Surah Ad-Dukhaan: Verse 32 - ولقد اخترناهم على علم على... - English

Tafsir of Verse 32, Surah Ad-Dukhaan

وَلَقَدِ ٱخْتَرْنَٰهُمْ عَلَىٰ عِلْمٍ عَلَى ٱلْعَٰلَمِينَ

English Translation

And We certainly chose them by knowledge over [all] the worlds.

English Transliteration

Walaqadi ikhtarnahum AAala AAilmin AAala alAAalameena

Tafsir of Verse 32

and We chose them, out of a knowledge, above all beings,

And We chose them aforetime above the nations, knowingly,

وَلَقَدِ اخْتَرْ‌نَاهُمْ عَلَىٰ عِلْمٍ عَلَى الْعَالَمِينَ And We chose them, with knowledge above all the worlds. (44:32)," This does not imply that the Children of Israel are superior to the Ummah of Muhammad ﷺ ، because the verse means that the Children of Israel were given superiority over all the people of their time. This is just like the Qur'an has described the merit of Sayyidah Maryam (علیہا السلام) as being superior to the نِسَاءِ الْعَالَمِينَ "women of the worlds (3:42) which means that she was superior to the women of her time." It is also possible that the Children of Israel have some sort of superiority to all the people of all times and ages from a particular angle, but collectively the Ummah of the Final Messenger ﷺ holds the highest status. (See Ibn Kathir and other sources for details.)

عَلَى الْعَالَمِينَ "with knowledge" means that every work of Allah has wisdom. Thus wisdom underlying Allah's knowledge dictated that they be granted superiority, and they were granted accordingly.

Verse 32 - Surah Ad-Dukhaan: (ولقد اخترناهم على علم على العالمين...) - English