What Is the Context of Verse 12 in Chapter 39?
Answered by Mawlana Ilyas Patel
Question
What is the context of verse 12 in chapter 39? Is it saying that our Prophet Muhammad (Allah bless him and give him peace) was the first Muslim sent to his nation/people, or is it saying that Prophet Muhammad (Allah bless him and give him peace)was the first ever Muslim?
Answer
In the Name of Allah, the Most Merciful and Compassionate.
I pray you are in good faith and health.
“And I have been commanded to be the first of those who submit to His Will.” or “And I have been commanded to be the first of those who submit in Islam.” [Quran, 39:12]
The commentators have mentioned the following:
I am commanded to be the first to embrace Islam a) from my people, b) from the people of my time, or 3) to invite others to Islam what I have invited myself and embrace unto. The summary is I have been commanded to have sincerity in religion and to be at the forefront of this world. [Nasafi, Madarik al-Tanzil Wa Haqa’iq al-Ta’wil; Ibn ‘Ajiba, al-Bahr al-Madid]
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I pray this helps with your question.
Wassalam,
[Mawlana] Ilyas Patel
Checked and Approved by Shaykh Faraz Rabbani
Mawlana Ilyas Patel is a traditionally-trained scholar who has studied in the UK, India, Pakistan, Syria, Jordan, and Turkey. He started his early education in the UK. He went on to complete the hifz of the Quran in India, then enrolled in an Islamic seminary in the UK, where he studied the secular and ‘Aalimiyya sciences. He then traveled to Karachi, Pakistan. He has been an Imam in Rep of Ireland for several years. He has taught hifz of the Quran, Tajwid, Fiqh, and many other Islamic sciences to children and adults onsite and online extensively in the UK and Ireland. He taught at a local Islamic seminary for 12 years in the UK, where he was a librarian and a teacher of Islamic sciences. He currently resides in the UK with his wife. His interest is a love of books and gardening.
