Epigraph:

لَوْ كَانَ فِيهِمَا آلِهَةٌ إِلَّا اللَّهُ لَفَسَدَتَا ۚ فَسُبْحَانَ اللَّهِ رَبِّ الْعَرْشِ عَمَّا يَصِفُونَ

If there had been in the heavens or earth any gods but Him, both heavens and earth would be in ruins: God, Lord of the Throne, is far above the things they say. (Al Quran 21:22)

Written and collected by Zia H Shah MD

Introduction

Qur’an 21:22 declares a succinct yet profound argument for divine unity (tawḥīd) and sole governance: “If there were in the heavens and the earth other gods besides Allah, they would both have been ruined.” Revealed in Sūrat al-Anbiyā’ (The Prophets), a Makkan sura, this verse targets the polytheistic claims of the Prophet’s contemporaries. It posits a philosophical reductio ad absurdum: the existence of multiple gods with independent wills would plunge the cosmos into disorder, something starkly contradicted by the observable harmony of creation. In what follows, we undertake a close reading of the Arabic text and its classical tafsīr (exegesis), explore the theological reasoning behind the verse (as elaborated in Islamic kalām), and reflect on how the verse’s implications resonate with modern cosmology and fine-tuning. Cross-references to Qur’an 31:10–11 and 67:1–4 will illuminate complementary themes of creation, order, and divine wisdom, reinforcing the commentary’s interdisciplinary perspective in theology, philosophy, and science.

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