Surah 34

Surah 34:24

"Say: ‘Who provides for you from the heavens and the earth?’ Say: ‘God. Surely (either) we or you (stand) indeed on guidance, or (are) clearly astray.’"
Allah has no partner in anything whatsoever Verses 34:24-27
Show Full Scripture Context (34:24-27) — 4 Verses
Verse 24

۞قُلۡ مَن يَرۡزُقُكُم مِّنَ ٱلسَّمَٰوَٰتِ وَٱلۡأَرۡضِۖ قُلِ ٱللَّهُۖ وَإِنَّآ أَوۡ إِيَّاكُمۡ لَعَلَىٰ هُدًى أَوۡ فِي ضَلَٰلٖ مُّبِينٖ

Say: ‘Who provides for you from the heavens and the earth?’ Say: ‘God. Surely (either) we or you (stand) indeed on guidance, or (are) clearly astray.’

Verse 25

قُل لَّا تُسۡـَٔلُونَ عَمَّآ أَجۡرَمۡنَا وَلَا نُسۡـَٔلُ عَمَّا تَعۡمَلُونَ

Say: ‘You will not be questioned about what sins we have committed, nor shall we be questioned about what you do.’

Verse 26

قُلۡ يَجۡمَعُ بَيۡنَنَا رَبُّنَا ثُمَّ يَفۡتَحُ بَيۡنَنَا بِٱلۡحَقِّ وَهُوَ ٱلۡفَتَّاحُ ٱلۡعَلِيمُ

Say: ‘Our Lord will gather us together, (and) then disclose the truth between us, (for) He is the Discloser, the Knowing.’

Verse 27

قُلۡ أَرُونِيَ ٱلَّذِينَ أَلۡحَقۡتُم بِهِۦ شُرَكَآءَۖ كَلَّاۚ بَلۡ هُوَ ٱللَّهُ ٱلۡعَزِيزُ ٱلۡحَكِيمُ

Say: ‘Show me those whom you have joined with Him as associates. By no means (can you do so)! No! He (alone) is God, the Mighty, the Wise.’

Allah tells us that He is unique in His power of creation and His giving of provision, and that He is unique in His divinity also. As they used to admit that no one in heaven or on earth except Allah gave them provision, i.e., by sending down water and causing crops to grow, so they should also realize that there is no god worthy of worship besides Him.

Quoted Scripture
"And verily, (either) we or you are rightly guided or in plain error."

‘One of the two sides must be speaking falsehood, and one must be telling the truth. There is no way that you and we could both be following true guidance, or could both be misguided. Only one of us can be correct, and we have produced the proof of Tawhid which indicates that your Shirk must be false.’ Allah says:

Quoted Scripture
"And verily, (either) we or you are rightly guided or in plain error."

Qatadah said, “The Companions of Muhammad said this to the idolators: “By Allah, we and you cannot be following the same thing, only one of us can be truly guided.’” ‘Ikrimah and Ziyad bin Abi Maryam said, “It means: we are rightly guided and you are in plain error .”

Quoted Scripture
"Say : “You will not be asked about our sins, nor shall we be asked of what you do.""

This indicates disowning them, saying, “you do not belong to us and we do not belong to you, because we call people to Allah, to believe that He is the Only God and to worship Him alone. If you respond, then you will belong to us and we to you, but if you reject our call, then we have nothing to do with you and you have nothing to do with us.’ This is like the Ayat

{And // they deny you, say: “For me are my deeds and for you are your deeds! You are innocent of what 1 do, and 1 am innocent of what you do!"} (10:41)
{(Say; "O disbelievers! I worship not that which you worship, Nor will you worship that which I worship. And I shall not worship that which you are worshipping. Nor will you worship that which 1 worship. To you be your religion, and to me my religion."} (104:1-6).

Quoted Scripture
"Say: "Our Lord will assemble us all together...""

means, ‘on the Day of Resurrection, He will bring all of creation together in one arena, then He will judge between us with truth, i.e., with justice.’ Each person will be rewarded or punished according to his deeds; if they are good, then his end will be good, and if they are bad, then his end will be bad. On that Day they will know who has attained victory, glory and eternal happiness, as Allah says:

{And on the Day when the Hour will be established - that Day shall (all men) be separated. Then as far those who believed and did righteous good deeds, such shall be honored and made to enjoy luxurious life (forever) in a Carden of Delight. And as far those wlw disbelieved and denied Our Ayat, and the meeting of the Hereafter, such shall be brought forth to the torment.} (30:14-16).

Allah says:
{And He is the Just Judge, the All-Knower of the true state of affairs .}

Quoted Scripture
"Say: "Show me those whom you have joined with Him as partners...""

means, ‘show me those gods whom you made as rivals and equals to Allah.’

{Nay} means, He has no peer, rival, partner or equal. Allah says:
{But He is Allah,} meaning, the One and Only God Who has no partner.
{the Almighty, the All-Wise.} means, the Owner of might with which He subjugates and controls all things, the One Who is Wise in all His Words and deeds. Laws and decrees. Blessed and exalted and sanctified be He far above all that they say. And Allah knows best.

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.