Аз-Зухруф 43:88–89

وَقِيلِهِ يَا رَ‌بِّ إِنَّ هَٰؤُلَاءِ قَوْمٌ لَّا يُؤْمِنُونَ (And [ Allah has the knowledge ] of His prophet's saying, "0 my Lord, these are a people who do not believe." 43:88) The point made by this sentence is that there are very serious reasons for Allah's wrath descending upon these infidels. On the one hand, there are their severe crimes themselves, and on the other when the Messenger ﷺ ، who has been sent as a "blessing for the world" and "interceder for the sinners", himself complains against them and says that these people do not believe, despite repeated good counsels given to them, it indicates that they must have agonized the Holy Prophet ﷺ to an extreme extent, otherwise "the blessing for the worlds" would not have made such a plaint merely on an ordinary hurt.

It should be noted that the present verse has been construed in different ways. The above translation is based on the construction adopted by Maulana Ashraf ` Ali Thanawi (رح) . Various other constructions are given in Ruh-ul-Ma` ani.

وَقُلْ سَلَامٌ (and say, Salam [ good-bye ]. Then soon they will come to know---43:89). At the end of the Surah, the same advice has been given to the Holy Prophet t that is always given to every preacher of truth. The gist of the advice is that one may reply to the arguments and doubts of the opponents, but when they start talking ignorantly, foolishly or are involved in hurling abuses, then instead of replying in their language, one should keep quiet. And the instruction to say Salam does not mean that 'Assalamu ` alaikum" is to be said to them, because this salutation is not permissible for any non-Muslim; rather it is an idiomatic expression for parting of ways. As such, the view of those who deduce from this verse that saying "Assalamu 'alaikum" to non-Muslims is permissible does not carry much weight. (Ruh-ul-Ma’ ani).

Alhamdulillah

The Commentary on

SUrah Az-Zukhruf (The Gold)

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