Introduction to the Study of The Holy Quran — Page 8
8 The verse represents the Holy Prophet as saying to his accusers, ‘I have lived for a lifetime among you, as one of you. You had the chance to observe me at close quarters; you have been witnesses to my truthfulness. How then dare you say that I have today suddenly begun to lie about God?’ Similarly the Quran says: Verily, Allah has conferred a favour on the Believers by raising among them a Messenger from among themselves. 17 The same point is stressed in the verse: Surely, a Messenger has come unto you from among yourselves. 18 That is, ‘a Messenger to you, who is one of you, not one whom you do not know, but one whom you well know and of whose purity of character you have yourselves been witnesses. ’ Even of Prophets other than the Holy Prophet of Islam, the Quran makes similar assertions. They were raised from among their own people. It could not be said of them that those whom these Prophets first addressed did not know them well enough. When the inmates of Hell are cast into Hell, God will address them, saying: Did not Messengers from among yourselves come to you, reciting unto you the Signs of your Lord, and warning you of the meeting of this day of yours? 19 And: O Company of Jinn and men! did not Messengers come to you from among yourselves who related to you My Signs and who warned you of the meeting of this your day? 20 In another place we read: And We sent among them a Messenger from among themselves, who said, ‘Serve Allah. You have no God other than He’. 21 Again: And remember the day when We shall raise up a witness from every people. 22 The word ‘witness’ used here means a Prophet raised for a people. On the Day of Judgement, the Prophets will point to themselves as visible proof of what God’s communications had done for them. God will put disbelievers to shame, saying, ‘See what My Prophet has attained to, and to what your disbelief has led!’ All the Prophets, we are told, were raised from amongst their own people. The conditions under which each Prophet was brought up and the reactions of each Prophet to these conditions were well-known to each people. Each people, therefore, was a witness of the piety and purity of its Prophet. Besides this we also have in the Quran verses such as the following: And unto Ad We sent their brother Hud. 23 And to Thamud We sent their brother Salih. 24 And to Midian We sent their brother Shu ‘ ayb. 25