Tafsir of Surah Ash-Shu'ara' - Verse 114

The Demand of the People of Nuh and His Response

They said: "We do not believe in you, and we will not follow you and become equal to the meanest of the people, who follow you and believe in you, and they are the lowest among us."

قَالُواْ أَنُؤْمِنُ لَكَ وَاتَّبَعَكَ الاٌّرْذَلُونَ - قَالَ وَمَا عِلْمِى بِمَا كَانُواْ يَعْمَلُونَ

(They said: "Shall we believe in you, when the inferior follow you" He said: "And what knowledge have I of what they used to do") meaning, `what does it have to do with me if they follow me No matter what they used to do before, I do not have to check on them and examine their background; all I have to do is accept it if they believe in me; whatever is in their hearts is for Allah to know.'

إِنْ حِسَابُهُمْ إِلاَّ عَلَى رَبِّى لَوْ تَشْعُرُونَ - وَمَآ أَنَاْ بِطَارِدِ الْمُؤْمِنِينَ

(Their account is only with my Lord, if you could (but) know. And I am not going to drive away the believers.) It seems that they asked him to drive these people away, then they would follow him, but he refused to do that, and said:

وَمَآ أَنَاْ بِطَارِدِ الْمُؤْمِنِينَ - إِنْ أَنَا إِلاَّ نَذِيرٌ مُّبِينٌ

(And I am not going to drive away the believers. I am only a plain warner.) meaning, `I have been sent as a warner, and whoever obeys me and follows me and believes in me, then he belongs to me and I to him, whether he is noble or common, upper-class or lower-class.'

Nobility of a person depends on deeds and moral qualities and not on family or status

قَالُوا أَنُؤْمِنُ لَكَ وَاتَّبَعَكَ الْأَرْ‌ذَلُونَ ﴿111﴾ قَالَ وَمَا عِلْمِي بِمَا كَانُوا يَعْمَلُونَ ﴿112﴾

They said, "Shall we believe in you while you are followed by the lowest people?" [ 111] He said, "I do not know about what they do. (26:111-112)

It is related in this verse that the disbelievers rejected the invitation of Sayyidna Nuh (علیہ السلام) to accept the faith on the plea that his followers were worthless poor people. So, how could they, the elite and noble, mix up with them? On this Nuh (علیہ السلام) replied that he did not know about their acts, thereby hinting that their understanding of nobility on the basis of family background, wealth, or status was wrong, and that the nobility or meanness and honour or disgrace is dependent on one's deeds and morals. Hence, it was their ignorance to put the label of sordidness on his followers, because they did not know about their deeds and disposition. Unless one knows fully well about the morals and deeds of others, it is not right to pass any judgment about them. (Qurtubi).

Noah’s community rejected him, though his call was fully borne out by the strength of arguments. Besides, his character bore testimony to his truthfulness. The people of his community knew that Noah was a righteous and honest man. They knew that there was no vested self-interest attached to his call for the Truth. Indeed, his personal qualities were enough to prove his seriousness. And a person who is serious about God’s creatures cannot be other than serious about their Creator. Noah’s community rejected his call for the Truth, though they could offer nothing but irrelevant matters to justify this rejection. To say that the companions of a preacher are ordinary people in order to justify rejection of his call, is not a contradiction of the call but amounts rather to self-contradiction. It means that nothing can be found by way of arguments to warrant saying anything against the call of Truth. Such a stance did no credit to Noah’s community.