36.14
Abbas - Tanwîr al-Miqbâs min Tafsîr Ibn ‘Abbâs
(When We sent unto them twain) two apostles: Simon the Canaanite and Thomas, (and they denied them both, so We reinforced them with a third) We strengthened them with Simon Peter who confirmed the message conveyed by the other two apostles, (and they said; Lo! we have been sent unto you.
When We sent to them two men, and they denied them both (from idh arsalnā ilayhim ithnayni fa-kadhdhabūhumā to the end is a substitution for the previous idh, ‘when’), so We reinforced [them] (read fa-‘azaznā or fa-‘azzaznā, in other words, We reinforced the two men) with a third, and they said, ‘We have indeed been sent to you [by God]’.
(a similitude; the Dwellers of the Town, when there came Messengers to them.) In the reports that he transmitted from Ibn `Abbas, Ka`b Al-Ahbar and Wahb bin Munabbih - Ibn Ishaq reported that it was the city of Antioch, in which there was a king called Antiochus the son of Antiochus the son of Antiochus, who used to worship idols. Allah sent to him three Messengers, whose names were Sadiq, Saduq and Shalum, and he disbelieved in them. It was also narrated from Buraydah bin Al-Husayb, `Ikrimah, Qatadah and Az-Zuhri that it was Antioch. Some of the Imams were not sure that it was Antioch, as we shall see below after telling the rest of the story, if Allah wills.
(When We sent to them two Messengers, they denied them both;) means, they hastened to disbelieve in them.
فَعَزَّزْنَا بِثَالِثٍ
(so We reinforced them with a third,) means, `We supported and strengthened them with a third Messenger. ' Ibn Jurayj narrated from Wahb bin Sulayman, from Shu`ayb Al-Jaba'i, "The names of the first two Messengers were Sham`un and Yuhanna, and the name of the third was Bulus, and the city was Antioch (Antakiyah).
فَقَالُواْ
(and they said) means, to the people of that city,
إِنَّآ إِلَيْكُمْ مُّرْسَلُونَ
(Verily, we have been sent to you as Messengers.) meaning, `from your Lord Who created you and Who commands you to worship Him Alone with no partners or associates.' This was the view of Abu Al-`Aliyah. Qatadah bin Di`amah claimed that they were messengers of the Messiah, peace be upon him, sent to the people of Antioch.
قَالُواْ مَآ أَنتُمْ إِلاَّ بَشَرٌ مِّثْلُنَا
(They said: "You are only human beings like ourselves...'') means, `so how could you receive revelation when you are human beings and we are human beings, so why do we not receive revelation like you If you are Messengers, you should be angels.' This is like what many of the nations said who disbelieved, as Allah has told us in the Ayah: c
(That was because there came to them their Messengers with clear proofs, but they said: "Shall mere men guide us'') (64: 6) meaning that they were amazed by that and they denied it. And Allah says:
(They said: "You are no more than human beings like us! You wish to turn us away from what our fathers used to worship. Then bring us a clear authority.'') (14:10). And Allah tells us that they said:
(And nothing prevented men from believing when the guidance came to them, except that they said: "Has Allah sent a man as (His) Messenger'') (17:94). These people said:
(You are only human beings like ourselves, and the Most Gracious has revealed nothing. You are only telling lies.'' The Messengers said: "Our Lord knows that we have been sent as Messengers to you.'') This means that the three Messengers answered them saying: "Allah knows that we are His Messengers to you. If we were lying, He would have taken the utmost vengeance against us, but He will cause us to prevail and will make us victorious against you, and you will come to know whose will be the happy end in the Hereafter.'' This is like the Ayah:
(Say: "Sufficient is Allah for a witness between me and you. He knows what is in the heavens and on earth.'' And those who believe in falsehood, and disbelieve in Allah, it is they who are the losers.) (29:52)
وَمَا عَلَيْنَآ إِلاَّ الْبَلَـغُ الْمُبِينُ
(And our duty is only to convey plainly.) means, `all we have to do is to convey to you the Message with which we have been sent; if you obey, then happiness will be yours in this world and the Hereafter, and if you do not respond, you will soon know the consequences of that.' And Allah knows best.
36.13-15
Maududi - Sayyid Abul Ala Maududi - Tafhim al-Qur'an
The early commentators, generally, have expressed the opinion that the "habitation" implies the Syrian city of Antioch, and the messengers mentioned here were the ones sent by the Prophet Jesus for the preaching of his message there. Another thing that has been mentioned in this connection is that Antiochus was the king of this land at that time. But historically this story which Ibn 'Abbas, Qatadah, 'Ikrimah, Ka'b Ahbar and Wahb bin Munabbih, and others have related on the basis of unauthentic Christian traditions is baseless. There have been 13 kings of the Seleucid dynasty named Antiochus who reigned in Antioch, and the rule of the last king of this name, rather the rule of this dynasty itself, carne to an end in 65 B.C. At the time of the Prophet Jesus, the whole land of Syria and Palestine, including Antioch, was under the Romans. Then, no proof is forthcoming from any authentic tradition of the Christians that the Prophet Jesus might himself have sent any of his disciples to Antioch for preaching his message. On the contrary, the Acts of the Apostles (N.T.) shows that the Christian preachers had reached Antioch for the first time a few years after the event of the crucifixion. Now, evidently, the people who were neither appointed messengers by Allah nor sent by His Messenger cannot be regarded as messengers of Allah by any interpretation even if they might have travelled for the purpose of preaching of their own accord. Moreover, according to the Bible; Antioch was the first city where the non-Israelites embraced Christianity in large numbers and where the Christian faith met with great success; whereas the habitation mentioned by the Qur'an was some such habitation which rejected the invitation of the messengers, and was consequently punished with a Divine torment. History also does not bear any evidence that Antioch was ever afflicted with a destruction, which might be regarded, as the result of denying the Prophethood.
On account of these reasons it cannot be accepted that the `habitation" implies Antioch. The habitation has neither been clearly determined in the Qur'an nor in any authentic Hadith; the identity of the messengers also is not known through any authentic means nor the time when they were appointed. To understand the purpose for which the Qur'an is narrating this story here, it is not necessary to know the names of the habitation and the messengers. The object is to warn the Quraish, as if to say: `You arc following the same path of stubbornness, prejudice and denial of the truth as had been followed by the people of that habitation, and are preparing yourselves to meet the same doom as was met by them.
In other words, what they wanted to say was: `Since you are human beings, you cannot be the messengers of God. " The same was the view of the disbelievers of Makkah. They also said; "Muhammad (upon whom be Allah's peace) cannot be a messenger because he is a man"
"They say: what sort of a Messenger is he that he eats food and moves about in the streets." (AI-Furqan: 7).
"And the unjust people whisper to one another, saying, 'This man is no more than a human being like yourselves. What! will you then be enticed by this sorcery while you perceive it ?" (Al-Anbiya': 3).
The Qur'an refutes this erroneous notion of the people of Makkah and says that it is not any new kind of ignorance which these people are displaying, but all the ignorant people since the earliest times have been involved in the misunderstanding that a human being cannot be a messenger and a Messenger cannot be a human being. When the chiefs of the people of the Prophet Noah had rejected his Prophethood, they had said the same thing:
"This person is no more than a human being like yourselves. By this he purely intends to obtain superiority over you. Had Allah willed, He would have sent down angels. Since the time of our forefathers we have never heard (that a human being should come as a Messenger)." (AI-Mu'minun: 24).
The people of `Ad had said the same about the Prophet Hud: "This person is no more than a human being like yourselves, for he eats of what you eat and drinks of what you drink. Now if you submit to a human being like yourselves, you will indeed be the losers. " (AI-Mu'minun: 33-34).
The people of Thamud also said the same about the 'Prophet Salih: `Shall we follow a man from among ourselves?" (AI-Qamar: 24). And the same thing happened with almost every Prophet that the disbelievers said: "You are no more than a human being like ourselves," and the Prophets always replied: It is true that we are no more than human beings like you, but Allah shows His favor to anyone of His servants He pleases." (Ibrahim: 10-11).
Then the Qur'an says that this very notion of ignorance has been preventing the people from accepting guidance in every age, and the same has been the cause of every nation's downfall:
"Has not the news reached you of those who had disbelieved before this, and the tasted the evil results of their deeds ? And in the Hereafter there awaits them a painful torment. They deserved this fate because their Messengers came to them with clear Signs, but they said, `Shall human beings show us guidance ? `So they refused and turned away." (At-Taghabun: 5-6).
"Whenever guidance came before the people, nothing prevented them from believing in it except this (excuse): they said: `Has Allah sent a human being as His messenger?' " (Bani Isra'il: 94).
Then the Qur'an says explicitly that Allah has always sent human beings as the Messengers and a human being alone can be a Messenger for the guidance for mankind. and not an angel, or a supernatural being:
"And We sent before your also human beings as Messengers to whom We revealed (Our Message). If you (O objectors) have no knowledge of this, you may ask those who have the knowledge. We did not give them such bodies as could survive without food nor were they immortal." (AI-Anbiya`; 7-8).
"All the Messengers whom We sent before you also ate food and moved about in the streets. " (AI-Furqan: 20).
"O Prophet, say to them: Had angels settled on the earth and moved about in peace, We would certainly have sent an angel as a messenger to them." (Bani Isra'il: 95).
This is another notion of ignorance in which the disbelievers of Makkah were involved. In it are also involved the so-called rationalists of today and in it have been involved the deniers of Revelation and Prophethood of every age since the earliest times. These people have held the view that Allah does not send down any Revelation at All for the guidance of man. He is only concerned with the affairs of the heavens: He has left the affairs and problems of man to be resoled by man himself.