Tafseer of Luqman · Luqman · 31:11
This is the creation of Allah. So show Me what those other than Him have created. Rather, the wrongdoers are in clear error.
Important: The Arabic source text is always authoritative. This translation is a study aid and has not been verified by scholars — do not use it as a basis for religious proof or for deriving rulings (ahkam). When in doubt, always consult the Arabic text and a qualified scholar.
The explanation of the saying of the Exalted: هَذَا خَلْقُ اللَّهِ فَأَرُونِي مَاذَا خَلَقَ الَّذِينَ مِنْ دُونِهِ بَلِ الظَّالِمُونَ فِي ضَلالٍ مُبِينٍ (31:11) ("This is the creation of Allah; so show me what those [worshipped] besides Him have created. Nay, the wrongdoers are in manifest error.")
The Exalted, whose mention is exalted, says: This, which I have enumerated for you in this verse as something that I have created, O people, is the creation of Allah, to whom belongs divinity over all things and the worship of every creature, and for whom alone worship is fitting and for no one else. Show me then, O you who in your worship of Him ascribe partners to Him besides Him — [namely] the gods and idols — what thing have those [gods] that you [worship] besides Him, your gods and your images, created, that they have acquired with you a claim to worship, so that you have worshipped them besides Him? — just as your Creator, and the Creator of these things that I have enumerated for you, has acquired a claim thereto.
And in accordance with what we have said concerning that the exegetes have spoken.
* The mention of who said that:
Bishr related to us, saying: Yazīd related to us, saying: Saʿīd related to us, on the authority of Qatāda, concerning His saying هَذَا خَلْقُ اللَّهِ ("This is the creation of Allah"): what has been mentioned of the creation of the heavens and the earth, and the animals which He has scattered abroad, and every noble [plant] pair which He has caused to sprout; فَأَرُونِي مَاذَا خَلَقَ الَّذِينَ مِنْ دُونِهِ: the images which you call upon besides Him.
His saying بَلِ الظَّالِمُونَ فِي ضَلالٍ مُبِينٍ ("Nay, the wrongdoers are in manifest error") — the Exalted, whose mention is exalted, says: These polytheists did not worship the idols and images because they create anything, but rather their error and their straying from the path of truth led them to their worship. They are in error — that is to say: they are in a deviation from the truth and a straying from the right course — which is manifest (mubīn) — that is to say: it becomes clear to whoever considers it, looks into it, and reflects upon it with reason, that it is an error and not guidance.
