Tafseer of The letter Saad · Saad · 38:7
We have not heard of this in the latest religion. This is not but a fabrication.
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.
And His saying مَا سَمِعْنَا بِهَذَا فِي الْمِلَّةِ الآخِرَةِ ("We have not heard of this in the latter creed"). The exegetes (ahl al-taʾwīl) differed over its interpretation. Some of them said: the meaning is: we have not heard of this to which Muḥammad calls us — the detachment from all gods except Allah, the Exalted — nor of this Book which he has brought, in the Christian creed (al-milla al-naṣrāniyya); and that, they said, is the latter creed.
* Mention of who said that:
ʿAlī related to me, saying: ʿAbdullāh related to us, saying: Muʿāwiya related to me, on the authority of ʿAlī, on the authority of Ibn ʿAbbās, concerning His saying مَا سَمِعْنَا بِهَذَا فِي الْمِلَّةِ الآخِرَةِ , he says: Christianity.
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 saying مَا سَمِعْنَا بِهَذَا فِي الْمِلَّةِ الآخِرَةِ : that is to say, Christianity; they said: if this Qurʾān were truth, then the Christians would have informed us about it.
Muḥammad ibn Isḥāq related to me, saying: Yaḥyā ibn Maʿīn related to us, saying: Ibn ʿUyayna related to us, on the authority of Ibn Abī Labīd, on the authority of al-Qurṭubī, concerning His saying مَا سَمِعْنَا بِهَذَا فِي الْمِلَّةِ الآخِرَةِ , he said: the creed of ʿĪsā (Jesus).
Muḥammad ibn al-Ḥusayn related to me, saying: Aḥmad ibn al-Mufaḍḍal related to us, saying: Asbāṭ related to us, on the authority of al-Suddī: مَا سَمِعْنَا بِهَذَا فِي الْمِلَّةِ الآخِرَةِ : Christianity.
Others, however, said: rather, they meant by it: we have not heard of this in our religion, the religion of Quraysh.
* Mention of who said that:
Ibn Ḥumayd related to us, saying: Ḥakkām related to us, on the authority of ʿAnbasa, on the authority of Muḥammad ibn ʿAbd al-Raḥmān, on the authority of al-Qāsim ibn Abī Bazza, on the authority of Mujāhid, concerning His saying مَا سَمِعْنَا بِهَذَا فِي الْمِلَّةِ الآخِرَةِ , he said: the creed of Quraysh.
Muḥammad ibn ʿAmr related to me, saying: Abū ʿĀṣim related to us, saying: ʿĪsā related to us; and al-Ḥārith related to me, saying: al-Ḥasan related to us, saying: Warqāʾ related to us — both on the authority of Ibn Abī Najīḥ, on the authority of Mujāhid, concerning His saying فِي الْمِلَّةِ الآخِرَةِ , he said: the creed of Quraysh.
Bishr related to us, saying: Yazīd related to us, saying: Saʿīd related to us, on the authority of Qatāda: مَا سَمِعْنَا بِهَذَا فِي الْمِلَّةِ الآخِرَةِ : that is to say: in this religion of ours, and not ever in our time either.
Yūnus related to me, saying: Ibn Wahb informed us, saying: Ibn Zayd said, concerning His saying مَا سَمِعْنَا بِهَذَا فِي الْمِلَّةِ الآخِرَةِ , he said: the latter creed is the latter religion. He said: and al-milla means the religion (al-dīn). And it has been said: the eminent ones (al-malaʾ) who departed were a group of the elders of Quraysh, among whom were Abū Jahl, al-ʿĀṣ ibn Wāʾil and al-Aswad ibn ʿAbd Yaghūth.
* Mention of who said that:
Muḥammad ibn al-Ḥusayn related to me, saying: Aḥmad ibn al-Mufaḍḍal related to us, saying: Asbāṭ related to us, on the authority of al-Suddī: that some men of Quraysh gathered, among whom were Abū Jahl ibn Hishām, al-ʿĀṣ ibn Wāʾil, al-Aswad ibn al-Muṭṭalib and al-Aswad ibn ʿAbd Yaghūth, amid a group of the elders of Quraysh. They said to one another: let us go to Abū Ṭālib, that we may speak to him about him (Muḥammad), and that he may grant us justice against him; let him command him to stop reviling our gods, and then we will leave him and his god whom he worships alone, for we fear that this old man will die and that then something will issue forth from us, so that the Arabs would reproach us with disgrace and would say: they left him alone until his uncle died, and then they seized him. He said: so they sent forth a man of theirs, named al-Muṭṭalib, and this one sought permission for them from Abū Ṭālib and said: these are the elders of your people and their nobles; they ask you for admittance. He said: let them in. When they entered upon him, they said: O Abū Ṭālib, you are our elder and our lord; so grant us justice against the son of your brother; command him to stop reviling our gods, and then we will leave him and his god alone. He said: so Abū Ṭālib sent someone to him (Muḥammad). When the Messenger of Allah ﷺ entered upon him, he (Abū Ṭālib) said: O son of my brother, these are the elders of your people and their nobles; they have asked you for fairness, that you stop reviling their gods, so that they will leave you and your god alone. He said: he (the Prophet ﷺ) said: "O uncle, shall I not rather call them to something that is better for them than that?" He said: and to what do you call them? He said: "I call them to utter one word, by which the Arabs will obey them and by which they will rule over the non-Arabs (al-ʿajam)." He said: then Abū Jahl said amid the people: what is that? By your father, we will give it to you, and ten of them besides. He said: "You say: there is no god but Allah." He said: then they recoiled and said: ask us for something other than this. He said: "Even if you were to bring me the sun until you placed it in my hand, I would ask you for nothing other than that." He said: then they became angry and rose up against him enraged, and said: by Allah, we will surely revile you and the One Who commands you this. وَانْطَلَقَ الْمَلأ مِنْهُمْ أَنِ امْشُوا وَاصْبِرُوا عَلَى آلِهَتِكُمْ إِنَّ هَذَا لَشَيْءٌ يُرَادُ .. up to His saying إِلا اخْتِلاقٌ ("nothing but a fabrication"). And he (Abū Ṭālib) turned to his nephew, and his uncle said to him: O son of my brother, you have not been unjust toward them. Then he (the Prophet ﷺ) turned to his uncle and called him, saying: "Utter one word by which I will testify for you on the Day of Resurrection; say: there is no god but Allah." He (Abū Ṭālib) said: were it not that the Arabs would reproach you with it and would say that he gave in out of dread of death, I would give it to you; but I remain upon the creed of the forefathers. He said: then this verse was sent down: إِنَّكَ لا تَهْدِي مَنْ أَحْبَبْتَ وَلَكِنَّ اللَّهَ يَهْدِي مَنْ يَشَاءُ ("Verily, you do not guide whom you love, but Allah guides whom He wills").
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 saying وَانْطَلَقَ الْمَلأ مِنْهُمْ أَنِ امْشُوا وَاصْبِرُوا عَلَى آلِهَتِكُمْ إِنَّ هَذَا لَشَيْءٌ يُرَادُ , he said: it was sent down when the nobles of Quraysh went to Abū Ṭālib and spoke to him about the Prophet ﷺ.
And His saying إِنْ هَذَا إِلا اخْتِلاقٌ ("This is nothing but a fabrication") — He, exalted is His mention, says, reporting the saying of these polytheists (mushrikīn) about the Qurʾān: this Qurʾān is nothing but a fabrication; that is to say: a lie which Muḥammad has invented and devised.
And in accordance with what we have said concerning this, the exegetes (ahl al-taʾwīl) have spoken.
* Mention of who said that:
ʿAlī related to us, saying: ʿAbdullāh related to us, saying: Muʿāwiya related to me, on the authority of ʿAlī, on the authority of Ibn ʿAbbās, concerning His saying إِنْ هَذَا إِلا اخْتِلاقٌ , he says: fabrication.
Muḥammad ibn ʿAmr related to me, saying: Abū ʿĀṣim related to us, saying: ʿĪsā related to us; and al-Ḥārith related to me, saying: al-Ḥasan related to us, saying: Warqāʾ related to us — both on the authority of Ibn Abī Najīḥ, on the authority of Mujāhid, concerning His saying إِنْ هَذَا إِلا اخْتِلاقٌ , he said: lie.
Ibn Ḥumayd related to us, saying: Ḥakkām related to us, on the authority of ʿAnbasa, on the authority of Muḥammad ibn ʿAbd al-Raḥmān, on the authority of al-Qāsim ibn Abī Bazza, on the authority of Mujāhid: إِنْ هَذَا إِلا اخْتِلاقٌ , he says: lie.
Bishr related to us, saying: Yazīd related to us, saying: Saʿīd related to us, on the authority of Qatāda: إِنْ هَذَا إِلا اخْتِلاقٌ : nothing but something you fabricate.
Muḥammad ibn al-Ḥusayn related to us, saying: Aḥmad ibn al-Mufaḍḍal related to us, saying: Asbāṭ related to us, on the authority of al-Suddī: إِنْ هَذَا إِلا اخْتِلاقٌ : Muḥammad ﷺ has fabricated it.
Yūnus related to me, saying: Ibn Wahb informed us, saying: Ibn Zayd said, concerning His saying إِنْ هَذَا إِلا اخْتِلاقٌ : they said: this is nothing but a lie.
