مُنذِر

4:166; 6:49; 18:57.

Commentary:

In the preceding verses different classes of people––believers and disbelievers together with their sub-divisions––have been mentioned. The verse under comment not only traces the genesis of these classes but also hints to Muslims that, just as the world began with all people as one community, God now wishes them again to become one community through the Holy Prophet who, unlike previous Prophets, came with a universal mission.

The clause, Mankind were one community, may mean: (1) mankind, i.e. all men were originally one people; (2) all disbelievers are one people. In the first-mentioned case, the verse would mean that, in the beginning of the world, all mankind were one people. They had no social rules, no polity, no civic laws. Then in the course of time, differences arose among them with regard to these things. So God sent to them Prophets to guide them how to live good and useful lives.

In the second case, the meaning of the clause would be that before the advent of a Prophet all men are like one people in the sense that they are all disbelievers, and disbelief and wrongdoing reign supreme in the world. But when a Prophet appears, all people, in spite of their mutual differences, form one united front against him. This meaning is in harmony with the well-known saying of the Holy Prophet, الکفر ملة واحدة i.e. all disbelievers (to whatever creed or religion they may belong) are one people.

The clause, and sent down with them the Book, does not mean that God revealed a separate Book to every Prophet. In that case, "Books", instead of "the Book", would have been the appropriate word. In fact, the "sending down of a Book" to a Prophet does not always mean the actual revelation of it to him in person. The Quran uses similar words with regard to those Prophets who were not the direct recipients of any revealed Book (6:115, 157, 158; 3:73, 200; 29:47; 21:11). The clause, therefore, only means that every Prophet has received a Book from God, whether it was revealed to him direct or whether it was revealed to a previous Prophet whose mission he was called upon to serve.

The "difference" referred to in the verse at two separate places signifies two different kinds of disagreement. Before the advent of a Prophet people differ among themselves about false beliefs and idolatrous practices. But after the appearance of the truth, they begin to differ with regard to the truth itself. The advent of a Prophet, however, does not, as may be wrongly imagined, create differences. The differences are already there; they merely assume a new form. But whereas before a Prophet has made his appearance the people, in spite of their differences, look like one people, they become divided into two distinct camps, believers and disbelievers, after he has appeared.

The clause, out of envy towards one another, points to the important fact that invariably the root-cause of the rejection of a Prophet is jealousy. Disbelievers cannot reconcile themselves to the idea that an ordinary person from among them, generally inferior to many of them in wealth, power or social status, should be made their teacher and leader. Disbelievers also consider it below their dignity to ally themselves with a community a large majority of whose members are of humble origin, as is often the case with the early followers of Divine Messengers.

The clause, Now has Allah, by His command, guided believers to the truth in regard to which they (the unbelievers)differed, refers to the advent of the Holy Prophet who was raised by God with a universal mission to remove the differences of all the peoples of the earth. The expression باذنه translated as "by His command" may also mean "according to His eternal decree". In the beginning of the world God willed that the final Law-giving Prophet should come with a universal mission and should constitute, as it were, the zenith of the system of النبوة or prophecy. Says the Holy Prophet "I was a Prophet of God while Adam was yet in the making between the body and the soul" (Tirmidhi).

Viewed collectively, the verse describes five different stages through which mankind has passed: (1) When there was unity among the people, all forming one community. This was in the beginning of the human race. (2) When, with the increase in population and the extension of interests and the complexity of problems confronting man, people began to differ among themselves. (3) When God raised Prophets among different peoples and different countries to show them the right path and revealed His will to the various contending sections. (4) When the very revelation of God sent to remove differences was made a cause of difference by the mischievous people. (5) When God finally raised the Holy Prophet with His last Book and a universal mission, calling upon entire humanity to rally round his banner. Thus a beautiful circle was completed and the world which began with unity was designed to end with it.

2:214; 6:49; 17:106; 18:57.

Commentary:

The words, bearers of glad tidings and warners, point to two essential functions of God’s Messengers. They are bearers of glad tidings for those who accept them, promising them prosperity in this world and blissful felicity in the life to come, and they are warners of impending misery and afflictions for those who reject them. When the people of the world are sunk deep in iniquity, God raises among them a Messenger who warns them of the impending punishment and calls upon them to repent because "We never punish until We have sent a Messenger" (17:16).

God sends His Messengers so that the people, on being punished, might have no excuse to say that no warner was sent to them to point out to them their evil deeds and warn them of the impending visitation—an excuse depicted in the words: Our Lord, wherefore didst Thou not send to us a Messenger that we might have followed Thy commandments (20:135).

4:166; 5:20; 18:57.

5:70; 7:36.

Commentary:

All Divine Messengers have a sort of dual personality—a twofold mission. They bring glad tidings for one class of men and warnings for others. Those who accept them receive tidings of blessings and those who reject them receive warnings of punishments. Those who are weak should hasten to join the class of men for whom glad tidings are meant. They have no reason to fear; for, as the verse makes it clear, if they accept the Prophets, "no fear shall come on them, nor shall they grieve!"

6:38; 10:21.

11:13; 35:24.

Important Words:

انما (surely) is a compound of ان (inna) and ما (ma) and generally gives the sense of "only." Sometimes it is used in the sense of "verily, certainly or surely" (Taj). See also 6:110.

Commentary:

A study of the Quran makes it clear that whenever disbelievers demand a sign, they invariably mean the sign of punishment, unless the context points to some other meaning. This is why disbelievers are here depicted as saying, Wherefore has not a sign been sent down to him, as if the many signs already shown to them were no signs at all. In reply to this foolish demand they are told that it is clear from the very title of the Prophet—a Warner—that punishment will at last surely overtake disbelievers; but before it comes upon them, they will be given ample opportunities to benefit by the guidance the Prophet has brought because he is also a guide for them.

2:214; 4:166; 6:49; 17:106.

Important Words:

لید حضوا (that they may rebut) is derived from دحض . They say دحضت رجله i.e. his foot slipped. دحضت حجته means, his argument, plea, allegation or evidence was or became null or void. ادحض means, he rendered null and void an argument, etc.; he rebutted it. The Quranic words لیدحضوا به الحق mean, that they might rebut thereby the truth (Lane & Aqrab).

Commentary:

The verse means to say that signs are shown to disbelievers that they may benefit by them and by accepting truth save themselves from Divine punishment. But they mock at them and treat them as vagaries of superstitious and ignorant people and reject them with contempt. They accept, however, as holy writ the half-baked theories of their own philosophers and social thinkers. These verses describe the mental attitude of western nations towards spiritual matters.

Commentary:

The words 'on thy heart' have been added to indicate that the Quranic revelations were not merely inspired ideas which the Holy Prophet expressed in his own words but were the actual words of God Himself which descended upon the Prophet’s heart through the medium of Gabriel. The verse also implies reference to a famous prophecy of Moses (Deut. 18:18) in which it is stated that God would put His words in the mouth of the Prophet whom He would raise from among the brethren of the Israelites. Of all revealed scriptures, the Quran stands unique in this respect that from beginning to end it is the spoken Word of God (کلام اللّٰه).

The allusion in the words "on thy heart" may also be to the purity of the Holy Prophet’s heart and his perfect aptitude for receiving Divine revelation to which a beautiful reference has also been made in 24:36.

It may be noted in passing that Divine revelation descends, besides the heart, on the tongue and the ears. In 75:17 we have the words, "move not thy tongue with this revelation that thou mayest hasten to preserve it," which shows that revelation descends on the tongue also. The Holy Prophet is reported to have said: "Sometimes the angel takes the form of a man and talks to me and I remember what he says" (Bukhari). This hadith shows that revelation descends on the ears also. But the revelation which descends upon the tongue or the ear descends at the same time on the heart as well.

6:132; 11:118; 20:135; 28:60.

Commentary:

The verse refers to a divine law that punishment does not overtake a people unless a Prophet is first sent to them and by rejecting and opposing him they render themselves deserving of it. See also 17:16; 28:60; 35:38.

10:109; 39:42.

Commentary:

The theme of the preceding verse is further developed in the present verse and the Holy Prophet is commanded to say that from Mecca will emanate the light of the Quran which will illumine the whole world.

Commentary:

After having briefly referred to some of the Prophets who had to suffer great hardships at the hands of their enemies and who endured those hardships with great patience and fortitude and also after having dealt with the subject that opposition to God’s Messengers never goes unpunished and their acceptance unrewarded, the Surah towards its close reverts (as is the invariable rule in the Quran) to the main subject with which it had opened, namely, the subject of Divine Unity. The Holy Prophet is enjoined to tell disbelievers that from the accounts of the life of Divine Messengers, mentioned in the preceding verses, they must have realized that God is One and that He is the Almighty and the Most Supreme and that it is to preach and establish His Unity in the world that the Holy Prophet has been sent.

97:2.

Commentary:

In this verse the Quran is stated to have been revealed in the blessed night which elsewhere is called لیلة القدر i.e. the "Night of Destiny" (97:2). According to authentic traditions of the Holy Prophet, the "Night of Destiny" falls in the last ten nights of Ramadan, the month in which the Quran began to be revealed (2:186), to be exact, on its 24th night (Masnad & Jarir). The blessed night, or the "Night of Destiny", is the Quranic metaphor for a period of time when spiritual darkness enshrouds the entire face of the earth and mankind wallows in the quagmire of sin and iniquity. It is then that a Divine Reformer is raised to reclaim and regenerate corrupt humanity. The night which gave to humanity its greatest Teacher and the last and most perfect Divine Law, was indeed a "Night of Destiny" for it. The blessed night or the "Night of Destiny" may also be taken as covering the whole period in which the Quran continued to be revealed.