Surah Az-Zukhruf: (60) "And if We willed, We could have..."

"And if We willed, We could have..." is an appended verse to demonstrate His power, to show that [the pagans'] being led astray stems from a lack of reflection, and to include a rebuttal against those who took the angels as gods just as the [Christians] took Jesus—peace be upon them. That is: If We willed—by virtue of Our capacity for wondrous affairs and the marvels of creation—We could have made, by way of generation (the result being that we would have begotten from among you, O men, angels just as We begot Jesus without a father), [those who] "succeed in the earth."

Meaning: They would succeed you on the earth just as your children succeed you, or they would be descendants and offspring for you. This is so that Our distinctness through overwhelming power may be known, and so it may be known that angels are contingent beings created by generation just as they are created by origination (ibda’); so from where would they derive any merit for divinity or for being attributed to Him, Exalted and Majestic is He, through sonship?

It is permissible that the meaning of "We could have made..." is "We would have transformed some of you into angels," where min (from) is used to denote initiation or partition, and mala’ikatan (angels) is a second object or a state (hal). It is also said: [The min] is used for substitution, as in His saying: "Are you satisfied with the life of the world instead of the Hereafter?" and the verse: "And you have not tasted the pistachio among the vegetables," meaning: "If We willed, We would have made angels in your place to be in your stead after removing you." Qatadah and Mujahid allude to this. The intent is to manifest the perfection of His power, Exalted is He, not a threat of total annihilation, even if it is implied, for that is not suitable for the context. It is said, however, that there is no obstacle to intending both. Yes, many grammarians do not accept min as meaning substitution, and they interpret occurrences that suggest this according to the first explanation given.

The scholar Al-Tayyibi—may Allah have mercy on him—mentioned that His saying: "He is not but a servant," etc., is a response to the debate of the disbelievers regarding His saying: "Indeed, you and that which you worship..." and that the determination is that this debate of yours is false because he (Jesus), peace be upon him, does not fall under that explicit text. The speech is directed toward you, O polytheists, and you are the ones addressed by it. The intent of "that which you worship" is the idols you carve with your own hands. As for Jesus, peace be upon him, he is nothing but a servant, honored, favored with prophethood, elevated in status and mention, and famous among the Children of Israel like a common proverb. So how can he be included in our saying: "Indeed, you and that which you worship other than Allah are the firewood of Hell"? Furthermore, there is no objection against Us for making one group worthy of the Fire and another worthy of the Garden, for if We willed, We could have made from among you—from your own selves, O disbelievers—angels, meaning: honored servants who are guided and destined for the Garden, as in His saying: "And if We had willed, We could have given every soul its guidance."

According to what we have mentioned, the discourse on the refutation of the argument is completed at His saying: "They are merely a contentious people." What follows is heard as has been mentioned before, and it is more precise and appropriate than what [others] mentioned. Indeed, what he alluded to—that His saying "And if We willed..." is for negating the objection—is of no substance.

It is narrated that Ibn al-Ziba'ra said to the Prophet—may Allah bless him and grant him peace—when he heard the verse: "Indeed, you and that which you worship other than Allah are the firewood of Hell," "Is this for us and our gods, or for all nations?" The Prophet, peace be upon him, replied: "It is for you, your gods, and all nations." He said: "I have defeated you, by the Lord of the Ka'bah! Do not the Christians worship the Messiah, the Jews worship Ezra, and the Banu Mulayh worship the angels? If these are in the Fire, then we are content to be with our gods with them." They rejoiced and laughed, but the Messenger of Allah, peace be upon him, remained silent. Then Allah, Exalted is He, revealed: "Indeed, those for whom the best [reward] has preceded..." (or this verse was revealed). Some rejected the silence and stated that when Ibn al-Ziba'ra said to the Prophet, peace be upon him, "I have defeated you," the Prophet replied: "How ignorant you are of the language of your own people! Did you not understand that ma (that which) is for the non-rational?"

Muhi al-Sunnah recorded in Al-Ma'alim that Ibn al-Ziba'ra said to the Prophet, peace be upon him: "You said: 'Indeed, you and that which you worship other than Allah are the firewood of Hell.'" He said, "Yes." "Do not the Jews worship Ezra, the Christians worship the Messiah, and the Banu Mulayh worship the angels?" The Prophet, peace be upon him, said: "Rather, they worship the devil." Then Allah, Exalted is He, revealed: "Indeed, those for whom the best [reward] has preceded from Us..." This is more authenticated than the previous report, and the account in the previous report regarding Ibn al-Ziba'ra's question ("Is this for us...?") and the Prophet's reply ("It is for you...") has been criticized as being unestablished.

Those who affirm it mention that the Prophet, peace be upon him, did not initially answer regarding the specific versus the general because he acted according to what the word ma (that which) entails; since excluding those known [the figures mentioned] from the judgment when necessary might imply a license for their worship in general, he made it general for everyone—not by the phrasing of the text, but by way of implication, based on the commonality of being worshipped alongside Allah. Then he clarified that they (the prophets and angels) are far removed from being worshipped, based on what came in the report of Muhi al-Sunnah: "Rather, they worship the devil," as stated by His saying: "Exalted are You! You are our protecting friend instead of them; rather, they used to worship the jinn."

In Al-Durr al-Manthur, Imam Ahmad, Ibn Abi Hatim, Al-Tabarani, and Ibn Marduyah narrated from Ibn Abbas that the Messenger of Allah, peace be upon him, said to the Quraysh: "There is no one worshipped other than Allah who has any good in him." They replied: "Do you not claim that Jesus was a prophet and a righteous servant of Allah? If you are truthful, then he is like our gods." Then Allah, Exalted is He, revealed: "And when the son of Mary was presented as an example..."

The discourse on the verses according to this narration is understood from what has preceded with the slightest consideration. It is said that when the polytheists heard His saying: "Indeed, the example of Jesus to Allah is like [that of] Adam. He created him from dust," they said: "We are better guided than the Christians, for they worshipped a human, while we worship the angels." So it was revealed. The "example" is in His saying: "Indeed, the example of Jesus," and the one who presented the example is He, Exalted is His state. Meaning: When Allah, Exalted is He, clarified his wondrous state, your people took it as a pretext to promote the falsehood they are in: that since he was a created human being yet was worshipped, then we are more rightly guided, as we have worshipped the angels who are purified and honored. This is what they meant by their saying: "Are our gods better, or is he?" So Allah, Exalted is He, refuted this by saying that it is a comparison of falsehood with falsehood, and that they are in error in taking the favored servant as a god, just as you are in error in taking the angels—who are honored servants—as gods. Then He, Exalted is He, said: "And if We willed, We could have made from among you," as a demonstration that the angels, peace be upon them, are created just as he was, and that He, Exalted is He, is capable of more wondrous things than the creation of Jesus, peace be upon him, and that there is no difference in that between created beings, whether by generation or origination; thus, neither category is fit for divinity. In a narration from Ibn Abbas and Qatadah, when His saying "Indeed, the example of Jesus..." was revealed, the Quraysh said: "Muhammad, peace be upon him, did not intend by mentioning Jesus, peace be upon him, anything other than that we should worship him just as the Christians worshipped Jesus."

The meaning of yassuddun is to complain or become annoyed. The pronoun in "or is he" refers to our Prophet, peace be upon him, and their intent in making a comparison between him, peace be upon him, and their gods is to mock him, peace be upon him. His saying: "And if We willed..." is a refutation of their lies against him, peace be upon him, a clarification that Jesus, peace be upon him, in reality and in what was revealed to the Messenger of Allah, peace be upon him, is nothing but a servant who was favored with blessings, as mentioned. So how would he, peace be upon him, be pleased with being worshipped, or how could it be imagined that he would be pleased with the worship of his own self? Then He, Exalted is He, clarified that the example of Jesus is not an innovation in the power of Allah, and that He is capable of what is more wondrous and more marvelous, while alerting that the angels, peace be upon them, also fall short of the rank of being worshipped, by His saying: "And if We willed..." In this, the indication of that meaning is not clear. Likewise, the return of the pronoun to our Prophet, peace be upon him, in His saying "or is he," while it returns to Jesus in His saying "He is not but a servant"—in this is a [complexity] of structure from which the miraculous Book must be guarded. It is hardly acceptable to say the second pronoun returns to him, peace be upon him. Perhaps the narration regarding the report is not established. It is permissible that their intent was to exonerate themselves from what was rebuked in their saying: "The angels, peace be upon them, are daughters of Allah," and from their worship of them, as if they said: "We have not said anything innovative, nor have we done anything forbidden, for the Christians made the Messiah the son of Allah, and we are more cautious than them in word and deed, for we attributed the angels, peace be upon them, to Him, Exalted is He, while they attributed humans to Him." His saying: "And if He willed..." is upon this as in the second viewpoint.