“If you were to ask them: ‘Who created the heavens and the earth and Who has kept the sun and the moon in subjection?’ they will certainly say: ‘Allah’. How come, then, they are being deluded from the Truth? Allah enlarges the sustenance of His servants whom He will, and straitens the sustenance of whom He will. Surely Allah has knowledge of everything. If you were to ask them: ‘Who sent down water from the sky and therewith revived the earth after its death?’ they will certainly say: ‘Allah’. Say: ‘To Allah alone be praise and thanks.’ But most people do not understand.”
(Al Qur’ān – 29:61-63)
At the time of revelation, these ayahs of the Qur’ān addressed the Makkan unbelievers. But the tone and intent of these ayahs are general; thus they put some very pertinent questions before those who fail to believe in the power and omnipotence of Allah the Almighty.
The words al-hamdu li Allāh (for God alone be praise and thanks) here suggest two things. First, praise and thanks for all the great tasks – the creation of the heavens and the earth, the harnessing of the sun and the moon, the bestowal of sustenance on all creatures, and the sending down of water from the sky and therewith the revival of the earth after it had become dead. If all this is so, then quite obviously God alone deserves praise and thanks. Secondly, God should also be thanked for the fact that even the unbelievers recognised that all these tasks were performed by Him alone.