The Holy Quran with Five Volume Commentary (Vol 3) — Page 453
PT. 14 AN-NAHL CH. 16 اَمْوَاتُ غَيْرُ أَحْيَاء وَمَا يَشْعُرُونَ ;They are dead, not living. 22 أَيَّانَ يُبْعَثُونَ and they know not when they will be raised. 1823 objection on the part of the idolaters to the argument contained in the preceding verses. They may say that their deities also possess the requisite knowledge and the power to reveal guidance, but they refrain from doing so only because man does not really need any such external guidance. The present verse answers this objection by saying that perfect knowledge of the unseen, the possession of which is indispensable for giving suitable guidance, can only be possessed by One Who has created man because only the Creator can know all the hidden powers of the things created and their working. But the false gods of the idolaters have not created anything at all. On the contrary, they themselves have been created. Therefore they are incapable of giving right guidance. It is really very surprising that in spite of the fact that the verse has SO effectively demolished the claim made on behalf of false deities to the possession of knowledge of the unseen, there should still be found among Muslims people who believe that Jesus possessed knowledge of the unseen or that he had the power to create certain things. 1823. Commentary: The verse furnishes yet another argument why pseudo-gods cannot provide true guidance for man, i. e. they are all dead. In order to be able & to provide guidance they must be living because only the living can possibly know when and what defects might arise in human society that might require guidance for their removal. It is a pity that, contrary to the teachings of the Quran, many Muslims still entertain the foolish belief that Jesus is alive in the heavens although the verse categorically says that all the false gods which men worshipped at the time the Quran was revealed were dead. So if Jesus was not dead, then he must be regarded as a true God and this is an unutterable blasphemy. This and the preceding verse give four arguments to refute the alleged divinity of false deities: First, they cannot create anything and the possession of the power to create is an indispensable characteristic of God. Secondly, they are themselves created, and therefore are dependent on others and a being that is dependent on others cannot be God. Thirdly, they are dead and therefore are devoid of the power to do good or evil to any person and one who is devoid of such power cannot claim to be God. Fourthly, they do not know when they shall be raised to life. Lack of knowledge of the Day of Resurrection demolishes their title to Godhead. 1661