Tafheem ul Quran

Surah 19 Maryam, Ayat 49-59

فَلَمَّا اعۡتَزَلَهُمۡ وَمَا يَعۡبُدُوۡنَ مِنۡ دُوۡنِ اللّٰهِ ۙ وَهَبۡنَا لَهٗۤ اِسۡحٰقَ وَيَعۡقُوۡبَ​ ؕ وَكُلًّا جَعَلۡنَا نَبِيًّا‏ ﴿19:49﴾ وَوَهَبۡنَا لَهُمۡ مِّنۡ رَّحۡمَتِنَا وَجَعَلۡنَا لَهُمۡ لِسَانَ صِدۡقٍ عَلِيًّا‏  ﴿19:50﴾ وَاذۡكُرۡ فِى الۡكِتٰبِ مُوۡسٰٓى​ اِنَّهٗ كَانَ مُخۡلَصًا وَّكَانَ رَسُوۡلًا نَّبِيًّا‏ ﴿19:51﴾ وَنَادَيۡنٰهُ مِنۡ جَانِبِ الطُّوۡرِ الۡاَيۡمَنِ وَقَرَّبۡنٰهُ نَجِيًّا‏ ﴿19:52﴾ وَ وَهَبۡنَا لَهٗ مِنۡ رَّحۡمَتِنَاۤ اَخَاهُ هٰرُوۡنَ نَبِيًّا‏ ﴿19:53﴾ وَاذۡكُرۡ فِى الۡـكِتٰبِ اِسۡمٰعِيۡلَ​ اِنَّهٗ كَانَ صَادِقَ الۡوَعۡدِ وَكَانَ رَسُوۡلًا نَّبِيًّا​ ۚ‏ ﴿19:54﴾ وَ كَانَ يَاۡمُرُ اَهۡلَهٗ بِالصَّلٰوةِ وَالزَّكٰوةِ وَكَانَ عِنۡدَ رَبِّهٖ مَرۡضِيًّا‏ ﴿19:55﴾ وَاذۡكُرۡ فِى الۡكِتٰبِ اِدۡرِيۡسَ​ اِنَّهٗ كَانَ صِدِّيۡقًا نَّبِيًّا ۙ ‏ ﴿19:56﴾ وَّرَفَعۡنٰهُ مَكَانًا عَلِيًّا‏ ﴿19:57﴾ اُولٰٓـئِكَ الَّذِيۡنَ اَنۡعَمَ اللّٰهُ عَلَيۡهِمۡ مِّنَ النَّبِيّٖنَ مِنۡ ذُرِّيَّةِ اٰدَمَ وَمِمَّنۡ حَمَلۡنَا مَعَ نُوۡحٍ وَّمِنۡ ذُرِّيَّةِ اِبۡرٰهِيۡمَ وَاِسۡرَآءِيۡلَ وَمِمَّنۡ هَدَيۡنَا وَاجۡتَبَيۡنَا​ ؕ اِذَا تُتۡلٰى عَلَيۡهِمۡ اٰيٰتُ الرَّحۡمٰنِ خَرُّوۡا سُجَّدًا وَّبُكِيًّا ۩‏ ﴿19:58﴾ فَخَلَفَ مِنۡۢ بَعۡدِهِمۡ خَلۡفٌ اَضَاعُوا الصَّلٰوةَ وَاتَّبَعُوا الشَّهَوٰتِ​ فَسَوۡفَ يَلۡقَوۡنَ غَيًّا ۙ‏ ﴿19:59﴾

(19:49) Thereupon Abraham dissociated himself from his people and the deities they worshipped instead of Allah, and We bestowed upon him Isaac and Jacob and made each of them a Prophet; (19:50) and We bestowed on them Our mercy, and granted them a truly lofty renown.28 (19:51) And recite in the Book the account of Moses.29 He was a chosen one, a Messenger, a Prophet.30 (19:52) We called out to him from the right side of the Mount,31 and We drew him near to Us by communing to him in secret,32 (19:53) and out of Our mercy We appointed his brother Aaron, a Prophet (that he may assist him). (19:54) And recite in the Book the account of Ishmael. He was ever true to his promise, and was a Messenger, a Prophet. (19:55) He enjoined his household to observe Prayer and to give Zakah (purifying alms); and his Lord was well pleased with him. (19:56) And recite in the Book the account of Idris.33 He was a man of truth, a Prophet; (19:57) and We exalted him to a lofty position.34 (19:58) These are the Prophets upon whom Allah bestowed His favour from the seed of Adam, and from the seed of those whom We carried (in the Ark) with Noah, and from the seed of Abraham and Israel. They were those whom We guided and chose (for an exalted position). They were such that when the words of the Most Compassionate Lord were recited to them, they fell down in prostration, weeping. (19:59) They were succeeded by a people who neglected the Prayers35 and pursued their lusts.36 They shall presently meet with their doom,

Notes

28. This is to give comfort to the migrants who had been forced to migrate from their homes. They were told that they would be honored and blessed with true renown just as Prophet Abraham (peace be upon him) had been blessed with true renown after his migration.

29. The word used is mukhlasan, which means purified. In other words, Allah had specially chosen Prophet Moses (peace be upon him) for the mission of Prophethood.

30. Rasul literally means the one who is sent; therefore it is used for an ambassador, envoy, messenger and representative. The Quran has used this title for angels, who are sent by Allah on a special mission, or for the human beings who brought His Message to mankind.

As regards the word Nabi, it literally means the one who brings news, or the one who is high in rank, or the one who shows the way. This title is used for the Prophets in all the three senses. Thus Moses was a Messenger Prophet because he was a Messenger of high rank who gave news from Allah and showed the right way to the people.

The Quran does not necessarily differentiate between the use of the two titles, for sometimes it uses the title Rasul for one person at one place and the title Nabi for the same person at another place, and sometimes uses both the titles together for one and the same person. However, at some places each title has been used in a way as to show that there is some technical distinction between the two, though that has not been precisely marked out, except that every Rasul (Messenger) is a Nabi (Prophet) as well, but every Nabi may not be a Rasul, and that a Rasul has a special and more important mission to perform. This is supported by a tradition of the Prophet (peace be upon him), which has been reported by Imam Ahmad from Abu Umamah and by Hakim from Abu Zarr. When the Prophet (peace be upon him) was asked how many Messengers and Prophets had been sent to the world, he said that the number of the Messengers was 313 or 315 and of the Prophets 124,000

31. “The right side of the Mount” means the eastern side of the mountain. As Prophet Moses (peace be upon him), on his way from Midian to Egypt, was passing from the southern side of Mountt Toor, the eastern side would lie on his right and the western on his left if he faced the mountain, otherwise a mountain by itself cannot have a right or a left side.

32. See( E.N. 206 of Surah An-Nisa).

33. There is a difference of opinion as to who Prophet Idris (peace be upon him) was. Some commentators opine that he was a Prophet from among the Israelites, but the majority of them are inclined to the view that he was a Prophet before Noah (peace be upon him). There is no authentic tradition which may help determine his identity. The next (verse 58), however, supports the view that he appeared before Prophet Noah (peace be upon him). For of all the Prophets mentioned, he alone was the one who may be said to be from the descendants of Adam.

The commentators are of the opinion that Idris was Enoch of the Old Testament, about whom it is said:

And Enoch lived sixty and five years, and begat Methuselah: And Enoch walked with God after he begat Methuselah three hundred years.... and he was not; for God took him. (Gen. 5: 21-24).

In Talmud, there are greater details about Enoch, which are briefly as follows: Before Noah when the descendants of Adam began to degenerate, the angel of God called to Enoch, who led a pious life away from the people, and said: O Enoch, arise, come out from seclusion, and go about among the people of the earth, guiding them to the path which they should follow and the ways which they should adopt.

Receiving this Divine Command, Enoch left his seclusion and gathered the people together and preached to them what he had been commanded, with the result that they listened to him and adopted the worship of God. Enoch ruled over mankind for 353 years: his rule was based on justice and truth, and consequently God favored mankind with all kinds of blessings." (H. Polano: The Talmud Selections, pp. 18-21)

34. The plain meaning is that God had favored Idris with a high rank, but according to the Israelite traditions, God took up Idris (Enoch) to heavens. The Bible says: And he was not; for God took him, but the Talmud has a long story to tell, which ends with the words: Enoch ascended to heaven in a whirlwind, with chariot and horses of fire.

35. It appears that the degenerate people totally discarded Salat, or they had become neglectful and careless in its observance. This is the first evil that is committed by a degenerate people. For, after this there remains no connection whatever between them and God. Here it has been stated as a universal principle that the degeneration of the people of all the former Prophets started with the abandonment of Salat by them.

36. This was the inevitable result of the loss of the connection with Allah. As they became more and more neglectful of their Salat, their lusts took complete hold of them and they fell to the lowest depths of moral depravity and began to follow their whims instead of the divine commands.