36. Ya-Sin Page 441 وَ اضْرِبْ And set forth لَهُمْ to them مَّثَلًا an example اَصْحٰبَ (of the) companions الْقَرْیَةِ ۘ (of) the city اِذْ when جَآءَهَا came to it الْمُرْسَلُوْنَۚ the Messengers اِذْ When اَرْسَلْنَاۤ We sent اِلَیْهِمُ to them اثْنَیْنِ two (Messengers) فَكَذَّبُوْهُمَا but they denied both of them فَعَزَّزْنَا so We strengthened them بِثَالِثٍ with a third فَقَالُوْۤا and they said اِنَّاۤ Indeed We اِلَیْكُمْ to you مُّرْسَلُوْنَ (are) Messengers قَالُوْا They said مَاۤ Not اَنْتُمْ you اِلَّا (are) but بَشَرٌ human beings مِّثْلُنَا ۙ like us وَ مَاۤ and not اَنْزَلَ has revealed الرَّحْمٰنُ the Most Gracious مِنْ any شَیْءٍ ۙ thing اِنْ Not اَنْتُمْ you اِلَّا (are) but تَكْذِبُوْنَ lying قَالُوْا They said رَبُّنَا Our Lord یَعْلَمُ knows اِنَّاۤ that we اِلَیْكُمْ to you لَمُرْسَلُوْنَ (are) surely Messengers وَ مَا And not عَلَیْنَاۤ (is) on us اِلَّا except الْبَلٰغُ the conveyance الْمُبِیْنُ clear قَالُوْۤا They said اِنَّا Indeed تَطَیَّرْنَا [we] see an evil omen بِكُمْ ۚ from you لَىِٕنْ If لَّمْ not تَنْتَهُوْا you desist لَنَرْجُمَنَّكُمْ surely we will stone you وَ لَیَمَسَّنَّكُمْ and surely will touch you مِّنَّا from us عَذَابٌ a punishment اَلِیْمٌ painful قَالُوْا They said طَآىِٕرُكُمْ Your evil omen مَّعَكُمْ ؕ (be) with you! اَىِٕنْ Is it because ذُكِّرْتُمْ ؕ you are admonished بَلْ Nay اَنْتُمْ you قَوْمٌ (are) a people مُّسْرِفُوْنَ transgressing
(36:13) Recite to them, as a case in point, the story of the people of the town when the Messengers came to them.10
(36:14) We sent to them two Messengers and they rejected both of them as liars. Then We strengthened them with a third (Messenger).
(36:15) They said: “We have been sent to you as Messengers.” The people of the town said: “You are only human beings like ourselves,11 and the Merciful Lord has revealed nothing.12 You are simply lying.”
(36:16) The Messengers said: “Our Lord knows that we have indeed been sent to you
(36:17) and our duty is no more than to clearly convey the Message.”13
(36:18) The people of the town said: “We believe you are an evil omen for us. If you do not desist, we will stone you or you will receive a grievous chastisement from us.”14
(36:19) The Messengers replied: “Your evil omen is with you.15 (Are you saying this) because you were asked to take heed? The truth is that you are a people who have exceeded all bounds.”16
10. Earlier Qur’an-commentators are generally disposed to identify - this town as Antioch (Antakiyah) in Syria. As for the “Messengers” mentioned in the verse, they were,the emissaries of the Prophet Jesus (peace be on him) whom he had directed to preach the Truth in that town. The details mentioned in regard to this story include that at that time Antiochus was the king. Qatadah, ‘Ikrimah, Ka’b al-Ahbar and Wahb ibn Munabbih, however, have narrated the whole story on the basis of unauthentic Christian traditions. Historically speaking, these traditions are devoid of any basis whatsoever. Antioch was then under the suzerainty of the Seleucid dynasty. Thirteen kings of this dynasty bore the name Antiochus. The political power of the last king with that name, and in fact the dynasty itself, came to an end in 65 B.C. In the days of the Prophet Jesus (peace be on him), the whole region of Syria and Palestine, including Antioch, was under Roman control. There are no authentic Christian reports to indicate that the Prophet Jesus (peace be on him) sent any of his apostles to Antioch to preach his mission there. On the contrary, it appears from Acts that Christian missionaries reached Antioch a few years after the Crucifixion. Those who decided to preach faith at their own behest, without having been sent either by God or His Prophet, cannot be considered God’s Messengers. Moreover, according to the Bible, a large number of non-Israelites living in Antioch had embraced Christianity, the Christian mission there being a great success. By contrast, the Qur’anic allusion is to a town that had rejected the Messengers’ calls, and as a result, incurred God’s punishment. Furthermore, no piece of historical evidence suggests that Antioch itself was ever struck by the kind of calamity that takes place when people reject a Messenger’s mission.
The above report, therefore, is altogether unacceptable. The Qur'ān does not specify the identity of the town. Moreover, the names of these Messengers are also not mentioned in any authentic hadīth. The purpose for which this story has been narrated here, however, does not require that the true name of this town or the real names of these Messengers be known. This because the purpose of narrating this story was to convey a specific message to the Quraysh. The message was as follows: "You are treading a path that was trodden in the past by the people of this town - the path of obduracy, bigoted prejudice and rejection of the Truth. If you tread that very path, you should be ready to face the same calamitous end that befell the people of that town". (Ibn Kathir, Tafsīr, comments on verses 13 and 29.)
11. In other words, the Makkan unbelievers virtually said that since the Prophet (peace be on him) was a human being, he could not be God's Messenger. It is pertinent to mention that the unbelievers of earlier times held exactly the same view regarding Messengers: They say: "What sort of a Messenger is this: he eats food and walks about in the markets?" (Al-Furqān 25:7.) The wrong-doers whisper to one another: "This person is no more than a mortal like yourselves. Will you then be enchanted by sorcery while you see?". (Al-Anbiya' 21:3.) The Qur'ān refutes this fallacious notion held by the Makkan unbelievers, pointing out that the grounds for their rejection are not new. Ignorant people have all along entertained the erroneous notion that a mortal human being such as themselves cannot be God’s Messenger. The same point, for example, was made by the Prophet Noah’s community.
This is none other than a mortal like yourselves who desires to attain superiority over you. Had Allah wanted to send any Messengers, He would have sent down angels. We have heard nothing like this in the time of our forebears of old (that humans were sent as Messengers). (Al-Mu'minun 23:24.) The people of ‘Ad made an almost identical observation about the Prophet Hud (peace be on him): This is no other than a mortal like yourselves who eats what you eat and drinks what you drink. If you were to obey a human being like yourselves, you will certainly be losers. (Al-Mu’minun 23:33~34.) The same was the basis for the rejection of the Prophet Saleh (peace be on him) by the Thamud: Are we to follow a single niértal, one from among ourselves? (Al- Qamar 54:24.) Unbelievers of all times and places treated God’s Messengers in the same manner, rejecting them on the basis of their humanity. The Messengers themselves, however, never ceased to emphasize that they were no more than mortals: Indeed, we are only human beings like yourselves, but Allah bestows His favor on those of His servants whom He wills.
(Ibrahim 14:11.) According to the Qur’an, this flawed attitude has always prevented people from embracing the True Guidance. Ultimately too, it led to their destruction: Has the news of the unbelievers of the past not reached you? (They disbelieved) and then tasted its evil consequence. A grievous chastisement awaits them. This was because their Messengers.
would come to them with clear signs, but they would say: “Shall mortals (like ourselves) guide us to the right way?” They rejected the truth and turned away. Thereupon Allah became unconcerned with them. (Al-Taghabun 64:5~6.) Whenever guidance came to people, nothing prevented them from believing except that they said: "Has Allah sent a human being as a Messenger?"(Bani Isrā'il 17:94.) The Qur’an asserts that it is only human beings that were raised as Messengers. For only they, rather than angels, are possessed of the ability to guide their fellow human beings to truth: (O Muhammad), even before you We never sent any other than human beings as Messengers, and to them We sent revelation. Ask the people of the Book if you do not know. We did not endow the Messengers with bodies that would need no food; nor were they immortals. (Al-Anbiya' 21:7-8.) (O Muhammad), We never sent any Messengers before you but they ate food and walked about in the markets. (AI-Furqān 25:20.) Say: "Had angels been walking about in peace on earth, We would surely have sent to them an angel from the heavens as Messenger". (Banī Isrā'il 17:95.)
12. This is another folly to which the Makkan unbelievers had fallen prey. Interestingly, this is a folly which many rationalists of our own time share with them. From the earliest times the deniers of Revelation and Prophet hood have been victims of this misconception. Such people have always fancied that God does not provide any Revelation to guide humankind. For, according to their belief, God is solely concerned with matters pertaining to the higher realm, leaving human affairs to human beings themselves.
13. The task of a Messenger is no more than to faithfully deliver God’s message to people. Once the message has been delivered, it is for people to accept it or not. It is not a part of ‘a' Messenger’s task to force people to accept that message. Were they to reject the message, the responsibility would lie at the door of the people rather than with the messengers.
14. The unbelievers dismissed the Messenger sent to them as an evil omen for them. They thought that his denunciation of their idols had incurred the latter’s wrath upon them. Thus the real cause of all their afflictions was their Messenger. Exactly the same charge was levelled by the Arab unbelievers and hypocrites against the Prophet Muhammad (peace be on him): “When some misfortune befalls them, the unbelievers say: “This is because of you (O Muhammad)”, (al-Nisa’ 4:78). It was in a similar vein that the unbelieving Thamid used to say to their Messenger: “We augur ill of you and those who are with you”, (al-Naml 27:47).
The same attitude was held by Pharaoh and his people. But whenever prosperity came their way, they said: “This is our due.” And whatever hardship befell them, they attributed it to the misfortune of Moses and those who followed him. (Al-A‘raf 7:131.)
15. No one is an evil omen for others. Everyone’s destiny lies fastened to his own neck. Whatever good or evil act comes a person's way is, in either case, a part of his fate. As the Qur’an says: “We have fastened every man’s omen to his neck”. (Bani Isra’il 17:13.)
16. The Prophets (peace be on them) pointed out to them that in truth they wanted to flee from goodness, preferring error to Guidance. Hence rather than distinguish between truth and falsehood on the basis of any rational evidence they resorted to superstition and hankered after one pretext or another to legitimize their evil ways.