Surah As-Sajda (32) — Ayah 3

(Ayah 3) ➊ Before { اَمْ يَقُوْلُوْنَ افْتَرٰىهُ: ’’ اَمْ ‘‘}, there is generally a sentence present or implied which begins with the interrogative hamzah. If the implied sentence is made explicit, the phrase would be: {’’ أَهُمْ يُؤْمِنُوْنَ بِهِ أَمْ يَقُوْلُوْنَ افْتَرَاهُ ‘‘}, meaning, "Do these people believe in the Book sent down by Allah, free from every kind of doubt and suspicion, or do they deny it by saying that this Prophet has fabricated it himself?" Many commentators have considered this {’’ اَمْ ‘‘} as disconnected and have taken it in the meaning of {’’ بَلْ‘‘}. In that case, the meaning would be: "Rather, they say that he has fabricated it." Even before this { ’’ بَلْ ‘‘}, there is an omitted phrase that instead of believing in it, these people say that he has fabricated it himself. See Surah Al-Furqan (4, 5) and Al-Muddathir (18 to 25).

➋ { بَلْ هُوَ الْحَقُّ مِنْ رَّبِّكَ:} states, their saying is not correct; rather, it is the truth from your Lord, and these people, despite fully knowing the truthfulness and trustworthiness of Muhammad (peace be upon him), are uttering a clear falsehood and absurd statement.

➌ {لِتُنْذِرَ قَوْمًا مَّاۤ اَتٰىهُمْ مِّنْ نَّذِيْرٍ مِّنْ قَبْلِكَ :} refers to the Arab nation, whom Allah Almighty addressed first with this Book and arranged for this message to reach the entire world through them. Although before this, Ismail, Hud, Salih, and Shu'ayb (peace be upon them) had been sent to Arabia, many ages had passed since their missions. After them, the Torah and the Gospel were revealed, but no prophet was sent to Arabia. Therefore, Allah the Exalted sent the last Prophet among them, as stated: «{ وَ هٰذَا كِتٰبٌ اَنْزَلْنٰهُ مُبٰرَكٌ فَاتَّبِعُوْهُ وَ اتَّقُوْا لَعَلَّكُمْ تُرْحَمُوْنَ (155) اَنْ تَقُوْلُوْۤا اِنَّمَاۤ اُنْزِلَ الْكِتٰبُ عَلٰى طَآىِٕفَتَيْنِ مِنْ قَبْلِنَا وَ اِنْ كُنَّا عَنْ دِرَاسَتِهِمْ لَغٰفِلِيْنَ (156) اَوْ تَقُوْلُوْا لَوْ اَنَّاۤ اُنْزِلَ عَلَيْنَا الْكِتٰبُ لَكُنَّاۤ اَهْدٰى مِنْهُمْ فَقَدْ جَآءَكُمْ بَيِّنَةٌ مِّنْ رَّبِّكُمْ وَ هُدًى وَّ رَحْمَةٌ فَمَنْ اَظْلَمُ مِمَّنْ كَذَّبَ بِاٰيٰتِ اللّٰهِ وَ صَدَفَ عَنْهَا سَنَجْزِي الَّذِيْنَ يَصْدِفُوْنَ عَنْ اٰيٰتِنَا سُوْٓءَ الْعَذَابِ بِمَا كَانُوْا يَصْدِفُوْنَ }» [ الأنعام : ۱۵۵ تا ۱۵۷ ] "And this is a great Book which We have sent down, full of blessings, so follow it and be righteous, so that you may receive mercy. Lest you say, 'The Book was only sent down to two groups before us, and indeed we were unaware of their reading and teaching.' Or lest you say, 'If the Book had been sent down to us, we would have been better guided than them.' So indeed, a clear proof, guidance, and mercy has come to you from your Lord. Then who is more unjust than one who denies the signs of Allah and turns away from them? Soon We will recompense those who turn away from Our signs with a terrible punishment for their turning away." For further details, see the commentary of the above-mentioned verses.

➍ At this point, many commentators have mentioned a period of two thousand or two and a half thousand years between Ismail (peace be upon him) and the Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him), but they have not provided any reliable reference for this, so we have no means to determine this long period.

➎ { لَعَلَّهُمْ يَهْتَدُوْنَ :} here is in the meaning of {’’لَعَلَّ‘‘ ’’كَيْ‘‘}, "so that they may be guided," and if it is in the meaning of "tarji" (hope or perhaps), that is, "it is hoped, or perhaps," then it is in reference to the Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him), that you may warn this nation in the hope that they will be guided, because Allah Almighty knows everything, whether they will be guided or not, so there is no need to say "perhaps" or "it is hoped" for Him.

3-1. This is by way of rebuke: do they say about this speech, with its eloquent arrangement, sent down by the Lord of the worlds, that (Muhammad ﷺ has fabricated it)?

3-2. This is the reason for the revelation of the Quran. From this, it is understood (as has already been explained before) that among the Arabs, the Prophet ﷺ was their first prophet. Some people have also considered Hazrat Shu'ayb ؑ to be a prophet sent among the Arabs. And Allah knows best. In this regard, the "people" would then specifically refer to the Quraysh, to whom no prophet had come before you ﷺ.

3. Do they say, “He has fabricated it himself”? (It is not so.) Rather, it is the truth from your Lord [1.1], so that you may warn a people to whom no warner has come before you [2], so that they may be guided [3].

[1۔1]
Expertise is Essential for Authorship:

It is worth considering that a person can only write a book on a subject in which he has expertise and is, to some extent, recognized among people as a scholar of that field. And he writes so that he may establish his knowledge and expertise among people and that he and his book may gain general popularity. But here, the matter was entirely the opposite. The discourse you presented after prophethood—before prophethood, you had never said anything that could even hint at the discourse that came after prophethood. Then, the discourse youﷺ presented was entirely contrary to the habits, customs, temperaments, and natures of those people. Far from making you popular among people, by presenting this discourse, youﷺ, as it were, stirred up a hornet’s nest, causing the entire nation to become your enemy. Now, the question to the disbelievers is: Can any person, of his own will, do something that would make everyone his enemy? And if this is logically impossible, then the only remaining explanation is that Allah Almighty appointed him to this task: to present Allah’s word before the people. If people oppose him, so be it; if they cause him pain, let them; if they become his enemies, let them—but he is bound, before the overpowering might of Allah Almighty, that no matter how unpleasant the circumstances, he must convey Allah’s word to the people.

[2]
Which Prophets Were Sent to Arabia?

In Arabia, long before Ibrahimؑ, Hudؑ was sent to the people of ‘Ad, and Salihؑ to the people of Thamud. After them, Ibrahimؑ and Isma‘ilؑ were sent. Then, after them, Shu‘aybؑ was born. Most of the other prophets continued to be sent to the regions of Syria and Palestine. The interval between Shu‘aybؑ and the Messenger of Allahﷺ is about two thousand years. And since this period of two thousand years is also a long time, during which many prophets were sent outside the boundaries of Arabia, it is therefore said that no warner had come to the Arabs before.

[3]
Those Who Favored Islam Before Your Prophethood:

Here, a question arises: When, for two thousand years, no messenger had come to the Arabs, nor had the proof from Allah been completed, then how could these people be punished for their disbelief and polytheism, when Allah’s practice is that He completes the proof before punishment and does not wrong anyone in the least? The answer is that the teachings of the prophets continued to reach these people. Because they had close contact with the people of Syria and Palestine, and trade caravans would come and go, there were always people among the polytheists of Mecca who were averse to polytheism and believed in monotheism. Even at the time of the Prophet’s mission, there were such people who, besides abhorring polytheism, also detested drinking, ignorant pride, and quarrelling and fighting. But they could not find a clear path, nor was there any possibility of mutual unity among such people. When news reached them of the advent of a prophet, it was as if the desire of their hearts was fulfilled, and they immediately accepted Islam. Foremost among them was Waraqah bin Nawfal, who was bedridden at the time of the Prophet’s mission and soon passed away, so he did not have the honor of formally accepting Islam. The rest—Abu Bakr Siddiqؓ, ‘Uthman bin Maz‘unؓ, Suhayb al-Rumiؓ, Abu Dharr al-Ghifariؓ, Sa‘id bin Zayd bin ‘Amr bin Nufayl, and others—were all averse to polytheism and monotheists, who immediately accepted Islam. Then, we also find in history countless such monotheists who had passed away before your mission, and all this was the effect of the teachings of the prophets of Bani Israel.