Surah Ibrahim (Abraham ) 14 : 4

وَمَآ أَرْسَلْنَا مِن رَّسُولٍ إِلَّا بِلِسَانِ قَوْمِهِۦ لِيُبَيِّنَ لَهُمْ ۖ فَيُضِلُّ ٱللَّهُ مَن يَشَآءُ وَيَهْدِى مَن يَشَآءُ ۚ وَهُوَ ٱلْعَزِيزُ ٱلْحَكِيمُ

Translations

 
 Muhsin Khan
 Pickthall
 Yusuf Ali
Quran Project
And We did not send any messenger except [speaking] in the language of his people to state clearly for them, and Allāh sends astray [thereby] whom He wills and guides whom He wills. And He is the Exalted in Might, the Wise.

1. Lessons/Guidance/Reflections/Gems

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Explanatory Note

This is a blessing God grants to people with every message He sends to them. For a messenger to be able to bring people out of darkness into light, by their Lord’s leave, he must be given his message in his own people’s language. This is how he is then able to explain God’s message to them. It is how the objectives of the message are fulfilled.

Although the Prophet Muĥammad is a Messenger to all mankind, he is given his message in his own people’s language, so that he can explain matters to them. They are the ones who would be conveying his message to the rest of mankind. His own life is, after all, limited. Therefore, he is commanded to call first on his own people so that the Arabian Peninsula becomes purely Muslim. It will then fulfil its role as the place from which the final divine message is carried to the rest of the world. What happened in practice, as God, who knows everything, determined, was that the Prophet passed away when Islam became the religion in the whole of Arabia. The Prophet raised an army under the command of Usāmah to be dispatched to areas bordering on Arabia, but the Prophet (peace be upon him) died before the army began its march. It is true that the Prophet sent his letters and emissaries to the heads of countries outside Arabia, calling on them to accept the message of Islam, and making it clear that his message was addressed to all mankind. However, what God determined for him, which fits with the limited duration of human life, is that Muĥammad (peace be upon him) delivered his message to his own people in their own language. Then the task was completed by those who carried his message to other communities all over the world. Hence, there is no contradiction between his message being addressed to all humanity, and its being expressed in Arabic, the language of his own people.

A messenger’s task is completed when he has made the truth clear to people. What comes out of it in the form of people following guidance or going astray is not in his power, and does not follow his desire. It is entirely up to God who has subjected human beings to a law of His own making, in keeping with His free-will. Whoever follows the way of error is left to go astray, and whoever follows the way of divine guidance reaches his destination. Both are subject to God’s will. He conducts life in accordance with His wisdom and careful planning. Nothing is left haphazard, without guidance or planning.

2. Linguistic Analysis

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Frequency of Root words in this Ayat used in this Surah *


3. Surah Overview

4. Miscellaneous Information

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5. Connected/Related Ayat

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6. Frequency of the word

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7. Period of Revelation

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It appears from the tone of this Surah that it belongs to a group of Surahs which were revealed during the last stages of the Makkan period. For instance ayah 13: “And those who disbelieved said to their messengers, “We will surely drive you out of our land, or you must return to our religion.” So their Lord inspired to them, “We will surely destroy the wrongdoers.” clearly indicates that the persecution of the Muslims was most intense at the time of the revelation of this Surah and that the people of Makkah were bent on expelling the Muslims, just like the disbelievers of the former Prophets.

8. Reasons for Revelation

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9. Relevant Hadith

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10. Wiki Forum

Comments in this section are statements made by general users – these are not necessarily explanations of the Ayah – rather a place to share personal thoughts and stories…

11. Tafsir Zone

 

Overview  (Verses 4 - 5)

In Their Own Language

“Never have We sent a messenger otherwise than speaking the language of his own people, so that he might make [the truth] clear to them.” (Verse 4) This is a blessing God grants to people with every message He sends to them. For a messenger to be able to bring people out of darkness into light, by their Lord’s leave, he must be given his message in his own people’s language. This is how he is then able to explain God’s message to them. It is how the objectives of the message are fulfilled.

Although the Prophet Muĥammad is a Messenger to all mankind, he is given his message in his own people’s language, so that he can explain matters to them. They are the ones who would be conveying his message to the rest of mankind. His own life is, after all, limited. Therefore, he is commanded to call first on his own people so that the Arabian Peninsula becomes purely Muslim. It will then fulfil its role as the place from which the final divine message is carried to the rest of the world. What happened in practice, as God, who knows everything, determined, was that the Prophet passed away when Islam became the religion in the whole of Arabia. The Prophet raised an army under the command of Usāmah to be dispatched to areas bordering on Arabia, but the Prophet (peace be upon him) died before the army began its march. It is true that the Prophet sent his letters and emissaries to the heads of countries outside Arabia, calling on them to accept the message of Islam, and making it clear that his message was addressed to all mankind. However, what God determined for him, which fits with the limited duration of human life, is that Muĥammad (peace be upon him) delivered his message to his own people in their own language. Then the task was completed by those who carried his message to other communities all over the world. Hence, there is no contradiction between his message being addressed to all humanity, and its being expressed in Arabic, the language of his own people.

“Never have We sent a messenger otherwise than speaking the language of his own people, so that he might make [the truth] clear to them. But God lets go astray whomever He wills, and guides whomever He wills.” (Verse 4) A messenger’s task is completed when he has made the truth clear to people. What comes out of it in the form of people following guidance or going astray is not in his power, and does not follow his desire. It is entirely up to God who has subjected human beings to a law of His own making, in keeping with His free-will. Whoever follows the way of error is left to go astray, and whoever follows the way of divine guidance reaches his destination. Both are subject to God’s will.

“He is Almighty, truly Wise.” (Verse 4) He conducts life in accordance with His wisdom and careful planning. Nothing is left haphazard, without guidance or planning.

This applied to the message “We have sent forth Moses with Our revelations, saying, ‘Lead your people out of darkness into the light, and remind them of the Days of God. Surely in this there are signs for everyone who is patient in adversity and deeply grateful [to God]. Moses said to his people: ‘Remember the blessings God bestowed on you when He saved you from Pharaoh’s people who afflicted you with grievous torment, slaughtered your sons and spared [only] your women. That was indeed an awesome trial from your Lord. For your Lord had declared: If you are grateful, I shall certainly give you more; but if you are ungrateful, then My punishment shall be severe indeed.’ And Moses said: ‘If you and whoever lives on earth were to deny God, [know that] God is indeed Self-Sufficient, worthy of all praise.’“ (Verses 5-8)

The sūrah uses the same wording to report the instructions given to Moses and those given to Muĥammad (peace be upon them both), so as to maintain the same style of expression. Muĥammad is told, “This is a book which We have bestowed on you from on high so that you might bring forth mankind, by their Lord’s leave, from darkness into the light.” (Verse 1) Similarly Moses is instructed, “Lead your people out of darkness into the light.” (Verse 5) The first applies to all mankind, while the second addressed Moses’s people in particular. The ultimate goal, however, was the same.

“Lead your people out of darkness into the light, and remind them of the Days of God.” (Verse 5) All days are indeed God’s days, but what is intended here is that he should remind them of the days when people, or a group of them, encounter a special situation, reflecting either God’s grace or punishment, as we will see when Moses carries out this order. He reminds them of some days they themselves had witnessed, and of others belonging to the time of the peoples of Noah, the ‘Ad, and Thamūd and other communities that followed them.

“Surely in this there are signs for everyone who is patient in adversity and deeply grateful [to God].” (Verse 5) Some of these days occasioned adversity, making of them a sign requiring patience, while others were occasions when God’s grace was bestowed, and they invite gratitude. A person who qualifies as, ‘patient in adversity, deeply grateful [to God],’ is the one who recognizes these signs and what lies behind them. He finds in them lessons to be learnt and reminders to be appreciated.


12. External Links

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