Core Ayah

Moral contradiction

أَلَكُمُ الذَّكَرُ وَلَهُ الْأُنثَىٰ

“Is the male (or sons) for you and for Him the female (or daughters)?”

fairness self‑reflection angels power vs weakness

A recurring Quranic strand: exposing a false contradiction

The ayah highlights a claim where privilege is reserved for oneself while attributing deficiency to Allah. The Quran addresses this contradiction in multiple places:

أَفَأَصْفَاكُمْ رَبُّكُم بِالْبَنِينَ وَاتَّخَذَ مِنَ الْمَلَائِكَةِ إِنَاثًا ۚ إِنَّكُمْ لَتَقُولُونَ قَوْلًا عَظِيمًا

Then, has your Lord chosen you for [having] sons and taken from among the angels, daughters? Indeed, you are saying a grave saying (Al-Israa’: 40).

أَمْ لَهُ الْبَنَاتُ وَلَكُمُ الْبَنُونَ

Or has He daughters while you have sons? (At-Tur: 39).

These references echo the same moral question posed in 53:21, challenging the inconsistency of assigning what is valued to oneself and what is devalued to Allah.

Social backdrop (Quraysh perspective)

  • The Quraish perceived daughters to be weak and a liability whilst sons were regarded to be a source of strength and benefit.
  • By making the Angels female and daughters, they associated weakness to the Angels.
Sons
Regarded as strength and benefit.
Daughters
Perceived as weak and a liability.

Angels and strength: the Quranic correction

The assignment of “weakness” to angels stands in direct contrast to the Surah’s own description of power:

عَلَّمَهُ شَدِيدُ الْقُوَىٰ

“The one of intense powers taught him”.

Aayah 5 of this Surah (An‑Najm).

This emphasizes that the portrayal of angels as “weak” is incompatible with the Quranic depiction of their might.

Key insights and mindset

  • The ayah challenges a self-serving bias: valuing sons for oneself while assigning daughters to Allah.
  • It belongs to a wider Quranic pattern that exposes contradictions in false beliefs, as echoed in Al‑Israa’ 40 and At‑Tur 39.
  • The depiction of angels as “female” and “weak” is rebutted by the Surah’s affirmation of angelic might through Jibreel (عليه السلام).
  • Reflective mindset: scrutinize attributions that assign advantage to the self and deficiency to the Divine.