Source: Ibn Kathir
(And We sent not against his people after him an army from the heaven, nor was it needful for Us to send.) Allah tells us that He took revenge on his people after they had killed him because He, may He be blessed and exalted, was angry with them, for they had disbelieved in His Messengers and killed His close friend. Allah tells us that He did not send an army of angels, nor did He need to send them, to destroy these people; the matter was simpler than that.
This was the view of Ibn Mas`ud, according to the reports of Ibn Ishaq from some of his companions concerning the Ayah:
This was the view of Ibn Mas`ud, according to the reports of Ibn Ishaq from some of his companions concerning the Ayah:
(And We sent not against his people after him an army from the heaven, nor was it needful for Us to send.) He said: "`We did not seek to outnumber them, for the matter was simpler than that.''
(And We sent not against his people after him an army from the heaven,) mean, another Message to them. This was the view of Mujahid and Qatadah. Qatadah said, "Allah did not rebuke his people after they killed him,
(It was but one Sayhah and lo! they (all) were still).'' Ibn Jarir said, "The former view is more correct, because the Message does not need to be brought by an army.''
The scholars of Tafsir said, "Allah sent Jibril, peace be upon him, to them, and he seized the pillars at the gate of their city, then he hurled one Sayhah upon them and lo! they (all) were still, to the last man among them, and no soul was left in any body.''
We have already referred to the reports from many of the Salaf that this city was Antioch, and that these three Messengers were messengers sent from the Messiah `Isa bin Maryam, peace be upon him, as Qatadah and others stated. This is not mentioned by any of the later scholars of Tafsir besides him, and this issue must be examined from a number of angles. (The first) is that if we take this story at face value, it indicates that these men were Messengers from Allah, may He be glorified, not from the Messiah, peace be upon him, as Allah says:
`Ali bin Abi Talhah reported that Ibn `Abbas commented on the Ayah:
(Alas for mankind!), this means, woe to mankind! Qatadah said:
(Alas for mankind!) means, "Alas for mankind, who have neglected the command of Allah.'' The meaning is that they will feel regret and sorrow on the Day of Resurrection. When they see the punishment with their own eyes; they will regret how they disbelieved the Messengers of Allah and went against the commands of Allah, for they used to disbelieve in them in this world.
(There never came a Messenger to them but they used to mock at him.) means, they disbelieved him and made fun of him, and rejected the message of truth with which he had been sent.
| The Refutation of the Belief in the Transmigration of Souls |
Then Allah says:
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(Do they not see how many of the generations We have destroyed before them Verily, they will not return to them.) meaning, `do you not learn a lesson from those whom Allah destroyed before you of those who disbelieved in the Messengers They came to this world only once, and will not return to it.' It is not as many of those ignorant and immoral people claim that
("There is nothing but our life of this world! We die and we live!'') (23:37).
This was the belief in the cycle of reincarnation; in their ignorance they believed that they would come back to this world as they had been before.
But Allah refuted their false belief and said:
(Do they not see how many of the generations We have destroyed before them Verily, they will not return to them.)
Allah's saying:
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(And surely, all -- everyone of them will be brought before Us.) means, all of the past nations and those that are yet to come, will be gathered and brought to account before Allah, may He be glorified and exalted, on the Day of Judgement, and they will be requitted according to their good and evil deeds. This is like the Ayah:
(And verily, to each of them your Lord will repay their works in full.) (11:111).
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