38.10
Abbas - Tanwîr al-Miqbâs min Tafsîr Ibn ‘Abbâs
(Or is the kingdom of the heavens and the earth and all that is between them theirs?) Or do they have power over the heavens and the earth and over all created beings and marvels that are between the heavens and the earth? (Then let them ascend by ropes) to the gates of heavens! And if they have that power, then let them see whether or not He bestowed upon him prophethood and the Scripture.
Or do they possess the kingdom of the heavens and the earth and whatever is between them? If this is what they claim Then let them ascend by the means of ascension that lead to the heaven and bring down some revelation wahy and then assign it exclusively to whomever they wish am in both verses represents the rhetorical hamza of denial.
(Is it a wonder for mankind that We have sent Our revelation to a man from among themselves (saying): "Warn mankind, and give good news to those who believe that they shall have with their Lord the rewards of their good deeds'' (But) the disbelievers say: "This is indeed an evident sorcerer!'') (10:2). And Allah says here:
وَعَجِبُواْ أَن جَآءَهُم مٌّنذِرٌ مِّنْهُمْ
(And they wonder that a warner has come to them from among themselves.) meaning, a human being like themselves.
(And the disbelievers said: "This is a sorcerer, a liar. Has he made the gods into One God'') meaning, does he claim that the One Who is to worshipped is One and there is no god besides Him The idolators -- may Allah curse them -- denounced that and were amazed at the idea of giving up Shirk, because they had learned from their forefathers to worship idols and their hearts were filled with love for that. When the Messenger called them to rid their hearts of that and to worship Allah Alone, this was too much for them and they were astounded by it. They said:
("Has he made the gods into One God Verily, this is a curious thing!'' And the leaders among them went about) meaning the chiefs and masters and nobles,
امْشُواْ
((saying): "Go on...'') meaning, `persist in your religion,'
وَاْصْبِرُواْ عَلَى ءَالِهَتِكُمْ
(and remain constant to your gods!), meaning, `do not respond to Muhammad's call to Tawhid.'
إِنَّ هَـذَا لَشَىْءٌ يُرَادُ
(Verily, this is a thing designed!) Ibn Jarir said, "The Tawhid to which Muhammad is calling you is something by which he wishes to gain power over you, and exalt his own position, so that he will have followers among you, but we will not respond
The Reason for the Revelation of These Ayat
Abu Ja`far bin Jarir recorded that Ibn `Abbas, may Allah be pleased with him, said, "When Abu Talib fell sick, some of the people of the Quraysh, including Abu Jahl, entered upon him and said, `Your brother's son is insulting our gods; he does such and such and says such and such. Why don't you send for him and tell him not to do that' So he sent for the Prophet and he entered the house. There was space enough for one man to sit between them and Abu Talib, and Abu Jahl, may Allah curse him, was afraid that if the Prophet were to sit beside Abu Talib he would be more lenient with him, so he jumped up and sat in that spot, and the Messenger of Allah could find nowhere to sit near his uncle, so he sat by the door. Abu Talib said to him, `O son of my brother, why are your people complaining about you and claiming that you insult their gods and say such and such' They made so many complaints against him. Thereupon, he said,
(O uncle, all I want from them is one word which, if they say it, the Arabs will become their followers and the non-Arabs will pay Jizyah to them.) They were worried about what he said, so they said, `One word Yes, by your father, (we will say) ten words! What is it' Abu Talib said, `What word is it, O son of my brother' He said,
«لَا إِلَهَ إِلَّا الله»
(La ilaha illallah.) They stood up in agitation, brushing down their clothes, saying,
(Has he made the gods into One God. Verily, this is a curious thing!) Then this passage was revealed, from this Ayah to the Ayah:
بَل لَّمَّا يَذُوقُواْ عَذَابِ
(Nay, but they have not tasted (My) torment!)'' This is the wording of Abu Kurayb. Something similar was also recorded by Imam Ahmad and An-Nasa'i, and At-Tirmidhi said, "Hasan.''
مَا سَمِعْنَا بِهَـذَا فِى الْمِلَّةِ الاٌّخِرَةِ
(We have not heard (the like) of this in the religion of these later days.) means, `we have not heard anything like this Tawhid to which Muhammad calls us in the religion of these later days.' Al-`Awfi reported that Ibn `Abbas, may Allah be pleased with him, said, "`We have not heard of this from the religion of these later days (meaning Christianity); if this Qur'an were true, the Christians would have told us about it.''
إِنْ هَـذَا إِلاَّ اخْتِلاَقٌ
(This is nothing but an invention!) Mujahid and Qatadah said, "A lie.'' Ibn `Abbas said, "A fabrication.''
أَءَنزِلَ عَلَيْهِ الذِّكْرُ مِن بَيْنِنَا
(Has the Reminder been sent down to him (alone) from among us) They thought it unlikely that he would be singled out from among them to receive the Qur'an. This is like the Ayat:
(Is it they who would portion out the mercy of your Lord It is We Who portion out between them their livelihood in this world, and We raised some of them above others in ranks) (43:32). When they said this, it indicated their ignorance and lack of understanding since they thought it was unlikely that the Qur'an would be revealed to the Messenger and not to somebody else.
بَل لَّمَّا يَذُوقُواْ عَذَابِ
(Nay, but they have not tasted (My) torment!) means, they say this because they have not yet tasted the punishment and vengeance of Allah. But they will come to know the consequences of what they say and what they rejected on the Day when they are herded into the fire of Hell. Then Allah points out that He is the One Who is in control of His Creation and Who does whatever He wills, Who gives whatever He wants to whomever He wants, and honors whomever He wants and humiliates whomever He wants, and guides whomever He wants and misguides whomever He wants, and sends the Ruh (Jibril) by His command upon whomsoever He wants among His servants, and seals the hearts of whomever He wants, so no one can guide him apart from Allah. His servants do not possess any power and have no control over His dominion, not even a speck of dust's weight; they do not possess even a thin membrane over a date stone. Allah says, denouncing them:
(Or have they the treasures of the mercy of your Lord, the Almighty, the Real Bestower) meaning, the Almighty Whose might cannot be overcome, the Bestower Who gives whatever He wills to whomsoever He wills. This Ayah is like the Ayah:
(Or have they a share in the dominion Then in that case they would not give mankind even a speck on the back of a date stone. Or do they envy men for what Allah has given them of His bounty Then, We had already given the family of Ibrahim the Book and Al-Hikmah, and conferred upon them a great kingdom. Of them were (some) who believed in him, and of them were (some) who averted their faces from him; and enough is Hell for burning (them).) (4:53-55).
(Say: "If you possessed the treasure of the mercy of my Lord (wealth), then you would surely hold back for fear of (being exhausted), and man is ever miserly!'') (17:100). This is after Allah tells us the story of how the disbeliever denied the sending of a human Messenger, as He tells us that the people of Salih, peace be upon him, said:
("Is it that the Reminder is sent to him alone from among us Nay, he is an insolent liar!'' Tomorrow they will come to know who is the liar, the insolent one!) (54:25, 26)
(Or is it that the dominion of the heavens and the earth and all that is between them is theirs If so, let them ascend up with means.) means, if they have that, then let them ascend up with means. Ibn `Abbas, may Allah be pleased with him, Mujahid, Sa`id bin Jubayr, Qatadah and others said, "The ways to the heaven.'' Ad-Dahhak, said, "Then let them ascend into the seventh heaven.'' Then Allah says,
جُندٌ مَّا هُنَالِكَ مَهْزُومٌ مِّن الاٌّحَزَابِ
(they will be a defeated host like the Confederates of the old times.) meaning, these hosts of disbelievers who are in false pride and opposition will be defeated and overwhelmed and disgraced, just as the Confederates of the old times were disgraced before them. This Ayah is like the Ayah:
(Or say they: "We are a great multitude, victorious'' Their multitude will be put to flight, and they will show their backs.) (54:44-45) -- which is what happened on the day of Badr --
(Nay, but the Hour is their appointed time, and the Hour will be more grievous and more bitter.) (54:46)
38.9-10
Maududi - Sayyid Abul Ala Maududi - Tafhim al-Qur'an
In other words Allah says: " Muhammad, these people are not belying you but Me. As for your truthfulness, they had never doubted it before; now that they are doubting it, it is because of My Admonition; now that I have entrusted to you the Mission of admonishing them, they have started doubting the truthfulness of the very person whose righteousness and piety they used to swear by " The same theme has also been discussed above in Al-An'am: 33 and E.N. 21 thereof.
This is an answer to this saying of the disbelievers "Was he the only (fit) person among us to whom Allah's Admonition should have lien sent down?' Allah says: "it is for Us to decide whom We should choose and appoint as a Prophet and whom We should not. These people do not possess any power and authority to exercise choice in this regard. If they wish to attain such an authority they should try to reach the Divine Throne in order to obtain control over the office of sovereignty of the Universe, so that revelation should come down on him whom they regard as deserving their mercy and not on him whom We regard as fit for it. "This theme has occurred at several places in the Qur'an, because the unbelieving Quraish again and again said, `How did Muhammad (upon whom be Allah' peace) become a Prophet? Did Allah find no better man among the principal leaders of the Quraish worthy of this office?"(See Surah Bani Isra'il:. 00; Az-Zukhruf: 31-32).
(Maketh he the gods One God? Lo! that is an astounding thing…) [38:5-11]. Abu’l-Qasim ibn Abi Nasr al-Khuza‘i informed us> Muhammad ibn ‘Abd Allah ibn Hamdawayh> Abu Bakr ibn Abi Darim al-Hafiz> Muhammad ibn ‘Uthman in Abi Shaybah> his father> Muhammad ibn ‘Abd Allah al-Asdi> Sufyan> al-A‘mash> Yahya ibn ‘Umarah> Sa‘id ibn Jubayr> Ibn ‘Abbas who said: "When Abu Talib fell ill, the Quraysh and the Prophet, Allah bless him and give him peace, went to visit him. There was, close to the head of Abu Talib, enough room for one man to sit, so Abu Jahl rushed to it to prevent the Prophet from sitting there. They complained to Abu Talib about the Prophet. Abu Talib said to the Prophet: ‘Son of my brother, what is it that you want from your own people?’ He said: ‘O uncle, I want from them one word by means of which all the Arabs will surrender to them and all the non-Arabs will pay exemption tax to them’. ‘What is this word?’ he asked. He said: ‘There is no deity except Allah’. They all exclaimed: ‘Does he make the gods One God?’ The Qur’an was then revealed about them (Sad. By the renowned Qur’an, nay, but those who disbelieve are in false pride and schism…) up to Allah’s words (This is naught but an invention) [38:1-7]". The commentators of the Qur’an said: "When ‘Umar ibn al-Khattab embraced Islam, the Muslims were overjoyed while the Quraysh was devastated. Al-Walid ibn al-Mughirah said to the nobles and chiefs of Quraysh: ‘Go to Abu Talib and say to him: you are our elder and chief and you know well what these fools have done. We have come to you so that you judge between us and your nephew’. Abu Talib sent for the Prophet, Allah bless him and give him peace, and when he answered his call, he said to him: ‘Son of my brother, these are your own people and they are asking you for fairness, so do not swerve completely from them’. The Prophet asked: ‘What do they want from me?’ They said: ‘Cease mentioning our deities and we will leave you alone with your God’. The Prophet, Allah bless him and give him peace, said to them: ‘Will you grant me one word by means of which you will rule over the Arabs and subjugate the non-Arabs?’ Abu Jahl said: ‘We will surely grant it and grant you ten like it!’ The Prophet, Allah bless him and give him peace, said: ‘Say: there is no deity except Allah!’ The Quraysh were repelled and left, saying: ‘Does he make the gods One God? How can One God be sufficient for the whole creation?’ And so Allah, exalted is He, revealed about them these verses, up to His words (The folk of Noah before them denied (their messenger)…) [38:12]".
