Tafheem ul Quran

Surah 17 Al-Isra, Ayat 90-95

وَقَالُوۡا لَنۡ نُّـؤۡمِنَ لَـكَ حَتّٰى تَفۡجُرَ لَنَا مِنَ الۡاَرۡضِ يَنۡۢبُوۡعًا ۙ‏ ﴿17:90﴾ اَوۡ تَكُوۡنَ لَـكَ جَنَّةٌ مِّنۡ نَّخِيۡلٍ وَّعِنَبٍ فَتُفَجِّرَ الۡاَنۡهٰرَ خِلٰلَهَا تَفۡجِيۡرًا ۙ‏ ﴿17:91﴾ اَوۡ تُسۡقِطَ السَّمَآءَ كَمَا زَعَمۡتَ عَلَيۡنَا كِسَفًا اَوۡ تَاۡتِىَ بِاللّٰهِ وَالۡمَلٰۤـئِكَةِ قَبِيۡلًا ۙ‏ ﴿17:92﴾ اَوۡ يَكُوۡنَ لَـكَ بَيۡتٌ مِّنۡ زُخۡرُفٍ اَوۡ تَرۡقٰى فِى السَّمَآءِ ؕ وَلَنۡ نُّـؤۡمِنَ لِرُقِيِّكَ حَتّٰى تُنَزِّلَ عَلَيۡنَا كِتٰبًا نَّـقۡرَؤُهٗ​ ؕ قُلۡ سُبۡحَانَ رَبِّىۡ هَلۡ كُنۡتُ اِلَّا بَشَرًا رَّسُوۡلًا‏ ﴿17:93﴾ وَمَا مَنَعَ النَّاسَ اَنۡ يُّؤۡمِنُوۡۤا اِذۡ جَآءَهُمُ الۡهُدٰٓى اِلَّاۤ اَنۡ قَالُـوۡۤا اَبَعَثَ اللّٰهُ بَشَرًا رَّسُوۡلًا‏ ﴿17:94﴾ قُلْ لَّوۡ كَانَ فِى الۡاَرۡضِ مَلٰۤـئِكَةٌ يَّمۡشُوۡنَ مُطۡمَـئِنِّيۡنَ لَـنَزَّلۡنَا عَلَيۡهِمۡ مِّنَ السَّمَآءِ مَلَـكًا رَّسُوۡلًا‏ ﴿17:95﴾

(17:90) They said: "We shall not accept your Message until you cause a spring to gush forth for us from the earth; (17:91) or that there be a garden of palms and vines for you and then you cause rivers to abundantly flow forth through them; (17:92) or cause the sky to fall on us in pieces as you claimed, or bring Allah and the angels before us, face to face; (17:93) or that there come to be for you a house of gold, or that you ascend to the sky - though we shall not believe in your ascension (to the sky) - until you bring down a book for us that we can read." Say to them, (O Muhammad): "Holy is my Lord! Am I anything else than a human being, who bears a Message106 (from Allah)?" (17:94) Whenever Guidance came to people, nothing prevented them from believing except that they said: "Has Allah sent a human being as a Messenger?"107 (17:95) Say: "Had angels been walking about in peace on the earth, We would surely have sent to them an angel from the heavens as Messenger."108

Notes

106. This is the second answer to the demand of the disbelievers for a miracle. The first answer is contained in (Ayat 59). The eloquence of this concise answer is above praise: You demand from me that I should cause a spring to gush forth, or in the twinkling of an eye should bring into being a garden in full bloom with canals flowing in it: or I should cause the heaven to fall into pieces on those of you who are rejecting the message: or I should cause to build a furnished palace of gold: or I should call Allah and the angels to stand before you and testify to this effect: We Ourselves have sent down Muhammad as Our Messenger: or I should go up to the sky in your presence and bring down, addressed to you, the letter of authority of my appointment duly signed by Allah so that you may touch it with your hands and read it with your own eyes. The concise answer to these big demands was this: My Lord be glorified! Have I ever claimed to be anything more than a human Messenger? It may be expanded like this: O people, have I claimed to be God that you are demanding such things from me? Did I ever say that I am all powerful and am ruling over the earth and the Heavens? From the very first day my claim has been that I am a human being who is bringing the Message from God. Therefore, if you want to judge the authenticity of my claim, you may judge it from my message. If you are convinced that it is based on the truth and is absolutely rational, then you should believe in it without making foolish demands. On the other hand, if you find any defect in it, you may reject it. If you want to test whether my claim is based on truth, you should judge it by the standard of my conduct and morals as a human being and my mission. Is it not a folly that, instead of this, you are demanding from me to cleave the earth and cause the sky to fall? Is there any connection whatsoever of Prophethood with things like that.

107. It implies that this misunderstanding has always been common among the ignorant people of every age that a human being could not be a Messenger of Allah: They rejected a Messenger just because he was a human being and took his meals and had wife and children like themselves. In contrast to this, after the passage of the time the credulous followers of a Messenger began to claim that he was not a human being at all because he was a Messenger. That is why some people made their Messenger their God, others the son of God and still others the incarnation of God. In short, the ignorant people had never been able to understand that a human being could be a Messenger of Allah.

108. This is to say that Messenger does not merely convey the message but is sent to reform human life in accordance with it. He has to apply the principles of the message to the circumstances of human beings and has himself to demonstrate practically those principles. Moreover, he has to remove the misunderstandings of those people who try to listen to and understand his message. Besides this, he has to organize and train the believers to create a society based on the teachings of his message. He has to struggle against those who reject and oppose his message in order to subdue those powers that are bent upon corruption, and bring about that reformation for which Allah has sent His Messenger. As all these things have to be done in a society of human beings only a human Messenger can perform the mission. If an angel had been sent as a Messenger, the most he could have done was to convey the message, for he could not live among human beings and share their life and problems in order to reform them. It is thus clear that a human Messenger only could be suitable for this purpose.