Tafheem ul Quran

Surah 13 Ar-Ra'd, Ayat 38-43

وَلَقَدۡ اَرۡسَلۡنَا رُسُلًا مِّنۡ قَبۡلِكَ وَ جَعَلۡنَا لَهُمۡ اَزۡوَاجًا وَّذُرِّيَّةً ​ ؕ وَمَا كَانَ لِرَسُوۡلٍ اَنۡ يَّاۡتِىَ بِاٰيَةٍ اِلَّا بِاِذۡنِ اللّٰهِ​ ؕ لِكُلِّ اَجَلٍ كِتَابٌ‏ ﴿13:38﴾ يَمۡحُوۡا اللّٰهُ مَا يَشَآءُ وَيُثۡبِتُ ​ۖ ​ۚ وَعِنۡدَهٗۤ اُمُّ الۡكِتٰبِ‏  ﴿13:39﴾ وَاِنۡ مَّا نُرِيَـنَّكَ بَعۡضَ الَّذِىۡ نَعِدُهُمۡ اَوۡ نَـتَوَفَّيَنَّكَ فَاِنَّمَا عَلَيۡكَ الۡبَلٰغُ وَعَلَيۡنَا الۡحِسَابُ‏ ﴿13:40﴾ اَوَلَمۡ يَرَوۡا اَنَّا نَاۡتِى الۡاَرۡضَ نَـنۡقُصُهَا مِنۡ اَطۡرَافِهَا ؕ​ وَاللّٰهُ يَحۡكُمُ لَا مُعَقِّبَ لِحُكۡمِهٖ​ؕ وَهُوَ سَرِيۡعُ الۡحِسَابِ‏ ﴿13:41﴾ وَقَدۡ مَكَرَ الَّذِيۡنَ مِنۡ قَبۡلِهِمۡ فَلِلّٰهِ الۡمَكۡرُ جَمِيۡعًا​ؕ يَعۡلَمُ مَا تَكۡسِبُ كُلُّ نَفۡسٍؕ وَسَيَـعۡلَمُ الۡـكُفّٰرُ لِمَنۡ عُقۡبَى الدَّارِ‏ ﴿13:42﴾ وَيَقُوۡلُ الَّذِيۡنَ كَفَرُوۡا لَسۡتَ مُرۡسَلًا​ ؕ قُلۡ كَفٰى بِاللّٰهِ شَهِيۡدًۢا بَيۡنِىۡ وَبَيۡنَكُمۡۙ وَمَنۡ عِنۡدَهٗ عِلۡمُ الۡكِتٰبِ‏ ﴿13:43﴾

(13:38) We indeed sent many Messengers before you and We gave them wives and children;56 and no Messenger had the power to produce a miraculous sign except by the command of Allah.57 Every age has its own (revealed) Book. (13:39) Allah effaces whatever He wills and retains whatever He wills. With Him is the Mother of the Book.58 (13:40) (O Prophet), whether We make you see a part of the punishment that We have threatened them with come to pass during your life-time, or We take you away before that happens, your duty is no more than to convey the Message, and it is for Us to make a reckoning.59 (13:41) Do they not see that We are advancing in the land, diminishing it by its borders on all sides?60 Allah judges, and no one has the power to reverse His judgement. He is swift in reckoning. (13:42) Those who lived before them also devised many a plot,61 but the master plot rests with Allah. He knows what everyone does. The deniers of the truth will soon come to know whose end is good. (13:43) The unbelievers claim that you have not been sent by Allah. Tell them: "Allah is sufficient as a witness between me and you; and so also do those who know the Scriptures."62

Notes

56. This is the answer to another objection. The disbelievers said that he could not be a Prophet of Allah because he has wives and children, for they argued that Prophets had nothing to do with carnal desires.

57. This is the answer to yet another objection: Had he been a true Prophet, he would have shown a sign like the shining hand and the miraculous staff of Prophet Moses or he would have restored sight to the blind or cured lepers like Prophet Jesus, or brought a sign like the she camel of Prophet Salih. (peace be upon them all). The answer is this: None of the former Messengers had any power to show any sign nor has this Prophet (peace be upon him). Allah showed a sign whenever and through whomsoever He considered it to be necessary and will show any sign whenever He will consider it necessary and that I have not claimed to possess any such power that such a demand might be made from me.

58. This is the answer to another objection raised against the revelation of the Quran. The disbelievers said: What was the need of this new Book, when there already had existed the former revealed Books? You say that this need has arisen because the former Books have been tampered with; therefore Allah has abrogated them and commanded that this new Book should be followed. This position you have taken is wrong for how can anyone tamper with the Book of Allah and how is it possible that any Book of Allah might be tampered with? Why did not Allah protect these Books from such things as these? You say that this Book has been revealed by the same Allah Who revealed the Torah and the Gospel. How is it then that your way is different from that of the Torah? You consider certain things lawful while they are unlawful according to the Torah, etc. etc. Detailed answers to these objections have been given in other Surahs but here only a brief and comprehensive answer has been given to them.

The Arabic word Umm-ul-Kitab literally means the Mother Book, that is, the Original Book which is the source and origin of all the revealed Books.

59. This is to console the Prophet (peace be upon him), as if to say: O Prophet, you need not concern yourself as to the end of these disbelievers who have rejected the truth. You should go on performing with peace of mind the mission that has been entrusted to you and leave it to Us to give them suitable punishment. Though this has been addressed to the Prophet (peace be upon him), it is obvious that it is really meant to warn the opponents of the truth, who were demanding definitely from the Prophet (peace be upon him) by way of a challenge to bring about the scourge about which threats were being held out to them.

60. “We are advancing in the land.” This is a very subtle way of warning the opponents of the truth. The fact that Our message is spreading fast in Arabia. It does, in fact, mean that We Ourselves are advancing very fast in the country against you for We are with those who are carrying Our message. “Diminishing it from its outlying borders.” We are causing the influence of Islam to spread fast in the land and are thus reducing the boundaries of the influence of its opponents. Are not these things the portents of their coming disaster?

61. That is, these people, who are now devising schemes to defeat the message of the truth, do not take a lesson from the sad end of the people who devised similar schemes before them to suppress the voice of the truth by falsehood, fraud and persecution.

62. That is, everyone who has the knowledge of the divinely revealed Books will bear witness to the fact that my teachings are the same that were imparted by the former prophets.