Tafsir of Al-Anbiya' 21:21

"Or have they taken gods..."

This am (or) is the munqati‘ah (disjunctive), which carries the meaning of bal (nay/rather) combined with the interrogative hamzah. It signals a turning away from what preceded it and a denunciation of what follows. The denounced act is their taking of "gods from the earth [who] resurrect [the dead]." By my life, one of the greatest of abominations is that the dead should be resurrected by some of the dead.

If you ask: How can He denounce them for taking gods who resurrect, when they never claimed this for their idols? They were, in fact, the furthest people from such a claim. For while they acknowledged that Allah—Mighty and Majestic is He—is the Creator of the heavens and the earth ("And if you ask them who created the heavens and the earth, they will surely say: Allah" [Luqman: 25]), and that He is the One capable of all things and of the first creation, they denied the Resurrection. They would say, "Who will give life to bones while they are decayed?" To them, [resurrection] was an impossibility beyond the power of any capable being, like the existence of a second eternal entity. How, then, could they claim this for inanimate objects that are not described as having power at all?

I say: The matter is as you have mentioned. However, by their claiming divinity for them, they are logically bound to claim for them the power of resurrection. For no one deserves this title [of god] except the One capable of all things, and resurrection is among those things. In this, there is a form of mockery, rebuke, and exposure of their ignorance. It also serves as an indication that what they deemed impossible for Allah cannot be rightly deemed impossible; for when divinity is established, the power to originate and to restore is established along with it.

The phrase "from the earth" is like your saying, "So-and-so is from Makkah or from Madinah," meaning he is a Meccan or a Madinan. The meaning of attributing them to the earth is to signal that these are the idols worshipped on earth, for gods are of two types: earthly and heavenly. From this is the hadith of the slave girl to whom the Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him) said, "Where is your Lord?" She pointed to the sky, and he said, "She is a believer." He understood from her that her intent was to negate the earthly gods—which are the idols—not to establish the sky as a place for Allah—Mighty and Majestic is He. It is also possible that it means gods from the substance of the earth, as they are either carved from stone or fashioned from the minerals of the earth.

If you ask: There must be a subtle point in His saying, "they resurrect."

I say: The point is to convey the meaning of exclusivity, as if it were said: "Or have they taken gods who alone, and no one else, have the power to resurrect?"

Al-Hasan read it as yunshirun (they resurrect). There are two linguistic forms: anshara Allahu al-mawta (Allah resurrected the dead) and nashara-ha (He resurrected them). The word "gods" is described by "from the earth" just as it would be described by "other than," as if one said, "gods other than Allah."

"Had there been within them [the heavens and the earth] gods besides Allah, they both would have been ruined. So exalted is Allah, Lord of the Throne, above what they describe."