3:81
It is very clear that a very simple reading of Quran verse 3:81 tells us that a covenant has been taken with the prophets themselves who will get the scripture and wisdom and then a messenger will come after them confirming what they have. And since Muhammad is a prophet, then that means a messenger will come after him to confirm the scripture Muhammad has been given.
The objectors have argued from linguistic reasoning that this cannot be what this verse is saying. However, this has been thoroughly debunked by the following blog showing multiple examples of other verses with the identical linguistic phrase of 3:81 referencing a covenant with the people mentioned themselves:
Now that linguistic counterarguments have been thoroughly debunked, the objectors move on to make contextual arguments that verse 3:81 is not really a covenant with the prophets, but a covenant titled “the prophets” and the subjects of the covenant are the people of the book, not the prophets themselves (despite the clear reading of the verse). This blog will demonstrate, God Willing, that the contextual features of verses before and after 3:81 (including the thematic context of chapter 3 on a whole) do not exclude and in fact support the interpretation of 3:81 that this covenant is taken with the prophets themselves.
[3:64] Say, “O followers of the scripture, let us come to a logical agreement between us and you: that we shall not worship except GOD; that we never set up any idols besides Him, nor set up any human beings as lords beside GOD.” If they turn away, say, “Bear witness that we are submitters.”
[3:65] O followers of the scripture, why do you argue about Abraham, when the Torah and the Gospel were not revealed until after him? Do you not understand?
[3:66] You have argued about things you knew; why do you argue about things you do not know? GOD knows, while you do not know.
[3:67] Abraham was neither Jewish, nor Christian; he was a monotheist submitter. He never was an idol worshiper.
[3:68] The people most worthy of Abraham are those who followed him, and this prophet, and those who believe. GOD is the Lord and Master of the believers.
[3:69] Some followers of the scripture wish to lead you astray, but they only lead themselves astray, without perceiving.
[3:70] O followers of the scripture, why do you reject these revelations of GOD though you bear witness (that this is the truth)?
[3:71] O followers of the scripture, why do you confound the truth with falsehood, and conceal the truth, knowingly?
[3:72] Some followers of the scripture say, “Believe in what was sent down to the believers in the morning, and reject it in the evening; maybe someday they will revert.
[3:73] “And do not believe except as those who follow your religion.” Say, “The true guidance is GOD’s guidance.” If they claim that they have the same guidance, or argue with you about your Lord, say, “All grace is in GOD’s hand; He bestows it upon whomever He wills.” GOD is Bounteous, Omniscient.
[3:74] He specifies His mercy for whomever He wills; GOD possesses unlimited grace.
[3:75] Some followers of the scripture can be trusted with a whole lot, and they will give it back to you. Others among them cannot be trusted with a single dinar; they will not repay you unless you keep after them. That is because they say, “We do not have to be honest when dealing with the gentiles!”* Thus, they attribute lies to GOD, knowingly.
[3:76] Indeed, those who fulfill their obligations and lead a righteous life, GOD loves the righteous.
[3:77] As for those who trade away GOD’s covenant, and their obligations, for a cheap price, they receive no share in the Hereafter. GOD will not speak to them, nor look at them, on the Day of Resurrection, nor will He purify them. They have incurred a painful retribution.
[3:78] Among them are those who twist their tongues to imitate the scripture, that you may think it is from the scripture, when it is not from the scripture, and they claim that it is from GOD, when it is not from GOD. Thus, they utter lies and attribute them to GOD, knowingly.
[3:79] Never would a human being whom GOD blessed with the scripture and prophethood say to the people, “Idolize me beside GOD.” Instead, (he would say), “Devote yourselves absolutely to your Lord alone,” according to the scripture you preach and the teachings you learn.
[3:80] Nor would he command you to idolize the angels and the prophets as lords. Would he exhort you to disbelieve after becoming submitters?
[3:81] GOD took a covenant from the prophets, saying, “I will give you the scripture and wisdom. Afterwards, a messenger will come to confirm all existing scriptures. You shall believe in him and support him.” He said, “Do you agree with this, and pledge to fulfill this covenant?” They said, “We agree.” He said, “You have thus borne witness, and I bear witness along with you.”
[3:82] Those who reject this (Quranic prophecy) are the evil ones.
[3:83] Are they seeking other than GOD’s religion, when everything in the heavens and the earth has submitted to Him, willingly and unwillingly, and to Him they will be returned?
[3:84] Say, “We believe in GOD, and in what was sent down to us, and in what was sent down to Abraham, Ismail, Isaac, Jacob, and the Patriarchs, and in what was given to Moses, Jesus, and the prophets from their Lord. We make no distinction among any of them. To Him alone we are submitters.”
[3:85] Anyone who accepts other than Submission as his religion, it will not be accepted from him, and in the Hereafter, he will be with the losers.
[3:86] Why should GOD guide people who disbelieved after believing, and after witnessing that the messenger is truth, and after solid proofs* have been given to them? GOD does not guide the wicked.
[3:87] These have incurred condemnation by GOD, and the angels, and all the people.
[3:88] Eternally they abide therein; the retribution is never commuted for them, nor will they be reprieved.
[3:89] Exempted are those who repent thereafter, and reform. GOD is Forgiver, Most Merciful.
[3:90] Those who disbelieve after believing, then plunge deeper into disbelief, their repentance will not be accepted from them; they are the real strayers.
[3:91] Those who disbelieve and die as disbelievers, an earthful of gold will not be accepted from any of them, even if such a ransom were possible. They have incurred painful retribution; they will have no helpers.
[3:92] You cannot attain righteousness until you give to charity from the possessions you love. Whatever you give to charity, GOD is fully aware thereof.
[3:93] All food used to be lawful for the Children of Israel, until Israel imposed certain prohibitions on themselves before the Torah was sent down. Say, “Bring the Torah and read it, if you are truthful.”
[3:94] Those who fabricate false prohibitions after this, and attribute them to GOD, are truly wicked.
When we examine the context of the above verses, we see that verse 64 begins with addressing the people of the scripture. Verse 69 stops addressing the people of the scripture for a moment and beings addressing Muhammad/believers about the followers of the scripture wishing to divert us from the path of God. Then verse 70-71 begins addressing the people of the scripture again, and then afterwards goes back to addressing Muhammad and the believers. The discussion at this point all the way through verse 3:81 is no longer in first person. An example of this is how verse 3:75-78 is no longer addressing the people of the scripture and is instead talking to the believers about the people of the scripture. The next verses (3:79 to verse 3:80) talk about how a prophet would never encourage idol worship, and similar to the 2 verses before them, it is also not addressing the people of the scripture, instead, it is addressing the believers and informing them about prophets. The next verse, 3:81 continues to inform us about prophets.
So we see that the immediate context of 3:81 is not even addressing the people of the scripture, but instead is talking about prophets and their obligations. Verse 3:81 adds to this topic of the prophets’ obligations and mentions a covenant they took. And the biggest indication of a shift in topics is the phrase in the beginning of 3:81, “wa-idh” ( وَإِذْ ), which means “recall”. This phrase oftentimes is used when a flashback or throwback is being referenced to as an annotation.
Notice how this is all interweaved and how the topic shifts from related point to related point. Indeed, the Quran often does this: in the middle of a certain context, the Quran shifts from one concept to another, sometimes to draw parallels between 2 related but distinct points and sometimes to plug a related but distinct concept before shifting back to the previous discussion.
What is the point of talking about the people of the scripture rejecting Muhammad and then shifting the topic to Rashad?
Now an objector would say “what is the point of the Quran talking about the people of the scripture rejecting Muhammad and then shifting the topic to Rashad”?. This is like asking “What is the point of the Quran putting verse 4:176 (which is about inheritance) abruptly when the previous context is addressing the people of the scripture and the messiah?”. “Isn’t there a better place and context to put this verse”. That’s just how the Quran works: abrupt topic shifts that ebb and flow, related to the theme of the overall chapter, but different from the immediate context. Get used to it.
Speaking of Chapter 4, it also has an abrupt shift in topic at verse 4:153. Before that verse it was talking about the believers, and the hypocrites and repentance and working righteousness–and then the topic shifts abruptly to the people of the scripture in 4:153-and the Quran continues in this tangent discussing different but related discussions related to the people of the scripture: mistakes of the Jews back in Moses’ time then mistakes of the Jews for disbelieving, then mistakes of the Christians who made up lies about Mary and Jesus, and then it goes on into extensive detail regarding Jesus–and then after this brief tangent, the Quran returns to the discussion of the previous topic. One notices the similarity of this with 3:81–starting at verse 3:79, the discussion shifts/merges to prophets and then it goes on to discuss different but related discussions about the prophets: it first discusses how prophets get the scripture and wisdom, then how prophets would never command idol worship or advocate disbelief, and then how prophets took a special covenant and then it goes into extensive detail regarding our requirements–and then after this brief tangent, the Quran returns and adds on to the discussion of the previous topic of the people of the people fabricating certain laws (3:93-94) and then back to the people of the scripture rejecting these revelations (3:98).
Another example happens in the next Surah (5) where it discusses the importance of honest testimony and then abruptly shifts the topic in verse 5:109 to the messengers’ speech during the day of judgement (especially Jesus) and then going deeper into this tangent on a different but related discussion (a tangent within a tangent) about Jesus asking God to send down a feast from the heaven to reassure the believers with him and how this greater miracle leads to greater responsibility/punishment (see verses 5:112-5:115)–and then shifting the topic back to what Jesus will say on the day of judgement (verse 5:116)–and then returning to the previous discussion, adding on to the importance of truthfulness and how the truthful will benefit (verse 5:119), further emphasizing the importance of honest testimony that was discussed before this tangent (before verse 5:109).
Since we know that this abrupt topic shift is indeed a feature of the Quran, why should we not take that into account when we are attempting to understand the Quran? Especially when there are clear indications that this verse is an abrupt change in topic including linguistic ( وَإِذْ ) and the immediate context referring to the prophets’ obligations rather than the people of the scripture. Why should we accept the hermeneutical approach of the traditionalists who must affirm the biased historical context and interpretations of the classical scholars who have been poisoned by the fabrications of Hadith & Sunnah (who even western scholars are skeptical of)—why should we accept their hermeneutical approach rather than an approach that has been authorized by God and His messenger? Why should we trust the words and approaches of unauthorized humans over the words of authorized messengers of God? Why should we not take into account the Quran oftentimes engages in abrupt changes in topic, especially since the clear words of 3:81 clearly refer to a covenant the prophets themselves have taken and especially since these clear words are mimicked identically by other verses referring to covenants taken by others (see verse 2:83, 3:187, and 5:12) word-for-word!
Further evidence this is a covenant with the prophets themselves:
It is also quite weird they argue that “never would a prophet command idol worship” mentioned in verses 3:79-80 includes Muhammad as also one of those prophets that would never command idol worship, but verse 3:81 which continues to talk about those prophets somehow excludes Muhammad.
Further the verses that continue the discussion of 3:81 talk about those who reject what is mentioned in 3:81 and goes on to say they have “disbelieved after believing” (see verse 3:86 and 3:90). However, the earlier context informs us that the people of the book have never truly believed (verse 3:72-73), but they will act like they believed in the morning, but at night they will reject and they will follow the command “do not believe except as those who follow your religion”—so the Quran is informing us these people of the book were never believers—yet the verses after 3:81 talk about disbelieving after believing—so this cannot be in reference to the people of the book rejecting Muhammad after believing him. Even worse, when the word “believers” is used in the Quran, it refers to those who believed in the Quran & Muhammad—so the only ones who could have disbelieved after believed (‘amanu’: ‘īmānihim’ إِيمَانِهِمْ) are those who already believed in the Quran—thus this cannot refer to the people of the book previously mentioned and thus those who “believed after disbelieved” must be the Muslims who rejected this messenger coming after Muhammad whereby they once believed in the Quran & Muhammad (amanu) but then disbelieved…anyone claiming that all of these verses are addressing or referring to the people of the book have been nullified by the preceding and anteceding context of 3:81—the Quran is very clear the people of the scripture mentioned in this context never believed in the first place. This shuts down the idea that we should be understanding all of these verses as referring to the people of the scripture.
33:7
Regarding 33:7, when read in context, it seems to come out of nowhere and just describe a covenant the prophet himself took, and then it returns back to the previous context of war and struggling in the cause of God.
It is clear from 33:7 that this verse is presenting the “bottom line”, ie. the overall point/purpose of all of this hard work (war and striving in the cause of God) that Muhammad is doing.
The point is that Muhammad had taken a covenant with God to deliver God’s scripture and part of this necessitates Muhammad and the believers be united to fight these people who are oppressing them and who are trying to eradicate the religion of Submission so that Muhammad delivers the scripture to the Arabs.
Rashad is the consolidating messenger who most of the world will see in the future. He is the messenger of the victory where people will enter submission in throngs and the whole world will recognize the truth of the scriptures including the Quran and mathematical miracle. This is an extremely important messenger and so the covenant of the prophets, including Muhammad, is to support this messenger-to-come partly by delivering the scripture and winning the war in Mecca, rather than losing and letting the Meccans skirt the message of the Quran. Delivering the message necessitates Muhammad leading the believers to victory in this war. And it necessitates Muhammad being close to the believers.
This is the bottom line of Muhammad’s role and covenant: to deliver the Quran to the Arabs so that the future consolidating messenger, Rashad, delivers its message complete with the proofs of the Quran to the whole world.
Muhammad had to deliver the Quran and win this war so that this bottom line is achieved. This is a vital component towards supporting the messenger-to-come. This is the big picture. This is the overall goal of all of this work and the war efforts discussed in the context of 33:7.
In summary, 33:7 is clearly a verse that explains the bottom line and overall purpose of Muhammad’s efforts, and this verse is inserted within a context of the believers fighting in this war and striving in the cause of God. This verse gives the bottom line and overall point of Muhammad’s ministry and war efforts: to support the consolidating messenger-to-come by sufficiently delivering the Quran to Arabs in order to allow the messenger-to-come to deliver this message and the overwhelming mathematical miracle to the whole world and have the world enter the religion of Submission in throngs. This is why verse 33:7 is tied to 3:81—this is the only mention of a covenant taken with the prophets in this fully detailed Quran.
They insist that prophet = messenger
Those who keep asserting that a [prophet = messenger] should know that this is directly contradicted in the Quran by verse 22:52
[22:52] We did not send before you any messenger, NOR a prophet, without having the devil interfere in his wishes. GOD then nullifies what the devil has done. GOD perfects His revelations. GOD is Omniscient, Most Wise.
And the silence in 39:40 as to whether Muhammad was the last messenger or not, is LOUD. It’s a deafening silence.
They can conjecture all they want and pretend to have the right understanding, they can stamp their belief that messenger = prophet as true all they want, they can shout at the top of all buildings that this point is axiomatic; that this point is well established: they should know that these are fabrications of lies against God to divert people from the path of God. This includes especially the fabrication that a messenger is necessarily a prophet—a conjecture that is explicitly disowned by the Quran in verse 22:52.
Related article:
Addressing their objections regarding 7:94
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