TAFSEER OF SURAH YASEEN (PART 7)
Sura Yaseen states in verses 13 and 14:
وَاضْرِبْ لَهُمْ مَثَلًا أَصْحَابَ الْقَرْيَةِ إِذْ جَاءَهَا الْمُرْسَلُونَ
- And put forward to them a similitude; the (incident of the) dwellers of the town, when there came Messengers to them.
إِذْ أَرْسَلْنَا إِلَيْهِمُ اثْنَيْنِ فَكَذَّبُوهُمَا فَعَزَّزْنَا بِثَالِثٍ فَقَالُوا إِنَّا إِلَيْكُمْ مُرْسَلُونَ
- When We sent to them two Messengers, they belied them both, so We reinforced them with a third, and they said: “Verily! We have been sent to you as Messengers.”
Here, the Prophet ﷺ was asked to rehearse to his people who disbelieved in him, the incident of the ‘people of the town’, since in this narration there were lessons to be learnt and warnings to be taken. Allah sent Messengers to this town to invite its people to the message of truth, and to warn them of His punishment if they did not believe in Him.
Verse 14 went on to state that two messengers were sent to the people of the town, but when they were denied, Allah sent a third prophet as a support and strength to the previous two.
While commenting on these verses, the great exegetes have stated that this was the town of Antakiyah (Antioch) according to the opinions of all the Mufasireen (commentators). In this town, there was a Pharoah who worshipped idols. Allah sent three messengers to these people whose names were Sadiq, Saduq and Shalom (the third one). Allah ordered the Prophet ﷺ to warn the polytheists at his time, by rehearsing this narration to them, lest the same punishment comes to them as it came to the ‘dwellers of the town.’ This is the commentary given by Abdullah bin Abbas (R.A), Kaab Al Ahbar and Wahb bin Munabih. (Tafseer Al Qurtubi, Vol.15, Pg.17-18, Mataba Rasheediya / Tafseer At Tabari, Vol.22, Pg.184, Dar Ihya At Turath Al Arabi / Tafseer Ibn Katheer, Vol.5, Pg. 276, Dar Al Kitab Al Arabi, Beirut)
Some commentators have stated that these three messengers were not prophets (as deputed by Allah), but were disciples of Isa (A.S) who were sent by him to convey the message of his religion to the people of the town. This explanation has been given by Qatada as narrated by Ibn Jareer. Imam Qurtubi has also indicated to this opinion and said, ‘It has been stated that it was Isa (A.S) who sent these messengers to Antakiyah (Antioch) to call towards Allah. This occurred at the time when Isa (A.S) was taken up to the heavens.’ (Tafseer At Tabari, Vol.22, Pg.183, Dar Ihya At Turath Al Arabi / Tafseer Al Qurtubi, Vol.15, Pg.18, Maktab Rasheedya)
The majority of the commentators however, have stated that the three Messengers were prophets of Allah.
Verse 14 mentions that when the Messengers came to them, they said, ‘Verily, we have been sent to you as Messengers.’ In response to this, the unbelieving people of the town said:
قَالُوا مَا أَنْتُمْ إِلَّا بَشَرٌ مِثْلُنَا وَمَا أَنْزَلَ الرَّحْمَٰنُ مِنْ شَيْءٍ إِنْ أَنْتُمْ إِلَّا تَكْذِبُونَ
- They (people of the town) said: “You are only human beings like ourselves, and the Most Beneficent (Allah) has revealed nothing, you are only telling lies.”
The people, while denying them as Messengers, told them that they were humans just as they were. They did not have anything that made them special or worthy of being above them. In addition, they told the Messengers that Allah has not revealed anything to them that made them messengers, nor did he convey a message to them. In fact, they believed that they were lying with respect to the claim of being Messengers. Upon this statement made by the unbelievers, the Messengers replied:
قَالُوا رَبُّنَا يَعْلَمُ إِنَّا إِلَيْكُمْ لَمُرْسَلُونَ
- The Messengers said: “Our Lord knows that we have been sent as Messengers to you,
وَمَا عَلَيْنَا إِلَّا الْبَلَاغُ الْمُبِينُ
- “And our duty is only to convey plainly (the Message).”
The Messengers made it clear to them that Allah knows very well that they are His Messengers and that He has sent them to the town. Allah’s knowledge of them that they were upon the truth and that they were not liars is sufficient. In addition, the Messengers told them that their task was simply to convey a plain message to them. They were not responsible for anything besides that. Hence, whether they accept them as Messengers or not, their job was only to deliver a message, which they will do. Benefits and harms were connected to their acceptance and non-acceptance of the message. Furthermore, rejection of their message cannot cause harm to them.