5:76

Salaam all,



Qul ataAAbudoona min dooni Allahi ma la yamliku lakum darran wala nafAAan waAllahu huwa alssameeAAu alAAaleemu

The Aya says:
Say (O Muhammad): Do you (plural) worship, short of Allah, what has no authority to harm you nor to benefit you. And Allah, He is the listening, the knowing.

My personal note:
The Aya is a reminder that no one has authority or ability to harm or benefit us except Allah or within what Allah wills for us. So, there is no point in worshipping an entity other than Allah or making ourselves slaves of it.

The Aya then reminds us of Allah’s knowledge and listening to what we say.

In a sense the message is that if we make ourselves slaves to Allah alone then we had freed ourselves from any other form of slavery whether to other humans, forces of nature or statues. This is the essence of monotheism in action and when it is internalized inside us.

Translation of the transliterated words:

Qul: Say/ communicate/respond
Note: the root is Qaf-W-L and it means saying or communicating. QUL is an order or a request addressed to a singular. It means: say or communicate.
ataAAbudoona: do you (plural) worship?!/ Do you make yourselves slaves of ?!
Note: the root is root Ain-B-D and it means slave or servant. ATaAAaBUDOONA is a question that is asked of a group of people. It means: Do you make yourselves slaves of the object (Min Dooni Allahi= short of Allah). Enslaving one-self to an entity means worshipping it. This is because when one voluntarily makes himself or herself a slave to another entity, it carries with it love, devotion and sincerity in maintaining the relationship as close as possible.

Min: from
Dooni: short of/ below of
Note: The root is D-W-N and it means short of someone or something. It can also mean lower than at times depending on the plane of thought of the sentence. DOONI means short of or below of.
Allahi: Allah
Ma: what
la yamliku: not have authority/ does not have authority.
Note: LA means not and therefore it negates what comes next. Yamliku is derived from the root M-L-K and it means ownership or authority over something. One concrete meaning is the fruit when it becomes strong and held together. So, in a sense MULK has the meaning of holding things together in a strong bond and that is the authority. YAMLIKU is an action that is being completed or will be completed. It means: the action of having authority or ownership is happening or will be happening by the subject (third person plural)

Lakum: to you (plural)/ for you (plural)
Darran: harm
Note: the root is Dhad-R-R and it means to harm or opposite of benefit. Concrete word is DAREER and it means blind person or a person that is afflicted with weakness and illness. Conceptually, it covers any kind of harm or affliction. DARRAN means Harm.

Wala: and not/ nor
nafAAan: benefit/ usefulness
Note: the root is N-F-Ain and it means useful or beneficial or anything that functions as opposite to harm. NAFAAaN means beneficial or useful or anything against harm.
waAllahu: while Allah
huwa: He
alssameeAAu: the great in hearing/ great understanding/listening
Note: The root is S-M-Ain and and it means hearing or hearing and understanding or knowing and retaining at the same time. ALSSAMeeAAu is the one with great hearing or great understanding or more likely both at the same time. I used the term listening because it carries both meanings.
alAAaleemu: the knowledgeable/ the knowing
Note: the root is Ain-L-M and it means knowing/knowledge or knowledge of facts. ALAAaLEEM is the one that is very knowledgeable


Salaam all and have a great day.

Hussein