Surah Al-An'am (The Cattle): Verse 130

Know that this verse is part of what Allah Almighty mentions concerning the reprimand of the disbelievers on the Day of Resurrection. He clarifies that they will have no means to deny [their deeds], so they will testify against themselves that they were disbelievers, and that they were not punished except after the establishment of the proof (Hujjah). There are several issues in the verse:

Linguistically, Ma‘shar refers to any group whose affairs are unified, and among whom there is association and mingling. The plural is Ma‘āshir.

Regarding His statement: {Messengers from among you}, there is a difference of opinion on whether messengers were sent from the Jinn or not.

1. The View Affirming Messengers from the Jinn: Al-Dahhak said that messengers were sent from the Jinn, just as they were from humankind. He cited this verse and the verse: {And there was no nation but that a warner had passed among them} (Fatir: 24). Al-Dahhak can also argue based on the verse: {And if We had made him an angel, We would have made him a man} (Al-An'am: 9). The commentators explain that the reason for this is that human familiarity with a human is more complete than familiarity with an angel. Therefore, it was incumbent upon Allah's wisdom to make the messenger to humankind from humankind to complete this familiarity. If this meaning is established, then this reason applies to the Jinn as well, necessitating that the messenger to the Jinn be from the Jinn.

2. The View Denying Messengers from the Jinn (The Majority Opinion): This view holds that no messengers were sent to the Jinn at all; rather, messengers were only sent from humankind. I have not found a strong argument supporting this view except the claim of consensus (Ijma‘), which is questionable given that disagreement exists. They can argue using the verse: {Indeed, Allah chose Adam and Noah and the family of Abraham and the family of 'Imran above the worlds} (Al 'Imran: 33). They agree that this choosing refers specifically to prophethood, thus necessitating that prophethood is exclusive to these groups.

As for Al-Dahhak's reliance on the apparent meaning of this verse, the critique is threefold: * First: Allah says: {What you used to earn, O assembly of Jinn and humankind! Did there not come to you messengers from among yourselves...}. This implies that the messengers of the Jinn and humankind are parts of this combined group. If the messengers were only from humankind, then the messengers would be a part of that group, which is sufficient to uphold the literal meaning without necessitating the existence of messengers from the Jinn. * Second: It is not unlikely that the messengers were from humankind, but Allah would cast the call (Dā‘iyah) into the hearts of a group of Jinn, so they would hear the words of the messengers, return to their people, inform them of what they heard, and warn them. This is supported by: {And [mention] when We diverted toward you a group of the Jinn to listen to the Qur'an...} (Al-Ahqaf: 29). Those Jinn were the messengers of the messengers, thus becoming messengers of Allah Almighty. The proof for this is that Allah called the messengers of Jesus His own messengers, saying: {When We sent to them two, and they denied them, so We strengthened them with a third} (Ya-Sin: 14). The core purpose here is that Allah reprimands the disbelievers with this verse because He removed all excuses by sending messengers to everyone, warning and giving glad tidings. Once the glad tidings and warnings reached everyone through this means, the intended purpose of removing the excuse was achieved. * Third (Al-Wahidi's View): His response is that His statement: {Messengers from among you} means "from one of you," referring to humankind. This is like His statement: {He lets flow between them two seas, a barrier between them they do not transgress} (Ar-Rahman: 20), meaning from one of them, which is the salt water that is not fresh.

Know that the first two interpretations do not require abandoning the apparent meaning. However, the third interpretation necessitates abandoning the apparent meaning, which is not permissible except with separate, conclusive evidence.

Regarding His statement: {Reciting to you My verses}, this refers to alerting them to the proofs through recitation and interpretation. {And warning you of the meeting of this Day of yours} means terrifying them with the punishment of this Day. At that point, they found nothing but confession, which is why they said: We testified against ourselves.

If they ask: What is the reason they confess disbelief in this verse while denying it in the verse: {By Allah, our Lord, we were not polytheists}?

We reply: The Day of Resurrection is a long day, and the states therein are varied. Sometimes they confess, and sometimes they deny. This indicates the severity of their fear and the fluctuation of their conditions. Indeed, whoever experiences intense fear has frequent instability in their speech.

Then Allah Almighty said: {And the life of this world deluded them}. The meaning is that when they confessed their disbelief against themselves, it is as if Allah is saying: They fell into that disbelief only because the life of this world deluded them.

Then Allah Almighty said: {And they testified against themselves that they were disbelievers}. This means that even though they intensely opposed the prophets and criticized their laws and miracles, the end result of their affair was their confession of disbelief against themselves. Some people interpret {And they testified against themselves that they were disbelievers} to mean that their limbs testified against them regarding polytheism and disbelief, intending to avoid repetition in the verse. In any case, the purpose of explaining their conditions on the Day of Resurrection is to admonish them in this world against disbelief and disobedience.

Know that our scholars rely on His statement: {Did there not come to you messengers from among yourselves, reciting to you My verses and warning you of the meeting of this Day of yours} to establish that obligation (Wujūb) never occurs before the arrival of the divine law (Shar‘). If obligation and the deserving of punishment occurred before the arrival of the law, this reasoning and mention would have no benefit.