith Qudsi emphasizes Allah's rejection of such associations: 'The most grievous sin is when someone equates something with Me' (Sahih Bukhari). Additionally, hadiths praising the rights and dignity of daughters are thematically relevant, such as: 'Whoever has daughters and treats them well will enter Paradise' (Jami' at-Tirmidhi).
Themes
Key Lesson
This ayah teaches us to examine the logical consistency of our beliefs and to recognize how societal prejudices can blind us to truth; it also reminds us that dignity and worth are not determined by gender, and that all humans deserve respect and proper articulation of their rights before Allah.
Related Ayahs
قُلْ مَن رَّبُّ ٱلسَّمَـٰوَٰتِ ٱلسَّبْعِ وَرَبُّ ٱلْعَرْشِ ٱلْعَظِيمِ
Say, "Who is Lord of the seven heavens and Lord of the Great Throne?"
وَمَا لَهُم بِهِۦ مِنْ عِلْمٍ ۖ إِن يَتَّبِعُونَ إِلَّا ٱلظَّنَّ ۖ وَإِنَّ ٱلظَّنَّ لَا يُغْنِى مِنَ ٱلْحَقِّ شَيْـًٔا
And they have thereof no knowledge. They follow not except assumption, and indeed, assumption avails not against the truth at all.
أَمَّنْ خَلَقَ ٱلسَّمَـٰوَٰتِ وَٱلْأَرْضَ وَأَنزَلَ لَكُم مِّنَ ٱلسَّمَآءِ مَآءً فَأَنۢبَتْنَا بِهِۦ حَدَآئِقَ ذَاتَ بَهْجَةٍ مَّا كَانَ لَكُمْ أَن تُنۢبِتُوا۟ شَجَرَهَآ ۗ أَءِلَـٰهٌ مَّعَ ٱللَّهِ ۚ بَلْ هُمْ قَوْمٌ يَعْدِلُونَ
[More precisely], is He [not best] who created the heavens and the earth and sent down for you rain from the sky, causing to grow thereby gardens of joyful beauty which you could not [otherwise] have grown the trees thereof? Is there a deity with Allāh? [No], but they are a people who ascribe equals [to Him].
لَوْ كَانَ فِيهِمَآ ءَالِهَةٌ إِلَّا ٱللَّهُ لَفَسَدَتَا ۚ فَسُبْحَـٰنَ ٱللَّهِ رَبِّ ٱلْعَرْشِ عَمَّا يَصِفُونَ
Had there been within them [i.e., the heavens and earth] gods besides Allāh, they both would have been ruined. So exalted is Allāh, Lord of the Throne, above what they describe.