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And they said: The God has taken a child for Himself. Exalted is He! Rather, whatever is in the heavens and the earth belongs to Him; all are obedient to Him.
The preceding verses spoke about Jews and Christians: each claiming the Garden for their own community and dismissing the other altogether. The discussion then turned to places of worship and the direction in which people face. Verse 115 declared that east and west belong to The God. In this verse, that belonging extends to everything in the heavens and the earth.
Before stating this, however, the Qur’an reports another claim:
“They said: The God has taken a child for Himself.”
We should not think only of Christians on hearing this claim. The verse says “they said,” without distinguishing Jews from Christians here. In the setting of the preceding verses, its criticism can encompass both, although the language of divine sonship did not always have the same meaning or form among them.
Concerning Christians, At-Tawbah 9:30 is explicit:
“The Christians said: The Messiah is the son of The God.”
But the language of being God’s child predates Christianity. In the Torah, Israel is addressed in these terms. In Exodus 4:22, God describes Israel as “my son, my firstborn.” Deuteronomy 14:1 likewise calls the Israelites children of their Lord. This should not be equated with the Christian belief concerning Christ: here the emphasis is more on a people’s bond, belonging, and special standing.
In Al-Ma’idah 5:18, the Qur’an also reports Jews and Christians together making a claim in this language:
“We are the children of The God and His beloved.”
The Qur’an’s answer immediately returns them to their human position:
“Rather, you are human beings among those He created.”
Whatever someone means by being a “child of God,” the name does not take them beyond being created. They may intend it to express love, belonging, or a special standing, yet they remain a human being among His creatures. A little later, the same verse attributes sovereignty over the heavens, the earth, and everything between them to The God. Al-Baqarah 2:116 answers through this same relationship:
“Rather, whatever is in the heavens and the earth belongs to Him.”
The language of sonship in the Hebrew Bible is not used only of human beings. In Job 1:6 and 2:1 we encounter the Hebrew expression “bene elohim,” meaning “sons of God.” This time the figures are heavenly beings, commonly called angels. They gather in God’s presence, and the conversation about Job takes place in that assembly. Job 38:7 uses the expression again to describe heavenly beings.
In 1 Kings 22:19–22, the picture of a heavenly assembly appears in greater detail. Micaiah sees the Lord on His throne, with the host of heaven standing around Him. A question concerning Ahab is raised; one proposes one thing and another something else, until a spirit comes forward and proposes a course of action. The narrative portrays the heavenly realm as an assembly in which heavenly beings speak in God’s presence and put forward proposals.
These examples show that before the Qur’an, the language of being God’s child had more than one use. Israel was addressed in terms of sonship; heavenly beings were called “bene elohim”; and in Christianity, Christ’s sonship acquired its own particular theological meaning. These uses are not identical, and their differences should not be overlooked. Taken together, however, they show that the discussion of a “child” and the language of sonship extends beyond a single Christian belief.
Al-Baqarah 2:116 does not explain these differences. The Qur’an first distinguishes the Creator’s standing from that of His creatures:
“Exalted is He, far above such a claim.”
It immediately continues:
“Rather, whatever is in the heavens and the earth belongs to Him.”
Whoever or whatever is called a “child” is itself included in “whatever is in the heavens and the earth.” Whether a prophet, another human being, or a heavenly being, that name does not take it outside creation.
To see this answer developed more fully, we can read Maryam 19:88–93 alongside this verse. There, too, the same claim is first reported:
“They said: The All-Merciful has taken a child for Himself.”
A few verses later, we read:
“There is no one in the heavens and the earth who will not come to the All-Merciful as a servant.” Maryam 19:93.
The Qur’an again brings the relationship back to servanthood. Even the honor accorded to heavenly beings does not take them beyond that position. Al-Anbiya 21:26 says:
“They said: The All-Merciful has taken a child for Himself. Exalted is He! Rather, they are honored servants.”
They are honored, but remain servants. Their closeness and honor can be acknowledged without turning a creature into God’s child.
The discussion in As-Saffat 37:149–158 also concerns heavenly beings, addressing the attribution of daughters, angels, and kinship to The God. The Qur’an itself, then, does not pursue the question of a “child” only in relation to Christ.
Al-An‘am 6:101 asks how He could have a child when He has no consort and has Himself created everything. Az-Zumar 39:4 also uses the expression “to take a child,” but even within that hypothetical situation, any choice would be from among His own creatures. In both verses, whatever we imagine as having a filial relationship with Him is still His creation; it does not leave the realm of what He created.
At the end of Al-Baqarah 2:116, we read:
“All are obedient to Him.”
How should we understand this “all”? We know that not every human being willingly obeys His command. The obedience expressed here (qunūt) therefore cannot be restricted to voluntary moral obedience. Someone who disobeys is still His creature: their defiance does not take them outside the Lord’s power and creation.
Ar-Rum 30:26 repeats almost the same wording:
“Whoever is in the heavens and the earth belongs to Him; all are obedient to Him.”
Aal Imran 3:83 likewise speaks of the surrender of those in the heavens and the earth, willingly or unwillingly. A person can defy Him in their moral choices, but cannot decide to cease being a created being.
Looking back at the preceding verses helps us see the continuity. A few verses earlier, people wanted to make the Garden exclusive to their religious identity. Each group then treated the other as entirely outside truth. Next came those who block the way to places of worship. Verse 115 placed east and west beyond human monopoly; now verse 116 returns the whole of the heavens and the earth to The God.
With each verse, the scope has widened. The Garden is not a community’s property; a place of worship is not a sect’s property; east and west are not the boundaries of God’s presence. Nor can the name of sonship take a human or heavenly being beyond the position of a creature.
Honor is possible, love is possible, messengership and being chosen are possible. But none removes the distinction between Creator and creature. Three short expressions in the verse keep that boundary before us:
“Exalted is He.” He is beyond such attributions.
“Whatever is in the heavens and the earth belongs to Him.”
“All are obedient to Him.”