What Does it Mean That Allah Inherits?

[truthseeker]

The following Qur'anic verses say that Allah inherits...

And certainly We! We it is Who give life, and cause death, and We are THE HEIRS. S. 15:23

But as for those who are niggardly with the bounty God has given them, let them not suppose it is better for them; nay, it is worse for them; that they were niggardly with they shall have hung about their necks on the Resurrection Day; and to God belongs the inheritance of the heavens and earth; and God is aware of the things you do. S. 3:180 Arberry

Lo! We, only We, inherit the earth and all who are thereon, and unto Us they are returned. S. 19:40

And Zachariah, when he cried unto his Lord: My Lord! Leave me not childless, though Thou art the Best of inheritors. S. 21:89

Nay, but We shall record that which he saith and prolong for him a span of torment. And We shall inherit from him that whereof he spake, and he will come unto Us, alone (without his wealth and children). S. 19:79-80

And how many a community have We destroyed that was thankless for its means of livelihood! And yonder are their dwellings, which have not been inhabited after them save a little. And We, even We, were the inheritors. S. 28:58



Why does God have to inherit anything? Isn't He self sufficient?

[Ayman bin khaled]

بسم الله الرحمن الرحيم و الصلاة و السلام على خير المرسلين

My beloved brother,

I strongly, advise you to learn Arabic otherwise you will keep asking such questions all your life because you are not only relying on the English translation but also understand the Quran from western and human being perspective!!

Please note that Quran is revealed in Arabic so it has to be understood according to Arabic language not English. In addition, note, English translation does not give you the exact meaning besides the fact that most of them, if not all, translate from linguistic meaning.

Anyhow, answering your question:

1) You said:

" Why does God have to inherit anything?"

I say: where did you get the " have to" part, it is not even mentioned in the English translation!!

2) You said:

" Isn't He self sufficient?"

I say: Yes He is. You know as much as I know that Allah does not need anything or anyone. Yet, this question is asked due to the misunderstanding you already have about the meaning of the word "inherits" itself and what it implements. Thus, this question does not make sense after the clarification of the previous question. ( I will explain it further down below).

Imam Al-Shawkani said in fat-h Al-Qadeer referring to verse 180 from Sura Al-Imran ( which answers all your questions about all verses)

" {and to God belongs the inheritance of the heavens and earth;} It means all belongs to Him only and the meaning of this verse is that: Allah owns all what people on earth have and inherits from each other so why are too stingy and do not spending it while all what they have belongs to Allah since what they have is nothing but something Allah gave them and He will take it back"

My beloved brother,

The word " inherits" means: everyone will die and ONLY Allah stays alive and everything people have belongs to Him , subhanu.

My beloved Brother,

I wish to advise you when it comes to attributes of Allah and whatever relates to Him, subhanu, always understand all that not from a human being perspective BUT from a way that is suitable to Allah as he is the one who said: " Naught is as His likeness" [ Alshuraa:11]

Inshallah, the above clarifies it for you. smile

Jazakom Allah khier

Wallahu A'lam

[Um Abdullah M.]

"inhereting" that happens between humans is of things that they don't "own" or didn't "belong" to them, it belonged to someone else, and then after that "owners" death they "inhereted" it.

but for Allah azza wa jal, everything is His (He owns it), and it belongs to Him, he is al Malik, everything is Allah's "mulk".

so Allah's "inhereting" is not taking something that He didn't own.

so for humans they are taking something that was not there's at first, then they owned it after "inhereting" it, while Allah azza wa jal is taking something that is His, that belongs to Him, so it was His before and after "inhereting".


Imam at Tabari rahimahu Allah said in his tafsir of ayah (3:180):


تفسير الطبري - (ج 7 / ص 440)
القول في تأويل قوله : { وَلِلَّهِ مِيرَاثُ السَّمَاوَاتِ وَالأرْضِ وَاللَّهُ بِمَا تَعْمَلُونَ خَبِيرٌ (180) }
قال أبو جعفر: يعني بذلك جل ثناؤه: أنه الحي الذي لا يموت، والباقي بعد فَناء جميع خلقه.
* * *
فإن قال قائل: فما معنى قوله:"له ميراث السموات والأرض"، و"الميراث" المعروف، هو ما انتقل من ملك مالك إلى وارثه بموته، ولله الدنيا قبل فناء خلقه وبعده؟
قيل: إن معنى ذلك ما وصفنا، من وصفه نفسه بالبقاء، وإعلام خلقه أنه كتِب عليهم الفناء. وذلك أنّ ملك المالك إنما يصير ميراثًا بعد وفاته، فإنما قال جل ثناؤه:"ولله ميراث السموات والأرض"، إعلامًا بذلك منه عبادَه أن أملاك جميع

خلقه منتقلة عنهم بموتهم، وأنه لا أحد إلا وهو فانٍ سواه، فإنه الذي إذا أهلك جميع خلقه فزالت أملاكهم عنهم، لم يبق أحدٌ يكون له ما كانوا يملكونه غيره.
وإنما معنى الآية:"لا تحسبن الذي يبخلون بما آتاهم الله من فضله هو خيرًا لهم بل هو شر لهم سيطوقون ما بخلوا به يوم القيامة"، بعد ما يهلكون وتزولُ عنهم أملاكهم، في الحين الذي لا يملكون شيئًا، وصار لله ميراثه وميراث غيره من خلقه.
ثم أخبر تعالى ذكره أنه بما يعمل هؤلاء الذين يبخلون بما آتاهم الله من فضل وغيرهم من سائر خلقه، ذو خبرة وعلم، محيط بذلك كله، حتى يجازي كلا منهم على قدر استحقاقه، المحسنَ بالإحسان، والمسيء على ما يرى تعالى ذكره.


Rough translation:
(The tafsir of His saying : "and to God belongs the inheritance of the heavens and earth; and God is aware of the things you do"
Abu Ja'far (at Tabari) said: Allah jal thana'uhu meant by that: that He is the alive that does not die, and He remains after the perishing of all of His creation.

and if one says: so what does His saying mean: "and to Him belongs the inheritance of the heavens and the earth" and "the inheritance", that is known, is the transfering of the property\ownership from the owner to the inheriter, after his death, and to Allah is the dunya (this world) before the perishing of the creation and after it ?

It is said (to him): the meaning of that is what we described, His (Allah's) describing of Himself with eternal existance, and His informing of His creation that He has decreed their perishing.

And because the property of the owner becomes inheritance after his death, so Allah azza wa jal said: "to Allah is the inheritance of the heavens and the earth" informing, by that, that the property of all of His creation is transfering to Allah (going back to Him) after their deaths, and that no one but will perish except Him (Allah), for He is the one when perishing all of His creation, and all of their property is removed from them, no one will remain for their property to go to except Him.

and the meaning of the ayah: "But as for those who are niggardly with the bounty God has given them, let them not suppose it is better for them; nay, it is worse for them; that they were niggardly with they shall have hung about their necks on the Resurrection Day; " (3:180), after they perish (the niggard\greedy) and their property is removed from them, in the time that they don't own anything, to Allah becomes its intheritance, and the inheritance of rest of His creation.

[truthseeker]

excellent response. thank you