Surah 25

Surah 25:3

"Yet they have taken gods other than Him. They do not create anything, since they are (themselves) created, and do not have power to (cause) themselves harm or benefit, and do not have power over death or life or raising up."
The Foolishness of the Idolators Verses 25:3
Show Full Scripture Context (25:3) — 1 Verse
Verse 3

وَٱتَّخَذُواْ مِن دُونِهِۦٓ ءَالِهَةٗ لَّا يَخۡلُقُونَ شَيۡـٔٗا وَهُمۡ يُخۡلَقُونَ وَلَا يَمۡلِكُونَ لِأَنفُسِهِمۡ ضَرّٗا وَلَا نَفۡعٗا وَلَا يَمۡلِكُونَ مَوۡتٗا وَلَا حَيَوٰةٗ وَلَا نُشُورٗا

Yet they have taken gods other than Him. They do not create anything, since they are (themselves) created, and do not have power to (cause) themselves harm or benefit, and do not have power over death or life or raising up.

Allah tells us of the ignorance of the idolators in taking other gods instead of Allah, the Creator of all things, the One Who controls the affairs of all things; whatever He wills happens and whatever He does not will does not happen. In spite of that, they still worshipped others besides Him, idols who could not even create the wing of a gnat, but were themselves created. They could neither do harm nor bring benefit to themselves, so how could they do anything for their worshippers?

Quoted Scripture
"and possess no power (of causing) death, nor (of giving) life, nor of raising the dead."

means, they could not do any of that at all; that power belongs only to Allah, Who is the One Who gives life and death, and is the One Who will bring all people, the first and the last, back to life on the Day of Resurrection.

{The creation of you all and the resurrection of you all are only as (the creation and resurrection of) a single person} (31:28).

This is like the Ayat,

{And Our commandment is but one as the twinkling of an eye.} (54:50)

{But it will be only a single Zajrah. When behold, they find themselves on the surface of the earth alive after their death.} (79:13-14)

{It will be a single Zajrah, and behold, they will be staring!} (37:19)

{It will be but a single Sayhah, so behold they will all be brought up before Us!} (36:53).

He is Allah besides Whom there is no other God and besides Whom there is no other Lord. No one should be worshipped except Him because whatever He wills happens and whatever he does not will does not happen. He has no offspring nor progenitor, nor equal nor likeness nor rival nor peer. He is the One, the Self-Sufficient Master, Whom all creatures need, He begets not, nor was He begotten, and there is none co-equal or comparable unto Him.

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.