Tafsir of Al-Isra 17:40

This is an address to those who claimed that the angels are the daughters of Allah, Glory be to Him. To "choose" (isfa') something means to make it purely for someone. The interrogative particle (hamza) is for denunciation and is prefixed to an implied [verb] according to one of the two opinions, while the fa is a conjunction to that implied [verb]. That is: Did He prefer you over His Majesty, so He singled you out for the best of children exclusively, while He chose for His own Essence the basest and lowest of them? The mention of the attribute of Lordship is to intensify the disapproval and confirm it, and He expressed it as "females" to demonstrate their baseness.

The Shaykh al-Islam said: By mentioning the angels (peace be upon them) and using the term "females" in place of "daughters," another form of disbelief is indicated, which is their description of the angels—peace be upon them—with femininity, which is the basest attribute of living beings, as in His saying: "And they have made the angels, who are servants of the Most Merciful, females."

In al-Kashf, it is stated that when He, the Exalted, forbade polytheism and proved its corruption, He brought the connective fa and denounced them for it, as evidence of their inversion of the truth. After they knew that He, the Exalted, is free from polytheism through the evidence of reason and revelation, they attributed to Him, the Exalted, that which is polytheism, deficiency, and contempt for those among His servants whom He has chosen. What a heinous act of disbelief! Hence it was said: (Indeed, you speak)—by the requirements of your false doctrine—(a grave word), the magnitude of which cannot be measured in the sin it entails, and its violation of the premises of reason; such that no possessor of intellect would dare to commit it, for you place Him, the Exalted, in the category of bodies that are quick to perish and in need of the survival of the species through procreation, while there is nothing like unto Him, and He is the One, the Subduer, the Enduring by His own Essence. Then, you attribute to Him, the Exalted, what you yourselves dislike of the basest of children, while you prefer yourselves over Him with sons, and then you describe the angels (peace be upon them) as you describe them.