Joseph (Yusuf) يوسف 109–110
109
وَمَا أَرْسَلْنَا مِن قَبْلِكَ إِلاَّ رِجَالاً نُّوحِي إِلَيْهِم مِّنْ أَهْلِ الْقُرَى أَفَلَمْ يَسِيرُواْ فِي الأَرْضِ فَيَنظُرُواْ كَيْفَ كَانَ عَاقِبَةُ الَّذِينَ مِن قَبْلِهِمْ وَلَدَارُ الآخِرَةِ خَيْرٌ لِّلَّذِينَ اتَّقَواْ أَفَلاَ تَعْقِلُونَ
All the messengers We sent before you [Muhammad] were human beings to whom We made revelations; they were men chosen from the people of their towns. Did they not travel across the earth and see the end of those before them? Those who are mindful of God prefer the life to come. Will you not then understand?
110
حَتَّى إِذَا اسْتَيْأَسَ الرُّسُلُ وَظَنُّواْ أَنَّهُمْ قَدْ كُذِبُواْ جَاءهُمْ نَصْرُنَا فَنُجِّيَ مَن نَّشَاء وَلاَ يُرَدُّ بَأْسُنَا عَنِ الْقَوْمِ الْمُجْرِمِينَ
When the messengers lost all hopes and thought that they had been told lies, Our help came to them: We saved whoever We pleased, but Our punishment will not be averted from the guilty.
No class discussions published for this verse group yet.
(a) History shows that even those who believed in prophethood also rejected it, when a person in their own community was made a prophet and stood right in front of them. The reason for this was that the prophet of the past had by then become a historically accepted prophet, while the contemporary prophet’s merits were as yet unproven. The acceptance of a historical prophet has never proved difficult, while the reverse is true of any prophet who is still a figure of controversy. The deserted settlements of the communities of the ‘Ad, Thamud, Midian and Lot lay in ruins around the land of the Quraysh, who could not fail to see them in their travels. These ruins were a silent reminder of the punishment which God had meted out to these communities: they were destroyed only because they failed to recognize a prophet during the controversial stage of prophethood. But, in spite of this, the Quraysh did not learn a lesson from them. The reason for this was that it is man’s weakness to do wrong and then, on the basis of some weak arguments, excise his name from the list of wrongdoers. Verse 110 of this chapter is clarified by verse 214 of the second chapter, in which it is stated, ‘Do you think that you will enter Paradise without having suffered like those who passed away before you? Affliction and hardship befell them and so shaken were they, that the Messenger and the believers with him would exclaim, “When will God’s help come? Surely the help of God is near.’” God always helps one who spreads the word of God. But this help brings in its wake punishment for the rejectors of truth. That is why help comes only when the missionary struggle (dawah) has reached its final stage. There are times when this delay makes the preachers feel frustrated and they despair of God’s succour. ‘And surely, the abode of the Hereafter is better for those who fear God’. This shows that God’s succour for His envoy is symbolic of His choicest blessings upon them in the Hereafter. God always helps those who call upon others to accept the Truth: in this world God makes their call supreme. They are thus successful in fulfilling their mission, in spite of all kinds of conspiracies and the opposition of their enemies. This honour and glory will be theirs in the Hereafter, but in a far more perfect and absolute form.