Йа Син 36:13–18

Commentary

The expression: ضرب مثل (cite an example) in verse 13: وَاضْرِ‌بْ لَهُم مَّثَلًا أَصْحَابَ الْقَرْ‌يَةِ (And cite to them the example of the People of the Town) is generally used to prove something by giving the example of a similar thing. The following event has been narrated by the Holy Qur'an to alert people against disbelievers who rejected the very notion of there being a prophet or messenger.

The town in which this event took place

The Qur'an does not tell us the name of this town. In historical narrations, Muhammad Ibn Ishaq has reported from Sayyidna Ibn ` Abbas, Ka'b Ahbar and Wahb Ibn Munabbih ؓ that it was the town of Antakiyah (Antioch) and majority of commentators have opted for it. Abu Hayyan and Ibn Kathir have said that no statement counter to it has been reported from any of the commentators. According to details given in Mu` jim-ul-Buldan, Antakiyah is a wellknown town of Syria, famous, for its verdant growth and stability. Its fort and its protective wall around the town are considered ideal. The town has many churches with inlay work in gold and silver. This is a coastal town. During the Islamic period, it was conquered by the famous Sahabi Sayyidna Abu ` Ubaidah Ibn Jarrah ؓ . Yaqut al-Hamawi, the author of Mu` jim-ul-Buldan has also written that the grave of Habib Najjar (whose story appears a little later in this verse) is a known site in Antakiyah. People from far and near come to visit it. From this clear statement from him also, it seems likely that the town mentioned in this verse is this very town of Antakiyah.

Ibn Kathir has written that Antakiyah is one of the four major towns which have been deemed to be the centers of the Christian faith, that is, al-Quds, (Jerusalem), Rumiyyah (Rome), Iskandariyyah (Alexandria) and Antakiyah (Antioch). And he also said that Antakiyah is the first city that embraced the faith brought by Sayyidna ` Isa al-Masih (علیہ السلام) . It is on this very ground that Ibn Kathir is reluctant in accepting that the town mentioned in this verse could be the famous town of Antakiyah - because, according to the explicit statement of the Qur'an, this was a town of disbelievers who refused to accept any prophet or messenger. And according to historical accounts, they were idolaters and polytheists. If so, how can Antakiyah, that was foremost in welcoming and embracing the faith of Sayyidna ` Isa al-Masih (علیہ السلام) ، be the town referred to here?

In addition to that, it is also proved from the cited verses of the Qur'an that this whole town was hit by a punishment that left no one alive. No such event about the town of Antakiyah - that all its inhabitants had simultaneously died at some time - has been reported in history. Therefore, according to Ibn Kathir, either the town mentioned in this verse is some town other than Antakiyah, or that it is some other town bearing the same name of Antakiyah which is not the famous town of Antakiyah.

Though, the author of Fath-ul-Mannan has also given answers to the doubts expressed by Ibn Kathir, however, the easiest way out has been offered by Maulana Ashraf Thanavi (رح) in Tafsir Bayan-ul-Qur'an. To understand the subject of these verses of the Qur'an, he says, it is not necessary to determine the location of this town, and since the noble Qur'an has kept it ambiguous, there is just no need to exert so much effort to determine it. The famous saying of the early forbears of Islam that: اَبھِمُوا مَا اَبھَمَہُ اللہُ (Leave ambiguous that which Allah has left ambiguous) also requires nothing but this.

In the next sentence of verse 13: إِذْ أَرْ‌سَلْنَا إِلَيْهِمُ اثْنَيْنِ فَكَذَّبُوهُمَا فَعَزَّزْنَا بِثَالِثٍ فَقَالُوا إِنَّا إِلَيْكُم مُّرْ‌سَلُونَ (when the messengers came to it... - 13). The text has briefly mentioned the coming of messengers to the town. The number of the messengers sent has been identified in verse 14:إِذْ جَاءَهَا إِنَّا إِلَيْكُم مُّرْ‌سَلُونَ (when We sent to them two (apostles), and they rejected them both, so We supported them with a third one. So they said, "We are sent to you" ) This shows that three messengers were sent to the said town. First came two, the people of the town rejected them and refused to listen to them. Then Allah Ta’ ala strengthened them by sending the third messenger. After that, all three addressed the people of the town, telling them that they had been sent to guide them to the straight path.

What does 'messenger' mean? Who were these people?

In the Qur'an, the word: رسول (rasul: messenger) and: مُرسل (mursal: sent) is generally used for a prophet or apostle of Allah. In this verse, Allah Ta’ ala has attributed their sending to Himself. This too indicates that they are prophets who have been sent to accomplish some mission. This is what Ibn Ishaq reports from Sayyidna Ibn ` Abbas ؓ Ka'b Ahbar ؓ and Wahb Ibn Munabbih. According to the reports, these three elders mentioned as the ones sent to this town were the prophets of Allah. Their names as given in this narration are Sadiq, Saduq and Shalum, while in another narration, the name of the third appears as Sham` un. (Ibn Kathir)

And it has been reported from Sayyidna Qatadah ؓ that the word: مُّرْ‌سَلُونَ (mursalun: sent ones) has not been used here in its technical sense, instead, it appears in the sense of a bearer of message, and the three elders who were sent to this town were no prophets themselves, rather, were from among the disciples of Sayyidna ` Isa (علیہ السلام) and were sent for the guidance of this town under his order (Ibn Kathir). And since their sender, Sayyidna ` Isa (علیہ السلام) was a messenger of Allah, therefore, in a way, his sending was indirectly the sending of Allah Ta’ ala. Hence, his sending has been attributed to Allah Ta’ ala. Out of the commentators, Ibn Kathir has opted for the first saying while al-Qurtubi and others have gone by the second. From the apparent sense of the text of the Qur'an too, it is generally gathered that these blessed souls were prophets of Allah. Allah knows best.

The word: تَطَيَّرْ‌ (tatayyur) in verse 18: قَالُوا إِنَّا تَطَيَّرْ‌نَا بِكُمْ (We take you as a bad omen for us.) means the seeing of an evil omen in someone or taking someone to be wretched. It is being said here that the people of this town did not listen to these blessed souls sent to them and chided them as being wretched or carriers of misfortune. It appears in some narrations that a famine had overtaken this town, because the people of the town had curtly turned down the good counsel of the messengers. That is why the people of the town called them wretched, or maybe they were hurt in some other way. So, as is the common habit of disbelievers, they would hasten to attribute any distress that afflicts them to prophets and the righteous who are nothing but their guides and benefactors. Hence, in this case too, they lost no time and attributed their own wretchedness to these blessed elders. This happens to be similar to what has been said in the Qur'an about the people of Sayyidna Musa (علیہ السلام) فَإِذَا جَاءَتْهُمُ الْحَسَنَةُ قَالُوا لَنَا هَٰذِهِ وَإِن تُصِبْهُمْ سَيِّئَةٌ يَطَّيَّرُ‌وا بِمُوسَىٰ وَمَن مَّعَهُ (So when something good come to them they said, "This is our right". And if they suffered from something evil, they ascribed it as an ill omen to Musa and those with him - 7:131). Similarly, the people of Sayyidna Salih (علیہ السلام) said to him: اطَّيَّرْ‌نَا بِكَ وَبِمَن مَّعَكَ (They said, "we regard you and those with you as a sign of bad omen". - 27:47).