Al-Maaida 5:76 · The Table · Arabic, translation, recitation

Other English translations

Abdel Haleem (Oxford)+

"Say, ‘How can you worship something other than God, that has no power to do you harm or good? God alone is the All Hearing and All Knowing.’"

Pickthall (classic)+

"Say: Serve ye in place of Allah that which possesseth for you neither hurt nor use? Allah it is Who is the Hearer, the Knower."

Yusuf Ali (classic)+

"Say: "Will ye worship, besides Allah, something which hath no power either to harm or benefit you? But Allah,- He it is that heareth and knoweth all things.""

Tafsīr · classical commentary

Ibn Kathir

Abridged English, public domain

The Prohibition of Shirk (Polytheism) and Exaggeration in the Religion

Allah admonishes those who take up rivals with Him and worship the idols, monuments and false deities. Allah states that such false deities do not deserve any degree of Divinity. Allah said,

قُلْ

(Say) O Muhammad, to those from among the Children of Adam, such as the Christians, who worship other than Allah,

أَتَعْبُدُونَ مِن دُونِ اللَّهِ مَا لاَ يَمْلِكُ لَكُمْ ضَرّاً وَلاَ نَفْعاً

(How do you worship besides Allah something which has no power either to harm or to benefit you) meaning, which cannot prevent harm for you nor bring about your benefit,

وَاللَّهُ هُوَ السَّمِيعُ الْعَلِيمُ

(But it is Allah Who is the All-Hearer, All-Knower.) He hears what His servants say and has knowledge of all things. Therefore, how did you worship inanimate objects that do not hear, see or know anything - having no power to bring harm or benefit to themselves let alone others - instead of worshipping Allah Allah then said,

قُلْ يَـأَهْلَ الْكِتَـبِ لاَ تَغْلُواْ فِى دِينِكُمْ غَيْرَ الْحَقِّ

(Say: "O People of the Scipture! Exceed not the limits in your religion beyond the truth,) Meaning: Do not exceed the limits concerning the truth and exaggeration in praising whom you were commanded to honor. You exaggerated in his case and elevated him from the rank of Prophet to the rank of a god. You did this with `Isa, who was a Prophet, yet you claimed that he is god besides Allah. This error occurred because you followed your teachers, the advocates of misguidance who came before your time and who,

وَأَضَلُّواْ كَثِيراً وَضَلُّواْ عَن سَوَآءِ السَّبِيلِ

(...and who misled many, and strayed (themselves) from the right path,) deviated from the straight path, to the path of misguidance and deviation.

Tafsir Saʿdi

English translation, public domain

Всевышний велел Своему посланнику, да благословит его Аллах и приветствует, сказать людям: «Неужели вы станете поклоняться творениям, которые не способны принести вам ни вреда, ни пользы? Неужели вы откажетесь от поклонения Единственному Господу, Который приносит пользу и причиняет вред, одаряет благами и лишает милости? Он слышит голоса всех, кто обращается к Нему на разных языках со всевозможными просьбами. Он ведает об очевидном и сокрытом, явном и сокровенном, прошлом и будущем. Он один обладает этими совершенными качествами, и это значит, что только Он заслуживает поклонения и искреннего служения».

Commentary

1. The words: إِنَّ اللَّـهَ ثَالِثُ ثَلَاثَةٍ in verse 72, translated here literally as ` Allah is the third of the three,' refers to Sayyidna Masih (Jesus Christ), Ruhul-Quds (The Holy Spirit) and Allah, or to Masih, Maryam (Mary) and Allah - with all three taken as God (Refuge with Allah). Thus, Allah becomes a one-third partner with them, then all three of them become one, and that one is three. This unity in trinity, with three persons in one godhead, is the common belief of Christians. They explain this belief which is supported by neither reason nor revelation with a language that is kept circuitous and ambiguous. When not un-derstood, they declare it to be reality beyond comprehension. (Shabbir Ahmad Usmani - Notes)

2. In verse 75, by saying: قَدْ خَلَتْ مِن قَبْلِهِ الرُّ‌سُلُ (There have been messengers before him), the assigning of godhood to Sayyidna Masih (علیہ السلام) has been refuted. Prophets came to this world. They completed their mission. Then, they were gone. They were not eternal which is the mark of godhood. Similarly, Sayyidna Masih, may peace be upon him (being human like them) was not eternal. So, he cannot be what God is.

A little reflection will show that everyone who needs to eat and drink almost depends on everything in the world. We cannot say that the earth, the air, the water, the sun and the animals are what we do not need. Look into your own self. There is that grain of food outside you, then begins its journey from the entry into the stomach to the next destination of its digestion. Think of all those factors involved and things required directly and indirectly in this complex procedure. Then, there will be a chain of effects generated through eating and no one can tell precisely how far will they go. So, by pointing out that Sayyidna Masih and his pious mother used to eat, the Holy Qur'an has referred to the endless chain of needs it entails. The argument, thus runs that Masih and Maryam, may peace be upon them both, were not free of the need for eating and drinking which is proved by observation and authentic narrations (not denied by even Christians). And anyone who is not free from the need of eating and drinking cannot be free from anything in this world. How then, a human person, who like all human beings is not free of the need to depend on the chain of causa-tion for survival, could become God? This is a strong and clear proof which can be understood by the educated and the uneducated alike - that is, eating and drinking is contrary to godhood. Though, not eating too is not a proof in favour of godhood, otherwise all angels would become gods! (Refuge with Allah) (Tafsir Usmani)

3. Was Sayyidah Maryam a prophet or saint? This is a debated issue. In the present verse (75), the complimentary use of the word "Siddiqah" (truthful) obviously seems to indicate that she was a godly person, not a Nabiyy ( prophet) - because on a complimentary occasion, what is mentioned is the higher rank. If she had the station of prophethood, the word used for her at this place would have been "Nabiyyah"- but, the word used here is "Siddiqah" which is the station of sainthood or godliness (abridged from Ruh al-Ma` ani).

According to the majority of Muslim scholars, the station of Nu-buwwah (prophethood) has never appeared among women. This mission has been particular with men:

وَمَا أَرْ‌سَلْنَا مِن قَبْلِكَ إِلَّا رِ‌جَالًا نُّوحِي إِلَيْهِم مِّنْ أَهْلِ الْقُرَ‌ىٰ

And We have not sent any (one) before you but men to whom We revealed from among the peoples of the towns - Surah Yusuf, 12 : 109. (Tafsir Usmani)