“[Ask them]: Who is better: Allah or the gods that they associate with Him as His partners? Who is it that has created the heavens and the earth and sent down for you water from the sky and then We caused to grow therewith orchards full of beauty whose trees you could never grow? Is there any god associated with Allah [in these tasks]? Nay, they are a people who are veering away from the Right Path.”
(Al Qur’ān 27:59-60)
Who is better – Allah or the gods that they associate with Him as His partners? This seems to be a very strange question to ask. Obviously, there can be no goodness in false gods. But the question is posed here so as to warn people against the mistake they were committing.
It is also quite clear that no one does anything in which he does not find some kind of benefit. If polytheists worshipped deities other than the One True God, and if they asked those deities to fulfil their needs and made offerings to them, they must be convinced that they were doing something good, otherwise all this would be a meaningless activity. Hence why they are confronted with the above mentioned question in no uncertain terms. By posing this question the Qur’ān immediately disarms its opponents. A series of miraculous elements in God’s creation are mentioned, in succession, each accompanied by the question: “Is there any God associated with Allah in these tasks?” If the answer is “no”, how could they worship anyone other than Him?