36:16 Yaseen (Yaseen)

فقالت هؤلاء الرسل الثلاثة: { رَبُّنَا يَعْلَمُ إِنَّا إِلَيْكُمْ لَمُرْسَلُونَ } فلو كنا كاذبين، لأظهر اللّه خزينا، ولبادرنا بالعقوبة.

ولهذا قال هؤلاء "ما أنتم إلا بشر مثلنا وما أنزل الرحمن من شيء إن أنتم إلا تكذبون قالوا ربنا يعلم إنا إليكم لمرسلون" أي أجابتهم رسلهم الثلاثة قائلين الله يعلم أنا رسله إليكم ولو كنا كذبة عليه لانتقم منا أشد الانتقام ولكنه سيعزنا وينصرنا عليكم وستعلمون لمن تكون عاقبة الدار كقوله تعالى: "قل كفى بالله بيني وبينكم شهيدا يعلم ما في السموات وما في الأرض والذين آمنوا بالباطل وكفروا بالله أولئك هم الخاسرون".

The Story of the Dwellers of the Town and Their Messengers, a Lesson that Those Who belied Their Messengers were Destroyed

Allah says, `O Muhammad, tell your people who disbelieve in you,'

مَّثَلاً أَصْحَـبَ القَرْيَةِ إِذْ جَآءَهَا الْمُرْسَلُونَ

(a similitude; the Dwellers of the Town, when there came Messengers to them.) In the reports that he transmitted from Ibn `Abbas, Ka`b Al-Ahbar and Wahb bin Munabbih - Ibn Ishaq reported that it was the city of Antioch, in which there was a king called Antiochus the son of Antiochus the son of Antiochus, who used to worship idols. Allah sent to him three Messengers, whose names were Sadiq, Saduq and Shalum, and he disbelieved in them. It was also narrated from Buraydah bin Al-Husayb, `Ikrimah, Qatadah and Az-Zuhri that it was Antioch. Some of the Imams were not sure that it was Antioch, as we shall see below after telling the rest of the story, if Allah wills.

إِذْ أَرْسَلْنَآ إِلَيْهِمُ اثْنَيْنِ فَكَذَّبُوهُمَا

(When We sent to them two Messengers, they denied them both;) means, they hastened to disbelieve in them.

فَعَزَّزْنَا بِثَالِثٍ

(so We reinforced them with a third,) means, `We supported and strengthened them with a third Messenger. ' Ibn Jurayj narrated from Wahb bin Sulayman, from Shu`ayb Al-Jaba'i, "The names of the first two Messengers were Sham`un and Yuhanna, and the name of the third was Bulus, and the city was Antioch (Antakiyah).

فَقَالُواْ

(and they said) means, to the people of that city,

إِنَّآ إِلَيْكُمْ مُّرْسَلُونَ

(Verily, we have been sent to you as Messengers.) meaning, `from your Lord Who created you and Who commands you to worship Him Alone with no partners or associates.' This was the view of Abu Al-`Aliyah. Qatadah bin Di`amah claimed that they were messengers of the Messiah, peace be upon him, sent to the people of Antioch.

قَالُواْ مَآ أَنتُمْ إِلاَّ بَشَرٌ مِّثْلُنَا

(They said: "You are only human beings like ourselves...") means, `so how could you receive revelation when you are human beings and we are human beings, so why do we not receive revelation like you If you are Messengers, you should be angels.' This is like what many of the nations said who disbelieved, as Allah has told us in the Ayah: c

ذَلِكَ بِأَنَّهُ كَانَت تَّأْتِيهِمْ رُسُلُهُم بِالْبَيِّنَـتِ فَقَالُواْ أَبَشَرٌ يَهْدُونَنَا

(That was because there came to them their Messengers with clear proofs, but they said: "Shall mere men guide us") (64: 6) meaning that they were amazed by that and they denied it. And Allah says:

قَالُواْ إِنْ أَنتُمْ إِلاَّ بَشَرٌ مِّثْلُنَا تُرِيدُونَ أَن تَصُدُّونَا عَمَّا كَانَ يَعْبُدُ ءَابَآؤُنَا فَأْتُونَا بِسُلْطَـنٍ مُّبِينٍ

(They said: "You are no more than human beings like us! You wish to turn us away from what our fathers used to worship. Then bring us a clear authority.") (14:10). And Allah tells us that they said:

وَلَئِنْ أَطَعْتُمْ بَشَراً مِّثْلَكُمْ إِنَّكُمْ إِذاً لَّخَـسِرُونَ

("If you were to obey a human being like yourselves, then verily, you indeed would be losers.") (23:34). And Allah says:

وَمَا مَنَعَ النَّاسَ أَن يُؤْمِنُواْ إِذْ جَآءَهُمُ الْهُدَى إِلاَّ أَن قَالُواْ أَبَعَثَ اللَّهُ بَشَرًا رَّسُولاً

(And nothing prevented men from believing when the guidance came to them, except that they said: "Has Allah sent a man as (His) Messenger") (17:94). These people said:

قَالُواْ مَآ أَنتُمْ إِلاَّ بَشَرٌ مِّثْلُنَا وَمَآ أَنَزلَ الرَّحْمَـنُ مِن شَىْءٍ إِنْ أَنتُمْ إِلاَّ تَكْذِبُونَ - قَالُواْ رَبُّنَا يَعْلَمُ إِنَّآ إِلَيْكُمْ لَمُرْسَلُونَ

(You are only human beings like ourselves, and the Most Gracious has revealed nothing. You are only telling lies." The Messengers said: "Our Lord knows that we have been sent as Messengers to you.") This means that the three Messengers answered them saying: "Allah knows that we are His Messengers to you. If we were lying, He would have taken the utmost vengeance against us, but He will cause us to prevail and will make us victorious against you, and you will come to know whose will be the happy end in the Hereafter." This is like the Ayah:

قُلْ كَفَى بِاللَّهِ بَيْنِى وَبَيْنَكُمْ شَهِيداً يَعْلَمُ مَا فِى السَّمَـوَتِ وَالاٌّرْضِ وَالَّذِينَ ءامَنُواْ بِالْبَـطِلِ وَكَفَرُواْ بِاللَّهِ أُوْلَـئِكَ هُمُ الْخَـسِرُونَ

(Say: "Sufficient is Allah for a witness between me and you. He knows what is in the heavens and on earth." And those who believe in falsehood, and disbelieve in Allah, it is they who are the losers.) (29:52)

وَمَا عَلَيْنَآ إِلاَّ الْبَلَـغُ الْمُبِينُ

(And our duty is only to convey plainly.) means, `all we have to do is to convey to you the Message with which we have been sent; if you obey, then happiness will be yours in this world and the Hereafter, and if you do not respond, you will soon know the consequences of that.' And Allah knows best.

قَالُواْ إِنَّا تَطَيَّرْنَا بِكُمْ لَئِن لَّمْ تَنتَهُواْ لَنَرْجُمَنَّكُمْ وَلَيَمَسَّنَّكُمْ مِّنَّا عَذَابٌ أَلِيمٌ

They said ‘Our Lord knows qālū rabbunā ya‘lamu functions like an oath. Emphasis is intensified by this oath and also by the addition of the lām to what was before simply mursalūna ‘we have been sent’ to counter their intensified denial that we have indeed been sent to you by Him!

In the next sentence of verse 13: إِذْ أَرْ‌سَلْنَا إِلَيْهِمُ اثْنَيْنِ فَكَذَّبُوهُمَا فَعَزَّزْنَا بِثَالِثٍ فَقَالُوا إِنَّا إِلَيْكُم مُّرْ‌سَلُونَ (when the messengers came to it... - 13). The text has briefly mentioned the coming of messengers to the town. The number of the messengers sent has been identified in verse 14:إِذْ جَاءَهَا إِنَّا إِلَيْكُم مُّرْ‌سَلُونَ (when We sent to them two (apostles), and they rejected them both, so We supported them with a third one. So they said, "We are sent to you" ) This shows that three messengers were sent to the said town. First came two, the people of the town rejected them and refused to listen to them. Then Allah Ta’ ala strengthened them by sending the third messenger. After that, all three addressed the people of the town, telling them that they had been sent to guide them to the straight path.

What does 'messenger' mean? Who were these people?

In the Qur'an, the word: رسول (rasul: messenger) and: مُرسل (mursal: sent) is generally used for a prophet or apostle of Allah. In this verse, Allah Ta’ ala has attributed their sending to Himself. This too indicates that they are prophets who have been sent to accomplish some mission. This is what Ibn Ishaq reports from Sayyidna Ibn ` Abbas ؓ Ka'b Ahbar ؓ and Wahb Ibn Munabbih. According to the reports, these three elders mentioned as the ones sent to this town were the prophets of Allah. Their names as given in this narration are Sadiq, Saduq and Shalum, while in another narration, the name of the third appears as Sham` un. (Ibn Kathir)

And it has been reported from Sayyidna Qatadah ؓ that the word: مُّرْ‌سَلُونَ (mursalun: sent ones) has not been used here in its technical sense, instead, it appears in the sense of a bearer of message, and the three elders who were sent to this town were no prophets themselves, rather, were from among the disciples of Sayyidna ` Isa (علیہ السلام) and were sent for the guidance of this town under his order (Ibn Kathir). And since their sender, Sayyidna ` Isa (علیہ السلام) was a messenger of Allah, therefore, in a way, his sending was indirectly the sending of Allah Ta’ ala. Hence, his sending has been attributed to Allah Ta’ ala. Out of the commentators, Ibn Kathir has opted for the first saying while al-Qurtubi and others have gone by the second. From the apparent sense of the text of the Qur'an too, it is generally gathered that these blessed souls were prophets of Allah. Allah knows best.