Verse:105 Commentary Then, in verse 105, the attitude of the disbelievers is portrayed by saying:

وَكَأَيِّن مِّنْ آيَةٍ فِي السَّمَاوَاتِ وَالْأَرْ‌ضِ يَمُرُّ‌ونَ عَلَيْهَا وَهُمْ عَنْهَا مُعْرِ‌ضُونَ

How many a sign there is in the heavens and the Earth which they pass by and they are heedless to it.

The sense is that these people are not of the kind who would simply not listen to a well-wisher out of their obstinacy. They are worse. They would not even learn from the very open signs of the perfect power of Allah Ta` ala visible to them all the time, yet keep passing by them with-out paying any attention and without wondering whose signs they were. These signs of Divine wisdom and power are widely spread out and many in number. Out of these are many signs which remind people of punishments which descended upon past peoples, and they themselves see their overturned habitations, but they would still refuse to learn their lesson.

This was a description of people who simply did not believe in the existence of Allah Ta` ala, the great Creator, and in His wisdom and power. Mentioned next are those who do believe in Allah as the Creator, Verse:106 Commentary but also associate other things as partners in His Divinity. It was said:

وَمَا يُؤْمِنُ أَكْثَرُ‌هُم بِاللَّـهِ إِلَّا وَهُم مُّشْرِ‌كُونَ

And most of them do not believe in Allah without associating partners with Him - 106.

It means that those of them who profess a belief in Allah would do so by lacing it with Shirk. They would suggest others as partners in the attributes of knowledge and power which are exclusive for Allah Ta` ala - which is rank injustice, and ignorance.

Ibn Kathir has said that included under the sense of this verse are Muslims who, despite having 'Iman, are involved with different kinds of Shirk. According to the Musnad of Ahmad, the Holy Prophet صلى الله عليه وسلم said: The most dangerous of things I apprehend for you is the small Shirk. When the Sahabah asked as to what could that be, he said: Hypocrisy is the small Shirk. Similarly, swearing by someone or something other than Allah has been called Shirk in another Hadith. (Ibn Kathir from Tirmidhi) Vows and offerings (Mannat and Niyaz) in the name of anyone other than Allah is also included under it, on which there is a consensus of Muslim jurists.

After that, in verse 107, questioned and deplored is their heedlessness and ignorance as to how could these people, despite their denial and rebellion, become so carefree of the possibility that there may come on them some punishment from Allah which overtakes them from all sides, or that the fateful Hour of the Day of Doom itself descends upon them all of a sudden while they are not ready for it? Verse:107 Commentary - - - Verse:108 Commentary In verse 108, the Holy Prophet has been asked to state his position before these people:

قُلْ هَـٰذِهِ سَبِيلِي أَدْعُو إِلَى اللَّـهِ ۚ عَلَىٰ بَصِيرَ‌ةٍ أَنَا وَمَنِ اتَّبَعَنِي ۖ وَسُبْحَانَ اللَّـهِ وَمَا أَنَا مِنَ الْمُشْرِ‌كِينَ

"Say, (you believe it or not) 'This is my way. I call (people) to Allah with full cognition - myself and my followers. And pure is Allah. And I am not among the associators - 108."

It means that the da'wah of the Holy Prophet صلى الله عليه وسلم is not based on some summary view of things, instead, it is the outcome of insight, reason and wisdom. In this act of ` full cognition,' the Holy Prophet صلى الله عليه وسلم has included his followers as well. According to Sayyidna ` Abdullah ibn ` Abbas ؓ it refers to the noble Sahabah, may Allah be pleased with them all. They are the soldiers of Allah subhanahu wa Ta' ala. Sayyidna ` Abdullah ibn Masud ؓ said: The Sahabah of the Holy Prophet صلى الله عليه وسلم are the best people of this whole Ummah. Their hearts are pure and their knowledge is deep. They are far removed from formality. Allah Ta' ala has chosen them to accompany and serve their Rasul. You should learn their morals, habits and ways because they are the ones who are on the straight path.

It is also possible to take the expression: مَنِ اتَّبَعَنِي (and my followers) in the general sense whereby it would mean every person who is doing the duty of conveying the da'wah of the Rasul of Allah to his Ummah right through the last day of the Qiyamah. According to Kalbi and Ibn Zayd, this verse also makes it necessary for one who claims to follow the Holy Prophet صلى الله عليه وسلم that he should spread his da'wah among people and make the teaching of the Qur' an available to all. (Mazhari)

The last sentence of verse 108 is: سُبْحَانَ اللَّـهِ وَمَا أَنَا مِنَ الْمُشْرِ‌كِينَ (And pure is Allah [ that is, free from Shirk ]. And I am not among the Mushriks [ that is, not of those who practice Shirk ]). Since, a little earlier, mention was made that there are people who, when they profess belief in Allah, would mix it up with Shirk, whether open or padded or concealed. Therefore, he has declared that he has absolutely nothing to do with Shirk. The gist of what has been said here is: My da'wah does not aim at inviting people to become my servants. In fact, I myself am, also a servant of Allah - and it is this kind of servitude, servitude to none but Him, that I invite people to. However, since I am the dai (the original maker of this call), it is obligatory that faith be put in me.

To this, the disbelievers of Makkah used to object. They took the plea that a Rasul or messenger of Allah should not be a human being. He should, rather, be an angel. A reply to this doubt has been given in the next verse Verse:109 Commentary where it was said: وَمَا أَرْ‌سَلْنَا مِن قَبْلِكَ إِلَّا رِ‌جَالًا نُّوحِي إِلَيْهِم مِّنْ أَهْلِ الْقُرَ‌ىٰ : It means that their thinking that it is an angel who should be the messenger and prophet of Allah and that a human being cannot occupy this station is baseless and ineffectual. Quite contrary to this, the case is just the reverse - that is, for human beings, a prophet of Allah has always been a human being. Nevertheless, he is distinct from human beings in general in that the Wahy and message of Allah Ta' ala comes to him directly. It is never the outcome of an individual effort or act by anyone. It is always Allah Ta` ala Himself who would choose from among his ser-vants the one who, in His knowledge and judgment, is the fittest for this mission. And this selection is based on particular attributes of personal excellence which are not found among human beings at large.

Onwards from here, there is an admonition to those who contravene the instructions given by the maker of the call on behalf of Allah (da` i), and invite the wrath and punishment of Allah upon them. It was said:

أَفَلَمْ يَسِيرُ‌وا فِي الْأَرْ‌ضِ فَيَنظُرُ‌وا كَيْفَ كَانَ عَاقِبَةُ الَّذِينَ مِن قَبْلِهِمْ ۗ وَلَدَارُ‌ الْآخِرَ‌ةِ خَيْرٌ‌ لِّلَّذِينَ اتَّقَوْا ۗ أَفَلَا تَعْقِلُونَ

Have they not travelled in the land where they would have seen how was the fate of those before them? And surely the abode of the Hereafter is better for those who fear Allah. Would you, then, still not understand? - 109

And continue to prefer the short-lived comfort of the present world over the everlasting and perfect blessings and comforts of the 'Akhirah.

Messengers are from Men

2. From the word: رِجَالِاً (rijalan : men) in verse 109:

وَمَا أَرْ‌سَلْنَا مِن قَبْلِكَ إِلَّا رِ‌جَالًا نُّوحِي إِلَيْهِم مِّنْ أَهْلِ الْقُرَ‌ىٰ

And We did not send before you [ messengers ] other than men from the people of the towns - 109,

We learn that messengers are always men. A woman cannot become a nabiyy (prophet) and rasul (messenger).

Imam Ibn Kathir (رح) has reported the consensus of ` Ulama' that Allah Ta` ala has not made any woman a nabiyy or rasul. Some ` Ulama' have identified some women as being a nabiyy or prophet, for example, Sayyidah Sarah, the wife of Sayyidna Ibrahim (علیہ السلام) ، the mother of Sayyidna Musa (علیہ السلام) and Sayyidah Maryam, the mother of Sayyidna ` Isa (علیہ السلام) . The reason is that there are particular words in the Holy Qur' an about these three respected women which give the impression that angels talked to them as Divinely commanded, gave them good news, or they themselves came to know something through the medium of Divine revelation. But the majority of ` Ulama, though they do accept that the words of such verses prove that these respected women had a high spiritual rank in the sight of Allah Ta` ala, but, according to them, these words are not sufficient as proofs of their being prophets and messengers.

Messengers are from Towns

3. The expression: أَهْلِ الْقُرَ‌ىٰ (men from the people of the towns) appearing in the verse quoted immediately above tells us that Allah Ta` la sends his messengers generally from among those who live in cities and towns. Messengers are not from among those who reside in the country-side and forest lands - because the dwellers of these habitations are generally rustic, hard and less perfect in comprehension and understanding. (Ibn Kathir, Qurtubi others) Verse:110 Commentary Commentary

Mentioned in the previous verses was the sending of prophets who invited people to take the straight path, and also answered there were some doubts about them. Then, people were admonished that they do not take into consideration the sad end they would face as a result of their antagonism towards prophets of Allah. Only if they were to pay some attention and look around and read signs from ruined cities and the history of lost places they pass by, they would find out how harsh has been the sad end of those who had opposed the blessed prophets, and that too, right here in this world. The habitation of the people of Sayyidna Lut (علیہ السلام) was overturned upside down. The people of ` Ad and Thamud were destroyed through various punishments. And the punishment of the Hereafter, that is far more severe.

Then, towards the end, they were instructed that the pain and pleasure of the present life is, after all, very short-lived. One' s real concern should be about the life to come, the 'Akhirah, the Hereafter, where one shall stay forever, and where the pain, or pleasure, too shall be eternal. So, it was made clear that a good end of life in the 'Akhirah depends on Taqwa, the fear of Allah and the abstention from sins, and which, in a nutshell, means that one should strictly adhere to all commandments of the Shari` ah.

Since the purpose in the previous verses was to warn people of the time by telling them to take their lesson from what had happened to past prophets and their communities, therefore, in the next verse (110), one of their doubts was removed. The doubt they had was about the warnings of Divine punishment given by the Holy Prophet صلى الله عليه وسلم . They were hearing about it from him for a long time, but they did not see any punishment coming upon them. This made them all the more daring. If there was some punishment to come, it would have come by now, they thought. Therefore, it was said that Allah Ta` ala, in His mercy and wisdom, would often keep giving respite to erring and sinning people - and this respite, at times, could also become fairly long. That is why contumacious people become more daring and aggressive which causes a certain anxiety to prophets. So, it was said:

حَتَّىٰ إِذَا اسْتَيْأَسَ الرُّ‌سُلُ وَظَنُّوا أَنَّهُمْ قَدْ كُذِبُوا جَاءَهُمْ نَصْرُ‌نَا فَنُجِّيَ مَن نَّشَاءُ ۖ وَلَا يُرَ‌دُّ بَأْسُنَا عَنِ الْقَوْمِ الْمُجْرِ‌مِينَ

(Punishment was often delayed) until when the messengers were in despair and thought that they were wrong in their estimation, Our help came to them, then saved were those whom We willed. And Our punishment is not averted from the guilty - 110).

To explain it in detail, it can be said, that: ` The disbelieving and disobedient people of past communities were given long respites, until when, because of the punishment not coming upon them, the messengers were in despair over the possibility that the punishment of Allah will not come upon such people and truth will not manifest itself in the manner and at the time they had hoped it to be, and thought that, while determining the time of the Divine promise, they were wrong in their estimation - that Allah Ta` ala had not told them of a definite time, and the time was fixed by them as based on particular signs. It was in this state of despair that Our help came to them, that is, the punishment on disbelievers came as promised, then saved from the punishment were those 'whom We willed (that is, believers in prophets were saved and disbelievers were destroyed) because Our punishment is not averted from the guilty,' instead, it does come upon them, therefore, the disbelievers of Makkah should not be in any doubt about a delay in the punishment due. [ Bayan al-Qur'an: Gist of Tafsir by Maulana Ashraf ` Ali Thanavi ]

The word: (kudhibu : were wrong) in verse 110 has been read as in the well-known reading (Qira'at) of the Qur'an - and the Tafsir (exegesis or explanation) which we have chosen to follow is the one which is most sound and free from doubts. The essential sense of the word: کُذِبُوا (kudhibu) is to find one 's estimation or thinking as being wrong, which is a kind of Ijtihadi mistake (as based on personal opinion), and some such Ijtihadi mistake can issue forth from the blessed prophets. However, there is a difference between prophets (علیہم السلام) and other mujtahids, that is, when some Ijtihadi mistake issues forth from the prophets (علیہم السلام) Allah Ta` ala would not let them stay by that mistake, rather, He would make them become aware of it and enable them to see reality clearly. Other mujtahids do not occupy this station. The event of the Peace Pact of Hudaibiyah associated with the Holy Prophet صلى الله عليه وسلم is sufficient as proof on this subject - because it has been stated in the Holy Qur'an that this event is based on the dream which was seen by the Holy Prophet صلى الله عليه وسلم . He had seen that he was doing the Tawaf of the Baytullah with his Sahabah - and the dream of the blessed prophets is also an imperative form of revelation - therefore, the happening of this event became certain. But, in the dream itself, no particular time or duration was identified for it. The Holy Prophet صلى الله عليه وسلم ، according to his estimation, thought that it would happen the same year. So, he announced it before his Sahabah and taking a good number of them with him left for Makkah al-Mu` azzamah for their ` Umra. But, the Quraysh confronted them enroute and they could not avail of their intended Tawaf and ` Umra. In fact, the full manifestation (of the dream) came to unfold itself two years later, in the Hijrah year 8, in the form of the Conquest of Makkah. And from this event, it became apparent that the dream he had seen was true and certain. But, the time for it which, by signs or estimation, the Holy Prophet had taken as the time, was not what it actually was - but that mistake was compensated right then.

Similarly, the expression: قَد کُذِبُو (qad kudhibu : were wrong) in the verse under reference also carries the same sense, that is, the punishment which was to come upon the disbelievers was delayed while the prophets had estimated a time for it in their minds. When this punishment did not come at that time, they thought that they had made a mis-take in determining the time for it. This Tafsir has been reported from Sayyidna ` Abdullah ibn ` Abbas. ` Allama Al-Tibi has said that this report is Sahih (sound) because it has been mentioned in the Sahih of Al-Bukhari. (Mazhari)

In some readings (Qira'aat) of the Qur'an, this word has appeared with a doubled sound on the letter: ذَال (dhal), that is: قَد کُذِّبُوا (qad kudhdhibu) as well. This word has been derived from the verbal noun: تَکذِیب (takdhib:falsification). Given this reading, the sense would be: The prophets had determined an estimated time when the punishment would come, but when the punishment did not come at that time, they had apprehensions about their believers themselves, lest they should not falsifying them on the basis that their statement did not turn out to be true. These were the circumstances under which Allah Ta' ala made His promise prove true, punishment fell on the deniers, believers were saved from it, and thus, overcome they did. Verse:111 Commentary In the opening statement of the last verse of the Surah, it was said:

لَقَدْ كَانَ فِي قَصَصِهِمْ عِبْرَ‌ةٌ لِّأُولِي الْأَلْبَابِ

Surely, in the narratives of these, there is lesson for the people of understanding - 111.

This statement may be pointing to the stories of all prophets (علیہم السلام) in the Qur'an and also to the particular story of Sayyidna Yusuf (علیہ السلام) which has been narrated in this Surah - because, through this later event, it has become absolutely clear that the obedient servants of Allah are supported and helped in so many ways when they are taken out from a deep well and made to sit on a high throne and are rescued from the threat of disgrace all the way to the zenith of the finest in grace and honour, not to mention the practitioners of ill-will and deception who ultimately end up in sheer shame.

Said next is:

مَا كَانَ حَدِيثًا يُفْتَرَ‌ىٰ وَلَـٰكِن تَصْدِيقَ الَّذِي بَيْنَ يَدَيْهِ

It is not an invented story, rather, a confirmation of what has been before it ...,

that is, of the books revealed before it - because, this story of Sayyidna Yusuf (Joseph) (علیہ السلام) has been mentioned in the Torah and the Injil as well. And Hadrat Wahb ibn Munabbih says: There is no Scripture which does not have the story of Sayyidna Yusuf (علیہ السلام) in it. (Mazhari)

And in the last sentence of the verse, it is said: وَتَفْصِيلَ كُلِّ شَيْءٍ وَهُدًى وَرَ‌حْمَةً لِّقَوْمٍ يُؤْمِنُونَ , that is, this Qur' an is ` an elaboration of everything' (which means that the Qur' an has details of everything which human beings need in religion - in fields like ` Ibadat (worship of Allah), dealings, morals, social living, government, politics and many others, including injunctions and instructions about all individual and collective concerns of human life - they are all there).

Then, it was said that this Qur'an is ` guidance and mercy for a people who believe.' The restriction of those who have 'Iman or Faith has been placed here because its benefit can be enjoyed by only those who believe. It goes without saying that, though the Qur'an is nothing but mercy and guidance for disbelievers as well, but it is due to their own misconduct and disobedience that this mercy and guidance has become heavy and unwholesome for them.

Shaykh Abu al-Mansur has said: The purpose behind the whole Surah Yusuf and the story of Sayyidna Yusuf (علیہ السلام) narrated therein is to comfort the Holy Prophet صلى الله عليه وسلم `. All this is to tell him that his sufferings at the hands of his people have been the lot of past prophets too. But, in the end, Allah Ta` ala enabled his prophets to overcome - and in his case too, this is what was going to happen.