Tafsir of Surah Al-An'am - Verse 112

Every Prophet Has Enemies

Allah says, just as We made enemies for you, O Muhammad, who will oppose and rebel against you and become your adversaries, We also made enemies for every Prophet who came before you. Therefore, do not be saddened by this fact. Allah said in other Ayat:

وَلَقَدْ كُذِّبَتْ رُسُلٌ مِّن قَبْلِكَ فَصَبَرُواْ عَلَى مَا كُذِّبُواْ وَأُوذُواْ

(Verily, Messengers were denied before you, but with patience they bore the denial, and they were hurt...) 6:34, and,

مَّا يُقَالُ لَكَ إِلاَّ مَا قَدْ قِيلَ لِلرُّسُلِ مِن قَبْلِكَ إِنَّ رَبَّكَ لَذُو مَغْفِرَةَ وَذُو عِقَابٍ أَلِيمٍ

(Nothing is said to you except what was said to the Messengers before you. Verily, your Lord is the Possessor of forgiveness, and (also) the Possessor of painful punishment.) 41:43 and,

وَكَذَلِكَ جَعَلْنَا لِكُلِّ نَبِىٍّ عَدُوّاً مِّنَ الْمُجْرِمِينَ

(Thus have We made for every Prophet an enemy among the criminals.) 25:31. Waraqah bin Nawfal said to Allah's Messenger ﷺ, "None came with what you came with but he was the subject of enmity." Allah's statement,

شَيَـطِينَ الإِنْسِ

(Shayatin among mankind...) refers to,

عَدُوًّا

(enemies. ..) meaning, the Prophets have enemies among the devils of mankind and the devils of the Jinns. The word, Shaytan, describes one who is dissimilar to his kind due to his or her wickedness. Indeed, only the Shayatin, may Allah humiliate and curse them, from among mankind and the Jinns oppose the Messengers. `Abdur-Razzaq said that Ma`mar narrated that Qatadah commented on Allah's statement,

شَيَـطِينَ الإِنْسِ وَالْجِنِّ

(Shayatin (devils) among mankind and Jinn...) "There are devils among the Jinns and devils among mankind who inspire each other." Allah's statement,

يُوحِى بَعْضُهُمْ إِلَى بَعْضٍ زُخْرُفَ الْقَوْلِ غُرُوراً

(inspiring one another with adorned speech as a delusion.) means, they inspire each other with beautified, adorned speech that deceives the ignorant who hear it,

وَلَوْ شَآءَ رَبُّكَ مَا فَعَلُوهُ

(If your Lord had so willed, they would not have done it;) for all this occurs by Allah's decree, will and decision, that every Prophet had enemies from these devils,

فَذَرْهُمْ وَمَا يَفْتَرُونَ

(so leave them alone with their fabrications.) and lies. This Ayah orders patience in the face of the harm of the wicked and to trust in Allah against their enmity, for, "Allah shall suffice for you (O Muhammad) and aid you against them." Allah's statement,

وَلِتَصْغَى إِلَيْهِ

(And Tasgha to it.) means, according to Ibn `Abbas, "incline to it."

أَفْئِدَةُ الَّذِينَ لاَ يُؤْمِنُونَ بِالاٌّخِرَةِ

(the hearts of those who do not believe in the Hereafter...) their hearts, mind and hearing. As-Suddi said that this Ayah refers to the hearts of the disbelievers.

وَلِيَرْضَوْهُ

(And that they may remain pleased with it.) they like and adore it. Only those who disbelieve in the Hereafter accept this evil speech, being enemies of the Prophets, etc., just as Allah said in other Ayat,

فَإِنَّكُمْ وَمَا تَعْبُدُونَ - مَآ أَنتُمْ عَلَيْهِ بِفَـتِنِينَ - إِلاَّ مَنْ هُوَ صَالِ الْجَحِيمِ

(So, verily, you (pagans) and those whom you worship (idols). Cannot lead astray. Except those who are predestined to burn in Hell!) 37:161-163 and,

إِنَّكُمْ لَفِى قَوْلٍ مُّخْتَلِفٍ - يُؤْفَكُ عَنْهُ مَنْ أُفِكَ

(Certainly, you have different ideas. Turned aside therefrom is he who is turned aside.) 51:8-9 Allah said;

وَلِيَقْتَرِفُواْ مَا هُم مُّقْتَرِفُونَ

(And that they may commit what they are committing. ) meaning, "let them earn whatever they will earn", according to `Ali bin Abi Talhah who reported this from Ibn `Abbas. As-Suddi and Ibn Zayd also commented, "Let them do whatever they will do."

On Signs and Miracles

The previous verses had mentioned how obstinate people failed to benefit from clear signs of Allah and open miracles of His Messenger and kept on denying the message of truth. The present verses mention how they took a new turn, and demanded particular miracles from the Holy Prophet ﷺ . As reported by Ibn Jarir, the Quraysh chiefs asked that they be shown the miracle of turning the Mount of Safa into solid gold; if so, they would accept that he was a prophet and messenger, and that they would embrace Islam. The Holy Prophet ﷺ said: All right, make a solid agreement that, if this miracle is shown, all of you will become Muslims. They took solemn oaths. The Holy Prophet ﷺ stood up to pray that Allah turns the Mount into gold. Sayyidna Jibra'il (علیہا السلام) came with Wahy which said: If you wish, We shall make this whole Mount a Mount of gold, but the consequence will be that, according to the customary Divine Law, all of them - if they still fail to believe - shall be destroyed through a mass punishment, as has been happening with past communities who demanded a miracle which was shown, yet they reverted back to denial when the wrath and punishment of Allah overtook them. Since the Holy Prophet ﷺ was aware of their habitual obstinacy, and because he was in mercy the foremost, he said that he was not going to pray for that miracle anymore. Thereupon, the following verse was revealed: وَأَقْسَمُوا بِاللَّـهِ جَهْدَ أَيْمَانِهِمْ (And they swore by Allah on eloquent oaths - 109). Reported here is the sworn saying of the disbelievers that they would embrace Islam if they can see the miracle demanded by them. After that, in the sentence which follows immediately, it was said: إِنَّمَا الْآيَاتُ عِندَ اللَّـهِ (Signs are, definitely, with Allah - 109). This contains an answer to their saying. It has been declared here that all signs and miracles are within the power and control of Allah Ta` a1a. As for the miracles already manifested, they too were from Him - and those being demanded now, they too lie within His absolute control. But, according to the dictate of reason and justice, they had no right to make such a demand - because, the Holy Prophet ﷺ claims to be a Messenger of Allah, in support of which, he has already presented proofs and evidences in the form of miracles. Now, the other party does have the right to question these proofs and evidences by showing the proofs of their being false. But, the attitude of not cross-examining evidences presented and yet demanding some other evidences would be like the scenario in a law court where the respondent would avoid cross-examining the witness presented by the plaintiff and take the plea that he does not accept the evidence of these witnesses and that he would accept what is said particularly by such and such a person in his statement. Obviously, no court would consider this plea worth hearing.

Similar is the case of the veracity of a prophet or Rasul of Allah. To that end there are many clear signs and miracles before those who disbelieve. Now, unless they prove that these signs and miracles are false, they have no right to say that they would rather like to see a miracle of this or that kind before they could believe.

After that, upto the end of the cited verses, Muslims have been directly instructed that their duty is to stay firm on the true faith in their individual capacity, as well as convey it to others correctly and properly. If they, even then, show signs of rigidness and obstinacy, one should not worry about them because no one has to be forced into becoming a Muslim. If this was what could be done by force, who can claim to have greater coercive power than Allah Ta` ala. He Himself would have made everyone a Muslim. And in order to give Muslims their peace of heart, it was also explained in the verse that these people will not believe even if Allah were to show them the miracles of their choice openly and clearly. The reason was that their denial was not based on any misunderstanding or lack of awareness. In fact, it was due to their hostility and obstinacy - a disease which cannot be treated by miracles. In verse 111 وَلَوْ أَنَّنَا نَزَّلْنَا إِلَيْهِمُ الْمَلَائِكَةَ , it has been said that these people, if they were shown all miracles demanded by them, in fact, even if they were made to meet with angels and talk to the dead, they would still not believe. In the two verses that follow (112 113), the Holy Prophet ﷺ has been comforted by saying that the hostility of such people against him is nothing surprising. Past prophets too had their enemies - so, let him not be sad about it.

Ibn Jarir has quoted Abu Dharr al-Ghifari as saying, ‘I attended a meeting of the Prophet Muhammad. It was a long meeting. He asked me, “O, Abu Dharr, have you said your prayers?” I replied, “No, O Prophet of God.” He said, “Get up and offer salah of two rakat.” Thereupon, I offered salah and joined the meeting again. Then he (the Prophet) asked, “O Abu Dharr, did you seek the protection of God against the Satans among human beings and jinns?” I replied, “No, O Prophet of God. Are there Satans among human beings also?” The Prophet said, “Yes, those Satans are worse than those among the jinns.’” (Ibn Kathir, Tafsir). Here, ‘Satans among human beings’ refers to those people who have attained respectability and popularity on the basis of self-made religion, and who will stop at nothing to disprove the call of Truth. When the call of the Truth is given in its purest form, they feel that they are being stripped of all protection. The straight path for them would have been to accept the Truth on its being clarified. But, compared to acceptance of the Truth, their position is dearer to them. To save their position, they set about proving the dubiousness of the preacher and his call. They make allegations that are themselves baseless, but because they express themselves so beautifully, many people are influenced and are filled with doubt.