Tafsir of Al-An'am 6:102

Tafsir of Surah Al-An'am (The Cattle), Verse 102

Verse: ذلكم الله ربكم لا إله إلا هو خالق كل شيء فاعبدوه وهو على كل شيء وكيل

(That is Allah, your Lord. There is no god but He. He is the Creator of everything, so worship Him. And He is the Trustee over all things.)

After establishing conclusive proof for the existence of a singular, choosing, wise, and merciful God, and after refuting the doctrines of polytheism with appropriate arguments, and clarifying the falsehood of those who attributed sons and daughters to God—it is now established that the God of the universe is One, Self-Sufficient (Samad), pure from any partner, equal, opposite, or peer, and pure from having offspring.

At this point, the result is stated clearly: "That is Allah, your Lord. There is no god but He. He is the Creator of everything else, so worship Him, and worship no one else." He is the one who manages the necessities of all His servants, hears their supplications, sees their humility, knows their needs, and is the Trustee (Wakeel) for everyone concerning the fulfillment of their needs. Whoever contemplates this order and arrangement in establishing the call to monotheism and purification, and revealing the falsehood of polytheism, will know that there is no clearer or more sound path.

There are several issues (Masā'il) in this verse:

The author of Al-Kashshāf (Al-Zamakhshari) stated that "Dhālikum" (That) is a demonstrative pronoun referring to the One described by the preceding attributes. It is the subject (Mubtada'), and what follows are successive predicates (Akhbār): "Allah, your Lord, there is no god but He, the Creator of everything."

This means: The One who possesses all these attributes is worthy of worship, so worship Him, and worship no one else.

In this Surah, God has presented numerous proofs demonstrating creation's need for a Creator, Originator, Producer, and Sustainer. He did not present a separate proof negating partners, opposites, or equals. Instead, He followed the proofs for the Creator's existence by recounting the claims of those who affirmed partners for God, which would necessitate rejecting polytheism. Then, He followed this by affirming pure monotheism: "That is Allah, your Lord. There is no god but He. He is the Creator of everything, so worship Him."

The question arises: Since the preceding arguments established the Creator's existence and refuted the arguments for partners, how does this necessitate the certainty of pure monotheism?

Scholars have many methods for establishing monotheism, and this verse employs one of them. Its structure can be understood in several ways:

The First Way (The Sufficiency of the One)

The early scholars argued: The single Creator is sufficient, and any claim beyond one is equally balanced (i.e., unsubstantiated). Therefore, affirming oneness is necessary.

1. The Single Creator is Sufficient: An all-powerful God, capable of all things possible, and all-knowing of all knowledge, is sufficient to be the God and Sustainer of the universe.
2. The Claim Beyond One is Equally Balanced: No proof has been presented for the existence of a second (or more). Thus, affirming one number of gods is no more valid than affirming another number. This leads either to affirming an infinite number of gods (which is impossible) or affirming a specific number, yet that specific number has no priority over any other number (which is also impossible). Since both alternatives are false, only the affirmation of oneness remains.

The Second Way (The Impossibility of Cooperation)

If an all-powerful, all-knowing God exists, He is sufficient for managing the universe. If we posit a second God, that second one must either:

1. Act and bring about events in this world: This is false. Since both are capable of all possibilities, any action performed by one would prevent the other from achieving its intended outcome. This implies that each God causes the other to be incapable, which is impossible.
2. Do nothing and bring about nothing: In this case, the second God is deficient and idle, which disqualifies Him from divinity.

The Third Way (The Impossibility of Imperfection)

This singular God must be perfect in all divine attributes. If we posit a second God, that second one must either:

1. Share all perfections with the First: If so, the second must be distinguished from the first by some distinguishing factor (otherwise, there would be no duality). If this distinguishing factor is itself a perfection, then the first God is not entirely shared in all perfections. If the distinguishing factor is not a perfection, then the second God possesses a non-perfect attribute, implying deficiency.

Through these three ways, it is established that the single God is sufficient for the universe's management and creation, and any addition must be negated. This is the method God employs here to establish monotheism. (The argument of mutual prevention, Dalīl al-Tamānuʿ, was discussed in Surah Al-Baqarah.)

Our scholars use the phrase "Creator of everything" to prove that God is the Creator of human actions. They argue: Human actions are "things" (ashyā'), and God is the Creator of everything by this verse; therefore, He must be the Creator of human actions.

The Mu'tazila object, arguing that although the term is general, several factors indicate that human actions are excluded from this generality:

1. Logical Incoherence: The verse says, "Creator of everything, so worship Him." If human actions were included, the meaning would be: "I created your actions, so you perform them exactly as they are again." This is clearly absurd.
2. Context of Praise: God mentions "Creator of everything" as a form of praise. If human actions (like adultery, theft, disbelief) were included, it would cease to be praise, as it is not fitting for God to praise Himself for creating sin.
3. Subsequent Verse: The verse following this states: "Verily, there have come to you clear proofs from your Lord. So whoever sees, it is for his own self; and whoever is blind, it is against himself." This explicitly confirms that the servant has independent agency in action and omission, meaning the servant is fully capable of acting or refraining. If the servant's action were created by God, the servant would not be independent, as they could not prevent what God wills to create, nor achieve what God wills not to create. Since this verse proves the servant's independence, it necessitates that the servant's action is not created by God.
4. Context of Refuting Dualism: This verse follows the mention of those who "set up partners for Allah from the Jinn." We explained this refers to the doctrine of the Magians, who affirmed two gods: one creating pleasures and good things, and the other creating pains and afflictions. Therefore, "Creator of everything" must be understood as refuting this doctrine by affirming that God alone created everything in the world, including beasts, insects, diseases, and pains. Under this interpretation, human actions are excluded.

The Answer (of the Ahl al-Sunnah):

We say that the decisive rational proof supports the apparent meaning of this verse. The proof is: Action is contingent upon the motive (Dā'ī), and the Creator of the motive is God. The combination of power and motive necessitates the action, which implies that God is the Creator of human actions. Once this apparent meaning is confirmed by this decisive rational proof, all doubts and ambiguities vanish.

The phrase "Creator of everything, so worship Him" (Khāliq kull shay' fa-ʿbudūh) shows a sequence where the command to worship is connected by the particle fa (so/then), indicating immediate consequence and causality. This implies that God's being the Creator of all things is the reason He deserves absolute worship. The deity (Ilāh) is the one deserving of being worshipped. This suggests the validity of the view held by some of our scholars that the definition of Ilāh is the One capable of creation, origination, production, and invention.

Many Mu'tazilites used the phrase "Creator of everything" to deny God's eternal attributes and to assert that the Qur'an is created.

Regarding the Negation of Attributes: They argued: If God were knowing by knowledge and powerful by power, this knowledge and power would either be eternal or created.

1. Eternal: This is rejected because the generality of "Creator of everything" implies He creates all things. If we exclude His own essence (as He cannot create Himself), the generality must remain for everything else. Affirming eternal attributes necessitates further specialization of this generality, which they deem impermissible.
2. Created: This is rejected by consensus, as it would require the creation of that knowledge/power to depend on a prior knowledge/power, leading to an infinite regress, which is impossible.

Regarding the Qur'an being Created: They argued: The Qur'an is a "thing," and everything that is a "thing" is created by God according to this generality. Therefore, the Qur'an must be created by God.

The Answer of the Ahl al-Sunnah:

The most that can be said is that this generality has been specialized regarding God's essence. However, a general statement that has been specialized remains a proof in areas where specialization does not apply. This is why the Sunnis, despite acknowledging specialization regarding human actions, still use this verse to prove that human actions are created by God.

Our scholars respond by specializing this generality based on:

1. Proofs demonstrating that God is knowing by Knowledge and powerful by Power (i.e., eternal attributes).
2. Proofs demonstrating that the Word of God (the Qur'an) is eternal.

The statement "And He is the Trustee over all things" is meant to perfect the servant's understanding of monotheism. Even if a servant believes there is no god but Him and no manager except God, this world operates through apparent causes (Asbāb).

I heard the righteous Imam, my father (may God have mercy on him), say: "If it were not for causes, no doubter would ever doubt." Since this is the case, a person might attach their heart to the apparent causes—relying on a ruler, or turning to a minister for their needs. If so, they will only attain deprivation and increase their sorrows.

The Truth, the Exalted, said: "And He is the Trustee over all things." The purpose is for the person to know that there is no protector except God, and no reformer of necessities except God. Then, their hope will be cut off from everything besides Him, and they will turn to no one but Him for any necessity.

It seems repetitive that shortly before this verse, it said, "And He created everything" (Wa khalaqa kulla shay'), and here it says, "He is the Creator of everything" (Khāliq kull shay').

The answer is twofold:

1. Tense Difference: "And He created" refers to the past (completed action). "Creator" is an active participle, encompassing all times.
2. Difference in Purpose (The more accurate view): God mentioned "And He created everything" there to serve as a premise for negating offspring. Here, He mentioned "He is the Creator of everything" to serve as a premise for establishing that there is no deity worthy of worship besides Him. This premise leads to many different conclusions; thus, God mentions it repeatedly to derive the appropriate conclusion in each context.

Someone might ask: Divinity (Ilāh) means the one deserving of worship. So, "There is no god but He" means "No one deserves worship but He." What is the benefit of then saying, "So worship Him"? This suggests repetition.

The Answer: "There is no god but He" means "No one deserves worship but He." "So worship Him" means "Do not perform the act of worship to anyone else."

The people acknowledged God's existence, as stated: "And if you asked them, 'Who created the heavens and the earth?' they would surely say, 'Allah'" (Qur'an 31:25). They did not apply the name Allah to anyone other than God, as stated: "Do you know a namesake for Him?" (Qur'an 19:65).

Therefore, God says: "That is Allah, your Lord"—meaning the One described by the preceding attributes is Allah. Then He says: "Your Lord"—meaning the One who nurtures you and treats you well through various forms of nurturing and beneficence, the categories of which are so numerous the intellect cannot grasp them, as He says: "And if you should count the favors of Allah, you could not enumerate them" (Qur'an 14:34).

Then He says: "There is no god but He"—meaning, since you have recognized the existence of the Beneficent, Gracious, Honored God, know that there is no deity or object of worship besides Him.

Then He says: "Creator of everything"—meaning, our statement "No deity but He" is valid precisely because no one else is the Creator of creation or the Manager of the universe. This sequence is appropriate and meaningful.

لا تدركه الأبصار وهو يدرك الأبصار وهو اللطيف الخبير

(Vision cannot attain Him, but He attains [all] vision. And He is the Subtle, the Acquainted [with all things].)