Tafsir of Al-Anbiya' 21:92-93

Al-Anbiyā’ (The Prophets): Verses 92–93

Regarding the statement: {Indeed, this is your Ummah (nation), one nation...}

The author of Al-Kashshāf (Al-Zamakhshari) said: "The Ummah here means the Millah (creed/religion)." This refers to the religion of Islam, meaning that the religion of Islam is the one creed you ought to adhere to, indicated by being described as a single, non-divided nation. And "I am your Lord, so worship Me."

Al-Hasan (al-Basri) read {أمتكم} (ummatakum) as an appositive (badal) to {هذه} (hādhihi), and {أمة} (ummatun) as the predicate (khabar). Others narrated that he raised both words as two separate predicates, or that the second word intended the subject (mubtada') for the second clause.

Regarding the statement: {And they cut their affair among themselves into parts...}

The original structure would be wa taqattaʿtum (and you cut), but the discourse shifts to the third-person plural (ghaibah) through iltifāt (a shift in perspective). It is as if the speaker is relaying what they corrupted to others, condemning their actions and saying to them: "Do you not see the magnitude of what these people have committed?"

The meaning is that they made the affair of their religion into pieces among themselves, just as a group divides and apportions something, resulting in one share for this one and another share for that one. This is a metaphor for their disagreement and their division into various sects and parties.

Regarding the statement: {To Us they will all return.}

This is a warning to them that these differing factions will return to Him (Allah), Who will hold them accountable and recompense them.

It is narrated from the Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him) that he said: "The Children of Israel split into seventy-one sects, and seventy perished while one sect was saved. My Ummah will split into seventy-two sects; seventy-one sects will perish, and only one sect will be saved." They asked, "O Messenger of Allah, who is that saved sect?" He replied: "The Jamāʿah (the main body/community), the Jamāʿah, the Jamāʿah."

This narration clarifies that what is meant by the Almighty’s statement, {And indeed, this is your Ummah}, is the Jamāʿah that adheres to what Allah has explained in this Sūrah concerning Monotheism (Tawhīd) and Prophethood. Furthermore, the Prophet's (PBUH) statement identifying the saved sect as the Jamāʿah indicates that {this} (in hādhihi ummatukum) refers to the Ummah of Faith (Imān); otherwise, his description of the saved sect as the Jamāʿah would be meaningless, as any group adhering to falsehood or truth is a jamāʿah in terms of number.

Some scholars questioned the authenticity of this narration, arguing: If the seventy-two sects refer to the fundamental principles of religions, this number is insufficient. If they refer to the secondary issues (furūʿ), the number far exceeds this, perhaps many times over. Another view suggests the opposite is narrated: that all of them are saved except for one sect.

The Response: What is meant is that the Ummah will split in a specific state (fī ḥāl mā), and this does not imply that the number of splits cannot increase or decrease in other circumstances.