Surah At-Tur 52:43
ﲜ ﲝ ﲞ ﲟ ﲠ ﲡ ﲢ ﲣ ﲤ ﲥ
Or have they a deity other than Allah? Exalted is Allah above whatever they associate with Him.
Tafsir of At-Tur 52:43
Tafsir
Mafatih al-Ghayb
Verse range: 52:43
Surah At-Tur (The Mount): Verse 43
أم لهم إله غير الله يعذبهم؟ (Or do they have a god other than Allah who punishes them?)
This verse reiterates the theme of Monotheism (Tawhid), carrying a similar implication to the verse: {Or does He have daughters while you have sons?} (At-Tur: 39).
Regarding the phrase {Subhan Allah} (Glory be to Allah), there is a subtle scholarly point:
Linguists state that Subhan is a proper noun (Ism 'Alam) for glorification (Tasbih). We have previously discussed this in the exegesis of the verse: {So glorify Allah when you enter the evening and when you rise in the morning} (Ar-Rum: 17) and presented numerous benefits.
If one argues that Subhan can be treated as a verbal noun (Masdar) and that the form Subhan (on the pattern of Fu'lan) can be used without the context of actual glorification, similar to how one might say "from" (min) when it functions as a preposition, or "in" (fi) when it functions as an adverbial phrase (Zarf), even though prepositions are not typically reported upon (i.e., not used as the subject of a sentence), the response is:
In such instances, min and fi are treated as nouns and are not left in their original function. Similarly, Subhan in the contexts mentioned is not left in its typical usage. It is not treated as a proper noun like Zayd (which is on the pattern of Fu'al), unlike the verbal noun Tasbih (glorification) which we discussed previously.
The Fourth Issue:
The preposition {عما يشركون} (concerning what they associate [with Allah]) allows for two interpretations:
- The Masdariyyah interpretation: Meaning, "Glory be to Him concerning their act of association (Ishrak)."
- The Khabariyyah (Relational) interpretation: Meaning, "Glory be to Him concerning those whom they associate [with Him]."
Under the second interpretation, it could refer to:
- Offspring: Because they claimed that Allah has daughters, so Subhan Allah is a declaration of purity regarding the daughters and sons (i.e., Allah is above having daughters).
- False Deities: Because they claimed that their idols are like the deities Allah has, so Subhan Allah is a declaration of purity concerning the false deities they worship.