سورة البقرة

Imam Sadiq (peace be upon him): Ya'qub ibn Shu'ayb said: I asked about the verse: کانَ النَّاسُ أُمَّةً واحِدَةً [People were a single nation]. The Imam (peace be upon him) said: "The people before Nuh (peace be upon him) were a misguided nation, and Allah initiated the sending of the messengers."

Ali ibn Ibrahim (may Allah have mercy on him): The people, before Nuh (peace be upon him), were upon a single creed.

Imam Ali (peace be upon him) [the Imam (peace be upon him), while explaining the various kinds of expressions used in the Quran, took up an exposition and gave examples of general and specific expressions and their instances, and said:] ... As for what Allah has mentioned in the Quran in a general expression but did not intend by it other than a particular instance, it is His statement in which He says: كانَ النَّاسُ أُمَّةً واحِدَةً [(All) people are a single nation], meaning the people held a single creed, and that was the era before Nuh (peace be upon him).

Imam Sadiq (peace be upon him): Before Nuh (peace be upon him), they lived as a single community, but Allah decreed a new destiny for them, and He sent the prophets before Nuh (peace be upon him). The narrator says: I said to the Imam: "Were they guided or were they living in misguidance?" The Imam replied: They were misguided, such that they were neither believers, nor disbelievers, nor polytheists.

Imam Baqir (peace be upon him): The people in the era before Nuh (peace be upon him) acted according to the divine fitra (innate nature), and being guided or being misguided had no meaning [and considering this matter and in this regard, they were a single community].

Imam Baqir (peace be upon him) and Imam Sadiq (peace be upon him) — [in explaining this verse they said:] The people were in misguidance, and Allah raised prophets among them. If you had asked those people (the people before Nuh (peace be upon him) who had no prophet and were in misguidance, about their situation), they would have said: it is as though Allah [has forgotten us and] has withdrawn from this matter (the affair of mankind).

Imam Baqir (peace be upon him) said regarding this word of Allah: This period relates to before Nuh (peace be upon him), when the people were astray, and Allah sent the prophets to them as bearers of good news and as warners.

Imam Sadiq (peace be upon him): This verse relates to the era before Nuh (peace be upon him). It was said: "Were the people on the path of guidance?" The Imam (peace be upon him) said: [It is not so;] rather, they were living in misguidance. The situation was that when Adam (peace be upon him) passed away and his children became righteous, Shith (peace be upon him) remained as his successor. He did not have the power to manifest the religion of Allah, which was the way of Adam (peace be upon him) and his righteous children, and therefore Qabil threatened to kill him, just as he had killed his brother Habil (peace be upon him). So Shith (peace be upon him) was compelled to practice taqiyya (dissimulation) and concealment among them. And thus each day they increased in misguidance, until no one remained on the earth beside them except the [believing] predecessors, and the successor went to an island in the sea and occupied himself with the worship of Allah. Then Allah the Exalted began sending the prophets. And if [the people of that time and] the ignorant were asked [about their condition], they would say: "Allah has forgotten us and has nothing to do with us," while they were lying. And Allah decreed each year [the sending of a messenger among them]. ... فِیها یُفْرَقُ کُلُّ أَمْرٍ حَکِیمٍ [Therein every wise affair is made distinct]; so Allah the Exalted decrees for that year hardship or ease, or rain or otherwise. I said: "Before the prophets, were [people] misguided, or were they guided?" He said: [The people] were not on the path of guidance; they acted in accordance with the divine fitrah (innate nature) upon which Allah created people — there is no altering the creation of Allah — and they were not guided until Allah guided them. Have you not heard the words of Ibrahim (peace be upon him), who says: لَئِنْ لَمْ یَهْدِنِی رَبِّی لَأَکُونَنَّ مِنَ الْقَوْمِ الضَّالِّینَ [If my Lord does not guide me, I shall surely be of the misguided people], meaning [if my Lord does not guide me,] I would forget the divine covenant.

Imam Sadiq (peace be upon him): Allah raised up the prophets so that His proof (hujjah) might be complete upon them.

Imam Sadiq (peace be upon him): Praise be to Allah, who is veiled in pure light which His creation cannot perceive; in the lofty horizon, exalted might and sublime dominion, above [the perception and comprehension of] all things, yet [at the same time] nearer to all things [to His creation] than anything else. He manifests Himself to His creation in such a way that they do not see Him, while He sees them. For observing His creation, He is in a most exalted station, and He loves that His creation should single Him out with oneness. And so that He may have a conclusive proof [for the reckoning of His creation], He has veiled Himself in veils of light, has taken His place in a most exalted station, and has hidden Himself from His creation. [Nevertheless] He raises up among them messengers to give good news and to warn people, so that whoever is guided or destroyed may be so after the proofs and evidences of guidance have become clear to him. And through these proofs, the servants may reflect upon those matters concerning Allah about which they had been ignorant, and may come to know Allah, and after having denied His lordship out of ignorance, may perceive His lordship, and after having — [out of ignorance] — held partners and rivals for Allah, may [by acquiring knowledge] regard Him as one in divinity.