قالَ يا قَومِ إِنّي لَكُم نَذيرٌ مُبينٌ

He said: ‘O my people! Indeed I am a manifest warner to you.

EXEGESIS

He said: ‘O my people …’ instead of merely ‘O people!’ as an expression of endearment, so that, perchance, they would listen to him. Even when God sends Prophet Moses (a) and Prophet Aaron (a) to the Pharaoh, He commands them: Speak to him in a soft manner; maybe he will take admonition or fear (20:44). And Prophet Muhammad (s) is told: It is by Allah’s mercy that you are gentle to them; and had you been harsh and hard-hearted, surely they would have scattered from around you (3:159).

It is for this reason, perhaps, that God always sent a prophet to his own tribe first, even if he was often rejected and later went on to preach to others and find acceptance elsewhere. This was to vouch for their integrity and also to make them relatable to the people they preached to. Even when Prophet Joseph (a) – a child of Israel – was to be sent to the Egyptians, he was taken there as a child and raised amongst them before he could reach out to them and preach monotheism in their midst. Prophet Hūd (a) as well says to his tribe, O my people … (7:65), and so do Prophet Ṣāliḥ (a) (7:73), Prophet Shuʿayb (a) (7:85), Prophet Lot (a) (11:78), Prophet Moses (a) (61:5), Prophet Aaron (a) (20:90), and Prophet Muhammad (s) (6:135, 39:39).

Those prophets who persisted in their communities, like Prophet Noah (a), Prophet Hūd (a), Prophet Ṣāliḥ (a), Prophet Moses (a), Prophet Shuʿayb (a), and Prophet Lot (a), most of their people rejected them until they were punished, and the prophet was left with the faithful. And those whose communities were not punished, their prophet eventually left them and found following in another community, like Prophet Abraham (a) and Prophet Muhammad (s). Exceptions would be cases such as that of Prophet Jonah (a), whose people were on the verge of being punished but then saved and he was sent to a [community of] hundred thousand or more (37:147).

Prophet Noah (a) may have called himself a manifest warner to emphasise that there was no ambiguity or doubt in the punishment that he came to warn them about. The people instead used this very term to ridicule him, saying, Indeed we see you in manifest error (7:60). Often they called him ‘a crazy man’ and he was ostracised (54:9). And whenever the elders of his people passed by him, they would ridicule him (11:38).

Yet in response, Prophet Noah (a) ignored their teasing and sarcasm and continued pleading: O my people, I am not in error. Rather I am an apostle from the Lord of the worlds. I communicate to you the messages of my Lord, and I am your well-wisher (7:61-62). The consistent use of O my people and I am your well-wisher reveals Prophet Noah’s (a) compassionate nature; that he did not respond in like manner but remained humble and sincere in wanting to guide them. The more obnoxious they got, the kinder he became it seems; and this, in turn, encouraged them to become crueller. Prophet Noah (a) also tells his people he is a manifest warner in 26:115. At one point they threatened to kill him: They said: ‘Noah, if you do not relinquish, you will certainly be stoned [to death]’ (26:116).

EXPOSITION

Prophet Muhammad (s), also, is often asked to declare himself a manifest warner (7:184, 15:89, 29:50, 38:70, 46:9, 67:26), at times addressing all of mankind: Say: ‘O mankind! I am only a manifest warner to you!’ (22:49). And he, too, is faced with the same ridicule: Whenever the faithless see you they only take you in derision: ‘Is this the one who speaks ill of your gods?’ (21:36). See also 51:50-51, which allows it to be taken as a reference to either Prophet Noah (a) or Prophet Muhammad (s).

All prophets are sent as bearers of glad tidings and as warners (2:213, 4:165, 6:48, 18:56), and no community was ever destroyed unless it was first warned: We have not destroyed any town without its having warners, for the sake of admonition, and We were not unjust (26:208-209).

Part of the reason why communities often rejected a prophet was that they saw him as an ordinary human like themselves (see The Surah’s Message for the verse references). People, therefore, expected miracles and wondrous events as proof of their prophet’s veracity. Yet often, even when proof was given to them, those whose hearts were not receptive to the truth found reasons to reject the message, claiming it was magic and sorcery. God wants man to accept the truth based on his intellect, and the obvious greater good that he is being called to, away from the shackles of what enslaves him (7:157), rather than on the basis of miracles. The Quran relates, in detail, the many miracles shown to the Children of Israel (for example, 2:57, 2:60, 2:73, 7:117, 7:133, 26:32-33, and 26:63) despite which they still transgressed repeatedly. Man must therefore find his Creator through seemingly ordinary means, through the intellect, and through a sincere struggle to purify the soul, and God, in turn, sends prophets who are human, and apparently ordinary, because of which they are able to act as role models to emulate. It is because these prophets, like other humans, also undergo the same pains, needs, and experiences of what it means to be human, and live on the earth in a corporeal form, that they are relatable: had there been angels in the earth, walking around and residing [in it like humans do], We would have sent down to them from the heaven an angel as apostle (17:95).