Tafsir of Surah Yunus - Verse 69

Allah is Far Above taking a Wife or having Children

Allah criticizes those who claim that He has,

وَلَداً سُبْحَـنَهُ هُوَ الْغَنِيُّ

(...begotten a son. Glory is to Him! He is Rich (Free of all needs).) He is Greater than that and above it. He is Self-Sufficient, free of want or need of anything. Everything else is in desperate need of Him,

لَهُ مَا فِى السَّمَـوَت وَمَا فِى الاٌّرْضِ

(His is all that is in the heavens and all that is in the earth.) So how can He have a son from what He has created Everything and everyone belongs to Him and is His servant.

إِنْ عِندَكُمْ مِّن سُلْطَانٍ بِهَـذَآ

(No warrant have you for this) Meaning, you have no proof for the lies and falsehood that you claim,

أَتَقُولُونَ عَلَى اللَّهِ مَا لاَ تَعْلَمُونَ

(Do you say against Allah what you know not.) This is a severe threat and a firm warning. Similarly, Allah threatened and said:

وَقَالُواْ اتَّخَذَ الرَّحْمَـنُ وَلَداً - لَقَدْ جِئْتُمْ شَيْئاً إِدّاً - تَكَادُ السَّمَـوَتُ يَتَفَطَّرْنَ مِنْهُ وَتَنشَقُّ الاٌّرْضُ وَتَخِرُّ الْجِبَالُ هَدّاً - أَن دَعَوْا لِلرَّحْمَـنِ وَلَداً - وَمَا يَنبَغِى لِلرَّحْمَـنِ أَن يَتَّخِذَ وَلَداً - إِن كُلُّ مَن فِى السَّمَـوَتِ وَالاٌّرْضِ إِلاَّ آتِى الرَّحْمَـنِ عَبْداً - لَّقَدْ أَحْصَـهُمْ وَعَدَّهُمْ عَدّاً - وَكُلُّهُمْ ءَاتِيهِ يَوْمَ الْقِيَـمَةِ فَرْداً

(And they say: "The Most Gracious has begotten a son." Indeed you have brought forth a terribly evil thing. Whereby the heavens are almost torn, and the earth is split asunder, and the mountains fall in ruins, that they ascribe a son to the Most Gracious. But it is not suitable for the Most Gracious that He should beget a son. There is none in the heavens and the earth but comes unto the Most Gracious as a servant. Verily, He knows each one of them, and has counted them a full counting. And everyone of them will come to Him alone on the Day of Resurrection.) (19:88-95) Then Allah warned the liars that fabricated the claim that He has begotten a son. He warned that they will not succeed, never prospering in this world or in the Hereafter. In this world Allah will lead them, step-by-step, to their ruin. He will give them respite and put up with them for a while. He will allow them to have little enjoyment,

ثُمَّ نَضْطَرُّهُمْ إِلَى عَذَابٍ غَلِيظٍ

(then in the end We shall oblige them to (enter) a great torment.)(31:24) As Allah said here:

مَتَـعٌ فِى الدُّنْيَا

((A brief) enjoyment in this world!) meaning, only a short period,

ثُمَّ إِلَيْنَا مَرْجِعُهُمْ

(and then unto Us will be their return) on the Day of Resurrection;

ثُمَّ نُذِيقُهُمُ الْعَذَابَ الشَّدِيدَ بِمَا كَانُواْ يَكْفُرُونَ

(Then We shall make them taste the severest torment because they used to disbelieve. ) meaning, `We shall make them taste the painful punishment because of their Kufr and lies about Allah.'

It was said in the last verse (64) that, for the friends of Allah, there is the good news in the worldly life and in the Hereafter. As for the good news of the Hereafter, it will come at the time of death when the spirit of the deceased will be taken to Allah. At that time, he will hear the good news of Paradise being for him. Then, on the day of Qiyamah, when he rises from his grave, he will receive the good news of being welcome to Paradise. This is similar to what al-Tabarani has reported from Sayyidna Ibn ` Umar ؓ narrates that the Holy Prophet ﷺ said: ` People who recite: لا إلہ إلا اللہ (la ilaha illallah: There is no god but Allah) will not experience any fright at the time of death, nor inside the grave, nor at the time they rise from it. This is as if my eyes are seeing the scenario of that time when these people will, shaking the dust off, rise from their graves, saying: الْحَمْدُ لِلَّـهِ الَّذِي أَذْهَبَ عَنَّا الْحَزَنَ (Praised is Allah who has removed from us [ all ] grief - 35:34) '

As for the good news in this world, the Holy Prophet ﷺ said, `(they are) the true dreams one sees himself or are seen by someone else with him in it and, in which, there is good news for them. (Reported by al-Bukhri from Sayyidna Abu Hurairah ؓ .

Another basharah (good news) of this world unfolds in the form that Muslims at large love someone and take him to be good without any personal motive or interest. About it, the Holy Prophet ﷺ said: تِلکَ عَاجِلُ بشرَی المؤمِن that is, ` being taken as good and praiseworthy is, for a true Muslim, good news in ready cash.' (Muslim and al-Baghawi)

In the present world nobody loses anything by rejection of the Truth or shirk (assigning partners to God). This leads to great misunderstanding. But, this state of affairs comes about simply because of the respite given to man during his period of trial. In the present world man has been given freedom of action, so that he may be put to the test. The moment the period of testing is over, the present condition will also come to an end. At that time man will see that he has been left with none of those things of which he considered himself the owner, and on account of which he had become arrogant. It has been recorded in a tradition of the Prophet Muhammad that God apostrophied wisdom, saying, ‘O, wisdom! In this universe I have not created anything superior to you, anything more beautiful or any creature better than you.’ The necessary consequence of the grant of such a great boon to a human being is that his responsibility should also be great. That is why rejection of truth is the greatest crime before God. When Truth is proved by reasoning, it becomes necessary for man to accept it. If, even after the truth has been proved by arguments, a man rejects it, then he is committing an unpardonable crime. When God has given to man the wisdom by which he may recognise the Truth as Truth and falsehood as falsehood, in such a situation there can be no excuse for his wrongdoing before God.