Surah Al-Jumu'a (62) — Ayah 3

The conjunction of {وَ اٰخَرِيْنَ مِنْهُمْ لَمَّا يَلْحَقُوْا بِهِمْ … : ’’ اٰخَرِيْنَ ‘‘} is with {’’ فِي الْاُمِّيّٖنَ ‘‘}, meaning Allah Almighty sent this Messenger among the Arab unlettered people from whose lineage he is, and He also sent him among the non-Arab unlettered people who have not yet joined the Arabs by becoming Muslims, but in the future, after accepting Islam, will join them. For details, see the first benefit of the commentary of verse (2) of this Surah. Shah Abdul Qadir writes: "That is, this very Messenger is also for other unlettered people; they are the people of Persia, they too did not possess a book from a prophet. Allah Almighty first created the Arabs as the upholders of this religion, then later such perfect people arose among the non-Arabs." (Muwadhih)

3. 1. This is a conjunction to "the unlettered" (امیین), meaning "بَعَثَ فِیْ اَ خِرِ یْنَ مِنْھُمْ" refers to the Persians and other non-Arab peoples who will believe in you ﷺ until the Day of Judgment. Some say that it refers to all Arabs and non-Arabs who will exist from the time of the Companions until the Day of Judgment. Thus, this includes Persians, Romans, Berbers, Sudanese, Turks, Mongols, Kurds, Chinese, and the people of India, etc. That is, the Prophethood of you ﷺ is for everyone, so all of them believed in you ﷺ. And after accepting Islam, they also became included among "minhum" (from them), that is, among the unlettered who were the first to accept Islam, because all Muslims are one Ummah. Due to this pronoun, some say that by "آخرین" (the later ones) are meant the Arabs who came later, because the antecedent of the pronoun "minhum" is "the unlettered" (امیین).

3. And (He has sent him) to others among them who have not yet joined them [6], and He is the Mighty [7], the Wise.

[6]
You are the Messenger for all people until the Day of Resurrection:

The Prophet of the Last Age was not sent only to the unlettered Arabs, but he is also the Prophet for all people who will come until the Day of Resurrection. In other words, his prophethood and messengership were not only for the Arabs and not only for that era, but equally for all people of that time and for all who will come until the Day of Resurrection. In this regard, consider the following hadith: Sayyiduna Abu Hurairah (may Allah be pleased with him) says: When Surah Jumu'ah was revealed, we were sitting with the Prophet. I asked him: Who are the people meant by ﴿وَّاٰخَرِيْنَ مِنْهُمْ لَمَّا يَلْحَقُوْا بِهِمْ﴾? The Prophet ﷺ did not reply. I asked the same question three times. At that time, Salman al-Farsi (may Allah be pleased with him) was also sitting among us. The Prophet placed his hand on him and said: "If faith were at Thurayya (the Pleiades), some men from these people (the Persians) would attain it." [بخاري۔ كتاب التفسير]

The Service of Islam by the People of Persia:

The Prophet ﷺ did not answer this question the first two times because it did not refer to any specific people, but rather to the general masses. Then, when Sayyiduna Abu Hurairah (may Allah be pleased with him) asked the same question a third time, the Prophet ﷺ mentioned the people of Persia, saying that these people would excel others in serving the religion of Islam. And indeed, this is what happened in practice: after the era of the Companions, the work of spreading Islam that was accomplished by the people of Persia was not matched by others. The majority of the great scholars of hadith and jurisprudence belonged to this region.

[7] What greater proof can there be of Allah Almighty's might and wisdom than that He sent His Messenger, and in the short span of twenty-two or twenty-three years, transformed the entire Arabian Peninsula. The roots of polytheism were cut off, and pure worshippers of Allah were produced. Previously, all were enemies of one another, but now they became brothers, united in love. Previously, they were immersed in many sins and moral diseases, but now they attained the highest ranks of noble character.