أَمِ ٱتَّخَذُوا۟ مِن دُونِهِۦٓ أَوْلِيَآءَ ۖ فَٱللَّهُ هُوَ ٱلْوَلِىُّ وَهُوَ يُحْىِ ٱلْمَوْتَىٰ وَهُوَ عَلَىٰ كُلِّ شَىْءٍ قَدِيرٌ 9
Translations
Or have they taken protectors [or allies] besides Him? But Allāh - He is the Protector, and He gives life to the dead, and He is over all things competent.
Transliteration
Am ittakhadhu min dūnihi awliyāa fa-allāhu huwa al-waliyyu wa-huwa yuhyī al-mawtā wa-huwa ʿalā kulli shayʾin qadīr
Tafsir (Explanation)
This ayah rejects the polytheistic practice of taking guardians and protectors besides Allah, asserting that Allah alone is the true Guardian (al-Walī) who possesses ultimate authority and power. Classical scholars like Al-Tabari emphasize that the ayah establishes Allah's exclusivity in guardianship through three divine attributes: His role as the sole Guardian, His power to give life to the dead, and His absolute power over all creation. This comprehensively refutes any claim that lesser beings—whether angels, saints, or idols—can provide genuine protection or intercession independent of Allah's will.
Revelation Context
Surah Ash-Shuraa is a Meccan surah revealed during the period of intense polytheistic opposition. This ayah addresses the pre-Islamic Arabian practice of invoking intermediaries and saints as guardians and helpers, establishing theological monotheism (tawḥīd) as the foundational principle of Islamic belief during a time when Muslims faced resistance from those who clung to their ancestral idolatrous practices.
Related Hadiths
The Prophet Muhammad (ṣallallāhu ʿalayhi wa-sallam) said: 'There is no god but Allah alone without a partner; to Him belongs dominion and to Him belongs praise, and He is over all things competent' (Sahih Muslim 2711). This hadith reinforces the exclusive guardianship of Allah emphasized in the ayah.
Themes
Key Lesson
Muslims must recognize that true protection, guidance, and security come only from Allah, rejecting the temptation to seek help from created beings or relying on anything besides submission to Him. This ayah teaches that acknowledging Allah's exclusive guardianship fosters trust in divine providence and freedom from the spiritual slavery of seeking intercession through false means.
Related Ayahs
أَوْ يُزَوِّجُهُمْ ذُكْرَانًا وَإِنَـٰثًا ۖ وَيَجْعَلُ مَن يَشَآءُ عَقِيمًا ۚ إِنَّهُۥ عَلِيمٌ قَدِيرٌ
Or He makes them [both] males and females, and He renders whom He wills barren. Indeed, He is Knowing and Competent.
وَجَزَٰٓؤُا۟ سَيِّئَةٍ سَيِّئَةٌ مِّثْلُهَا ۖ فَمَنْ عَفَا وَأَصْلَحَ فَأَجْرُهُۥ عَلَى ٱللَّهِ ۚ إِنَّهُۥ لَا يُحِبُّ ٱلظَّـٰلِمِينَ
And the retribution for an evil act is an evil one like it, but whoever pardons and makes reconciliation - his reward is [due] from Allāh. Indeed, He does not like wrongdoers.
إِن يَشَأْ يُسْكِنِ ٱلرِّيحَ فَيَظْلَلْنَ رَوَاكِدَ عَلَىٰ ظَهْرِهِۦٓ ۚ إِنَّ فِى ذَٰلِكَ لَـَٔايَـٰتٍ لِّكُلِّ صَبَّارٍ شَكُورٍ
If He willed, He could still the wind, and they would remain motionless on its surface. Indeed in that are signs for everyone patient and grateful.
لَهُۥ مَا فِى ٱلسَّمَـٰوَٰتِ وَمَا فِى ٱلْأَرْضِ ۖ وَهُوَ ٱلْعَلِىُّ ٱلْعَظِيمُ
To Him belongs whatever is in the heavens and whatever is in the earth, and He is the Most High, the Most Great.