Surah Ash-Shura (42) — Ayah 52

(Ayah 52) ➊ By {وَ كَذٰلِكَ اَوْحَيْنَاۤ اِلَيْكَ رُوْحًا مِّنْ اَمْرِنَا: ’’ رُوْحًا ‘‘} is meant revelation, whether in the form of the Qur’an or in the form of the Sunnah, because both are revelation, as He said: « وَ مَا يَنْطِقُ عَنِ الْهَوٰى (3) اِنْ هُوَ اِلَّا وَحْيٌ يُّوْحٰى » [ النجم : 4،3 ] “And he does not speak from [his own] desire. It is but a revelation revealed.” It is called “spirit” because true life is attained through it, both the life of the heart and the life of the Hereafter, as He said: « يُنَزِّلُ الْمَلٰٓىِٕكَةَ بِالرُّوْحِ مِنْ اَمْرِهٖ عَلٰى مَنْ يَّشَآءُ مِنْ عِبَادِهٖۤ » [ النحل : ۲ ] “He sends down the angels with the revelation by His command upon whom He wills of His servants.”
➋ { مَا كُنْتَ تَدْرِيْ مَا الْكِتٰبُ وَ لَا الْاِيْمَانُ:} In this statement, there is a reminder of the blessing that Allah granted you knowledge which you did not know before. Secondly, it is proof of your being a true Prophet, that despite being unlettered and not having knowledge of the Book and faith, bringing such a great Book as the Noble Qur’an could only be by Allah’s favor and through His revelation.
➌ Here is a question: there is no problem in the fact that you (peace be upon him) did not have knowledge of the Book before this, but it is worth considering that you did not have knowledge of faith either, because the Prophets (peace be upon them) before receiving prophethood at least have faith in Allah and His Oneness, as is mentioned in Sahih Bukhari and others about the Prophet (peace be upon him) worshipping in the cave of Hira. The answer is that not only you, but all the Arabs, despite being unlettered, believed in Allah and also acknowledged that He is the Creator of the heavens and the earth and the One who manages the entire universe, but they were afflicted with the disease of shirk (polytheism). The nature of the Prophets is extremely sound, and our Prophet (peace be upon him) also had faith in Allah. Even before prophethood, the Prophet (peace be upon him) never committed shirk or major sins, but this faith was general. The detailed faith, which according to the hadith of Jibril is to believe in Allah, His angels, His books, His messengers, the Last Day, and destiny, its details became known to you only after revelation. Moreover, when the word “faith” is mentioned alone, it includes affirmation, speech, and action, as in the famous hadith of the delegation of Abdul Qais, and as Allah called prayer “faith” in Surah Al-Baqarah, Ayah (143): « وَ مَا كَانَ اللّٰهُ لِيُضِيْعَ اِيْمَانَكُمْ», and as the Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him) said: [ اَلإِْيْمَانُ بِضْعٌ وَ سَبْعُوْنَ أَوْ بِضْعٌ وَ سِتُّوْنَ شُعْبَةً فَأَفْضَلُهَا قَوْلُ لَا إِلٰهَ إِلَّا اللّٰهُ وَ أَدْنَاهَا إِمَاطَةُ الْأَذٰی عَنِ الطَّرِيْقِ ] [ مسلم، الإیمان، باب بیان عدد شعب الإیمان… : ۳۵ ] “Faith has over seventy (70) or (he said) over sixty (60) branches, the most excellent of which is saying ‘La ilaha illallah’ and the least of which is removing something harmful from the road.” It is clear that the Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him) did not know the details of prayer, zakah, hajj, and other matters of faith before divine revelation.
➍ Here, where it is said that you (peace be upon him) did not know these matters until Allah revealed to you and granted you the great light of guidance through the Book of Allah, this has been stated by Allah in several places, as He said: «وَ اَنْزَلَ اللّٰهُ عَلَيْكَ الْكِتٰبَ وَ الْحِكْمَةَ وَ عَلَّمَكَ مَا لَمْ تَكُنْ تَعْلَمُ » [ النساء : ۱۱۳ ] “And Allah has sent down to you the Book and wisdom and taught you that which you did not know.” And He said: « وَ اِنْ كُنْتَ مِنْ قَبْلِهٖ لَمِنَ الْغٰفِلِيْنَ» [ یوسف : ۳ ] “And indeed, you were among the unaware of it before this.” And He said: «وَ مَا كُنْتَ تَتْلُوْا مِنْ قَبْلِهٖ مِنْ كِتٰبٍ وَّ لَا تَخُطُّهٗ بِيَمِيْنِكَ اِذًا لَّارْتَابَ الْمُبْطِلُوْنَ » [ العنکبوت : ۴۸ ] “And you did not recite before it any scripture, nor did you inscribe one with your right hand. Otherwise, the falsifiers would have had [cause for] doubt.” And He said: « وَ مَا كُنْتَ تَرْجُوْۤا اَنْ يُّلْقٰۤى اِلَيْكَ الْكِتٰبُ اِلَّا رَحْمَةً مِّنْ رَّبِّكَ » [ القصص : ۸۶ ] “And you did not expect that the Book would be conveyed to you, but [it is] a mercy from your Lord.” And He said: «تِلْكَ مِنْ اَنْۢبَآءِ الْغَيْبِ نُوْحِيْهَاۤ اِلَيْكَ مَا كُنْتَ تَعْلَمُهَاۤ اَنْتَ وَ لَا قَوْمُكَ مِنْ قَبْلِ هٰذَا » [ ھود : ۴۹ ] “That is from the news of the unseen which We reveal to you; you knew it not, neither you nor your people before this.” Also, take a look at the commentary of these verses.
➎ In {وَ لٰكِنْ جَعَلْنٰهُ نُوْرًا:’’ نُوْرًا ‘‘}, the tanween is for magnification, and in {’’ جَعَلْنٰهُ ‘‘}, the pronoun in {’’ هُ ‘‘} refers to the divine revelation mentioned in {’’ رُوْحًا مِّنْ اَمْرِنَا ‘‘}. That is, We have made this revelation, which is in the form of the Qur’an and Sunnah, a great light. It is called light because with it the truth becomes clear and the darkness of ignorance, doubt, and shirk is removed.
➏ { نَهْدِيْ بِهٖ مَنْ نَّشَآءُ مِنْ عِبَادِنَا :} That is, We have made this revelation such a light by which We guide whom We will among Our servants. Allah has called the Noble Qur’an a light of guidance in several places. See Surah An-Nisa (174), Al-A’raf (157), Al-Ma’idah (15, 16), and Surah At-Taghabun (8).
➐ { وَ اِنَّكَ لَتَهْدِيْۤ اِلٰى صِرَاطٍ مُّسْتَقِيْمٍ:} For the explanation of guidance and the straight path, study Surah Al-Fatihah.

52. 1 By "روح" is meant the Qur'an. That is, just as We have sent revelation to the messengers before you, in the same way We have revealed the Qur'an to you. The Qur'an is referred to as "روح" because hearts gain life from the Qur'an, just as the secret of human life lies within the soul.

52. 2 By "کتاب" is meant the Qur'an, that is, before prophethood you had no knowledge of the Qur'an, nor were you aware of the details of faith that are required in the Shariah.

52. And thus [72] We have revealed to you a Spirit [73] by Our command. You did not know what the Book was, nor what faith [74] was. But We made this Spirit a light, by which We guide whom We will of Our servants [75]. And indeed, you are guiding [76] to a straight path.

[72]
Revelation Came to You in All Its Forms:

In the same way, what is meant is that We have sent revelation to you in all these forms. Regarding inspiration and intuition, Sayyidah Aisha (may Allah be pleased with her) says that the first revelation that came to the Messenger of Allah ﷺ was true dreams; whatever he saw in his sleep would manifest (in wakefulness) as clearly as the light of dawn. [بخاری۔ باب کیف کان بدء الوحی]
A similar dream came to you ﷺ before the Treaty of Hudaybiyyah, in which the Muslims were performing tawaf and ‘umrah of the Ka‘bah in peace and security, which is mentioned in Surah al-Fath, verse 27. From this, it is also known that the dreams of the Prophets are also revelation. The second form is Allah speaking from behind a veil. This form of revelation occurred to you during the event of Mi‘raj, when the prayers were made obligatory and you ﷺ conversed with Allah several times, and its mention is in Surah al-Najm, verses 9 and 10. The third form is Jibreel (peace be upon him) descending upon your heart, and the entire Quran was revealed in this manner. This form was very difficult for you. At first, you would hear sounds like the ringing of bells. This was, in a way, a kind of warning, through which your ﷺ connection with this material world would be severed and joined with the higher realm. At that time, your external senses would not function, and all your attention would be focused on the revelation. Due to the intensity of this difficulty, sometimes you would sweat even in the severe cold. Also, at that time, a heavy burden would be placed upon you. Thus, Sayyiduna Zayd bin Thabit (may Allah be pleased with him) says that once you were dictating revelation to me, and your thigh was on my thigh. When the revelation came, your thigh became so heavy that I feared my thigh would break under the weight. [بخاری۔ کتاب التفسیر۔ سورۃ النساء۔ باب __QUR_0__ ]
If you were riding a she-camel and revelation began to descend, the she-camel would sit down under the weight. The fourth form is that Sayyiduna Jibreel would come before you in human form and speak to you. According to the Hadith of Jibreel, Sayyiduna Jibreel (peace be upon him) came at that time in the form of a stranger. And often Jibreel (peace be upon him) would come to you in the form of Dihyah Kalbi.

[73] Here, “the Spirit” does not refer only to the Quran, but to every kind of revelation, the detailed mention of which has been given in the previous footnote.

[74] That is, before receiving prophethood, you had no idea or thought that you would receive prophethood or a divine book, nor should you have. Similarly, you were not aware of the details of faith. You only knew that the Creator and Master of this universe is Allah alone, and no one else shares in His authority or is His equal. But you did not know what the requirements of this faith were! Nor did you know that it is also necessary to believe in Allah’s books, prophets, angels, and the Day of Judgment.

[75] That is, We have made this Book, the Quran, a light, and in this light, the path of guidance becomes clearly visible. And those who wish to benefit from the light of the Quran, We lead them to the path of happiness and success.

[76]
What Are the Sources of Guidance?

From these two verses, it is known that the sources of guidance are three, and its types are two. The first type of guidance is that a person leaves disbelief and polytheism and enters Islam. And such guidance is purely in the control of Allah Almighty. Otherwise, if there were a book as captivating and effective as the Quran, and its preacher was the best of the Prophets, then it would have been expected that all the Quraysh of Makkah would have believed, but despite your utmost desire and effort, this did not happen. The second type of guidance is that those who have accepted Islam are guided to the straight path. And this is done through the Quran, and also through the Messenger of Allah ﷺ, and after you, through the Companions and the noble scholars.