Tafsir

The Covenant of the Prophets

Allah tells us about the five Mighty Messengers with strong resolve and the other Prophets, how He took a covenant from them to establish the religion of Allah and convey His Message, and to cooperate and support one another, as Allah says:وَإِذْ أَخَذَ اللَّهُ مِيثَـقَ النَّبِيِّيْنَ لَمَآ ءَاتَيْتُكُم مِّن كِتَـبٍ وَحِكْمَةٍ ثُمَّ جَآءَكُمْ رَسُولٌ مُّصَدِّقٌ لِّمَا مَعَكُمْ لَتُؤْمِنُنَّ بِهِ وَلَتَنصُرُنَّهُ قَالَ ءَأَقْرَرْتُمْ وَأَخَذْتُمْ عَلَى ذلِكُمْ إِصْرِى قَالُواْ أَقْرَرْنَا قَالَ فَاشْهَدُواْ وَأَنَاْ مَعَكُمْ مِّنَ الشَّـهِدِينَ (And when Allah took the covenant of the Prophets, saying: "Take whatever I gave you from the Book and Hikmah, and afterwards there will come to you a Messenger confirming what is with you; you must, then, believe in him and help him." Allah said: "Do you agree, and will you take up My covenant" They said: "We agree." He said: "Then bear witness; and I am with you among the witnesses.") (3:81) This covenant was taken from them after their missions started.

Elsewhere in the Qur'an, Allah mentions five by name, and these are the Mighty Messengers with strong resolve.

They are also mentioned by name in this Ayah and in the Ayah:شَرَعَ لَكُم مِّنَ الِدِينِ مَا وَصَّى بِهِ نُوحاً وَالَّذِى أَوْحَيْنَآ إِلَيْكَ وَمَا وَصَّيْنَا بِهِ إِبْرَاهِيمَ وَمُوسَى وَعِيسَى أَنْ أَقِيمُواْ الدِّينَ وَلاَ تَتَفَرَّقُواْ فِيهِ(He (Allah) has ordained for you the same religion which He ordained for Nuh, and that which We have revealed to you, and that which We ordained for Ibrahim, Musa and `Isa saying you should establish religion and make no divisions in it.) (42:13) This is the covenant which Allah took from them, as He says:وَإِذْ أَخَذْنَا مِنَ النَّبِيِّيْنَ مِيثَاقَهُمْ وَمِنْكَ وَمِن نُّوحٍ وَإِبْرَهِيمَ وَمُوسَى وَعِيسَى ابْنِ مَرْيَمَ(And when We took from the Prophets their covenant, and from you, and from Nuh, Ibrahim, Musa, and `Isa son of Maryam.) This Ayah begins with the last Prophet, as a token of respect, may the blessings of Allah be upon him, then the names of the other Prophets are given in order, may the blessings of Allah be upon them.

Ibn `Abbas said: "The strong covenant is Al-`Ahd (the covenant).لِّيَسْأَلَ الصَّـدِقِينَ عَن صِدْقِهِمْ(That He may ask the truthful about their truth.) Mujahid said: "This refers to, those who convey the Message from the Messengers."وَأَعَدَّ لِلْكَـفِرِينَ(And He has prepared for the disbelievers) i.e., among their nations,عَذَاباً أَلِيماً(a painful torment.) i.e., agonizing. We bear witness that the Messengers did indeed convey the Message of their Lord and advised their nations, and that they clearly showed them the truth in which there is no confusion, doubt or ambiguity, even though they were rejected by the ignorant, stubborn and rebellious wrongdoers. What the Messengers brought is the truth, and whoever opposes them is misguided. As the people of Paradise will say:لَقَدْ جَآءَتْ رُسُلُ رَبِّنَا بِالْحَقِّ(Indeed, the Messengers of our Lord did come with the truth.) (7:43)

Commentary

At the beginning of the Surah, by saying: وَ اتَّبع مَا یُوحٰٓی اِلَیکَ , the Holy Prophet ﷺ was asked to follow the Divine revelation sent to him. Then, in the previous verse: اَلنَّبِیُّ اَولٰی بِالمُؤمِنِینَ , the believers have been obligated with the implementation of the orders of the recipient of the revelation. It is to further confirm and emphasize these very two things that, in the present two verses as well, the same two subjects have been reiterated, that is, the recipient of the revelation has been obligated to follow the revelation received by him from Allah and the non-recipient of the revelation has been obligated to follow the recipient of the revelation.

The Covenant of the Prophets

The covenant taken from the blessed prophets, according to the cited verse, is in addition to the universal pledge taken from the entire creation as it appears in a saying of the Holy Prophet ﷺ reported by Imam Ahmad (رح) :خُصُّوا بِمِیثاقِ الرِّسَالۃَ وَ النُّبُوَّوۃِ وَ وھُوَ قَولُہ، تَعَالٰی وَ اِذ اَخَذنَا مِنَ النَّبِیّٖن مِیثاقَھُم"It was the prophets only from whom the covenant of messenger-ship and prophethood was taken, and this is the meaning of what Allah Ta’ ala has said: .... (And when We took from the prophets their covenant...to the end of the verse).

This pledge from the prophets was the pledge of discharging the duties of prophethood and messenger-ship and of attesting to the veracity of each other and of being mutually helpful - as Ibn Jarir, Ibn Abi Hatim and others have reported from Sayyidna Qatadah ؓ . And according to one narration, it was also included in this pledge of the prophets that they should also proclaim that "Sayyidna Muhammad al-Mustafa ﷺ is the messenger of Allah, and the last of the prophets. After him, there will be no prophet [مُحَمَّدُ رَّسُولُ اللہِ لَا نَبِّی بَعدَہ،]And this pledge from prophets was also taken in eternity (Azal) at the same time when the pledge of: اَلَستُ بِرَبِّکُم (alastu bi-rabbikum: Am I not your Lord?) was taken from the created at large. (Ruh a1-Ma’ ani and Mazhari)After having generally mentioned prophets, peace be on them all, before saying: ومِنکَ وَ مِن نُّوح (and from you and from Nuh... up to the end of the verse), five of them were particularly named on the basis of the unique distinction they have among the group of prophets.

Then, even within those, it was by using the word: مِنکَ (minka: from you) that the mention of the Holy Prophet ﷺ was made to precede that of others - although, his appearance in this world is later than all of them. The reason for this has been given in Hadith itself:کُنتُ اَوَّلَ النَّاسِ فِی الخَلقِ وَ اٰخِرَھُم فِی البَعثِ (رواہ ابن سعد وابو نعیم فی الحلیۃ عن میسرۃ الفجر و الطبرانی فی الکبیر عن ابن عباس ؓ ۔ مظھری)'I am the first human being in the creation and the last of them in being sent (with the prophetic mission).' (Reported by Ibn Sa'd and Abu Nu'aim in Al-Hilyah from Maisirah al-Mafjar and At-Tabarani in al-Kabir from Ibn ` Abbas ؓ - Mazhari)