Tafseer Ibn Kathir of AN NAHL [56]

56. And they assign a portion of that which We have provided them with, to what they have no knowledge of (false deities). By Allah, you shall certainly be questioned about (all) that you used to fabricate. 57. And they assign daughters to Allah! Glorified (and Exalted) is He (above all that they associate with Him!). And for themselves (they assign) what they desire; 58. And when the news of (the birth of) a female (child) is brought to any of them, his face becomes dark, and he is filled with inner grief! 59. He hides himself from the people because of the evil of what he has been informed. Shall he keep her with dishonor or bury her in the earth Certainly, evil is their decision. 60. For those who do not believe in the Hereafter is an evil description, and for Allah is the highest description. And He is the All-Mighty, the All-Wise. Allah tells us about some of the heinous deeds of those who used to perform baseless worship of other gods besides Him, such as idols and statues, with no grounds for doing so. They gave their idols a share of that which Allah had provided for them,

(They say: ”This is for Allah,'' according to their claim, ”and this is for our partners.'' But the share of their ”partners'' is not directed to Allah, while the share of Allah is directed to their ”partners''! How evil is that with which they judge) (6:136) That is they assigned a share for their idols as well as Allah, but they gave preference to their gods over Him, so Allah swore by His Almighty Self to question them about these lies and fabrications. He will most certainly call them to account for it and give them the unrelenting punishment in the fire of Hell. So He says,

(By Allah, you shall certainly be questioned about (all) that you used to fabricate.) Then Allah tells us how they used to regard the angels, who are servants of the Most Merciful, as being female, and that they considered them to be Allah's daughters, and they worshipped them with Him. In all of the above, they made very serious errors. They attributed offspring to Him when He has no offspring, then they assigned Him the kind of offspring they regarded as inferior, namely daughters, which they did not even want for themselves, as He said:

(Are the males for you and the females for Him That is indeed an unfair division!) (53:21-22) And Allah says here:

(And they assign daughters unto Allah! Glorified (and Exalted) is He.) meaning, above their claims and fabrications.

(But no! It is from their falsehood that they say: ”Allah has begotten.'' They are certainly liars! Has He (then) chosen daughters rather than sons What is the matter with you How do you decide) (37:151-154)

(And for themselves, what they desire;) meaning they choose the males for themselves, rejecting the daughters that they assign to Allah. Exalted be Allah far above what they say!

(And when the news of (the birth of) a female (child) is brought to any of them, his face becomes dark) meaning with distress and grief.

(and he is filled with inner grief!) meaning he is silent because of the intensity of the grief he feels.

(He hides himself from the people) meaning he does not want anyone to see him.

(because of the evil of that whereof he has been informed. Shall he keep her with dishonor or bury her in the earth) meaning should he keep her, humiliating her, not letting her inherit from him and not taking care of her, preferring his male children over her

(or bury her in the earth) meaning bury her alive, as they used to do during the days of ignorance. How could they dislike something so intensely, yet attribute it to Allah

(Certainly, evil is their decision.) meaning how evil are the words they say, the way they want to share things out and the things they attribute to Him. As Allah says:

(And if one of them is informed of the news of (the birth of a girl) that which he sets forth as a parable to the Most Gracious (Allah), his face becomes dark, and he is filled with grief!) (43:17). Here, Allah says:

(For those who do not believe in the Hereafter there is an evil description,) meaning, only imperfection is to be attributed to

(and for Allah is the highest description) meaning He is absolutely perfect in all ways and this absolute perfection is His Alone.

(And He is the All-Mighty, the All-Wise.)