Tafsir of Surah Yunus - Verse 20

The Idolators requested a Miracle

These stubborn, lying disbelievers said, "Why would not a sign be revealed to Muhammad ﷺ from his Lord." They meant a sign such as given to Salih. Allah sent the she-camel to Thamud. They wanted Allah to change the mount of As-Safa into gold or remove the mountains of Makkah and replace them with gardens and rivers. Allah is capable of doing all of that, but He is All-Wise in His actions and statements. Allah said:

تَبَارَكَ الَّذِى إِن شَآءَ جَعَلَ لَكَ خَيْراً مِّن ذلِكَ جَنَّـتٍ تَجْرِى مِن تَحْتِهَا الاٌّنْهَـرُ وَيَجْعَل لَّكَ قُصُوراً - بَلْ كَذَّبُواْ بِالسَّاعَةِ وَأَعْتَدْنَا لِمَن كَذَّبَ بِالسَّاعَةِ سَعِيراً

(Blessed be He Who, if He wills, will assign you better than (all) that -- Gardens under which rivers flow (Paradise) and will assign you palaces (in Paradise). Nay, they deny the Hour, and for those who deny the Hour, We have prepared a flaming Fire.)25:10-11 He also said:

وَمَا مَنَعَنَآ أَن نُّرْسِلَ بِالاٌّيَـتِ إِلاَّ أَن كَذَّبَ بِهَا الاٌّوَّلُونَ

(And nothing stops Us from sending the Ayat but that the people of old denied them.) 17:59 Allah's way of dealing with His creatures is that He would give to them if they asked things from Him. But if they then didn't believe He would expedite punishment for them. When Allah's Messenger ﷺ was given the choice of Allah giving the people what they requested but if they didn't believe they would be punished, or that their request would not be answered immediately, Allah's Messenger ﷺ chose the latter. Allah guided His Prophet to answer their question by saying:

فَقُلْ إِنَّمَا الْغَيْبُ للَّهِ

(Say: "The Unseen belongs only to Allah...") This Ayah means that the matter in its entirety is for Allah. He is well aware of the outcome of all matters.

فَانتَظِرُواْ إِنِّى مَعَكُم مِّنَ الْمُنتَظِرِينَ

("...so wait you, verily, I am with you among those who wait.") If you would not believe unless you witness that which you asked for, then wait for Allah's judgement for me, as well as for yourselves. Nonetheless, they had witnessed some of the signs and miracles of the Prophet , which were even greater than what they had asked for. In their presence, the Prophet pointed to the moon when it was full and it split into two parts, one part behind the mountain and the other before them. If they were seeking the guidance and firm knowledge by asking for signs, Allah would have known that and would have granted them what had been requested. But Allah knew that it was their obstinacy that was behind their request. Therefore Allah left them to suffer in their suspicion and doubt. Allah knew that none of them would believe. This is similar to Allah's statements:

إِنَّ الَّذِينَ حَقَّتْ عَلَيْهِمْ كَلِمَةُ رَبِّكَ لاَ يُؤْمِنُونَ وَلَوْ جَآءَتْهُمْ كُلُّ ءايَةٍ

(Truly, those, against whom the Word (Wrath) of your Lord has been justified, will not believe. Even if every sign should come to them.)10:96-97 and;

وَلَوْ أَنَّنَا نَزَّلْنَآ إِلَيْهِمُ الْمَلَـئِكَةَ وَكَلَّمَهُمُ الْمَوْتَى وَحَشَرْنَا عَلَيْهِمْ كُلَّ شَىْءٍ قُبُلاً مَّا كَانُواْ لِيُؤْمِنُواْ إِلاَّ أَن يَشَآءَ اللَّهُ

(And even if We had sent down unto them angels, and the dead had spoken unto them, and We had gathered together all things before their very eyes, they would not have believed, unless Allah willed.)6:111 This was in addition to their arrogance. As Allah said in another Ayah:

وَلَوْ فَتَحْنَا عَلَيْهِم بَاباً مِّنَ السَّمَاءِ

(And even if We opened to them a gate from the heaven.) 15:14 And He said:

وَإِن يَرَوْاْ كِسْفاً مِّنَ السَّمَآءِ سَـقِطاً

(And if they were to see a piece of the heaven falling down.)52:44 He also said:

وَلَوْ نَزَّلْنَا عَلَيْكَ كِتَـباً فِى قِرْطَاسٍ فَلَمَسُوهُ بِأَيْدِيهِمْ لَقَالَ الَّذِينَ كَفَرُواْ إِنْ هَـذَآ إِلاَّ سِحْرٌ مُّبِينٌ

(And even if We had sent down unto you (O Muhammad) a Message written on paper so that they could touch it with their hands, the disbelievers would have said: `This is nothing but obvious magic!')6:7 Such people don't deserve to have their requests answered, for there is no benefit in answering them. These people are obstinate and stubborn as a result of their corruption and immorality. Therefore Allah told His Messenger to say:

فَانتَظِرُواْ إِنِّى مَعَكُم مِّنَ الْمُنتَظِرِينَ

(So wait you, verily, I am with you among those who wait.)

Commentary

Disbelievers and Believers are two separate nationalities: Nationality based on race and country is absurd

The statement: كَانَ النَّاسُ إِلَّا أُمَّةً وَاحِدَةً (And people were but one community) in verse 19 means that the progeny of Sayyidna Adam (علیہ السلام) was essentially a single community of monotheists in the earlier stages of man's presence in the world. Shirk and Kufr were unknown as such. Then came up difference in the principle of pure monotheism that divided human beings in different nations and groups of people.

How long this period of a single community of believers last? Original sources of Islamic Tradition tell us that this situation prevailed up to the time of Sayyidna Nuh (علیہ السلام) (Noah). It was during his time that Shirk and Kufr showed up and he was the one who had to confront it first. (Tafsir Mazhari)

Then, it is also obvious that there is a long period of time between Sayyidna Adam and Sayyidna Nuh may peace be on them both. Human race had multiplied and population had spread out in the world. The presence of differences in color, ethnicity and social life styles was natural. That people had spread themselves out in different regions would have certainly generated differences on the basis of country and homeland. Then, it is also possible that spoken languages may have become somewhat different. But, the Holy Qur'an did not allow these natural genealogical or tribal differences or those of color and country to become impediments to the grand design of one community. In fact, it did not declare the progeny of Sayyidna Adam (علیہ السلام) to be different nations and communities because of these differences. Instead, it gave them the status of one community.

Of course, when Kufr and Shirk spread out and posed a threat to 'Iman or true belief, Kafirs and Mushriks were declared to be a separate community of people as indicated in: فَاخْتَلَفُوا (later, they differed). Another verse of the Holy Qur'an: هُوَ الَّذِي خَلَقَكُمْ فَمِنكُمْ كَافِرٌ‌ وَمِنكُم مُّؤْمِنٌ is He who created you; yet there is among you a disbeliever and there is among you a believer - At-taghabun, 64:2) makes it more explicit. It tells that the thing that separates the progeny of Sayyidna Adam (علیہ السلام) created by Allah into different peoples is the deviation from 'Iman and Islam. Bonds of lineage or country do not make people separate. Bracketing human beings into different groups on the basis of language, homeland, color or race is ignorance dished out in the garb of enlightenment. It is new. But everything new is not necessarily true and wise. In fact, it might as well be the exact opposite of what is wise. Today, there are many educated people who have also fallen into the trap of this narrow concept of nationalism based on the factors enumerated above. Unfortunately, this approach towards ordering the social life of human beings is fraught with seeds of countless unseen disasters. May Allah keep Muslims safe from its evil effects.

When the people of Makkah persisted in their rejections of the Truth, God caused them to be plagued by a famine which went on for seven years. At last it ended, but only after the the Prophet Muhammad had prayed for this. This was a sign from God from which they should have learned the lesson that on rejecting the Prophet, they would come within the ambit of God’s scourge. But their mindset was such that, as long as the famine continued, they kept lamenting and beseeching, but when the famine ended, they started saying, ‘These are the vagaries of the times which occur now and then to everybody. This has nothing to do with the acceptance or rejection of the Prophet.’ People make demands for signs or miracles from the Prophet. But the real question is not that of the occurrence of miracles, but that of learning the lesson that a sign is there for observation and not for compulsion. Even after the appearance of a sign, a man has the option of either accepting it or rejecting it. However, when God’s last sign appears, man will have no power against it. This last sign will appear as God’s retribution after the conclusive phase of the process of dawah and it will appear in different forms for different prophets. In the case of the last of the prophets, the Prophet Muhammad, on the basis of various considerations, this sign took the form of those who deny the truth being overcome and the believers being made to dominate them. When a man indulges in arrogance and this does not seem to cause any harm to him, he becomes more insolent. He thinks that he is beyond God’s grasp, though this is in accordance with God’s plan. God gives an arrogant man a long rope so that he may indulge in extremes of arrogance without any fear; and during this period, God’s agents, in concealment and silence, go on recording his utterances and deeds, until his time is up and the angel of death suddenly appears and catches hold of him in order to present him before God to be judged by Him.