Surah Al-Hijr, Ayah 92

The Messenger is a Plain Warner

Allah commanded His Prophet to tell the people:

إِنِّى أَنَا النَّذِيرُ الْمُبِينُ

(I am indeed a plain warner) coming to warn the people of a severe punishment that they will suffer if they reject him, as happened to those nations before them who disbelieved in their Messengers, upon whom Allah sent His punishment and vengeance. In the two Sahihs it is reported from Abu Musa that the Prophet said:

«إِنَّمَا مَثَلِي وَمَثَلُ مَا بَعَثَنِي اللهُ بِهِ كَمَثَلِ رَجُلٍ أَتَى قَوْمَهَ فَقَالَ: يَا قَوْمِ إِنِّي رَأَيْتُ الْجَيْشَ بِعَيْنَيَّ، وَإِنِّي أَنَا النَّذِيرُ الْعُرْيَانُ فَالنَّجَاءَ النَّجَاءَ، فَأَطَاعَهُ طَائِفَةٌ مِنْ قَوْمِهِ فَأَدْلَجُوا وَانْطَلَقُوا عَلَى مُهْلِهِمْ فَنَجَوْا، وَكَذَّبَهُ طَائِفَةٌ مِنْهُمْ فَأَصْبَحُوا مَكَانَهُمْ، فَصَبَّحَهُمُ الْجَيْشُ فَأَهْلَكَهُمْ وَاجْتَاحَهُمْ، فَذَلِكَ مَثَلُ مَنْ أَطَاعَنِي وَاتَّبَعَ مَا جِئْتُ بِهِ وَمَثَلُ مَنْ عَصَانِي وَكَذَّبَ مَا جِئْتُ بِهِ مِنَ الْحَق»

Commentary

Surah Al-Fatihah is the Text and Summary of the Whole Qur'an

That Surah Al-Fatihah (The Opening) has been called the Glorious Qur’ an in this verse (87) indicates that Surah Al-Fatihah is, in a way, the whole Qur’ an - because the basic principles of Islam have been merged in it.l

1. In order to understand this, one must keep in mind that the words: اَلسَبعَ المثانِی واَلقُرآن (the seven oft repeated verses and the glorious Qur'an) in verse (87) are interpreted by the commentators in different ways. Most of them are of the view that 'seven oft-repeated verses' refer to Surah al-Fatihah which consists of seven verses. Since these seven verses are repeated in every Salah, they have been referred to in the verse 87 as 'oft-repeated verses'. Then, the words 'and the glorious Qur'an' occurring after it are of explanatory nature which refer to the same 'seven oft repeated verses'. Therefore, the name of the 'glorious Qur'an' has been given here to the Surah al-Fatihah itself. The comment of the author is based on this interpretation.

The study of heaven and earth reveals that the entire system is marked throughout by wisdom. Here everything is as it should be. In this entire system, only human beings set themselves up against reality. This contradiction between human beings and the universe implies that it must come to an end. From this point of view, belief in the Day of Judgement is absolutely rational and logical, because nothing other than the Day of Judgement can eliminate this contradiction. Graciously overlooking or turning away from others’ improper behaviour is an essential part of the preacher’s task in spreading the word of God. That is, when the addressee of his call starts some irrelevant discussion or picks a quarrel, politely ignoring him instead of answering him is the best policy. Without adopting this principle, the propagation of the word of God cannot be effectively performed.