قُل لَّوْ كَانَ مَعَهُۥٓ ءَالِهَةٌ كَمَا يَقُولُونَ إِذًا لَّٱبْتَغَوْا۟ إِلَىٰ ذِى ٱلْعَرْشِ سَبِيلًا 42
Translations
Say, [O Muḥammad], "If there had been with Him [other] gods, as they say, then they [each] would have sought to the Owner of the Throne a way."
Transliteration
Qul law kana ma'ahu alihatun kama yaqulun idhan labtaghaw ila dhi al-'arsh sabila
Tafsir (Explanation)
Allah commands the Prophet Muhammad to tell the polytheists: if there were truly other gods alongside Allah as they claim, these gods would certainly seek a way to reach the Throne of Allah to challenge His sovereignty. This ayah employs logical reasoning to refute polytheism—if multiple gods existed, they would necessarily compete for dominion, which is rationally impossible and contradicts the observable order of creation. As Ibn Kathir explains, this demonstrates the absurdity of shirk (associating partners with Allah) through rational argumentation, showing that monotheism alone maintains cosmic harmony.
Revelation Context
Revealed in Mecca during a period of intense polytheistic opposition to the Prophet's message. This ayah is part of a broader section (17:39-48) refuting the false claims and idolatry of the Meccan disbelievers, using logical proofs to establish Allah's absolute uniqueness and incomparable majesty.
Related Hadiths
The concept relates to the hadith in Sahih Bukhari where the Prophet (peace be upon him) said: 'The most grievous sin is to associate partners with Allah.' Additionally, Sunan At-Tirmidhi records the Prophet's teaching that 'whoever meets Allah with partners (shirk) shall enter the Fire.'
Themes
Key Lesson
This ayah teaches believers to understand that true faith is grounded in reason and logic—Allah's oneness is not only spiritually necessary but logically inevitable, as any competing authority would naturally seek dominion. For modern Muslims, this provides intellectual confidence in the rationality of Islamic belief against materialist and pluralistic worldviews.
Related Ayahs
هُوَ ٱللَّهُ ٱلَّذِى لَآ إِلَـٰهَ إِلَّا هُوَ ٱلْمَلِكُ ٱلْقُدُّوسُ ٱلسَّلَـٰمُ ٱلْمُؤْمِنُ ٱلْمُهَيْمِنُ ٱلْعَزِيزُ ٱلْجَبَّارُ ٱلْمُتَكَبِّرُ ۚ سُبْحَـٰنَ ٱللَّهِ عَمَّا يُشْرِكُونَ
He is Allāh, other than whom there is no deity, the Sovereign, the Pure, the Perfection, the Grantor of Security, the Overseer, the Exalted in Might, the Compeller, the Superior. Exalted is Allāh above whatever they associate with Him.
سُبْحَـٰنَ ٱللَّهِ عَمَّا يَصِفُونَ
Exalted is Allāh above what they describe,
وَهُوَ ٱللَّهُ فِى ٱلسَّمَـٰوَٰتِ وَفِى ٱلْأَرْضِ ۖ يَعْلَمُ سِرَّكُمْ وَجَهْرَكُمْ وَيَعْلَمُ مَا تَكْسِبُونَ
And He is Allāh, [the only deity] in the heavens and the earth. He knows your secret and what you make public, and He knows that which you earn.
وَيَعْبُدُونَ مِن دُونِ ٱللَّهِ مَا لَا يَنفَعُهُمْ وَلَا يَضُرُّهُمْ ۗ وَكَانَ ٱلْكَافِرُ عَلَىٰ رَبِّهِۦ ظَهِيرًا
But they worship rather than Allāh that which does not benefit them or harm them, and the disbeliever is ever, against his Lord, an assistant [to Satan].