Surah Hud (11) — Ayah 27

(Ayah 27) ➊ {فَقَالَ الْمَلَاُ الَّذِيْنَ كَفَرُوْا مِنْ قَوْمِهٖ: } Alusi said: The word { ’’ الْمَلَاُ ‘‘ } is a collective noun, just like {’’رَهْطٌ‘‘ } (group). This word does not have a singular form. The meaning of {’’ مَلَأَ يَمْلَأُ ‘‘} is to fill, that is, a group of people united in opinion, whose awe, majesty, and outward appearance fill the eyes. (Raghib)

➋ {مَا نَرٰىكَ اِلَّا بَشَرًا مِّثْلَنَا :} Just as the disbelievers of the communities of Noah (peace be upon him) and other prophets used to say about them, the disbelievers of Mecca also used to say the same thing about our Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him): How can a person who is a human like us, who eats and drinks, walks in the markets, sleeps and wakes, has wives and children, be a messenger of Allah? (See Furqan: 7) The meaning is that there is a contradiction between prophethood and humanity, and it is impossible for both to be combined in one person, whereas all the prophets had both qualities combined, as He said: «{ قُلْ سُبْحَانَ رَبِّيْ هَلْ كُنْتُ اِلَّا بَشَرًا رَّسُوْلًا }» [ بنی إسرائیل : ۹۳ ] "Say: My Lord is pure, I am nothing but a human who is a messenger." And see Surah Furqan (20) and Muminoon (33, 34). The disbelievers knew you were a human, because you were born among them, so they refused to accept you as a messenger. It is unfortunate that some hereditary Muslims, having heard from their forefathers, accept you as a messenger but deny your humanity. In reality, it is the same mindset that a human cannot be a messenger.

➌ {وَ مَا نَرٰىكَ اتَّبَعَكَ … : ’’اَرَاذِلُ‘‘ ’’اَرْذَلُ‘‘} is the plural, meaning people of lower status. If it is the active participle from { ’’ بَادِيَ ‘‘ ’’ بَدَا يَبْدُوْ ‘‘} (to appear), the meaning will be "apparent in sight," and if it is from {’’بَدَءَ يَبْدَءُ‘‘} (to begin), the meaning will be "at first glance," that is, we cannot follow you for this reason as well, that some people who have become your followers are visibly, just by looking, our "razaleh," meaning people of lower status. As if, in their view, following a person whose followers are people of the lower class in society is beneath their dignity. (See Shu'ara: 111) Exactly the same thing was said by the affluent people of Mecca about the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him), that his followers are the slaves and lower class of our nation. (See An'am: 52 to 54) Whereas history proves that the initial followers of the truth have always been, in worldly terms, the weak people, as is mentioned in Sahih Bukhari in the questions and answers between Heraclius and Abu Sufyan, that when Abu Sufyan said that the weak have followed him, Heraclius said, "These have always been the followers of all the messengers." [ بخاری، بدء الوحی، باب کیف کان بدء الوحی … : ۷ ]

➍ { وَ مَا نَرٰى لَكُمْ عَلَيْنَا مِنْ فَضْلٍ:} "We do not see any superiority in you over ourselves"—this address of the nation is to Noah (peace be upon him) and his followers, that in any matter you are not superior to us.

➎ { بَلْ نَظُنُّكُمْ كٰذِبِيْنَ:} That is, in the matter that you say Noah (peace be upon him) is the messenger of Allah.

27. 1 This is the same doubt, the explanation of which has already been given in several places before, that for the disbelievers, the combination of prophethood and messengership with humanity was very strange, just as it seems strange to the people of innovation today, and they deny the humanity of the Messenger.

27. 2 In the history of truth, this has always been seen in every era that those who initially adopt it are always those who are considered destitute and inferior in society, and the affluent and prosperous class remains deprived of it. So much so that it became a sign of the followers of the prophets. Thus, the king of Rome, Heraclius, when he asked Abu Sufyan about the Prophet, one of the things he asked was, "Are his followers considered honorable people in society or weak people?" Abu Sufyan replied, "Weak people." Upon this, Heraclius said, "These are the followers of the messengers." (Sahih Bukhari). It has also been clarified in the Noble Quran that it is the prosperous class that has always been the first to deny the prophets. (Surah Az-Zukhruf. 23) (وَكَذٰلِكَ مَآ اَرْسَلْنَا مِنْ قَبْلِكَ فِيْ قَرْيَةٍ مِّنْ نَّذِيْرٍ اِلَّا قَالَ مُتْرَفُوْهَآ ۙاِنَّا وَجَدْنَآ اٰبَاۗءَنَا عَلٰٓي اُمَّةٍ وَّاِنَّا عَلٰٓي اٰثٰرِهِمْ مُّقْتَدُوْنَ 23؀) 43. Az-Zukhruf: 23) And this was the worldly status of the believers, and because of this, the disbelievers considered them insignificant and inferior, whereas in reality, the followers of the truth are honorable and noble, even if they are inferior in terms of wealth and property, and those who deny the truth are insignificant and worthless, even if they are wealthy in worldly terms.

27. 3 Since the believers do not use their intellect, wisdom, and opinion in opposition to the commands of Allah and His Messenger, the people of falsehood think that they are thoughtless and senseless, that wherever Allah's Messenger turns them, they turn, and whatever he forbids them from, they refrain from. This too is a great quality of the believers, rather it is a necessary requirement of faith. But in the eyes of the disbelievers and the people of falsehood, this quality is also considered a "flaw."

But the disbelieving chiefs of his people replied, "We see you as nothing but a human being like ourselves [34], and those who follow you [35] appear to us to be the lowest among us at first glance. Nor do we see any merit in you over us; rather, we think you are liars."

[34] This is the same objection that has always been raised by the deniers of the truth against all the Prophets, in their view, a Prophet should either be a superhuman being, or an angel should always accompany him, or at the very least, in terms of worldly status—meaning wealth, riches, and grandeur—he should surpass everyone else. Unless, according to their view, a Prophet possesses some distinguishing feature among these things, he cannot be a Prophet.
[35]
The Qualities of the First Followers of Any Prophet:

The second major objection of the deniers of the truth is that the first people to believe in a Prophet are those who have been oppressed by the chiefs of society and the nation, who are poor, young, and courageous, and who possess some boldness to stand up against such a tyrannical society. Such people are always the initial capital of every Prophet, and these very people become a thorn in the eyes of the chiefs of the nation, to the extent that the chiefs consider it an insult to sit with the Prophet and listen to anything in their presence. Since the views of these chiefs are purely materialistic, this gives them another excuse to reject the Prophet’s message: that the companions of this Prophet are lowly people, so how can we consider him truthful? If some respectable people were his followers, we too would sit with them and listen to this Prophet.