Tafsir of Al-Mu'minoon 23:24

"Then the eminent among those who disbelieved of his people said..."

The "eminent" (al-mala’)—meaning the nobility—are described with disbelief despite all of them sharing in it, in order to signal the absolute rootedness and intensity of their persistence in it. The intent behind this is solely to condemn them, not to distinguish them from other nobles who believed in him (peace be upon him), for not a single one of their nobles believed in him, as is made clear by the statement: "We do not see in you but a human being like ourselves, and we do not see you followed except by those who are the lowest of us." Al-Khafaji said: It is valid to interpret this description as a means of distinction, even if some of their nobles had not yet believed at the time this speech was uttered, because among the followers of the Prophet (peace be upon him) were indeed some nobles. As for the statement "We do not see in you," it is based on their own presumptions or on the fact that his followers from among the nobility were few. Regardless, the meaning is that the nobility said to the commoners: "This is not but a human being like yourselves," meaning in terms of essence and attributes, without any distinction between you and him. They described him thus to exaggerate in lowering his lofty rank and debasing him from the station of Prophethood.

They further described him with the Almighty’s words: "He wishes to obtain superiority over you," intended to enrage the addressees against him and incite them toward hostility. "Obtaining superiority" (al-tafaddul) means seeking merit, and it is a metonym for lordship—as if they said: "He wants to be your master and precede you by claiming messengership, despite being just like you." It is also said that the tafa‘‘ul form is borrowed to denote perfection, as whatever one strives for is brought to its most complete state; thus, it is as if they said: "He wishes for a perfection of superiority over you."

"And if Allah had willed, He would have sent down angels"—this is an exposition of their false belief that a human being could never be a messenger, after they had already acknowledged his humanity. It means: "If Allah Almighty had willed to send a messenger, He would have sent messengers from the angels." The reason for the expression "sent down" (anzala) is that the descent of angels can only occur by way of sending them down. The object of the "will" is the general concept of sending, understood from the context, rather than the specific content of the reply, just as in the Almighty’s saying: "And if Allah had willed, He would have guided you." There is no harm in this. As for the claim that the object of the "will" is only elided when it is not something strange and is instead the content of the jaza’ (consequence), this is a rule for consistent elision, not an absolute one. Like all objects, it may be elided and determined according to the context. Based on this, it is permissible to say: The intended meaning is "If Allah Almighty had willed their worship of Him alone, He would have sent down angels to convey that from Him, the Exalted and Majestic." This was a critique by them of the Prophet’s command: "Worship Allah."

Similarly, the Almighty’s saying: "We have not heard of this among our forefathers of old."

This is also a critique of what was mentioned in the previous claim. It is based on the idea that "this" refers to the speech containing the command to worship Allah alone. The speech implies an elided addition: "We have not heard of the like of this speech among our past forefathers before his mission (peace be upon him)." The addition is assumed because the lack of hearing about Noah’s speech itself does not serve as a refutation, as hearing the like of it is sufficient for acceptance. It is also said: The reference is to this speech itself, without regard to specifics, so there is no need to assume an addition. This is a sound view. Furthermore, this statement of theirs either stems from them and their forefathers living in an interval [between prophets], or from their extreme excess in denial and stubbornness, and their immersion in error and corruption. Regardless, it should have been what was uttered at the beginning of his mission, as indicated by the fa (the 'so' or 'then') which signals sequence in the Almighty’s saying: "Then the eminent... said."

It is said that "this" refers to Noah (peace be upon him) himself, meaning: "We have not heard of the news of his prophethood." It is also said that it refers to his name, which is the word "Noah," and the meaning is: "If he were a prophet, he would have had a mention among our forefathers of old." According to these two views, their statement would have come from the later generations of his people, born long after the beginning of his mission. Thus, "our forefathers of old" would mean those who passed away before them during his time (peace be upon him). Their utterance of this would then be toward the end of his mission. Others say it was after their forefathers had passed away, and it is not necessary that it be in the final stages. According to these two views as well, their statement would be... [text ends].