28:57 Al-Qasas (The Stories)

يخبر تعالى أن المكذبين من قريش وأهل مكة، يقولون للرسول صلى اللّه عليه وسلم: { إِنْ نَتَّبِعِ الْهُدَى مَعَكَ نُتَخَطَّفْ مِنْ أَرْضِنَا } بالقتل والأسر ونهب الأموال، فإن الناس قد عادوك وخالفوك، فلو تابعناك لتعرضنا لمعاداة الناس كلهم، ولم يكن لنا بهم طاقة.وهذا الكلام منهم، يدل على سوء الظن باللّه تعالى، وأنه لا ينصر دينه، ولا يعلي كلمته، بل يمكن الناس من أهل دينه، فيسومونهم سوء العذاب، وظنوا أن الباطل سيعلو على الحق.قال اللّه مبينا لهم حالة هم بها دون الناس وأن اللّه اختصهم بها، فقال: { أَوَلَمْ نُمَكِّنْ لَهُمْ حَرَمًا آمِنًا يُجْبَى إِلَيْهِ ثَمَرَاتُ كُلِّ شَيْءٍ رِزْقًا مِنْ لَدُنَّا } أي: أولم نجعلهم متمكنين [ممكنين] في حرم يكثره المنتابون ويقصده الزائرون، قد احترمه البعيد والقريب، فلا يهاج أهله، ولا ينتقصون بقليل [ولا كثير].والحال أن كل ما حولهم من الأماكن، قد حف بها الخوف من كل جانب، وأهلها غير آمنين ولا مطمئنين، فَلْيَحْمَدُوا ربهم على هذا الأمن التام، الذي ليس فيه غيرهم، وعلى الرزق الكثير، الذي يجيء إليهم من كل مكان، من الثمرات والأطعمة والبضائع، ما به يرتزقون ويتوسعون. ولْيَتَّبِعُوا هذا الرسول الكريم، ليتم لهم الأمن والرغد.

وقوله تعالى: "وقالوا إن نتبع الهدى معك نتخطف من أرضنا" يقول تعالى مخبرا عن اعتذار بعض الكفار في عدم اتباع الهدى حيث قالوا لرسول الله صلى الله عليه وسلم: "إن نتبع الهدى معك نتخطف من أرضنا" أي نخشى إن اتبعنا ما جئت به من الهدى وخالفنا من حولنا من أحياء العرب المشركين أن يقصدونا بالأذى والمحاربة ويتخطفونا أينما كنا قال الله تعالى مجيبا لهم "أو لم نمكن لهم حرما آمنا" يعني هذا الذي اعتذروا به كذب وباطل لأن الله تعالى جعلهم في بلد أمين وحرم معظم آمن منذ وضع فكيف يكون هذا الحرم آمنا لهم في حال كفرهم وشركهم ولا يكون آمنا لهم وقد أسلموا وتابعوا الحق؟ وقوله تعالى: "يجبى إليه ثمرات كل شيء" أي من سائر الثمار مما حوله من الطائف وغيره وكذلك المتاجر والأمتعة "رزقا من لدنا" أي من عندنا "ولكن أكثرهم لا يعلمون" ولهذا قالوا ما قالوا وقد قال النسائي أنبأنا الحسن بن محمد حدثنا حجاج عن ابن جريج أخبرني ابن أبي مليكة قال: قال عمرو بن شعيب عن ابن عباس ولم يسمعه منه أن الحارث بن عامر بن نوفل الذي قال: "إن نتبع الهدى معك نتخطف من أرضنا".

Allah guides Whom He wills

Allah says to His Messenger : `O Muhammad:

لاَ تَهْدِى مَنْ أَحْبَبْتَ

(Verily, you guide not whom you like)' meaning, `the matter does not rest with you; all that you have to do is convey the Message, and Allah will guide whom He wills, and His is the ultimate wisdom,' as He says:

لَّيْسَ عَلَيْكَ هُدَاهُمْ وَلَـكِنَّ اللَّهَ يَهْدِى مَن يَشَآءُ

(Not upon you is their guidance, but Allah guides whom He wills.) (2:272)

وَمَآ أَكْثَرُ النَّاسِ وَلَوْ حَرَصْتَ بِمُؤْمِنِينَ

(And most of mankind will not believe even if you desire it eagerly.) (12:103) This Ayah is even more specific than the following:

إِنَّكَ لاَ تَهْدِى مَنْ أَحْبَبْتَ وَلَـكِنَّ اللَّهَ يَهْدِى مَن يَشَآءُ وَهُوَ أَعْلَمُ بِالْمُهْتَدِينَ

(Verily, you guide not whom you like, but Allah guides whom He wills. And He knows best those who are the guided.) meaning: Allah knows best who deserves to be guided and who deserves to be misguided. It was recorded in the Two Sahihs that this Ayah was revealed concerning Abu Talib, the paternal uncle of the Messenger of Allah ﷺ. He used to protect the Prophet, support him and stand by him. He loved the Prophet dearly, but this love was a natural love, i.e., born of kinship, not a love that was born of the fact that he was the Messenger of Allah ﷺ. When he was on his deathbed, the Messenger of Allah ﷺ called him to Faith and to enter Islam, but the decree overtook him and he remained a follower of disbelief, and Allah's is the complete wisdom. Az-Zuhri said: "Sa`id bin Al-Musayyib narrated to me that his father, Al-Musayyib bin Hazan Al-Makhzumi, may Allah be pleased with him, said: "When Abu Talib was dying, the Messenger of Allah ﷺ came to him and found Abu Jahl bin Hisham and `Abdullah bin Abi Umayyah bin Al-Mughirah with him. The Messenger of Allah ﷺ said:

«يَا عَمِّ قُلْ: لَا إِلَهَ إِلَّا اللهُ، كَلِمَةً أُحَاجُّ لَكَ بِهَا عِنْدَ الله»

(O my uncle, say La ilaha illallah, a word which I may use as evidence in your favor before Allah in the Hereafter.) Abu Jahl bin Hisham and `Abdullah bin Abi Umayyah said: `O Abu Talib, will you leave the religion of `Abdul-Muttalib' The Messenger of Allah ﷺ kept urging him to say La ilaha illallah, and they kept saying, `Will you leave the religion of `Abdul-Muttalib' -- until, at the very end, he said that he was on the religion of `Abdul-Muttalib, and he refused to say La ilaha illallah. The Messenger of Allah ﷺ said:

«وَاللهِ لَأَسْتَغْفِرَنَّ لَكَ مَا لَمْ أُنْهَ عَنْك»

(By Allah, I shall certainly seek forgiveness for you unless I am told not to.) Then Allah revealed:

مَا كَانَ لِلنَّبِىِّ وَالَّذِينَ ءَامَنُواْ أَن يَسْتَغْفِرُواْ لِلْمُشْرِكِينَ وَلَوْ كَانُواْ أُوْلِى قُرْبَى

(It is not (proper) for the Prophet and those who believe to ask Allah's forgiveness for the idolators, even though they be of kin) (9:113). And there was revealed concerning Abu Talib the Ayah,

إِنَّكَ لاَ تَهْدِى مَنْ أَحْبَبْتَ وَلَـكِنَّ اللَّهَ يَهْدِى مَن يَشَآءُ

(Verily, you guide not whom you like, but Allah guides whom He wills.)" This was recorded (by Al-Bukhari and Muslim) from the Hadith of Az-Zuhri.

The Excuses made by the People of Makkah for not believing, and the Refutation of Their Excuses

وَقَالُواْ إِن نَّتَّبِعِ الْهُدَى مَعَكَ نُتَخَطَّفْ مِنْ أَرْضِنَآ

(And they say: "If we follow the guidance with you, we would be snatched away from our land.") Allah tells us that this is the excuse which was given by some of the disbelievers for not following true guidance. They said to the Messenger of Allah ﷺ:

إِن نَّتَّبِعِ الْهُدَى مَعَكَ نُتَخَطَّفْ مِنْ أَرْضِنَآ

(If we follow the guidance with you, we would be snatched away from our land.), meaning, `we are afraid that if we follow the message of guidance that you have brought, and go against the pagan Arab tribes around us, they will seek to do us harm and wage war against us, and they may snatch us away from wherever we may be.' Allah said in response to them:

أَوَلَمْ نُمَكِّن لَّهُمْ حَرَماً ءَامِناً

(Have We not established for them a secure sanctuary,) meaning, the excuse they give is a lie and is false, because Allah has put them in a secure city and a venerated sanctuary which has been safe from the time it was built -- how could this sanctuary be safe for them when they believed in disbelief and Shirk, and how could it not be safe for them when they become Muslims and follow the truth

يُجْبَى إِلَيْهِ ثَمَرَاتُ كُلِّ شَىْءٍ

(to which are brought fruits of all kinds, ) means, all kinds of fruits from the surrounding regions, from At-Ta'if and elsewhere. Similarly, the people of Makkah engaged in trade and other goods also came to their city.

رِّزْقاً مِّن لَّدُنَّا وَلَـكِنَّ أَكْثَرَهُمْ لاَ يَعْلَمُونَ

(a provision from Ourselves, but most of them know not.) - this is why they said what they said.

And they his people say ‘If we were to follow the Guidance with you we will be deprived from our land’ torn out of it swiftly. God exalted be He says Have We not established for them a secure Sanctuary one in which they are secure from the raids and killings that occur among the Arab tribes to which are brought read tujbā or yujbā fruits of all kinds fruits from every direction as a provision for them from Us? But most of them do not know that what We say is the truth.

Commentary

وَقَالُوا إِن نَّتَّبِعِ الْهُدَىٰ مَعَكَ نُتَخَطَّفْ مِنْ أَرْ‌ضِنَا (And they said, "If we follow the guidance with you (0 Muhammad), we will be driven out of our land." - 28:57). Harith Ibn ` Uthman and other infidels of Makkah put forward one of the reasons for their non-acceptance of faith that although they believed that his teachings were based on truth, but they feared that if they followed him, the entire people of Arabia would turn against them, and as a consequence they will be driven out of their land. (Nasai' etc.). The Holy Qur'an has given three answers to their lame excuse. One, نُمَكِّن لَّهُمْ حَرَ‌مًا آمِنًا يُجْبَىٰ إِلَيْهِ ثَمَرَ‌اتُ كُلِّ شَيْءٍ (Is it not that We have established them in the peaceful Haram (sanctuary) to which the fruits of everything are drawn as a provision from Us - 28:57) that is this excuse of theirs is false, because Allah Ta` ala had already made special arrangements for the safety of the people of Makkah by making its land Haram. All the tribes of Arabia, despite their mutual feuds and infidelity, were unanimous on the point that killing and feuds were strictly prohibited on the land of Makkah. If a killer of father met the son in the Haram, despite extremely strong feelings of revenge, he could not raise his hand against him. It was just not possible for anyone to kill or harm his enemy on the ground of Haram. Therefore, it was not at all a convincing excuse for not converting to faith. How was it possible that the Creator of everything would let them die as a believer, when He had made arrangement for their safety in Haram even as infidels? Yahya Ibn Sallam has explained this verse as: You were safe and secure because of حرم Haram, and were enjoying the sustenance provided by Me in plenty, still you used to worship others instead of Me. You did not get worried over this situation of yours, and on the contrary got worried over conversion to faith in Me'. (Qurtubi)

In this verse two qualities of Haram are described. One, that it is a place of peace, and the other that fruits from different parts of the world were brought there.

Availability of all types of produce in Haram of Makkah is a special Divine gift

Allah Ta` ala chose Makkah Mukkarramah, out of the whole world, to establish the Ka'bah and Haram. In terms of its environment and geography it is a region where, under the normal circumstances, hardly any economic or commercial goods and activity should have existed. Even the basic staple agricultural products like wheat, rice, gram and sundry cereals were not cultivated before on a significant scale, let alone its and variety of vegetables. Though, in recent years there has been some emphasis from the Saudi Government toward their cultivation. Yet, everything is available there in such an abundance that one gets amazed. During the period of hajj some two million people are drawn from all over the world and stay there for an average of one month. It has never been heard that any scarcity of food items was ever experienced there. On the contrary, everyone can witness that cooked and prepared food to cater for all types of races and people is readily available all the time. If we ponder over Qur'anic words, which say ثَمَرَ‌اتُ كُلِّ شَيْءٍ (fruits of everything), a question arises that fruits are the product of trees, so it would have been apt to say ثَمَرَ‌اتُ كُلِّ شَجر (fruits of every tree) rather than ثَمَرَ‌اتُ كُلِّ شَيْءٍ (fruits of everything). Therefore, it is quite likely that the word 'everything' used here, encompasses the produce and products of all kind, including agricultural produce. For instance, the produce of industrial factories is also their fruit. Hence, the gist of the discussion is that not only food items but also all sorts of things of human need would be made available in Makkah. Any one visiting Makkah, either for hajj or ` umrah, can confirm that everything produced anywhere in the world is readily available there. This was one reply to the excuse put forward by the infidels of Makkah, and the gist of the reply was that the Lord who had been so kind to them that He had made available all the bounties of the world in their city, despite the fact that they are not produced there, and who had made the city completely free of risk and danger, it is the worst kind of ignorance to presume about Him that He would deprive them of these benefits if they would believe in Him.

(And they say: If we were to follow the Guidance with thee we should be torn out of our land�) [28:57]. This verse was revealed about al-Harith ibn �Uthman ibn Nawfal ibn �Abd Manaf when he said to the Prophet, Allah bless him and give him peace: �We know that what you say is the truth. However, what prevents us from following you is the fear that the Arabs will drive us out of our land, since they are unanimously against us and we have no power against them�. Therefore, Allah, exalted is He, revealed this verse.