Tafsir of Surah Al-Ahzab - Verse 47

The Attributes of the Messenger of Allah ﷺ

Imam Ahmad recorded that `Ata' bin Yasar said that he met `Abdullah bin `Amr bin Al-`As, may Allah be pleased with him, and said to him:

"Tell me about the description of the Messenger of Allah in the Tawrah." He said, "Yes, by Allah, he was described in the Tawrah with some of the qualities with which he was described in the Qur'an: `O Prophet! Verily, We have sent you as witness, and a bearer of glad tidings, and a warner, a saviour to the illiterate. You are My servant and My Messenger and I have called you Al-Mutawakkil (reliant). You are not harsh or severe, or noisy in the marketplaces. You do not repay evil with evil, but you overlook and forgive. Allah will not take your soul until you make straight those who have deviated and they say La ilaha illallah, words with which blind eyes, deaf ears and sealed hearts will be opened'." It was also recorded by Al-Bukhari in the Books of Business and At-Tafsir. Wahb bin Munabbih said: "Allah revealed to one of the Prophets of the Children of Israel whose name was Sha`ya' (Isaiah); `Stand up among your people the Children of Israel and I shall cause your tongue to utter (words of) revelation. I shall send an unlettered (Prophet) from among the illiterate (people). He will not be harsh or severe, or noisy in the marketplaces. If he were to pass by a lamp, it would not be extinguished, because of his tranquillity. If he were to walk on reeds no sound would be heard from under his feet. I will send him as a bearer of glad tidings and as a warner, who will never utter immoral speech. Through him I will open blind eyes, deaf ears and sealed hearts. I will guide him to do every good deed and I will bestow upon him every noble characteristic. I will make tranquillity his garment, righteousness his banner, piety his conscience, wisdom his speech, truthfulness and loyalty his nature, tolerance and goodness his character, truth his way, justice his conduct, guidance his leader, Islam his nation. Ahmad is his name and through him I will guide people after they have gone astray, teach them after they have been ignorant, raise their status after they were nothing, make them known after they were unknown, increase the number (of followers of the truth) after they have been few, make them rich after they have been poor, and bring them togther after they have been divided. Through him I will bring together different nations and hearts, and reconcile opposing desires. Through him I will save great numbers of people from their doom. I will make his Ummah the best of peoples ever raised up for mankind; they will enjoin good and forbid evil, sincerely believing in Me Alone and accepting as truth all that My Messengers have brought. I shall inspire them to glorify, praise and magnify Me Alone in their places of worship and in their gatherings, when they lie down and when they return home. They will pray to Me standing and sitting. They will fight for the sake of Allah in ranks and armies. They will go forth from their homes by the thousand, seeking My pleasure, washing their faces and limbs, girding their loins. Their sacrifice will be their blood and their holy Book will be in their hearts. They will be like monks by night and like lions by day. Among the members of his family and his offspring I will make those who are foremost (in faith) and believers in the truth and martyrs and righteous people. His Ummah after him will lead people with truth and establish justice therewith. I will give strength to those who support them and help those who pray for them, and I will inflict defeat upon those who oppose them or transgress against them or seek to take something from their hands. I will make them the heirs of their Prophet, calling people to their Lord, enjoining what is good, forbidding what is evil, establishing regular prayer, paying the Zakah and fulfilling their promises. Through them I will complete the goodness which I started with the first of them. This is My bounty which I bestow upon whomsoever I will, and I am the Possessor of great bounty."'

شَاهِداً

(as witness) means, a witness to Allah's Oneness, for there is no God except He, and a witness against mankind for their deeds on the Day of Resurrection.

وَجِئْنَا بِكَ عَلَى هَـؤُلاءِ شَهِيداً

(and We bring you as a witness against these people) (4:41). This is like the Ayah:

لِّتَكُونُواْ شُهَدَآءَ عَلَى النَّاسِ وَيَكُونَ الرَّسُولُ عَلَيْكُمْ شَهِيدًا

(that you be witnesses over mankind and the Messenger be a witness over you) (2:143).

وَمُبَشِّراً وَنَذِيراً

(and a bearer of glad tidings, and a warner.) means, a bearer of glad tidings to the believers of a great reward, and a warner to the disbelievers of a great punishment.

وَدَاعِياً إِلَى اللَّهِ بِإِذْنِهِ

(And as one who invites to Allah by His leave,) means, `you call mankind to worship their Lord because He has commanded you to do so. '

وَسِرَاجاً مُّنِيراً

(and as a lamp spreading light.) means, `the Message that you bring is as clear as the sun shining brightly, and no one can deny it except those who are stubborn.'

وَلاَ تُطِعِ الْكَـفِرِينَ وَالْمُنَـفِقِينَ وَدَعْ أَذَاهُمْ

(And obey not the disbelievers and the hypocrites, and harm them not.) means, `do not obey them and do not pay attention to what they say.'

وَدَعْ أَذَاهُمْ

(and harm them not.) means, `overlook and ignore them, for their matter rests entirely with Allah and He is sufficient for them (to deal with them).' Allah says:

وَتَوَكَّلْ عَلَى اللَّهِ وَكَفَى بِاللَّهِ وَكِيلاً

(And put your trust in Allah, and sufficient is Allah as a Trustee.)

'One who calls people to' Allah' means that the Holy Prophet ﷺ calls his Ummah to believe in Allah's Being, Oneness and obedience. The act of calling towards Allah has been qualified by the phrase 'with His permission'. It means that the Holy Prophet ﷺ calls and invites people towards Allah with His permission. This condition is an indication that preaching and inviting towards Allah are very difficult tasks which cannot be performed successfully without Allah" permission and help.

سِرَاج (Siraj) means lamp and مُنِیر ('Munir' ) means luminous. The fifth attribute of the Holy Prophet ﷺ ، has been stated that he is a luminous lamp, and some are of the view that 'luminous lamp' refers here to the Qur'an. But the context suggests that this is also an attribute of the Holy Prophet ﷺ .

Qadi Thana'ullah has stated in Tafsir Mazhari that "the Holy Prophet's ﷺ function of calling towards Allah pertains to his speech and outward acts, his attribute of being a 'luminous lamp' pertains to his blessed heart. Just as the sun illuminates the whole world, in the same way, the hearts of the faithful become illuminated by the radiant light of his heart. That is why the noble companions who were the beneficiaries of his company in this world are superior and more exalted than the whole of the Ummah, because their hearts were illuminated and graced by his heart directly; the rest of the Ummah received this radiant light indirectly through the noble companions and their successors and so on."

It can also be said that all prophets, specially the Holy Prophet ﷺ ، after having passed away from this world are alive in their graves. Their life in barzakh (transition between death and the Day of Resurrection) is much more superior than the transit-life of common people, the reality of which is known to Allah Ta’ ala only. However due to this life, the hearts of all Muslims would keep on receiving the radiant light of his blessed heart, and the share of each individual would be in accordance with the intensity of love and reverence he has towards the Holy Prophet ﷺ and the abundance of Salah (durud) he offers to him.

The radiant light of the Holy Prophet ﷺ has been metaphorically described as a 'lamp', even though his inner radiance is far brighter than the sun. This is because the sun illuminates only the surface of the world, whereas his blessed heart illuminates the inside of the whole world and the hearts of the faithful. The reason for this simile appears to be that obtaining advantage from the light of a lamp is voluntary and available all the time easily, whereas approaching the sun is well-nigh impossible and its light is not available all the time.

The attributes of the Holy Prophet ﷺ ، as stated in the Holy Qur'an, are also mentioned in Torah as reported by Imam Bukhari that Sayyidna ` Ata' Ibn Yasar says that one day when I met Sayyidna ` Abdullah Ibn ` Amr Ibn al-As ؓ asked him to tell me the attributes of the Holy Prophet ﷺ as stated in Torah. He said, "of course, I will tell you. By Allah! some of the attributes of the Holy Prophet ﷺ mentioned in the Qur'an are also there in Torah" And then he quoted the following extract.

إِنَّا أَرْ‌سَلْنَاكَ شَاهِدًا وَمُبَشِّرً‌ا وَنَذِيرً‌ا وَّحرُزًا لِّلاُمِّیّینَ ، اَنتَ عبدِی وَ رَسُولِی سَمَّیتُکَ المُتَوَکَّلَ ، لَیسَ بِفَظِّ وَّلَا غَلِظِ وَّلَا سَخَِّ فی الاسوَاقِ وَ لَا یَدفَعُ اَلسَّیَّٔۃِ بِالسَّیَّٔۃِ وَ لٰکِن یَّعفُو وَ یَغفرُو لَن یَّقبِضَہ، اللہُ تَعَالٰی حَتَّی یُقِیمَ بہِ المِلَّۃَ العوجَآِء بَان یَّقُولُوا لَا اِلٰہَ اِلَّا اللہُ وَ یَفتَحُ بِہٖ اعینا وَ اذاناً صُمَّا وَّقلوباً غُلفاً

"0 Prophet! We have sent you as a witness, as a bearer of glad tidings, as a warner and as a refuge and protection for the illiterate Arabs. You are My slave and messenger. I have named you "mutawakkil' (i.e. one who trusts in Allah). You are neither ill-tempered nor hard natured nor one who raises noise in the markets; you do not repay wickedness with wickedness, rather you forbear and forgive. Allah Ta’ ala would not recall you from the world till He has straightened out the crooked Ummah through you and they start saying 'la ilaha illallah'. Allah would open up unseeing eyes, un-hearing ears and locked-up hearts through you".

The Holy Qur'an, after attributing the above qualities to the Holy Prophet ﷺ ، is asking him to carry on his functions, that is, to give the good news to the faithful that they are going to receive great bounties and mercy from Allah and not to obey the desires of the infidels and hypocrites. It was, though, not possible for the Holy Prophet obey the infidels and the hypocrites or to give up preaching and inviting people, yet there was a chance that, in order to avoid people's sarcasm and taunts, he might have inclined to avoid marrying Sayyidah Zainab ؓ that was, in fact, a practical demonstration of the divine rule of Shari'ah. This has been alluded to as obeying the infidels and hypocrites. He was further directed not to mind any vexation that he may receive from the infidels and hypocrites (as he did) and also not to worry about physical harm afflicted by them, but in case such a thought crosses his mind, he was directed to trust in Allah, because Allah is enough to put all matters right - He will protect him from all harms, and if an apparent harm is caused during preaching, it is a gain in reality, and is not against the promise of protection and putting things right.

The witness (shahid), the bearer of good news (mubashshir), the warner, (nadhir) and the giver of the call for the Truth (da‘i) all represent different aspects of the same reality. It is the Prophet’s mission to make people aware of the realities of life and inform them about heaven and hell. This is an action related to the call of the Prophet and on this basis only, will the Prophet give evidence in the Court of the Hereafter as to which of his addressees accepted the message of Truth, and which did not. The Prophet’s mission is also the mission of the followers of Islam. While treading this path, one has to face trouble from the people in getting support; while some give timely support, they later desert, uttering falsehoods. Under these circumstances, it was Trust in God alone which kept the Prophet (or his follower-missionaries) firmly on the true path of their missionary work. To be tolerant of whatever is negative in the people, to ignore it and under all circumstances to keep one’s eyes fixed on God: these are the real assets of one who performs work.