Surah 2

Surah 2:116

"They say, ‘God has taken a son.’ Glory to Him! No! Whatever is in the heavens and the earth (belongs) to Him. All are obedient before Him"
Refuting the Claim that Allah has begotten a Son Verses 2:116-117
Show Full Scripture Context (2:116-117) — 2 Verses
Verse 116

وَقَالُواْ ٱتَّخَذَ ٱللَّهُ وَلَدٗاۗ سُبۡحَٰنَهُۥۖ بَل لَّهُۥ مَا فِي ٱلسَّمَٰوَٰتِ وَٱلۡأَرۡضِۖ كُلّٞ لَّهُۥ قَٰنِتُونَ

They say, ‘God has taken a son.’ Glory to Him! No! Whatever is in the heavens and the earth (belongs) to Him. All are obedient before Him

Verse 117

بَدِيعُ ٱلسَّمَٰوَٰتِ وَٱلۡأَرۡضِۖ وَإِذَا قَضَىٰٓ أَمۡرٗا فَإِنَّمَا يَقُولُ لَهُۥ كُن فَيَكُونُ

– Originator of the heavens and the earth. When He decrees something, He simply says to it, ‘Be!’ and it is.

Refuting the Claim that Allah has begotten a Son

This and the following Ayat refute the Christians, may Allah curse them, and their like among the Jews and the Arab idolators, who claimed that the angels are Allah’s daughters. Allah refuted all of them in their claim that He had begotten a son. Allah said,
{Glory is to Him.}

meaning, He is holier and more perfect than such claim;
{Nay, to Him belongs all that is in the heavens and on earth,}

meaning, the truth is not as the disbelievers claimed, rather, Allah’s is the kingdom of the heavens and earth and whatever and whoever is in, on and between them. Allah is the Supreme Authority in the heavens and earth, and He is the Creator, Provider and Sustainer Who decides all the affairs of the creation as He wills. All creatures are Allah’s servants and are owned by Him. Therefore, how could one of them be His son? The son of any being is bom out of two comparable beings. Allah has no equal or rival sharing His grace and greatness, so how can He have a son when He has no wife? Allah said,
{He is the Originator of the heavens and the earth . How can He have children when He has no wife? He created all things and He is the Knoioer of everything} (6:101).
{And they say : " The Most Gracious (Allah) has begotten a son (offspring or children) . " Indeed you have brought forth (said) a terrible evil thing. Whereby the heavens are almost tom, and the earth is split asunder, and the mountains fall in ruins. That they ascribe a son (or offspring or children) to the Most Gracious (Allah). But it is not suitable for (the majesty of) the Most Gracious (Allah) that He should beget a son (or offspring or children). There is none in the heavens and the earth but comes unto the Most Gracious (Allah) as a servant. Verily, He kncnvs each one of them, and has counted them a full counting. And everyone of them will come to Him alone on the Day of Resurrection (without any helper, or protector or defender )} (19:88-95), and,
{: "He is Allah (the) One, Allah the Samad (the Self- Sufficent, upon whom all depend), He begets not, nor was He begotten, and there is none comparable to Him."} (112).
In these Ayat, Allah stated that He is the Supreme Master Whom there is no equal or rival, everything and everyone was created by Him, so how can He have a son from among them? This is why, in the Tafsir of this Ayah, Al-Bukhari recorded that Ibn ‘Abbas said that the Prophet jjg said,
a Allah said, 'The son of Adam has denied Me, and that is not his right. He has insulted Me, and that is not his right. As for the denial of Me, he claimed that I am unable to bring him back as he used to be (resurrect him). As for his insulting Me, he claimed that I have a son. All praise is due to Me, it is unbefitting that I should have a wife or a son .'»
This Hadith was recorded by Al-Bukhari. (11
It is recorded in the Two Sahihs that the Messenger of Allah M said,
“No one is more patient when hearing an insult than Allah. They attribute a son to Him, yet He still gives them sustanence and health . » l2)

Everything is within Allah’s Grasp

Allah said,
{all are Qanitun to Him}.

Ibn Abi Hatim said that Abu Said Al-Ashaj informed them that Asbat informed them from Mutarrif, from ‘Atiyah, from Ibn ‘Abbas who said that,
{Qdntin} (2:238)
means, they pray to Him.' 1 ' Ikrimah and Abu Malik also said that,
{and all are Qdnitiin to Him.}

means, bound to Him in servitude to Him.* 2 * Said bin Jubayr said that Qanitun is sincerity. 131 Ar-Rabl‘ bin Anas said that,
{and all are Qdnitiin to Him.}

means, “Standing up - before Him - on the Day of Resurrection. ” 141 Also, As-Suddi said that,
{atid all are Qdnitiin to Him.}

means, “Obedient on the Day of Resurrection.”* 5 * Khaslf said that Mujahid said that,
{and all are Qdnitiin to Him.} means, “Obedient. He says, Be a human’ and he becomes a human.” 61 He also said, “(Allah says,) *Be a donkey’ and it becomes a donkey.” Also, Ibn Abi Najlh said that Mujahid said that,
{and all are Qdnitiin to Him.}

means, obedient. Mujahid also said, “The obedience of the disbeliever occurs when his shadow prostrates, while he hates that.”' 11 Mujahid’s statement, which Ibn Jarir preferred, combines all the meanings, and that is that Qunut means obedience and submission to Allah. There are two categories of Qunut legislated and destined, for Allah said,
{And unto Allah (alone) falls in prostration whoever is in the heavens and the earth, willingly or unwillingly, and so do their shadows in the mornings and in the (late) afternoons} (13:15).

The Meaning of BadV

Allah said,
{The Badf (Originator) of the heavens and the earth.}

which means, He created them when nothing resembling them existed. Mujahid and As-Suddi said that this is the linguistic meaning, for all new matters are called Bid.' ah. Muslim recorded the Messenger of Allah saying,
“ . . .every innovation (in religion) is a Bid'ah. »
There are two types of Bid'ah, religious, as mentioned in the Hadith:
*... every innovation is a Bid'ah and every Bid' ah is heresy.
And there is a linguistic Bid'ah, such as the statement of the Leader of the faithful Umar bin Al-Khattab when he gathered the Muslims to pray the Tarawih prayer in congregation (which was also an earlier practice of the Prophet jg) and said, “What a good Bid'ah this is.”
Ibn Jarir said, “Thus the meaning of the Ayat (2:116-117) becomes, ‘Allah is far more glorious than to have had a son, for He is the Owner of everything that is in the heavens and earth. All testify to His Oneness and to their submissiveness to Him. He is their Creator and Maker. Without created precedence, He shaped the creatures in their current shapes. Allah also bears witness to His servants that Jesus, who some claimed to be Allah’s son, is among those who testify to His Oneness. Allah stated that He created the heavens and earth out of nothing and without precedent. Likewise, He created Jesus, the Messiah, with His power and without a father.”' 11 This explanation from Ibn Janr, may Allah have mercy upon him, is very good and correct.
Allah said,
{When He decrees a matter, He only says to it : "Be!" - and it is.}

thus, demonstrating His perfectly complete ability and tremendous authority; if He decides a matter. He merely orders it to, ‘Be’ and it comes into existence. Similarly, Allah said,
{Verily, His command, when He intends a thing, is only that He says to it, "Be!" - and it is.} (36:82),
{Verily, Our Word unto a thing when We intend it, is only that We say unto it: "Be!" - and it is.} (16:40) and,
{And Our commandment is but one as the twinkling of an eye} (54:50)
So Allah informed us that He created Jesus by merely saying, “Be!” and he was, as Allah willed:
{Verily, the likeness of ‘Isa (Jesus) before Allah is the likeness of

— from Tafsir Ibn Kathir (Vol. 1, Page 350-355)

About this Source & Scholarly Authority (Tafsir Ibn Kathir)

Universal Sunni Consensus: Tafsir al-Qur'an al-Azim by Hafiz Ibn Kathir (701–774 AH / 1301–1373 AD) is universally regarded across all major schools of Sunni Islam (traditional, Salafi, Ash'ari) as the most authoritative classical exegesis. It is prized because it relies on Tafsir bil-Ma'thur—interpreting the Quran using the Quran itself, authentic Hadiths of Prophet Muhammad, and recorded statements of the early Companions (Sahabah).

Standard English Edition: This text is from the standard 10-volume English abridgment published by Dar-us-Salam Publications (supervised by Shaykh Safiur-Rahman Al-Mubarakpuri), which is the official, most widely distributed English Quranic commentary in mosques and Islamic libraries worldwide today.