al-Khalq is interpreted in seven ways:
1. Khalq is used in the sense of religion (dīn); as in the following verses:
{Iblīs said}: "I will command them to change Allah's khalq (that is, Allah's dīn)." (al-Nisāʾ/119)
There is no altering Allah's khalq {that is, Allah's dīn}. (al-Rūm/30)
2. The word khalq is used in the sense of makhlūq [to invent / fabricate] and to lie; as in the following verses:
This is nothing but the khalq of the former peoples {that is, a lie invented / fabricated and told by those before}. (al-Shuʿarāʾ/137)
You are forging ifk (that is, you are lying [fabricating slander]). (al-ʿAnkabūt/17)
This is nothing but an ikhtilāq {that is, it is a fabrication, a lie: Muhammad has invented this lie himself}. (Ṣād/7)
3. Khalq is used in the sense of forms/images; as in the following verses:
When you were creating the form of a bird from clay by My permission {that is, you were making an image/form resembling a bird out of clay}. (al-Māʾida/110)
A similar instance is found in the surah Āl ʿImrān. Those whom you call upon besides Allah cannot create anything; for they themselves are created (that is, they themselves are given form). (al-Naḥl/20) A similar instance is also in the surah al-Furqān.
4. Khalq is used in the sense of speaking / causing to speak; as in the following verse:
Allah, Who made everything speak, has made us speak as well, and He created you the first time {that is, in this world He made you speak}. (Fussilat/21)
5. The word khalq is used in the sense of jaʿl [to make, to do, to create]; as in the following verse:
Forsaking/abandoning your spouses whom your Lord has khalq for you [your wives] {that is, refraining from approaching your women whom your Lord has made / created [jaʿala] for you, individually}... (al-Shuʿarāʾ/166)
6. The word khalq is used in the sense of baʿth [resurrection after death]; as in the following verses:
In terms of khalq (that is, in respect to being resurrected in the Hereafter after death), is it more difficult to create them, or... (al-Ṣāffāt/11)
Is your khalq (resurrection in the Hereafter after death) more difficult, or... (al-Nāziʿāt/27)
Is He not able to khalq the like of them (that is, to resurrect them again in the Hereafter)?! (Yā-Sīn/81)
7. The word khalq is used in the sense of creating in this world; as in the following verses:
He it is Who khalq the heavens and the earth (that is, He created them when they did not exist before). (al-Anʿām/1)
Indeed, We khalq man from an extract of clay (that is, that Lord created them thus in this world). (al-Muʾminūn/12)