Surah As-Sajdah 32:3
ﱌ ﱍ ﱎ ﱏ ﱐ ﱑ ﱒ ﱓ ﱔ ﱕ ﱖ ﱗ ﱘ ﱙ ﱚ ﱛ ﱜ ﱝ ﱞ
Or do they say, "He invented it"? Rather, it is the truth from your Lord, [O Muhammad], that you may warn a people to whom no warner has come before you [so] perhaps they will be guided.
Tafsir of As-Sajdah 32:3
Tafsir
Mafatih al-Ghayb
Verse range: 32:3
Surah As-Sajdah: (3) Or do they say, "He has fabricated it..."
Meaning: Do you acknowledge it, or do you say it is fabricated? Then He answered, clarifying that the truth is that it is from their Lord. Then He explained the benefit of the revelation, which is warning. In this, there are several issues:
Issue 1: How can He say, {that you may warn a people to whom no warner has come before you} (32:3), when warners preceded him?
The answer is twofold: one based on transmission (naql) and the other on reason ('aql).
As for transmission (Naql): The view is that the Quraysh were an illiterate nation to whom no warner had come before Muhammad (peace be upon him). This is considered distant/weak, as they were descendants of Abraham, and all the prophets of the Children of Israel were descendants of their paternal uncles. How could God leave a people from the time of Adam until the time of Muhammad without religion or law?
If you argue that no messenger came specifically to that generation, this is not exclusive to the Arabs; the People of the Scripture (Ahl al-Kitab) also did not receive a messenger in that specific generation—the messengers had come to their forefathers. Similarly, messengers had come to the forefathers of the Arabs.
Furthermore, the majority opinion holds that the forefathers of Muhammad (peace be upon him) were disbelievers. This is supported by the Prophet's warning to them and their forefathers of punishment, and the verse: {And We would not punish until We sent a messenger} (Al-Isra: 15).
As for reason ('Aql): God has established a custom that when the people of an era become completely misguided and no guide remains among them, He is gentle with His servants and sends a messenger. Then, if He wills to purify them by removing polytheism and disbelief from their hearts, or if He wills to purify the face of the Earth by destroying them, He acts accordingly.
The people of that era became misguided after previous messengers, to the extent that no guiding scholar remained on Earth whose guidance people could benefit from, and this state persisted for many long years. Therefore, no warner had come to them before Muhammad (peace be upon him). Hence, He said: {that you may warn a people to whom no warner has come}—meaning, after the deviation that occurred following the previous guidance, no warner had come to them.
Issue 2: If someone argues that specification implies the negation of what is outside the specification:
The statement {that you may warn a people to whom no warner has come} implies that his warning is exclusive to those to whom no warner has come. However, the People of the Scripture had received a warner. Therefore, the Book should not have been revealed to the Messenger to warn the People of the Scripture, and thus he should not be a messenger to them.
We say this is flawed for several reasons:
- First: Specification does not necessarily imply the negation of what is outside it.
- Second: Even if one holds that view, they must agree that if the specification has a reason other than negating what is outside it, it does not imply negation. This reason exists here: warning them (the Arabs/polytheists) was more urgent. Do you not see that God said: {And warn your closest relatives} (Ash-Shu'ara: 214), and this was not understood to mean he should not warn others, nor that he was forbidden from warning others? Warning the polytheists was more urgent because their warning concerned Tawhid (monotheism) and the Resurrection. The People of the Scripture were only warned due to their denial of prophethood, making them more deserving of mention, hence the specification occurred for that reason.
- Third: Based on what we have established, the objection raised does not apply at all. This is because the People of the Scripture had gone astray, and no warner had come to them after their deviation before Muhammad. Therefore, he must be sent to everyone equally. This clarifies the excellence of our chosen position.
And His saying: {that they may become heedful} means: you warn them while you hope for their guidance.