وَقَالُوا۟ ٱتَّخَذَ ٱلرَّحْمَـٰنُ وَلَدًا ۗ سُبْحَـٰنَهُۥ ۚ بَلْ عِبَادٌ مُّكْرَمُونَ 26
Translations
And they say, "The Most Merciful has taken a son." Exalted is He! Rather, they are [but] honored servants.
Transliteration
Wa qalū ittakhaza ar-rahmānu waladan, subhānahu, bal 'ibādun mukarramūn.
Tafsir (Explanation)
This ayah refutes the false claims of the polytheists who alleged that Allah (ar-Rahman, the Most Merciful) had taken a son, a claim attributed to both Arabian pagans and People of the Book. Allah responds with 'Subhānahu' (Glorified is He), affirming His absolute transcendence and oneness, then clarifies that the angels whom the disbelievers mistakenly revered as Allah's children are merely honored servants of Allah. According to Ibn Kathir and Al-Tabari, this addresses both the pagan belief in angelic daughters of Allah and Christian trinitarian concepts, establishing the fundamental Islamic doctrine of tawhid (divine oneness).
Revelation Context
This ayah is part of Surah Al-Anbiya, revealed in Mecca during a period of intense rejection of Islamic monotheism. The broader context addresses accusations made by the Quraysh and other groups who ridiculed the concept of a God without offspring or partners. This ayah specifically counters polytheistic and deviant theological claims that were widespread in pre-Islamic Arabia and contemporary Jewish and Christian communities.
Related Hadiths
The concept is reinforced in the Hadith Qudsi: 'The greatest sin is to associate partners with Allah (shirk), for Allah says: I am the Most Merciful of the merciful, yet you associate with Me that which has no power to harm or benefit' (Sunan Ibn Majah). Also relevant is the hadith in Sahih Bukhari where the Prophet ﷺ emphasized that Allah has no son and no partners.
Themes
Key Lesson
This ayah teaches Muslims to firmly reject any notion that compromises Allah's absolute uniqueness and oneness, and to understand that all creation—including the most honored beings like angels—are servants dependent on Allah's will. It calls believers to actively defend Islamic monotheism against both ancient and contemporary deviations from true belief in God's transcendence.