Transliteration:( Aw yakoona laka baitum min zukhrufin aw tarqaa fis samaaa'i wa lan nu'mina liruqiyyika hatta tunazzila 'alainaa kitaaban naqra'uh; qul Subhaana Rabbee hal kuntu illaa basharar Rasoolaa (section 10) )
"Or you have a house of gold or you ascend up into the heavens, and we will never believe in your ascension until you send down to us a book that we may read [192]. Say, 'Glory be to my Lord! Am I anything but a human being sent as a messenger [193]?'" [93]
Their demands continued:
“Even if you had a house made of gold, or you ascended to the heavens, we would still not believe — unless you bring down a book from the skies that we ourselves can see and read, handed to you by an angel before our eyes.”
These statements were not made with sincere intent. They were uttered to mock and challenge the Holy Prophet ﷺ, not to discover the truth.
Even if these demands were fulfilled, they still would not have accepted faith.
The Prophet ﷺ was commanded to say:
“Glory be to my Lord! I am nothing but a human being sent as a messenger.”
This response does not imply inability to perform miracles — rather, it emphasizes that their ridiculous demands are unworthy of response. If the miracles were shown and still rejected, they would be destroyed, in accordance with Divine practice.
The Prophet ﷺ possessed immense powers by the will of Allah:
He caused stones to recite the Kalimah
Water flowed from his blessed fingers
Angels appeared before him, and at times even the Companions witnessed them
However, he would not act without Divine permission, just like:
The fire did not burn Sayyiduna Ibrahim (peace be upon him)
The knife did not cut Sayyiduna Ismail (peace be upon him)
This verse teaches us that:
“Not doing something is not the same as being unable to do it.”
Also, when the Prophet ﷺ says that he is a human, it reflects his humility and is a sign of his excellence. But if anyone else says the same thing in a comparative or disrespectful manner, they step outside the fold of Islam.
The tafsir of Surah Al-Isra verse 93 by Ibn Kathir is unavailable here.
Please refer to Surah Isra ayat 90 which provides the complete commentary from verse 90 through 93.
(17:93) or that there come to be for you a house of gold, or that you ascend to the sky – though we shall not believe in your ascension (to the sky) – until you bring down a book for us that we can read.” Say to them, (O Muhammad): “Holy is my Lord! Am I anything else than a human being, who bears a Message[106] (from Allah)?”
106. This is the second answer to the demand of the disbelievers for a miracle. The first answer is contained in (Surah Al-Isra, ayat 59). The eloquence of this concise answer is above praise: You demand from me that I should cause a spring to gush forth, or in the twinkling of an eye should bring into being a garden in full bloom with canals flowing in it: or I should cause the heaven to fall into pieces on those of you who are rejecting the message: or I should cause to build a furnished palace of gold: or I should call Allah and the angels to stand before you and testify to this effect: We Ourselves have sent down Muhammad as Our Messenger: or I should go up to the sky in your presence and bring down, addressed to you, the letter of authority of my appointment duly signed by Allah so that you may touch it with your hands and read it with your own eyes. The concise answer to these big demands was this: My Lord be glorified! Have I ever claimed to be anything more than a human Messenger? It may be expanded like this: O people, have I claimed to be God that you are demanding such things from me? Did I ever say that I am all powerful and am ruling over the earth and the Heavens? From the very first day my claim has been that I am a human being who is bringing the Message from God. Therefore, if you want to judge the authenticity of my claim, you may judge it from my message. If you are convinced that it is based on the truth and is absolutely rational, then you should believe in it without making foolish demands. On the other hand, if you find any defect in it, you may reject it. If you want to test whether my claim is based on truth, you should judge it by the standard of my conduct and morals as a human being and my mission. Is it not a folly that, instead of this, you are demanding from me to cleave the earth and cause the sky to fall? Is there any connection whatsoever of Prophethood with things like that.
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