Al-A'raf: (63-64) Have you marveled that a reminder has come to you...

Know that His saying: {Have you marveled that a reminder has come to you from your Lord upon a man from among you to warn you, and that you may fear Him} indicates that the intent of the people's statement to Noah (peace be upon him), {We surely see you in manifest error}, was that they attributed his claim to prophethood to misguidance. This is based on several grounds:

1. The Impossibility of Obligation (Taklīf): They deemed it unlikely that God would send a messenger to His creation because they believed the purpose of sending a messenger is for imposing obligations (taklīf). They argued that obligation benefits neither the worshipped (since God is exalted above benefit or harm) nor the worshipper (since it initially brings great harm). Any expected reward or avoidance of punishment, God is capable of granting without the intermediary of obligation; thus, obligation would be futile, and God is exalted above futility. If obligation is void, then the claim of prophethood is void.
2. Reliance on Reason Alone: Even if they conceded the possibility of obligation, they held that they would only act upon what reason deems good and refrain from what it deems bad. For matters where reason is silent on goodness or badness, they would only comply if compelled, knowing God would not burden them beyond their capacity. If not compelled, they would abstain out of caution against potential punishment. Since the messenger of reason is sufficient, there is no need for another messenger.
3. Preference for Angelic Messengers: Assuming a messenger must be sent, they believed sending angels would be preferable due to their greater awe-inspiring nature, perfect purity, evident self-sufficiency (not needing food/drink), and greater distance from falsehood.
4. Objections to a Human Messenger: Even if a human messenger were necessary, perhaps they believed that someone poor, lacking followers or leadership, was unfit for the office of prophethood. Furthermore, they might have thought that what Noah claimed was revelation was merely delusion, madness, or suggestions from Satan.

These are the core reasons why the disbelievers rejected a specific man's prophethood, leading them to judge Noah as misguided.

Noah (peace be upon him) then addressed their astonishment by stating that since God is the Creator, He has the right, by virtue of His divinity, to command and forbid His servants. However, He cannot address them with these obligations without an intermediary, as that would amount to compulsion, which contradicts the nature of obligation. Nor could the messenger be an angel, for reasons mentioned in the commentary on Surah Al-An'am regarding the verse: {And if We had made him an angel, We would have made him a man} (6:9).

Therefore, the conveyance of these obligations must be through a human being. This human warns them, and when they are warned, they avoid disobeying God's commands, and by avoiding disobedience, they become deserving of God's mercy. This is the meaning of: {to warn you, and that you may fear Him, so that you may receive mercy} (7:63).

Having understood this, let us return to the interpretation of the verse's wording:

{Have you marveled}: The hamza (interrogative particle) denotes denial/reproach. The waw (conjunction) implies a preceding, omitted clause, as if saying: "Have you denied and marveled that a reminder has come to you?"

They offered several interpretations for the term {a reminder} (dhikr):

• Al-Hasan said it refers to the revelation (Wahy) brought to them.
• Others said it refers to the miracle (mu'jiz). This miracle could be:
  1. A revealed Book that was miraculous, named dhikr just as the Qur'an is named dhikr and served as a miracle for Muhammad (PBUH).
  2. Something miraculous other than a Book.

{from your Lord upon a man}:

• Al-Farra' said that {upon} ('ala) here means "with," similar to saying, "He brought the news in its proper way ('ala wajhihi)."
• Ibn Qutaybah said it means "on the tongue of a man from among you," like the verse: {Our Lord, and grant us what You promised us through Your messengers} (3:194), meaning "through the tongue of Your messengers."
• Others said: "A reminder from your Lord sent down to a man."

{from among you}: Meaning, you know his lineage; he is one of you by descent. Being from them removes the astonishment, as a person is more familiar with someone of his own kind, more aware of their integrity, and better able to judge what warrants trust.

Then, God clarified the purpose of sending the messenger: {to warn you}. And the purpose of warning: {and that you may fear Him}. And the purpose of fearing Him: {so that you may receive mercy}. This sequence is exquisitely structured: the goal of the mission is warning; the goal of warning is abstaining from what is improper; and the goal of abstention is attaining mercy in the Hereafter.

Al-Jubba'i, Al-Ka'bi, and Al-Qadi argued that this verse proves God intended for those to whom messengers were sent to attain piety and mercy, which refutes those who claim God intended disbelief and obstinacy for some people, creating them only for torment and the Fire.

Our companions (the Ash'arites) respond: If an action does not depend on a motivator (dā'ī), then possibility must prevail without a deciding factor (which is impossible). If it does depend on a motivator, then compulsion (jabr) results. If compulsion is necessary, then certainty (that God wills the outcome) must follow. Thus, God willed disbelief for the disbeliever, which invalidates your doctrine.

Then, God clarified that despite all this, they denied his claim to prophethood and the conveyance of obligations from God, persisting in that denial. Subsequently, God saved him in the ark and saved those believers with him, while drowning the disbelievers and deniers. He explained the reason for this: {Indeed, they were a people who were blind}.

Ibn Abbas said: Their hearts were blinded from recognizing Monotheism, prophethood, and the Hereafter. Linguists say that a man can be blind in insight ('amī) or blind in sight ('amā). The verse {Then the news became obscured to them that day} (28:66) and {There have come to you evidences from your Lord. So whoever sees, it is for his own benefit; and whoever is blind, it is against himself} (6:104) support this. Zuhayr said:

The author of Al-Kashshāf noted that the reading {ʿāmin} (two years old/in their prime) is also transmitted. The difference between al-'umī (the congenitally blind) and al-'āmī (the temporarily blind) is that al-'umī denotes a fixed blindness. Their blindness was certainly fixed and deeply rooted, evidenced by another verse: {And it was revealed to Noah that none will believe from your people except those who had already believed} (11:36).

**{7 < And to 'Ad [We sent] their brother Hūd. He said, "O my people, worship Allāh; you have no other deity besides Him. Then will you not fear?" * The chieftains who disbelieved from his people said, "Indeed, we see you in foolishness, and indeed, we think you are one of the liars." * He said, "O my people, there is no foolishness in me; but I am a messenger from the Lord of the worlds. * I convey to you the messages of my Lord, and I am to you a trustworthy advisor. * Or have you marveled that a reminder has come to you from your Lord upon a man from among you to warn you? And remember when He made you successors after the people of Noah and increased you in stature. So remember the favors of Allāh that you may be successful." } 7

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