The Holy Quran with Five Volume Commentary (Vol 2) — Page 513
Place of Revelation CHAPTER 7 AL-A'RĀF (Revealed before Hijrah) According to Ibn ‘Abbās, Ibn Zubair, Ḥasan, Mujāhid, ‘Ikrimah, ‘Aṭā and Jābir bin Zaid, this Surah belongs to the Meccan period with the exception of vv. 165-172. It has 207 verses including Bismillah. Qatādah says that v. 165 was revealed at Medina. The Rev. E. M. Wherry also considers this Surah to be of Meccan origin with the exception of the above-mentioned eight verses, i. e. vv. 165-172 and also vv. 159-161. It is strange that the reverend gentleman has assigned the revelation of vv. 159-161 to Medina without valid reason or reliable historical evidence. No traditionist nor even any orientalist supports him in his contention, which seems to be based on the verses which contain a reference to the Jews and to some of the prophecies of the Bible which were fulfilled in the person of the Holy Prophet. He seems to have apprehended lest a perusal of these prophecies might convince the reader of the truth of the Quran and the Holy Prophet. In order to obviate this possibility, he took it upon himself, against all historical evidence and against the considered opinion of the orientalists, to assign these verses to the Medinite period. He did so in the hope that in this way the Holy Prophet would be considered to have inserted the above-mentioned prophecies in the Quran after having heard them from the Jews. Blind prejudice alone can be held responsible for this baseless inference on his part. Even a person of ordinary intelligence can understand that the fact that a particular prophecy has been mentioned in a certain Book cannot bring about its fulfilment. If a particular prophecy truly applied to the Holy Prophet, how could it be said that he had copied it from some other Book? But if it did not apply to him, how could the mere fact that it has been inserted in the Quran benefit him? On the contrary, its very subject matter, whether it was inserted in the Quran at Mecca or after having been heard from the Jews at Medina, would have sufficed to establish the falsity of his claim. What is stranger still is the fact that Mr. Wherry, in his eagerness to show that the prophecy referred to has not been fulfilled in the person of the Holy Prophet, has consigned to oblivion all the rules and principles devised by himself and the Orientalists to determine whether a particular verse was revealed at Mecca or at Medina. Orientalists hold the view that all Quranic verses which contain the words (O ye people) must belong to the Meccan period and that "the people" so addressed are the Meccans. This idea has taken such a strong hold of them that, without pausing to consider any other reason, the mere fact that a certain verse 953