Al-Mu'minun · Makki · ayah 24 of 118

Al-Mu'minun 23:24

فَقَالَ ٱلْمَلَؤُا۟ ٱلَّذِينَ كَفَرُوا۟ مِن قَوْمِهِۦ مَا هَـٰذَآ إِلَّا بَشَرٌ مِّثْلُكُمْ يُرِيدُ أَن يَتَفَضَّلَ عَلَيْكُمْ وَلَوْ شَآءَ ٱللَّهُ لَأَنزَلَ مَلَـٰٓئِكَةً مَّا سَمِعْنَا بِهَـٰذَا فِىٓ ءَابَآئِنَا ٱلْأَوَّلِينَ

“But the eminent among those who disbelieved from his people said, "This is not but a man like yourselves who wishes to take precedence over you; and if Allāh had willed [to send a messenger], He would have sent down angels. We have not heard of this among our forefathers.”

Saheeh International

Essence

The chiefs answer Nuh with the oldest arguments against every reformer: he is just like you, he wants power, and our fathers never did it this way.

A reflection

Accusing him of what they already had

The first people to answer Nuh are al-malaʾ, the chiefs. The lexicons tie the word to fullness, a vessel filled to the brim. The notables were called malaʾ, one lexicon says, because they fill the eye with their appearance and the heart with awe. One commentary adds that they spoke these words to their followers, the ordinary people.

Their central charge is that Nuh yurīdu an yatafaḍḍala ʿalaykum: wants to set himself above you. The commentators explain: he wants to be followed while you follow him, to lead you and have precedence over you. One classical commentator says the chiefs said this to make the people angry with Nuh and to stir up hostility against him.

Notice who is speaking. The men who already sit above everyone else, who fill the eye with their splendour, accuse a lone preacher of wanting to sit above everyone else. They project onto him the very thing they possess and fear to lose.

Picture the chairman of a local sports club who has held the post for thirty years. A younger member proposes changes and stands for election. At the annual meeting the chairman warns the members, gravely, that the young man only wants power. Several people in the room glance at each other. Nobody says what they are all thinking.

This pattern is worth learning to recognise. When a call to justice or truth is answered not with reasons but with an accusation about the caller's ambition, it is worth asking who benefits from the accusation. Very often it is the people whose position the call threatens. The chiefs of Nuh's people were not protecting the public from a power-seeker. They were protecting themselves.

The full entry has 5 more reflections, questions to sit with, and "Live it today" - with the words, the roots and the tafsir alongside. Free, no account, works offline.