سورة الزخرف

Ali ibn Ibrahim (may Allah have mercy on him): When the Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him and his family) came down at Hudaybiyyah, the Quraysh were swearing by Lat and Uzza that they would never let him and his companions reach Makkah alive. The Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him and his family) sent a messenger to them and said: "I have not come for war. I only wish to perform the Hajj and to slaughter the sacrificial animals I have brought with me and leave their meat for you." They sent Urwah ibn Masud al-Thaqafi to the Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him and his family). He was an intelligent and wise man, concerning whom the following verse was revealed: لَوْ لا نُزِّلَ هذَا الْقُرْآنُ عَلی رَجُلٍ مِنَ الْقَرْیَتَیْنِ عَظِیمٍ [Why was not this Quran revealed to a man of importance in the two towns?].

Ibn Abbas (may Allah have mercy on him): [What they meant is] al-Walid ibn al-Mughirah from Makkah and Habib ibn Urwah al-Thaqafi from Ta'if.

Imam Hadi (peace be upon him): Among the statements that Imam Hadi (peace be upon him) made in his letter in reply to the people of Ahwaz, who had asked him about jabr (compulsion) and tafwid (delegation), are these words: "... Allah created the creatures by His power, and gave them the ability to obey the commands and prohibitions He imposed upon them, and accepted from them obedience to His commands and was pleased with that, and forbade them from disobeying Him, and censured those who disobeyed Him, and punished them for it. Allah has the choice in His commands and prohibitions, and He chooses whatever He wills and commands it, and He forbids whatever He dislikes, and by the ability He has given His servants to follow His commands and avoid disobedience, He rewards and punishes; for He Himself is justice, and fairness and sovereignty are from Him. By cutting off excuses and by the warnings He has given, He completed the proof [upon everyone]. The choosing [of prophets] is in His hand, and He chooses from among His servants whomever He wills; He chose Muhammad (peace be upon him and his family) and raised him with the message to His servants. Had He entrusted the choice of affairs to His servants, the Quraysh could have chosen Umayyah ibn al-Salt and Abu Masud al-Thaqafi, for those two were more honoured among the Quraysh than Muhammad, as they said: لَوْ لا نُزِّلَ هذَا الْقُرْآنُ عَلی رَجُلٍ مِنَ الْقَرْیَتَیْنِ عَظِیمٍ [Why was not this Quran revealed to a man of importance in the two towns?], by whom they meant those two persons. This is the belief between the two positions, which is neither jabr nor tafwid."

The Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him and his family) — Imam Askari (peace be upon him) said: One day I asked my noble father: "Did the Prophet, when the Jews and the opponents raised objections and disputed with him, also debate with them?" My father said: "Yes, on many occasions... One day the Noble Messenger (peace be upon him and his family) was sitting with his companions beside the House of the Ka'ba and was reciting to them the verses of the Quran and the commands of the Lord. At that moment a group of the chiefs of Quraysh — among them al-Walid ibn al-Mughira al-Makhzumi... and Abd Allah ibn Abi Umayya al-Makhzumi... — [gathered]. Abd Allah ibn Abi Umayya al-Makhzumi began first and said: 'O Muhammad (peace be upon him and his family)... if Allah had wished to send a messenger, He should have sent someone who is superior to all of us in wealth and status. Why did this Quran, which you claim Allah has sent down upon you, not descend upon one of the two prominent Arab personalities — al-Walid ibn al-Mughira in Makkah, or Urwa ibn Mas'ud al-Thaqafi in Ta'if?' ... The Prophet (peace be upon him and his family) said: 'لَوْ لا نُزِّلَ هذَا الْقُرْآنُ عَلى رَجُلٍ مِنَ الْقَرْیَتَیْنِ عَظِیمٍ [Why was not this Quran sent down upon a great man from the two towns]... As for your saying, why was this Quran not sent down upon one of the two personalities of Makkah and Ta'if — al-Walid ibn al-Mughira and Urwa ibn Mas'ud al-Thaqafi — you should know that Allah does not attach value to the wealth of this world as you do; the wealth of this world holds no worth for Him as it does for you. If this world had, in the sight of Allah, the value of a fly's wing, He would not have given a drink of water to a disbeliever and opponent of His. The distributor of Allah's mercy is not you. It is He who bestows His mercy upon whichever of His servants He wills. Allah never fears anyone on account of the status and wealth they possess, in the way that you fear him — so as to bestow upon him the rank of prophethood because of that fear. Nor does He covet anyone's wealth or personal position, as you do, so as to raise him to prophethood because of that greed. Nor does He love anyone out of whim and desire, as you do, so that it would cause Him to give preference to someone who does not deserve it. He acts with justice. He never grants the loftiest religious distinction except to one who is the most superior and most worthy of all in obedience and servitude and submission; nor does He set anyone back in the ranks of the religion except one who is the most disobedient. And since this is Allah's attribute — that He pays no attention to wealth or status, both of which are from His bounty — and in this bounty and favour there is no obligation or necessity that, having favoured a servant [with wealth], He must also include him in another blessing such as the station of messengership; and no one has the right to compel Him against His will or to obligate Him in His bestowal, for He has, before that, already immersed all servants in His blessings. O Abd Allah! Do you not observe how He has given wealth to one person and made his face ugly? And made another beautiful yet made him poor of worldly goods? And granted one person rank and station yet cast him into want, and given another outward blessings yet left him empty of rank and station? Then none of these groups can lay claim to another's blessing and complain of its absence: for example, the wealthy man wanting another's beauty and complaining of the ugliness of his own face; or the beautiful one wanting another's wealth and lamenting his poverty; or the noble and prestigious one longing for another's wealth and complaining of not having it. Rather, in all these matters the judgement belongs to Allah, the Lord of the worlds, alone. He distributes as He wills and acts as He wills; He is wise in His actions and praiseworthy, and this is the very statement of Allah the Exalted: لَوْ لا نُزِّلَ هذَا الْقُرْآنُ عَلى رَجُلٍ مِنَ الْقَرْیَتَیْنِ عَظِیمٍ [Why was not this Quran sent down upon a great man from the two towns].' And they said: 'Why was this Quran not sent down upon those two great men of Makkah and Ta'if?' In answer to them He said: 'O Muhammad (peace be upon him and his family), do they distribute the mercy of your Lord (prophethood)? We have distributed among them their livelihood in the life of this world.' So We classified them according to outward ranks: We made a group in need of another, one group in need of another's wealth, and that other in need of the goods and service of this one — just as you see the greatest kings and the wealthiest people of the world in need of the most destitute of the poor with respect to goods, labour, thought, planning and knowledge, and kings, until they attain what they seek, remain dependent on this very poor person, while the poor also stand in need of the kings' wealth and property. And none of these groups has the right to complain and protest against what has reached them. Then, continuing the noble verse, He said: 'And We have raised the ranks of some of them over others in sustenance and station, so that they may take some others into their service.' Then He added: 'O Muhammad (peace be upon him and his family), tell them: And the mercy of your Lord is better than all that they gather!' (Zukhruf/32)."