Does Denying That Allah Has a Consort Mean That Having a Son Requires a Wife?

Praise be to Allah, and peace and blessings be upon the Messenger of Allah. To proceed:

First: Attributing a son to Allah is absolutely false

It must be understood that attributing a son to Allah Almighty is absolutely false and is among the gravest of false claims.

Allah Almighty says:

﴿And they say, “The Most Compassionate has taken a son.” You have certainly made an outrageous claim.﴾

And He says:

﴿There is nothing like Him.﴾

Allah is therefore far above having a consort or a son, and far above resembling His creation.

Second: The meaning of the verse

Allah Almighty says:

﴿How could He have a son when He has no consort?﴾

This verse does not compare Allah to created beings. Rather, it is a response to those who claim that Allah has a son in the sense of actual biological offspring.

In what is ordinarily understood, actual offspring comes from two parents: a father and a mother. Since Allah has no consort, the claim that He has offspring is invalid from this perspective.

Third: The verse refutes the claim that Allah has a son in several ways

The verse in Surah Al-An‘am presents several arguments demonstrating the falsehood of attributing a son to Allah:

1. He is the Originator of the heavens and the earth

Allah says:

﴿The Originator of the heavens and the earth.﴾

That is, He created and originated them without any previous model. Everything in the heavens and the earth is His creation, so how could something created be the offspring of the Creator?

2. He has no consort

Allah says:

﴿And He has no consort.﴾

This refutes the notion of actual biological offspring, which, as ordinarily understood, involves a consort.

3. He created everything

Allah says:

﴿And He created all things.﴾

Everything other than Allah is created, and something created cannot be the offspring of the Creator.

4. He has full knowledge of everything

Allah says:

﴿And He has full knowledge of everything.﴾

That is, His knowledge and power encompass all His creation, and nothing lies outside His dominion and control.

Fourth: Could Allah have a son without a consort?

This question is based on a mistaken conception, because by “son” one could mean:

• Actual offspring resulting from procreation: This entails a consort, and such a notion is impossible with regard to Allah Almighty.
• A created being whom Allah brought into existence without a father: Such as Jesus (peace be upon him). He is not a son of Allah, but rather a servant of Allah and one of His creations.
• Some third, undefined meaning: Such a claim has no intelligible reality.

Allah creates by the command “Be,” and He has no need for a consort, a son, or any helper.

Conclusion

• Attributing a son to Allah is false and attributes an imperfection that is unbefitting of Him.
• The verse does not compare Allah to created beings; rather, it refutes the claim of actual offspring.
• Actual offspring, as ordinarily understood, involves a consort, and Allah is far above that.
• Jesus (peace be upon him), the angels, and all other beings are creations of Allah and are not His children.
• Allah’s statement, ﴿And He created all things﴾, refutes every claim that makes any created being a son of Allah.

Allah is One, the Eternal Refuge. He neither begets nor is born, and there is none comparable to Him.