The Holy Quran with Five Volume Commentary (Vol 1) — Page xxxv
GENERAL INTRODUCTION 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? (39:72) And: of 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 the meeting of this your day? (6:131) 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' (23:33). Again: And remember the day when We shall raise up a witness from every people (16:85). 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 ‘Ād We sent their brother Hūd (7:66). And to Thamud We sent their brother Ṣāliḥ (7:74). And to Midian We sent their brother Shu'aib (7:86). The verses mean that Hūd, Ṣāliḥ and Shu'aib, were in close association with their respective peoples, so that those peoples could be said to know everything about them. Of Ṣāliḥ we read that when he announced himself as a Prophet to his people, he was told: O Ṣāliḥ, thou wast among us one in whom we placed our hopes. Dost thou forbid us to worship what our fathers worshipped? (11:63). Similarly the people of Shu'aib told Shu'aib: ix