Surah Saad (38) — Ayah 8

(Ayah 8) ➊ {ءَاُنْزِلَ عَلَيْهِ الذِّكْرُ مِنْۢ بَيْنِنَا:} This is the real matter from which the reason for their not accepting the Prophethood of their Prophet (peace be upon him) becomes apparent, and that is envy towards him (peace be upon him) and, due to envy, enmity: why did Allah Almighty choose you (peace be upon him) for this lofty position, leaving us chiefs and leaders aside? Allah Almighty has mentioned this envy and enmity in several places and has refuted it, as He said: « وَ اِذَا جَآءَتْهُمْ اٰيَةٌ قَالُوْا لَنْ نُّؤْمِنَ حَتّٰى نُؤْتٰى مِثْلَ مَاۤ اُوْتِيَ رُسُلُ اللّٰهِ اَللّٰهُ اَعْلَمُ حَيْثُ يَجْعَلُ رِسَالَتَهٗ» [ الأنعام : ۱۲۴ ] "And when a sign comes to them, they say, 'We will never believe until we are given the like of what was given to Allah’s messengers.' Allah knows best where He places His message." And He said: «وَ قَالُوْا لَوْ لَا نُزِّلَ هٰذَا الْقُرْاٰنُ عَلٰى رَجُلٍ مِّنَ الْقَرْيَتَيْنِ عَظِيْمٍ (31) اَهُمْ يَقْسِمُوْنَ رَحْمَتَ رَبِّكَ» [ الزخرف : ۳۱، ۳۲ ] "And they said, 'Why was this Qur’an not sent down upon a great man from [one of] the two towns?' Do they distribute the mercy of your Lord?" The same envy was expressed by the people of Thamud towards Salih (peace be upon him): « ءَاُلْقِيَ الذِّكْرُ عَلَيْهِ مِنْۢ بَيْنِنَا بَلْ هُوَ كَذَّابٌ اَشِرٌ (25) سَيَعْلَمُوْنَ غَدًا مَّنِ الْكَذَّابُ الْاَشِرُ » [ القمر : ۲۵، ۲۶ ] "Has the reminder been sent down upon him from among us? Rather, he is a great liar, an arrogant one. Tomorrow they will know who is the insolent liar."

➋ { بَلْ هُمْ فِيْ شَكٍّ مِّنْ ذِكْرِيْ: ’’ شَكٍّ ‘‘} refers to the state of mind in which a person cannot prefer one of two things over the other. Allah Almighty has described in this sentence the state of their hearts: that they have no reasonable excuse to deny My reminder, but due to envy, they are not ready to reflect upon it, so they are in doubt about it. If they leave envy and reflect a little, they will attain the blessing of certainty. Allah Almighty has described the state of the people of Salih (peace be upon him) in their own words in the same way. See Surah Hud (62).

➌ {بَلْ لَّمَّا يَذُوْقُوْا عَذَابِ : ’’لَمْ يَذُوْقُوْا‘‘} They have not tasted, and {’’ لَمَّا يَذُوْقُوْا ‘‘} they have not yet tasted. {’’ عَذَابِ ‘‘} is originally {’’عَذَابِيْ‘‘} (My punishment). For the sake of matching the endings of the verses, the ya has been omitted and the kasrah left. That is, the reason for them saying such things is not that there is any reality in them, but the reason is that they have not yet tasted My blow. When My blow falls, all their strength will be gone, and they will not be in a state to say such things.

8. 1. That is, there are great chieftains and leaders in Makkah; if Allah wanted to appoint someone as a prophet, He would have chosen one of them. Leaving all of them aside, the selection of Muhammad ﷺ for the revelation of prophethood is strange? In other words, they found fault in Allah's choice. Truly, a person with a bad disposition finds many excuses. This subject has also been mentioned elsewhere, for example, Surah Az-Zukhruf (43:31, 32).

8. 2. That is, their denial is not because they do not know the truthfulness of Muhammad ﷺ or because they doubt his sound mind, but rather they are in doubt about the very revelation that has been sent down to him, in which the most prominent message is the call to monotheism.

8. "Has the message been sent down to him out of all of us [8]?" In fact, they are in doubt about My reminder [9], and this is because they have not yet tasted My punishment [10].

[8]
The Saying of the Quraysh: Was This the Only Person Left for Prophethood?

In the eyes of worldly people, the measure of a person's greatness is wealth and riches, or rank and position. With this mindset, one of the objections of the disbelievers of Makkah was that if Allah had to appoint a human as a Messenger from among us, was this the only person Allah could find for prophethood? Had the chiefs of Quraysh died? If He had to appoint someone, He should have made a chief from among the people of Makkah or Ta’if His Messenger. In other words, their real objection was: Why did Allah not consult us when assigning the office of prophethood?

[9] The matter is not so; rather, the real issue is that these people outright deny your ﷺ prophethood, the result of which is that My Word has also become doubtful in their eyes. Another meaning could be that before prophethood, the disbelievers of Makkah acknowledged your ﷺ truthfulness. Now, when you ﷺ claimed prophethood, they have begun to doubt your ﷺ truthfulness as well, and have started calling that person a liar whom they always considered truthful. The real reason for this is that they doubt My mention, My Word, and My message.

[10] One reason for their making such absurd objections is that they have not yet tasted My punishment. Once they are struck by My punishment, all their arrogance will be broken, and in the future, they will not even have the sense to make such statements.