Tafseer of The Stories · Al-Qasas · 28:57
And they say, "If we were to follow the guidance with you, we would be swept from our land." Have we not established for them a safe sanctuary to which are brought the fruits of all things as provision from Us? But most of them do not know.
Important: The Arabic source text is always authoritative. This translation is a study aid and has not been verified by scholars — do not use it as a basis for religious proof or for deriving rulings (ahkam). When in doubt, always consult the Arabic text and a qualified scholar.
The explanation of His word, the Exalted: وَقَالُوا إِنْ نَتَّبِعِ الْهُدَى مَعَكَ نُتَخَطَّفْ مِنْ أَرْضِنَا أَوَلَمْ نُمَكِّنْ لَهُمْ حَرَمًا آمِنًا يُجْبَى إِلَيْهِ ثَمَرَاتُ كُلِّ شَيْءٍ رِزْقًا مِنْ لَدُنَّا وَلَكِنَّ أَكْثَرَهُمْ لا يَعْلَمُونَ (And they said: If we follow the guidance with you, we shall be snatched away from our land. Have We not established for them a secure sanctuary (ḥaram), to which the fruits of all things are brought together, as a provision from Us? But most of them do not know) (57).
The Exalted, whose remembrance is exalted, says: And the unbelievers (kuffār) of Quraysh said: If we follow the Truth that you have brought us with you, and detach ourselves from the idols and the other gods, then the people will snatch us away from our land by all uniting against us and going to war against us. Allah says to His Prophet: Say, then: أَوَلَمْ نُمَكِّنْ لَهُمْ حَرَمًا (Have We not established for them a sanctuary), He says: Or have We not prepared for them a land in which We have made the shedding of blood forbidden for the people, and prevented them from afflicting its inhabitants therein with evil, and given its inhabitants security against being afflicted by a raid, or manslaughter, or captivity.
And in accordance with what we have said about that, the exegetes have spoken.
* Mention of who said that:
Al-Qāsim related to us, saying: Al-Ḥusayn related to us, saying: Ḥajjāj related to me, on the authority of Ibn Jurayj, on the authority of ʿAbd Allāh ibn Abī Mulayka, on the authority of Ibn ʿAbbās, that al-Ḥārith ibn Nawfal was the one who said: إِنْ نَتَّبِعِ الْهُدَى مَعَكَ نُتَخَطَّفْ مِنْ أَرْضِنَا (If we follow the guidance with you, we shall be snatched away from our land). And they claimed that they said: We know that you are the Messenger of Allah, but we fear that we shall be snatched away from our land. أَوَلَمْ نُمَكِّنْ لَهُمْ (Have We not established for them), the verse.
Muḥammad ibn Saʿd related to me, saying: My father related to me, saying: My uncle related to me, saying: My father related to me, on the authority of his father, on the authority of Ibn ʿAbbās, concerning His word: وَقَالُوا إِنْ نَتَّبِعِ الْهُدَى مَعَكَ نُتَخَطَّفْ مِنْ أَرْضِنَا (And they said: If we follow the guidance with you, we shall be snatched away from our land), he said: They were people of Quraysh who said to Muḥammad: If we follow you, the people will snatch us away. Then Allah said: أَوَلَمْ نُمَكِّنْ لَهُمْ حَرَمًا آمِنًا يُجْبَى إِلَيْهِ ثَمَرَاتُ كُلِّ شَيْءٍ (Have We not established for them a secure sanctuary, to which the fruits of all things are brought together).
Yūnus related to me, saying: Ibn Wahb informed us, saying: Ibn Zayd said, concerning His word: وَيُتَخَطَّفُ النَّاسُ مِنْ حَوْلِهِمْ (while the people are snatched away from around them): he said: They raided one another.
And in accordance with what we have said about the meaning of His word: أَوَلَمْ نُمَكِّنْ لَهُمْ حَرَمًا آمِنًا (Have We not established for them a secure sanctuary), the exegetes have spoken.
* Mention of who said that:
Bishr related to us, saying: Yazīd related to us, saying: Saʿīd related to us, on the authority of Qatāda, concerning His word: وَقَالُوا إِنْ نَتَّبِعِ الْهُدَى مَعَكَ نُتَخَطَّفْ مِنْ أَرْضِنَا (And they said: If we follow the guidance with you, we shall be snatched away from our land), Allah said: أَوَلَمْ نُمَكِّنْ لَهُمْ حَرَمًا آمِنًا يُجْبَى إِلَيْهِ ثَمَرَاتُ كُلِّ شَيْءٍ (Have We not established for them a secure sanctuary, to which the fruits of all things are brought together), He says: Were they not secure in their sanctuary, in which they are not fought and they do not fear, while the fruits of all things are brought together there?
Al-Qāsim related to us, saying: Al-Ḥusayn related to us, saying: Abū Sufyān related to me, on the authority of Maʿmar, on the authority of Qatāda: أَوَلَمْ نُمَكِّنْ لَهُمْ حَرَمًا آمِنًا (Have We not established for them a secure sanctuary), he said: The inhabitants of the sanctuary were secure; they went wherever they wished, and when one of them set out and said: I am one of the inhabitants of the sanctuary, he was not molested; whereas of the rest of the people, when one of them set out, he was killed.
Yūnus related to me, saying: Ibn Wahb informed us, saying: Ibn Zayd said, concerning His word: أَوَلَمْ نُمَكِّنْ لَهُمْ حَرَمًا آمِنًا (Have We not established for them a secure sanctuary), he said: We have given you security thereby; he said: It is Mecca, and they are Quraysh.
And His word: يُجْبَى إِلَيْهِ ثَمَرَاتُ كُلِّ شَيْءٍ (to which the fruits of all things are brought together), He says: it is gathered together there. It is derived from their expression: "jabaytu al-māʾ fī al-ḥawḍ" (I gathered the water in the basin), when one brings it together therein. And what is meant by it is: the fruits of every land are brought there.
As Abū Kurayb related to us, saying: Ibn ʿAṭiyya related to us, on the authority of Sharīk, on the authority of ʿUthmān ibn Abī Zurʿa, on the authority of Mujāhid, on the authority of Ibn ʿAbbās, concerning يُجْبَى إِلَيْهِ ثَمَرَاتُ كُلِّ شَيْءٍ (to which the fruits of all things are brought together), he said: The fruits of the earth.
And His word: رِزْقًا مِنْ لَدُنَّا (as a provision from Us), He says: and as a provision with which We have provided them from Us, that is to say: from with Us. وَلَكِنَّ أَكْثَرَهُمْ لا يَعْلَمُونَ (But most of them do not know), the Exalted, whose remembrance is exalted, says: But most of these polytheists (mushrikīn) who said to the Messenger of Allah — Allah's peace and blessings be upon him — إِنْ نَتَّبِعِ الْهُدَى مَعَكَ نُتَخَطَّفْ مِنْ أَرْضِنَا (If we follow the guidance with you, we shall be snatched away from our land), do not know that it is We who have prepared for them a secure sanctuary, and provided them therein with provision, and caused the fruits of every land to be brought together there to them. Through their ignorance of who did that for them, they are unbelieving and do not give thanks to the One who bestowed those favors upon them.
