Asking for Miracles
Insisting on disbelief and extreme stubbornness make the disbelievers and the stubborn people ask for farfetched or strange things that agree with their hardline positions, and stagnant minds. The position of Quraysh, the tribe of the Messengerﷺ, was such. They demanded the Messengerﷺ to do things that he could not do to maintain their stubborn position, and deep-rooted misguidance. Such a position neither justified their disbelief, nor supported their misguidance. On the contrary, it denotes their being so far from rational principles, and impossibility of their belief and reform. The Quran narrates about their position to record their obstinacy.
(Say, ‘Call those whom you claimed to be gods besides Allah. They are unable to remove harm, nor transfer it to another person.’
Those, whom they worship, do themselves seek means of approach to their Lord. They hope for His mercy and fear His torment. Indeed, the torment of your Lord must be feared.
There is no town but We shall destroy it before the Day of Judgment, or torture it with severe torment. That is recorded in the Book.
Nothing has prevented Us from sending miracles, except that the former nations disbelieved in them. We gave Thamud the she-camel as a clear miracle, but they disbelieved in it. And We do not send miracles, but as warning.
Mention when We told you that your Lord is fully aware of the people. And We did not make the vision We showed you as well as the cursed tree in the Quran, but as a test for people. We warn them, but it only increases them extreme transgression.) [Quran Surah al-Isra: 56-60]
Relationship with the Previous Part
After condemning the disbelievers’ denial of resurrection on the Day of Judgment, Allah refuted their worship of the angels, the jinn, Jesus, and Uzair, who are some of His creatures. The angels, the jinn, Jesus, and Uzair worship, and obey Allah, Exalted is He, and fear His torment. Indeed, the only true God deserving worship is Allah. He alone can bring benefit and remove harm.
Then Allah mentions that the end of the former disbelieving nations was annihilation and destruction, or severe torment such as, killing, and enslavement.
Then Allah told the disbelievers, who asked for great miracles, that granting them what they demanded, would not be in their interests. If the miracles were granted and they disbelieved in them, they would be punished and annihilated. Such punishment was the share of the former disbelieving nations. When Thamud, the tribe of Prophet Saleh, disbelieved in their Messenger, they were punished and annihilated.
Finally, Allah mentions that the Night Journey of al-Al-Isra and Ascension to the heaven, which Messenger Muhammad did, were tests for the belief of people; just as the cursed tree mentioned in the Quran was a test.
Ayah 56-57: Cause of Revelation
The scholars of Tafsir mention some narrations about the cause of revelation of these ayat. Ibn Kathîr said , ‘Ibn Abbas, may Allah be pleased with him, said regarding the following ayah: (Say, ‘Call those whom you claimed to be gods besides Allah. They are unable to remove harm, nor transfer it to another person.’): The disbelievers used to say, ‘We worship the angels, Jesus, and Uzair.’ Al-Bukhãrî narrated that Abdul-Allah bin Mas’ûd, may Allah be pleased with him, said about this ayah, (There is no town but We shall destroy it before the Day of Judgment, or torture it with severe torment. That is recorded in the Book.): ‘Some people used to worship the jinn, but these jinn embraced Islam.’ In another narration, he said, ‘Some people used to worship a group of jinn, but these jinn embraced Islam, and those people insisted on worshipping them.’
Imam al-Qurtuby said, ‘(Say, ‘Call those whom you claimed to be gods besides Allah.): When Quraysh suffered from draught, they complained to the Messengerﷺ. Then Allah revealed this ayah.’ Al-Hassan said, ‘The ayah refers to the angels, Jesus, and Uzair.’ Ibn Mas’ûd said, ‘It refers to the jinn.’ (They are unable to remove harm…), that is to say, they cannot remove the draught you are suffering from, according to the statement of Muqãtil. (nor transfer it to another person.), that it to say, they cannot change poverty into richness, and illness into healthiness.’
Imam at-Tabarî said, ‘The most correct opinion on the interpretation of the ayah is the narration of ibn Mas’ûd, that is to say, Allah informed about the gods that were worshipped and that the disbelievers invoked them to bring them closer to Allah during the time of Prophet Muhammad. It is known that Uzair was not alive during the time of the Prophetﷺ. Similarly, Jesus was raised to the heaven then. On the other hand, whoever, seeks to be close to Allah, must obey Him, and do righteous deeds. As for the thing cannot do righteous deeds, how can it seek to be close to Allah? If such opinion is non-sense, then the correct opinion is the narration of ibn Mas’ûd, or that the ayah refers to the angles. These two meanings are the most possible interpretations of the ayah.’
Tafsir
(Say, ‘Call those whom you claimed to be gods besides Allah. They are unable to remove harm, nor transfer it to another person.’) [56]
Challenging the disbelievers and seeking to guide them to the right path, Allah, Exalted is He, says,
O Messenger! Tell the disbelievers, who worship other gods besides Allah that these gods cannot remove harm from you, e.g. poverty, illness, or drought, nor transfer it to another person. Indeed, these false gods cannot help them. Therefore, do not worship them. You must worship Allah sincerely, and obey Him as He is the only true God, deserving worship.
The ayah mentions only removing harms because human beings usually seek to remove harm when calamities befall more than seeking to attain benefit.
Then Allah says that every god worshipped besides Him needs His help, reward, and pleasure.
(Those, whom they worship, do themselves seek means of approach to their Lord. They hope for His mercy and fear His torment. Indeed, the torment of your Lord must be feared.) [57]
The false gods that are worshipped besides Allah seek to be close to Allah, hope for His mercy, and fear His torment.
Ayah 56 & 57 logically clarify that Allah, Exalted is He, is the Creator of everything in the universe, and He alone manages the affairs of His slaves. Every created being needs Allah’s help, forgiveness, and pleasure. Those whom the disbelievers claim that they are gods besides Allah, such as Jesusﷺ, Uzair, and the angels, are slaves of Allah, who seek to be closer to Allah by obeying Him, hoping for His mercy, and fearing His torment.
Then Allah, Exalted is He, mentions that His rules must realize.
(There is no town but We shall destroy it before the Day of Judgment, or torture it with severe torment. That is recorded in the Book.) [58]
Allah, Exalted is He, says that He has ordained and recorded in the Preserved Tablet that there is no town but He will destroy by annihilating its inhabitants or torturing them because of their sins. Allah says, interpretation of meaning,
(How many a town that transgressively disobeyed the command of its Lord and His Messengers. So We severely called it to account, and tortured it dreadful torment.)[Quran 65:8]
Then Allah, Exalted is He, mentions some of His bounties on the Muslims.
(Nothing has prevented Us from sending miracles, except that the former nations disbelieved in them. We gave Thamud the she-camel as a clear miracle, but they disbelieved in it. And We do not send miracles, but as warning.) [59]
Cause of Revelation
Ibn Abbas, may Allah be pleased with him, said that the people of Mecca asked the Prophetﷺ to make the mount of as-Safa and Marwa gold, and remove the mountains so that they could cultivate the land. It was said to him, ‘If you want, they will be given a respite. And if you want, they will be given their request. If they disbelieve after that, they will be destroyed just as the former nations were destroyed.’ The Prophet said, ‘No. I would rather that they would be given a respite.’ Then Allah, Exalted is He, revealed, (Nothing has prevented Us from sending miracles, except that the former nations disbelieved in them.)
O Messenger! We did not give the disbelievers their requests when they asked you to bring them miracles because We knew that they would disbelieve in them if they were given their requests just as the former disbelieving nations did. In which case, they would deserve annihilating torment, as it is the rule applied against whoever disbelieves after seeing the clear the miracles of Allah.
(We gave Thamud the she-camel as a clear miracle, but they disbelieved in it.)
Thamud is the tribe of Prophet Saleh . They were specifically mentioned because the people of Mecca knew them well since they used to pass by the remains of their houses when traveling to ash-Shãm.
The she-camel was the miracle Allah gave the people of Thamud in order to believe in their messenger, but they disbelieved, killed the she-camel, and extremely transgressed.
O Messenger! The people of Thamud asked their prophet Saleh to bring them a miracle. We granted them the she-camel as a clear miracle. However, they disbelieved in it. Thus, We destroyed them.
(…the she-camel as a clear miracle…), it means that the she-camel was an obvious miracle that the people of Thamud could see.
In other words, O Muhammad! We, out of Our mercy, did not give your people their request. That is because if We gave them a miracle and they insisted on disbelief, We would destroy them as We did with the former disbelieving nations.
(And We do not send miracles, but as warning.)
Allah grants miracles, denoting the truthfulness of His Messengers to warn their people about the evil consequence of their disbelief.
Then Allah mentioned something in order to increase the firmness of Messenger Muhammad, and that denotes His comprehensive knowledge, and limitless wisdom.
Mention when We told you that your Lord is fully aware of the people. And We did not make the vision We showed you as well as the cursed tree in the Qur’an, but as a test for people. We warn them, but it only increases them extreme transgression.
Allah urges His Prophetﷺ to convey the message of Islam. He assures him that He will protect him from whoever wants to harm him.
(Mention when We told you that your Lord is fully aware of the people.)
This statement implies solace to the Prophetﷺ, and good news to His companions that they will be victorious as well as urges them to keep on following the path of Islam without fear from anyone except Allah, Exalted is He.
(And We did not make the vision We showed you as well as the cursed tree in the Quran, but as a test for people.)
The vision refers to the night journey that the Prophetﷺ made to Al-Aqsa mosque in Jerusalem, in which he saw miracles. Allah caused His Prophetﷺ to make this journey to test the people and clearly distinguish those whose faith was strong from those whose faith was weak.
Ibn Abbas, may Allah be pleased with him, said about (And We did not make the vision…). It refers to what the Messengerﷺ saw with his eyes during the night journey to Jerusalem. And (…the cursed tree in the Quran…), it refers to the tree of Zaqûm.’
Whatever the Messengerﷺ saw during that journey was a test for the people because some people renounced Islam when he told them what he saw, and some people hesitated to embrace it. People’s mind could not accept the idea of the Prophet’s travel from the Sacred mosque in Mecca to al-Aqsa mosque in Jerusalem, then ascension to the heavens, and returning to Mecca in one night.
O Messenger! We did not make the vision that We showed you, and cursed tree mentioned in the Quran but as a test for the people. Some believers renounced their belief in Islam, and the disbelievers adhered more to their disbelief when the Prophetﷺ told them what he saw during his night journey to Jerusalem.
As for the disbelievers’ test regarding the cursed tree, abû Jahal, and the disbelievers said, ‘Muhammad says that there is a tree in Hellfire. The fire consumes trees, so how does a tree grow inside Hellfire?
(We warn them, but it only increases them extreme transgression.)
We warn the disbelievers by means of threatening with torment and punishment; however, our warning increases them nothing but extreme transgression, and disbelief.
Learned Lessons
• None is able to remove harm, such as poverty, illness, or affliction, and change it into another state, or transfer it to another person except Allah, Exalted is He.
• There is no point in seeking help from other than Allah, Exalted is He. False gods worshipped besides Allah, such as the angels, Jesus, and Uzair, seek to be closer to Allah, humbly hope for His forgiveness, and fear His punishment.
• There is no oppressive town but Allah will destroy or torture with severe torment before the Day of Judgment. Thus, the oppressors and tyrants must fear Allah and stop oppressing people.
• Allah did not grant the disbelievers their request when they asked the Messengerﷺ to bring them miracles because if He granted them their request and they did not believe, He would annihilate them just as He did with the former nations. Moreover, Allah did not torment the disbelievers of Mecca, as He knew that some of them would believe in the future.
• Allah, Exalted is He, gave His Messengerﷺ the good news that He is fully aware of the people. Thus, he should convey the Islamic message without fear, depending on Allah, Who would protect and guard him.
• The night journey of al-Al-Isra and the cursed tree in Hellfire are tests for the people. Whoever is destined to be a believer will believe in them. Likewise, whoever is destined to be a disbeliever will disbelieve in them.
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