Surah Yusuf (12) — Ayah 109

(Ayah109) ➊ {وَ مَاۤ اَرْسَلْنَا مِنْ قَبْلِكَ … :} This refutes those people who were not willing to accept you (ﷺ) as a prophet because you were a human being. They used to say, “Why do angels not descend upon us?” (See Furqan: 21) “This messenger eats and drinks like us and walks in the markets.” (See Furqan: 7) Allah Almighty said that before you, We sent all the messengers {’’رِجَالٌ‘‘} (as men) only. The difference between them and other men was that We sent revelation to them, which others were deprived of.

➋ { اِلَّا رِجَالًا:} This also refutes those who say that some women were also prophets, such as Hawwa, Asiya, Sarah, the mother of Musa, and Maryam (peace be upon them). Hafiz Ibn Kathir (may Allah have mercy on him) writes that these women did receive revelation or glad tidings through angels, but this does not necessitate that they were prophets in the well-known sense. A prophet is one upon whom the laws of Shariah are revealed, and this type of revelation was never sent to any woman; this honor has always belonged to men. Although the Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) explicitly stated that there will be no prophet after me, in this verse there is an additional, prior refutation of the false claim of those women who claimed prophethood after him, such as the woman named Sajah. Thus, it is said that before you, We sent men as messengers; women have no part in this, because a messenger has to invite men, face opposition, and even fight battles, and these tasks are not within the capacity of women.

➌ { مِنْ اَهْلِ الْقُرٰى:} Most scholars use this to prove that prophets have always come from among the inhabitants of cities and towns, not from the Bedouins or desert dwellers, because Bedouins are naturally unserious and harsh in temperament. However, Ibn Ashur (may Allah have mercy on him) said: “This restriction is relative, not absolute.” That is, what you are saying—that an angel should descend from the sky—is not correct; all prophets were human and residents of earthly settlements, not descended from the sky. The proof is that Yaqub (peace be upon him) lived among the Bedouins and was a prophet, as Yusuf (peace be upon him) said: «{ وَ جَآءَ بِكُمْ مِّنَ الْبَدْوِ }» [ یوسف : ۱۰۰ ] Or it may be said that Yaqub (peace be upon him) also lived in a settlement, but compared to the developed and civilized city of Egypt, the settlement of Canaan was also like a Bedouin or desert area, as mentioned earlier.

➍ { اَفَلَمْ يَسِيْرُوْا فِي الْاَرْضِ … :} The disbelievers did not believe in the Hereafter, so to make them understand, it was said by referring to events that occurred in this world: when they traveled to Syria, did they not see the houses of the people of Thamud carved into the mountains, the ruins of the towns of the people of Lut, and then the pyramids of Egypt, so that they might take heed?

➎ { وَ لَدَارُ الْاٰخِرَةِ خَيْرٌ …:} Although the previous discourse required that it be said that the fate awaiting these disbelievers in the Hereafter is even worse than this, Allah Almighty, due to their disbelief in it, left their mention and instead mentioned the outcome of the righteous, from which their own outcome becomes evident by itself; in the terminology of rhetoric, this is called ihtibak.