6-83 And this was Our argument which We gave to Abraham against his people. We exalt in degrees whom We please. Surely thy Lord is Wise, Knowing.a
وَتِلۡكَ حُجَّتُنَآ ءَاتَيۡنَـٰهَآ إِبۡرَٲهِيمَ عَلَىٰ قَوۡمِهِۦۚ نَرۡفَعُ دَرَجَـٰتٍ۬ مَّن نَّشَآءُۗ إِنَّ رَبَّكَ حَكِيمٌ عَلِيمٌ۬ (٨٣)
6-83a: The argument mentioned in this verse is about the Unity of Allah and as stated earlier, abiding by the principle of Unity of Allah exalts a person to the highest station. It is true that steadfastly adhering to the Unity of Allah is the root of all goodness and provides the motive power for rising to high stations.
6-84 And We gave him Isaac and Jacob. Each did We guide; and Noah did We guide before, and of his descendants, David and Solomon and Job and Joseph and Moses and Aaron. And thus do We reward those who do good (to others):a
وَوَهَبۡنَا لَهُ ۥۤ إِسۡحَـٰقَ وَيَعۡقُوبَۚ ڪُلاًّ هَدَيۡنَاۚ وَنُوحًا هَدَيۡنَا مِن قَبۡلُۖ وَمِن ذُرِّيَّتِهِۦ دَاوُ ۥدَ وَسُلَيۡمَـٰنَ وَأَيُّوبَ وَيُوسُفَ وَمُوسَىٰ وَهَـٰرُونَۚ وَكَذَٲلِكَ نَجۡزِى ٱلۡمُحۡسِنِينَ (٨٤)
6-84a: The meaning of each did We guide is that they firmly adhered to the Unity of Allah. His in his descendants could refer to Abraham, but more aptly it refers to Noah because Noah comes just before the pronoun his and is thus closer in the text to his descendants than Abraham who is referred in the previous verse. Furthermore, Lot mentioned in the next verse is not a descendant of Abraham.
6-85 And Zacharias and John and Jesus and Elias; each one (of them) was of the righteous,
وَزَكَرِيَّا وَيَحۡيَىٰ وَعِيسَىٰ وَإِلۡيَاسَۖ كُلٌّ۬ مِّنَ ٱلصَّـٰلِحِينَ (٨٥)
6-86 And Ishmael and Elisha and Jonah and Lot; and each one (of them) We made to excel the people;a
وَإِسۡمَـٰعِيلَ وَٱلۡيَسَعَ وَيُونُسَ وَلُوطً۬اۚ وَڪُلاًّ۬ فَضَّلۡنَا عَلَى ٱلۡعَـٰلَمِينَ (٨٦)
6-86a: The rationale behind the grouping of the prophet’s name and the non-chronological order of their mention: Eighteen prophets are mentioned in the four verses of this section. Abraham is mentioned first, then his son Isaac and then Isaac’s son Jacob, then Abraham’s forefather Noah and then follows his descendants. There is a chronological order up to Noah but beyond that the names do not appear in chronological order. This does not imply that Allah is unaware of the order in which they appeared because in the next surah, the prophets are mentioned in their chronological order of appearance. There is another kind of classification that is at work here. The first grouping is by their earthly magnificence and David and Solomon are mentioned in this group who were given magnificent kingdoms. Then Job and Joseph are mentioned who achieved an elevated status by being patient through trials and tribulations. These two were elevated to a high status after their patience. Next Moses and Aaron are mentioned for their distinguishing characteristic of elevating their nation from a situation of indignity and baseness to a high station and giving them a law and guidance. These six prophets are such that in some sense they achieved a position of kingship, leadership or governance. It is for this reason that the mention of these prophets is followed by نَجۡزِى ٱلۡمُحۡسِنِينَ (We reward those who do good). Then Zacharias, John, Jesus and Elias are mentioned, and it is considered adequate to just call them righteous because they did not get any kind of governance in this world and hence attention is called only to their piousness. Zacharias, John and Jesus lived in the same period of time and were similarly colored in simplicity, piety, and devotion. The identical coloration of Elias is apparent from the fact that John’s coming was referred to as the second advent of Elias and the testimony of this is found in the Bible that John came in the spirit and power of Elias (Lucas 1:17). The next group mentioned includes Ishmael, Elisha, Jonah and Lot and attention is drawn to their excellence because all four of them were despised and scorned. For example, the prophethood of Ishmael is denied and he is not considered to be an inheritor of the Abrahamic covenant. The prophethood of Lot is also denied and about Jonah it is said that he fled from God’s presence. Their excellence is especially mentioned because they were despised, and this is not to say that excellence was not awarded to other prophets. This goes to show how the Quran uses some words of praise for the prophets to repel accusations against them. This style has led some Christians to incorrectly conclude from some praiseworthy statements about Jesus that he excelled other prophets, whereas the intent is only to repel certain charges. If a judgment has to be rendered only on the basis of the written words, then the Christians should concede the excellence of these four prophets over Jesus.
6-87 And some of their fathers and their descendants and their brethren. And We chose them and guided them to the right way.
وَمِنۡ ءَابَآٮِٕهِمۡ وَذُرِّيَّـٰتِہِمۡ وَإِخۡوَٲنِہِمۡۖ وَٱجۡتَبَيۡنَـٰهُمۡ وَهَدَيۡنَـٰهُمۡ إِلَىٰ صِرَٲطٍ۬ مُّسۡتَقِيمٍ۬ (٨٧)
6-88 This is Allah’s guidance wherewith He guides whom He pleases of His servants. And if they had associated others (with Him), all that they did would have been vain.a
ذَٲلِكَ هُدَى ٱللَّهِ يَہۡدِى بِهِۦ مَن يَشَآءُ مِنۡ عِبَادِهِۦۚ وَلَوۡ أَشۡرَكُواْ لَحَبِطَ عَنۡهُم مَّا كَانُواْ يَعۡمَلُونَ (٨٨)
6-88a: By comparing guidance with polytheism here, it is made clear that by guidance is meant adhering to monotheism. This also goes to show that no prophet has ever been guilty of polytheism because none of their work was in vain. All fables that allege otherwise are the result of alterations in the Bible.
6-89 These are they to whom We gave the Book and authority and prophecy.a Therefore if these disbelieve in it, We have indeed entrusted it to a people who are not disbelievers in it.b
أُوْلَـٰٓٮِٕكَ ٱلَّذِينَ ءَاتَيۡنَـٰهُمُ ٱلۡكِتَـٰبَ وَٱلۡحُكۡمَ وَٱلنُّبُوَّةَۚ فَإِن يَكۡفُرۡ بِہَا هَـٰٓؤُلَآءِ فَقَدۡ وَكَّلۡنَا بِہَا قَوۡمً۬ا لَّيۡسُواْ بِہَا بِكَـٰفِرِينَ (٨٩)
6-89a: Quite apart from the fact that some of the prophets were granted kingship and others not, there is one thing in common with all of them that each was granted the Book, and authority and prophethood. Book is the revelation that comes to the prophet for the guidance of his nation; authority is the autonomy granted to a prophet by virtue of which he is not subordinate to another and instead he calls others to his obedience who are then called his ummah; prophethood in its dictionary meaning are prophecies of support for religion which are given to the prophet, or an alternative meaning of prophethood is messenger of peace (2-61c). In actuality, the Book and authority are part of prophethood, but these two special attributes are mentioned so that it may become known that the Book and authority are the necessary conditions of prophethood.
6-89b: هَـٰٓؤُلَآءِ – The indication in هَـٰٓؤُلَآءِ is to the followers of these prophets, such as the Jews and Christians. The second nation is the followers of the Holy Prophet who believe in all the prophets. The meaning is that if these people, who are said to be the followers of these prophets and are knowledgeable about the need for prophets, do not accept then God will raise an illiterate nation and give them this knowledge. It becomes clear from here that after the mention of the prophets, it is the Ahle Kitab who are addressed. Verses 6-92 and 93 gives further clarity to this address.
6-90 These are they whom Allah guided, so follow their guidance. Say: I ask you not for any reward for it. It is naught but a Reminder to the nations.a
أُوْلَـٰٓٮِٕكَ ٱلَّذِينَ هَدَى ٱللَّهُۖ فَبِهُدَٮٰهُمُ ٱقۡتَدِهۡۗ قُل لَّآ أَسۡـَٔلُكُمۡ عَلَيۡهِ أَجۡرًاۖ إِنۡ هُوَ إِلَّا ذِكۡرَىٰ لِلۡعَـٰلَمِينَ (٩٠)
6-90a: ٱقۡتَدہِ – The ھا in ٱقۡتَدہِ is for تسکیت , that is it is added as an aid to pause correctly. اقتدا means to follow, that is to follow the same way that a person followed in the past.
What is meant by directing the Holy Prophet to follow the guidance of these prophets? It is obvious that before the revelation of this verse, Allah had already given guidance to the Holy Prophet through revelation, and in addition there were no authentic Books of these prophets in existence on the earth which could be read and followed. Whatever teachings were left of these prophets were mere conjectures. So, the meaning of following their guidance is to conform to their manner and way, that is for the Holy Prophet to bear hardships and to patiently undertake the task of establishing the Unity of Allah just as the previous prophets had done. The words with it لَّآ أَسۡـَٔلُكُمۡ عَلَيۡهِ أَجۡرًا ( I ask you not for any reward for it) shows that the purport here is to spread the message of the Unity of Allah.
There appears to be another indication here as well. The meaning of guidance is to make a person reach the desired destination, that is to achieve human perfection. In the first verse of this section, the Unity of Allah is stated to be the basis of achieving a high spiritual station. It is a fact that the different aspects of the perfection of humans are born out of the various facets of the Unity of Allah. So, the guidance of a prophet is his achievement in perfecting a particular aspect of humanity. Thus, different prophets perfected different aspects of humanity. Abraham perfected one aspect, Moses another, Aaron another, David another, Solomon another, Jesus another, John another, Job yet another and so on. The meaning of فَبِهُدَٮٰهُمُ ٱقۡتَدِهۡۗ therefore is that whereas previous prophets had excelled in one particular aspect of humanity, the Holy Prophet should collectively acquire perfection in all aspects of humanity. The prophethood of David, Soloman, Job, Jesus etcetera showed outstanding perfection in one or other field, but the Holy Prophet was commanded to incorporate all these perfections in himself. It is a mistake to take the meaning of ٱقۡتَدہِ as the shariah of the previous prophets because if it was so, Allah would have cleansed the tampering from the Books of the previous prophets before giving them to the Holy Prophet to be guided by them. In addition, the actions of the Holy Prophet would have provided proof of this, and it would have clearly been seen that the Holy Prophet had kept the foundation of his religion based upon things from the shariah of previous prophets. This, however, did not happen. So, an interpretation that the Holy Prophet was commanded to follow the shariah of previous prophets is clearly unacceptable. The last words of this verse where the Quran is termed as a reminder for عَـٰلَمِينَ (nations) further validates this point.
Another explanation of this verse is that the indication in أُوْلَـٰٓٮِٕكَ is to the people who are not disbelievers in it referred to at the end of the last verse, namely the Companions of the Holy Prophet and the address of the verse is general to the Muslim community. The meaning, therefore, is that Muslims should follow the example of the Companions. There is also a hadith to this effect which states: اصحابی کالنجوم فبایھم اقتدیتم اھتدیتم (My companions are like stars; you will be guided whichever one you follow). This hadith also shows that by ٱقۡتَدِا is meant مطابقت (conformity), that is, to conform with the ways of the Companions.
Bayan-ul-Quran 