Does Allah have Children?
Brief description of the dubiety
Many verses of the Quran such as: Surah al-Ikhlaas, verse 3; Surah al-Anbiya, verse 26; Surah al-Isra, verse 111; Surah Yunus, verse 68; Surah al-Baqarah, verse 116; Surah al-Anaam, verse 101; Surah al-Nisa, verse 171; Surah al-Mominoon, verse 91; and Surah Mariam, verses 35 and 92 mention that Allah does not have any children; however in Surah al-Zumar, verse 4 there is mention that if Allah had wished to have a child, then… This verse seems to contradict the other ones.
Detailed description of the dubiety
Contradictory Verses
Verses which mention that Allah is free from having any children
In Surah al-Ikhlaas, verse 3 it says: “He neither begat, nor was He begotten.” This verse explicitly negates Allah having a child. Other verses exist with this same meaning. In Surah al-Anaam, verse 101 we read: “The Originator of the heavens and the earth —how could He have a son when He has had no spouse? He created all things and He has knowledge of all things.”
In Surah Mariam, verse 92 Allah mentions: “It does not behove the All-Beneficent to take a son.” Surah al-Isra, verse 111 says: “And say, ‘All praise belongs to Allah, who has neither taken any son, nor has He any partner in sovereignty, nor has He [taken] any ally out of weakness,’ and magnify Him with a magnification [worthy of Him].” Surah al-Anbiya, verse 26 states: “They say, ‘The All-Beneficent has taken offspring.’ Immaculate is He! Rather they are [His] honoured servants.”
In Surah Yunus, verse 68 we read: “They say, ‘Allah has taken a son!’ Immaculate is He! He is the All-Sufficient. To Him belongs whatever is in the heavens and whatever is in the earth. You have no authority for this [statement]. Do you attribute to Allah what you do not know?” Surah al-Baqarah, verse 116 says: “And they say, ‘Allah has taken a son.’ Immaculate is He! Rather to Him belongs whatever is in the heavens and the earth. All are obedient to Him.” Surah al-Nisa, verse 171 addresses as follows: “O People of the Book! Do not exceed the bounds in your religion, and do not attribute anything to Allah except the truth. The Messiah, Isa son of Mariam, was only an Apostle of Allah, and His Word that He cast towards Mariam and a spirit from Him. So have faith in Allah and in His Apostles, and do not say, ‘[God is] a trinity.’ Relinquish [such a creed]! That is better for you. Allah is but the One God. He is far too immaculate to have any son. To Him belongs whatever is in the heavens and whatever is on the earth, and Allah suffices as a trustee.”
Similarly in Surah al-Mominoon, verse 91 it says: “Allah has not taken any offspring, neither is there any god besides Him, for then each god would take away what he created, and some of them would surely rise up against others. Clear is Allah of what they allege!”
All of the above verses clearly state that Allah does not have any child or offspring.
Verse which mentions that Allah could have had a child
In Surah al-Zumar, verse 4 it states: “Had Allah intended to take a son, He could have chosen from those whom He has created whatever He wished. Immaculate is He! He is Allah, the One, the All-Paramount.” In this verse there is mention of Allah being able to choose a child.
Summary
This verse of Surah al-Zumar mentions that Allah is able to choose a child, whilet the other verses emphatically deny this and declare that Allah is free from having any children.
A summarized response
There is no contradiction between the aforementioned verses because the first set of verses say that it is impossible for Allah to have children, and the other one speaks about how this impossible thing would have taken place had Allah willed for it. In other words, in many verses, it is negated that Allah has any children, and in only one verse it mentions that if Allah – assuming the impossible could take place – had intended to take a son, then He would have chosen one.
A detailed response
Pre-requisite Introduction (The usage of the (Arabic) word law for assuming the impossible)
The word law means “if,” and in the Arabic language when it comes at the beginning of a conditional sentence it negates the meaning of the main clause due to negating of the if-clause. For example, when it is said: “If (law) I exert effort, then I will definitely succeed” - since the word “law” is used for this conditional sentence, there is another meaning that is understood by it which is: “However you did not exert effort, therefore you were not successful.” In other words, we understand that this sentence negates the main clause (succeeding it) due to negating the if-clause (exerting effort). Due to the way law is used, it is known as Law al-Imtinaiyyah (The preventative law). Wherever the preventative law is used, we should know that it is pointing for us to assume the impossible, it is not referring us to assume the if-clause as being possible. For example, in the aforementioned example, the impossible that is assumed is the “exertion of effort,” which although it did not take place, but we want to say that had it had taken place, then such and such a result would have followed. [1]
Allah having children has been mentioned in the sense of assuming the impossible, not as an accepted fact
Surah al-Zumar, verse 4 was revealed as negation against those who claimed that Allah had children. Some said that the angels were the daughters of Allah, others said that Prophet Isa was the son of Allah, and others claimed the same for Prophet Uzair. This verse was revealed to say that had Allah intended to take a son, then He would have picked someone Himself, from amongst His creation, however He did not intend such a thing.
One can only claim that these verses are contradictory if the aforementioned verse said that Allah has a child and then reach a conclusion through that; however as we know that based on Arabic grammar and with the usage of the preventative law, the issue of Allah having a child was presented with assuming the impossible, thus it has no contradiction with the other verses. [2]
Common example
Assume that an individual says to his friends that he will never go up to the North Pole in his entire life. His friends buy him a plane ticket so that they can take him to the North Pole. By seeing this, he says to his friends that - assuming the impossible - even if I was able to go to the North Pole, I would go with the form of travel that I like, such as a train. The second sentence of this individual does not state that he will go to the North Pole by train, therefore this sentence of his does not contradict the first sentence.
This apparent contradiction between the verses is like this as well, because Allah does not mention that He can choose someone to be His child, it does not contradict the other verses.