Transliteration:( Qaaloo yaa Saalihu qad kunta feenaa marjuwwan qabla haazaaa atanhaanaaa an na'bu da maa ya'budu aabaaa'unaa wa innanaa lafee shakkim mimmaa tad'oonaaa ilaihi mureeb )
132. By this is meant we had hoped that you would become our Leader. They said that, because prior to revelation of prophethood. Hazrat Saleh (On whom be peace) had possessed an outstanding character Extending hospitality, helping the poor. removing the difficulties of the needy were his favourite activities.Â
This tells us that prior to their rise to prophethood every Prophet possesses impeccable character. However, this was not the case with Mirza Goolam Qadyani. His early life too is full of corrupt practices.
133. From this we learn that Hazrat Saleh (On whom be peace) never indulged in idolatory. If this was the case the people would have said you are telling us now to refrain from worshipping that which you your self were previously doing. In fact we also learn that even his forefathers too did not indulge in idolatory.Â
Otherwise, these people would have remarked that you are stopping us from worshipping that which your forefathers had worshipped. Here the word 'our fathers' helps to illustrate that the Tauheed practised by Hazrat Saleh (On whom be peace) is par excellence. It should be remembered that here the verb "they had worshipped" denotes past perfect tense as stated in Tafseer Roohul Bayaan, etc.Â
134. Here doubt denotes to reject and not to hesitate. They were not accepting Hazrat Saleh (On whom be peace) to be truthful at all as is understood from these verses
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62. They said: “O Salih! You have been among us as a figure of good hope until this! Do you (now) forbid us the worship of what our fathers have worshipped But we are really in grave doubt as to that to which you invite us.” 63. He said: “O my people! Tell me, if I have a clear proof from my Lord, and there has come to me a mercy from Him, who then can help me against Allah, if I were to disobey Him Then you increase me not but in loss.”
Allah, the Exalted, mentions what transpired in the discussion between Salih and his people. Allah informs of their ignorance and obstinacy in their statement,
(You have been among us as a figure of good hope till this!) They were saying in this, “We had hope in your strong intellect before you began saying what you have said.”
(Do you (now) forbid us the worship of what our fathers have worshipped) “what those who were before us were upon.”
(But we are really in grave doubt as to that which you invite us.) This alludes to the great amount of doubt that they had.
(He said: “O my people! Tell me, if I have a clear proof from my Lord…”) `In reference to what He (Allah) has sent me with to you, I am upon conviction and sure evidence.’
(and there has come to me a mercy from Him, who then can help me against Allah, if I were to disobey Him) `and abandon calling you to the truth and the worship of Allah alone. If I did so, you would not be able to bring me any benefit, nor increase me
(but in loss.)’ This means loss and ruin.
(11:62) They said: ‘O Salih! Until now you were one of those among us on whom we placed great hopes.[70] Now, would you forbid us to worship what our forefathers were wont to worship?[71] Indeed we are in disquieting doubt about what you are calling us to.[72]
70. That is, we had expected that by your wisdom, intelligence, foresight, serious behavior and dignified personality, you would become a great and prosperous man. So we had looked forward to the great success you would achieve and to the manifold advantages we would gain over other clans and tribes because of you. But you have brought to naught all of our hopes by adopting the way based on Tauhid and the Hereafter which is bound to lead us to utter ruin.
It may be noted here that the people of Muhammad (peace be upon him) have had the same great expectations of him. They, too, had a very high opinion of his abilities and capabilities before his appointment as a Prophet. For they expected that he would become a great leader, and his foresight would bring innumerable benefits to them also. But when, contrary to their expectations, he began to invite them to the doctrines of Tauhid and the Hereafter, and preach the principles of high morality, they lost not only all hope in him, but began to entertain and express quite the reverse views. They said: What a pity, this man who was quite good till now has, under the influence of some charm, not only ruined his own career but has destroyed all of our hopes as well.
71. That was their argument for the worship of their gods. They said that they would worship them because their forefathers worshiped them. Prophet Salih (peace be upon him), argued like this: Worship Allah….Who has created you from the earth, and Who made it a living place for you. In answer to this they argued, as if to say: These deities are also worthy of worship, and we will not give them up because our forefathers have been worshiping them for a long time. This is an apt example of the type of arguments employed by the supporters of Islam and those of ignorance. The former base their arguments on sound reasoning, while the latter base them on blind imitation.
72. The Quran has not specified the nature of the doubts and feelings of distraction. This is because, though all of them had these feelings, these were different in different persons. For it is one of the characteristics of the message that it takes away the peace of mind of all these people to whom it is addressed. Though the feelings of distraction are of various kinds, everyone gets a portion of them. This is because it becomes simply impossible for anyone to continue treading the paths of deviation with that peace of mind which one had before the coming of the message. For it impels everyone to think whether one is following the right way or any of the wrong ways of ignorance. No one can shut one’s ears and eyes against the penetrating and merciless criticism of the weaknesses of the ways of ignorance, and the strong and rational arguments for the right way. Then the high moral character of the Messenger, his perseverance, his nobility, his gentle conduct, his frank and righteous attitude and his dignity cannot fail to shake their impressions even on the most obdurate, and prejudiced opponents. The message by itself attracts the best elements from that society and brings about the most revolutionary changes in the characters of its followers so as to make them models of excellence. Naturally all these things combine to produce the feelings of distraction in the minds of those who desire to uphold the ways of ignorance even after the coming of the truth.
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