because of their weakness and lack of judgment. Qatadah said concerning this verse: “Rarely does a woman speak intending to argue her case without ending up speaking in a way that proves the case against herself.” (1)

There are three possible grammatical analyses of man (one who): it may be in the nominative, as the subject of a new clause; in the accusative, with an implied verb—the sense being, “Or do they make as daughters of Allah one who is raised in finery?”; or in the genitive, governed by His words, “from among what He creates,” and “that which he has attributed as a likeness.”

“And they have made the angels, who are servants of the Most Merciful, female. Did they witness their creation? Their testimony will be recorded, and they will be questioned. And they say, ‘Had the Most Merciful willed, we would not have worshipped them.’ They have no knowledge of this; they do nothing but speculate. Or have We given them a Book before it, to which they hold fast?”

His saying, exalted is He, “And they have made the angels, who are servants of the Most Merciful, female”: the reciters of Kufah and Abu ‘Amr read “servants of the Most Merciful,” with a bā’ followed by an alif and with the dāl in the nominative, as in His saying, exalted is He: “Rather, they are honored servants” (al-Anbiya’, 26). The others read “those with the Most Merciful,” with a nūn and the dāl in the accusative, as an adverbial phrase. This is supported by His saying, mighty and majestic is He: “Indeed, those who are with your Lord” (al-A‘raf, 206), and the rest of the verse.

“Did they witness their creation?” The reciters of Madinah read it in the passive voice, softening the second hamzah after the interrogative hamzah; that is, “Were they present at their creation?” The others read it with the shīn bearing fatḥah: that is, “Did they witness their creation when they were created?” This is like His saying: “Or did We create the angels female while they were witnesses?” (al-Saffat, 150).

“Their testimony will be recorded”: that is, their testimony concerning the angels—that they are Allah’s daughters—will be recorded. “And they will be questioned” about it.

Al-Kalbi and Muqatil said: When they made this statement, the Prophet, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, asked them, “How do you know that they are female?” They replied, “We heard it from our forefathers, and we testify that they did not lie.” (2) Allah, exalted is He, then said: “Their testimony will be recorded, and they will be questioned”—that is, they will be questioned about it in the Hereafter.

“And they say, ‘Had the Most Merciful willed, we would not have worshipped them’”: meaning the angels, according to Qatadah, Muqatil, and al-Kalbi. Mujahid said: it means the idols. That is, they claimed that Allah had not hastened their punishment for worshipping them because He was pleased with their worship of them. Allah, exalted is He, said: “They have no knowledge of this”—of what they say—“they do nothing but speculate”: they are merely lying when they say, “Allah, exalted is He, is pleased with our worship of them.” It was also said that they merely speculate when they say that the angels are female and that they are Allah’s daughters.

“Or have We given them a Book before it?” That is, before the Quran, authorizing them to worship other than Allah, “to which they hold fast.”