Does verse 34:28 say that the prophet (pbuh) was sent for the entire mankind?
Question:
Assalamu Alaikum,
I hope this message finds you well. In the interest of keeping this message as short and simple as possible, I would just like to ask a simple question about the phrasing of a particular verse:
Surat as-Saba verse 28 reads:
وَمَآ أَرْسَلْنَـٰكَ إِلَّا كَآفَّةً لِّلنَّاسِ بَشِيرًا وَنَذِيرًا وَلَـٰكِنَّ أَكْثَرَ ٱلنَّاسِ لَا يَعْلَمُونَ
"And we did not send you except comprehensively to all people, a giver of glad tidings, and a warner, but most of manking does not know."
All translations of كَآفَّةً which I encountered translate it as "Comprehensively" or "Entirely," and this is emphasized by its use in 2:208. This is also what I know the word to mean, and am not personally familiar with any other possible meanings.
The argument from hyperbole doesn't seem to stand here, that is to say, we cannot say that "People" is used in a literary sense, meaning only the people of Arabia because it is preceded by كَآفَّةً, "comprehensively," meaning that the only reading one can take is an absolute one, and not a metaphorical one.
This conclusion runs directly contrary to the principle of general universality (1), which is a bit troubling.
Any clarification is greatly appreciated.
Answer:
Alaykum Assalam wa rahmatullah,
I answer your question in three sections:
Section One: The meaning of Kaaffah (كَآفَّةً)
You wrote that every translation you looked at, has translated Kaaffah as “comprehensively” or “entirely”. When we want to analyse the verses of the Qur’an at this level we cannot rely on translations. Books of translation of the Qur’an are not even among the secondary sources of understanding the Qur’an. I invite you to take a journey with me and look at the main books of tafsir and Arabic vocabulary (Lughat) where experts in the Qur’an and words of the Qur’an, have discussed the meaning of the verses and the words.
This is what Imam Razi writes in his tafsir:
و فيه و جهان أحدها: كافة أي إرسالة كافة أي عامة لجميع الناس تمنعهم من الخروج عن الانقياد لها و الثاني: كافة أي أرسلناك كافة تكف الناس أنت من الكفر و الهاء للمبالغة على هذا الوجه
“and there are two ways (to interpret this): One is that Kaaffah means a comprehensive sending (of the messenger), i.e. general for all people, stopping them from rebelling against it. The other one is that kaaffah means I sent you as one who prevents people from kufr and in this case ‘h’ (at the end of kaaffah) is for exaggeration.”
(Tafsir Kabir, 25:206)
So far we understand that unlike what you wrote, it is not the case that kaaffah here can only have one meaning.
You may think why a word like kaaffah can be translated as ‘prevent’ rather than ‘entirely’. Let us see what one of the experts of the Arabic word, Raghib Isfahani, has to say about this:
الْكَفُ: كَفُ الإنسان، و هي ما بها يقبض و يبسط، و كَفَفْتُهُ: أصبته بالكفّ و دفعته بها. و تعورف الكفّ بالدّفع على أيّ وجه كان وَ ما أَرْسَلْناكَ إِلَّا كَافَّةً لِلنَّاسِ [سبأ/ 28] أي: كافّا لهم عن المعاصي، و الهاء فيه للمبالغة
“Kaff: (comes from) kaf (hand palm) of human being, and that is what is used to pull or push something. Kafaftuhu means both “I pulled him” with the palm of hand and “I pushed him” with it. Kaff has found this general meaning of ‘preventing’ by any means. وَ ما أَرْسَلْناكَ إِلَّا كَافَّةً لِلنَّاسِ [سبأ/ 28] (then) means ‘preventing them from disobedience’, and ‘h’ (at the end of the word) is for exaggeration.”
(Mufradat al-Fadh al-Qur’an, p. 713)
As you can see, not only ‘prevent’ is a meaning for kaff, it actually is its original meaning. I add here that the meaning of ‘entirely’ seems to be the extended meaning from this original meaning. What the above means is that according to the experts of Arabic like Raghib, the first meaning that you want to go for is ‘prevent’, and that you go for the other meaning ‘entirely’ only if the verse demands it.
A more technical explanation is provided by Zamakhshari in Kashshaf, whose work is among the reference works for understanding the literal aspects of the Qur’an. In interpreting this verse he quotes from Abu Ishaq Zujaj (another expert of Arabic) who writes that Kaaffah cannot be associated to Naas (people) because it comes before it and Naas is majrur (ends with kasrah - E’). Note that the meanings like “comprehensively, entirely, etc.” can only derive from kaaffah in this verse if it is associated to Naas (people). What Zamakhshari writes (or quotes from Zujaj) is that this cannot be the case. What he means is that if kaaffah was supposed to have such meaning, it had to be associated to Naas, and that can only be the case if it comes after Naas, i.e. للناسِ كَآفَّه rather than كَآفَّةً للنّاس.
He explains that associating Kaaffah to a word that comes after it and is majrur will then require another assumption. That is to consider the “Lam” ((لِ that precedes Naas and means ‘for’ (people), to actually mean “Ila” ((الی, that means ‘to’ (people). So then the verse should have been (or should be interpreted as) الی الناسِ كَآفَّه.He adds this will then be a double error (Zamakhshari, Kashshaf, 3:583).
Tabatabayi another great interpreter of the Qur’an makes reference to what Raghib and Zamakhshari write and then adds that what confirms that kaaffah here means ‘prevention’ is the rest of the verse where we have “bearer of good news and a warner” (بَشيراً وَ نَذيرا). What he means is that kaaffah in the meaning of prevention relates better with these words that come after it.
You wrote that the meaning of ‘entirely’ for kaaffah is emphasised by its use in 2:208. I hope after reading the above you appreciate that the choice between the two possible meanings of the word kaaffah is based on its use in a verse. Yes in 2:208 it seems like kaaffah means ‘entire’ (referring to entire Muslims), but, as explained above, this is not the case for verse 34:28. You may be interested to know that in another verse, 9:36, the word kaaffah is used twice and there is argument in the books of tafsir on whether their meaning is ‘entirely’ or ‘prevent’.
So at the end of this section, you see that not only kaaffah has a meaning other than “entirely”, but also some of the most creditable experts consider the meaning of “entirely” to be a wrong one in this verse.
According to the above, I translate the verse as follows:
وَ مَآ أَرْسَلْنَـٰكَ إِلَّا كَآفَّةً لِّلنَّاسِ بَشِيرًا وَنَذِيرًا وَلَـٰكِنَّ أَكْثَرَ ٱلنَّاسِ لَا يَعْلَمُون
"And we did not send you except as a preventer for people, a giver of glad tidings, and a warner, but most of people do not know."
Section Two: the context and scope
Now let us say that for the sake of argument I disagree with the above experts and agree with the translations that you are referring to. This means, for the sake of argument I will agree that kaaffah here means ‘entirely’ and therefore the verse says that we sent the prophet to the entire people.
However on what basis ‘entire people’ is then interpreted as ‘the whole mankind’? In your answer you are referring to hyperbole argument and metaphorical interpretations. What I wrote in my article has nothing to do with these literal techniques. I have written this in detail in my article that in many languages like English, Farsi and Arabic, expressions that literally can refer to 'entire mankind', 'all', 'everyone', ..., can easily also refer to a small group of people, if the context demands it. In English one can say “this food is for all people” and what he means is that this food is for all the people who were invited, not the whole mankind! I therefore disagree with your argument that since kaaffah is used, therefore people can only mean the entire human being. How else would you say the verse could refer to 'entire people' within Arabia?
َ(For your further deliberation, I encourage you to see what the verse 9:36 would mean if you translate kaaffah to mean 'in the entire world').
Please look at verse before (34:27), and the verse after (34:29) to see the context of the verse 34:28. It is all referring to the direct addressees of the prophet in Arabia, in particular Mecca.
Also, in general, this statement of the Qur’an in two verses sets the context and scope for all the other verses that use expressions like ‘all’, ‘entire’, etc.:
... لِتُنْذِرَ أُمَّ الْقُرى وَ مَنْ حَوْلَها ...
… (this book has been sent so that you) warn the mother city (Mecca) and its surrounding …
(6:92, 42:7)
Accordingly even if Kaaffah in the verse means entire, then the meaning of the verse will be that the prophet was sent to the entire people in Arabia, not the entire mankind.
I of course agree with the argument in section One.
Section Three: Avoiding contradiction
In this last section let us, for the sake of argument, go a further step and agree with this false assumption that the verse 28 in sura saba, despite the technical evidence in section One, and despite the explanation based on the context in section Two, actually is saying that the prophet was sent to warn the entire mankind.
In 6:92 and 42:7 the Qur’an says that the prophet was sent to warn Mecca and its surroundings. Note, it does not say this was one of the reasons for sending the Qur’an. It says this was in fact the reason for sending the Qur’an. Also note, abrogation only applies to the instructions and rulings of the Qur’an. It does not apply to the verses where the Almighty refers to His own acts. He does not change his mind! These two verses as well as the verse under discussion (34:28) are all Macci.
So my question is, if we have three verses of the Qur’an, two saying that the Qur’an was revealed so that the prophet warns within the limits of Arabia, and one says that the Qur’an was revealed so that the prophet warns the entire mankind, is this not a contradiction?
You may like to know that some critics of the Qur’an refer to these verses and these kinds of verses to argue that the Qur’an was written by Mouhammad or those after him, who throughout time changed their about the scope of the warning of the Qur’an.
I suggest we should stick to the technical argument in section one, or at least the contextual argument in section two, rather than accepting an interpretation (section three) that is technically wrong (or double wrong according to Zamakhshari), not inline with the context and in contradiction with the other verses of the Qur’an.
For those readers who may read the first few lines and the last few lines of writings, let me repeat my translation of verse 34:28 which is based on section one of this writing. This time I also add some explanatory notes in brackets to make the interpretation clearer:
وَ مَآ أَرْسَلْنَـٰكَ إِلَّا كَآفَّةً لِّلنَّاسِ بَشِيرًا وَنَذِيرًا وَلَـٰكِنَّ أَكْثَرَ ٱلنَّاسِ لَا يَعْلَمُون
"And we did not send you (O messenger) except as a preventer for people (in Arabia), (by being) a giver of glad tidings, and a warner (for them), but most of people (who are among your direct addressees) do not know (the severity of this and its consequences)."
--------
Note 1: In my writings, ‘General Universality of the Qur’an’ refers to the following understanding:
"The Qur’an was sent for the Arabs (Ummi’in) in Arabia and those willing to join them then or in the future, to become part of their religious community (Muslims) by adopting the shari’a of Islam. While primarily aimed at these individuals, the Book also naturally contains a message that is universal and relevant to every human being. This is the message of Monotheism (tawhid), being mindful of the hereafter and doing righteous things. This is a message that almost all religions that exist on the face of the earth have in common."
For details please refer to this page.
-------
Related article:
The True Meaning of Universality of the Qur'an (3rd edition)
-------
Farhad Shafti
June 2022
Assalamu Alaikum,
I hope this message finds you well. In the interest of keeping this message as short and simple as possible, I would just like to ask a simple question about the phrasing of a particular verse:
Surat as-Saba verse 28 reads:
وَمَآ أَرْسَلْنَـٰكَ إِلَّا كَآفَّةً لِّلنَّاسِ بَشِيرًا وَنَذِيرًا وَلَـٰكِنَّ أَكْثَرَ ٱلنَّاسِ لَا يَعْلَمُونَ
"And we did not send you except comprehensively to all people, a giver of glad tidings, and a warner, but most of manking does not know."
All translations of كَآفَّةً which I encountered translate it as "Comprehensively" or "Entirely," and this is emphasized by its use in 2:208. This is also what I know the word to mean, and am not personally familiar with any other possible meanings.
The argument from hyperbole doesn't seem to stand here, that is to say, we cannot say that "People" is used in a literary sense, meaning only the people of Arabia because it is preceded by كَآفَّةً, "comprehensively," meaning that the only reading one can take is an absolute one, and not a metaphorical one.
This conclusion runs directly contrary to the principle of general universality (1), which is a bit troubling.
Any clarification is greatly appreciated.
Answer:
Alaykum Assalam wa rahmatullah,
I answer your question in three sections:
Section One: The meaning of Kaaffah (كَآفَّةً)
You wrote that every translation you looked at, has translated Kaaffah as “comprehensively” or “entirely”. When we want to analyse the verses of the Qur’an at this level we cannot rely on translations. Books of translation of the Qur’an are not even among the secondary sources of understanding the Qur’an. I invite you to take a journey with me and look at the main books of tafsir and Arabic vocabulary (Lughat) where experts in the Qur’an and words of the Qur’an, have discussed the meaning of the verses and the words.
This is what Imam Razi writes in his tafsir:
و فيه و جهان أحدها: كافة أي إرسالة كافة أي عامة لجميع الناس تمنعهم من الخروج عن الانقياد لها و الثاني: كافة أي أرسلناك كافة تكف الناس أنت من الكفر و الهاء للمبالغة على هذا الوجه
“and there are two ways (to interpret this): One is that Kaaffah means a comprehensive sending (of the messenger), i.e. general for all people, stopping them from rebelling against it. The other one is that kaaffah means I sent you as one who prevents people from kufr and in this case ‘h’ (at the end of kaaffah) is for exaggeration.”
(Tafsir Kabir, 25:206)
So far we understand that unlike what you wrote, it is not the case that kaaffah here can only have one meaning.
You may think why a word like kaaffah can be translated as ‘prevent’ rather than ‘entirely’. Let us see what one of the experts of the Arabic word, Raghib Isfahani, has to say about this:
الْكَفُ: كَفُ الإنسان، و هي ما بها يقبض و يبسط، و كَفَفْتُهُ: أصبته بالكفّ و دفعته بها. و تعورف الكفّ بالدّفع على أيّ وجه كان وَ ما أَرْسَلْناكَ إِلَّا كَافَّةً لِلنَّاسِ [سبأ/ 28] أي: كافّا لهم عن المعاصي، و الهاء فيه للمبالغة
“Kaff: (comes from) kaf (hand palm) of human being, and that is what is used to pull or push something. Kafaftuhu means both “I pulled him” with the palm of hand and “I pushed him” with it. Kaff has found this general meaning of ‘preventing’ by any means. وَ ما أَرْسَلْناكَ إِلَّا كَافَّةً لِلنَّاسِ [سبأ/ 28] (then) means ‘preventing them from disobedience’, and ‘h’ (at the end of the word) is for exaggeration.”
(Mufradat al-Fadh al-Qur’an, p. 713)
As you can see, not only ‘prevent’ is a meaning for kaff, it actually is its original meaning. I add here that the meaning of ‘entirely’ seems to be the extended meaning from this original meaning. What the above means is that according to the experts of Arabic like Raghib, the first meaning that you want to go for is ‘prevent’, and that you go for the other meaning ‘entirely’ only if the verse demands it.
A more technical explanation is provided by Zamakhshari in Kashshaf, whose work is among the reference works for understanding the literal aspects of the Qur’an. In interpreting this verse he quotes from Abu Ishaq Zujaj (another expert of Arabic) who writes that Kaaffah cannot be associated to Naas (people) because it comes before it and Naas is majrur (ends with kasrah - E’). Note that the meanings like “comprehensively, entirely, etc.” can only derive from kaaffah in this verse if it is associated to Naas (people). What Zamakhshari writes (or quotes from Zujaj) is that this cannot be the case. What he means is that if kaaffah was supposed to have such meaning, it had to be associated to Naas, and that can only be the case if it comes after Naas, i.e. للناسِ كَآفَّه rather than كَآفَّةً للنّاس.
He explains that associating Kaaffah to a word that comes after it and is majrur will then require another assumption. That is to consider the “Lam” ((لِ that precedes Naas and means ‘for’ (people), to actually mean “Ila” ((الی, that means ‘to’ (people). So then the verse should have been (or should be interpreted as) الی الناسِ كَآفَّه.He adds this will then be a double error (Zamakhshari, Kashshaf, 3:583).
Tabatabayi another great interpreter of the Qur’an makes reference to what Raghib and Zamakhshari write and then adds that what confirms that kaaffah here means ‘prevention’ is the rest of the verse where we have “bearer of good news and a warner” (بَشيراً وَ نَذيرا). What he means is that kaaffah in the meaning of prevention relates better with these words that come after it.
You wrote that the meaning of ‘entirely’ for kaaffah is emphasised by its use in 2:208. I hope after reading the above you appreciate that the choice between the two possible meanings of the word kaaffah is based on its use in a verse. Yes in 2:208 it seems like kaaffah means ‘entire’ (referring to entire Muslims), but, as explained above, this is not the case for verse 34:28. You may be interested to know that in another verse, 9:36, the word kaaffah is used twice and there is argument in the books of tafsir on whether their meaning is ‘entirely’ or ‘prevent’.
So at the end of this section, you see that not only kaaffah has a meaning other than “entirely”, but also some of the most creditable experts consider the meaning of “entirely” to be a wrong one in this verse.
According to the above, I translate the verse as follows:
وَ مَآ أَرْسَلْنَـٰكَ إِلَّا كَآفَّةً لِّلنَّاسِ بَشِيرًا وَنَذِيرًا وَلَـٰكِنَّ أَكْثَرَ ٱلنَّاسِ لَا يَعْلَمُون
"And we did not send you except as a preventer for people, a giver of glad tidings, and a warner, but most of people do not know."
Section Two: the context and scope
Now let us say that for the sake of argument I disagree with the above experts and agree with the translations that you are referring to. This means, for the sake of argument I will agree that kaaffah here means ‘entirely’ and therefore the verse says that we sent the prophet to the entire people.
However on what basis ‘entire people’ is then interpreted as ‘the whole mankind’? In your answer you are referring to hyperbole argument and metaphorical interpretations. What I wrote in my article has nothing to do with these literal techniques. I have written this in detail in my article that in many languages like English, Farsi and Arabic, expressions that literally can refer to 'entire mankind', 'all', 'everyone', ..., can easily also refer to a small group of people, if the context demands it. In English one can say “this food is for all people” and what he means is that this food is for all the people who were invited, not the whole mankind! I therefore disagree with your argument that since kaaffah is used, therefore people can only mean the entire human being. How else would you say the verse could refer to 'entire people' within Arabia?
َ(For your further deliberation, I encourage you to see what the verse 9:36 would mean if you translate kaaffah to mean 'in the entire world').
Please look at verse before (34:27), and the verse after (34:29) to see the context of the verse 34:28. It is all referring to the direct addressees of the prophet in Arabia, in particular Mecca.
Also, in general, this statement of the Qur’an in two verses sets the context and scope for all the other verses that use expressions like ‘all’, ‘entire’, etc.:
... لِتُنْذِرَ أُمَّ الْقُرى وَ مَنْ حَوْلَها ...
… (this book has been sent so that you) warn the mother city (Mecca) and its surrounding …
(6:92, 42:7)
Accordingly even if Kaaffah in the verse means entire, then the meaning of the verse will be that the prophet was sent to the entire people in Arabia, not the entire mankind.
I of course agree with the argument in section One.
Section Three: Avoiding contradiction
In this last section let us, for the sake of argument, go a further step and agree with this false assumption that the verse 28 in sura saba, despite the technical evidence in section One, and despite the explanation based on the context in section Two, actually is saying that the prophet was sent to warn the entire mankind.
In 6:92 and 42:7 the Qur’an says that the prophet was sent to warn Mecca and its surroundings. Note, it does not say this was one of the reasons for sending the Qur’an. It says this was in fact the reason for sending the Qur’an. Also note, abrogation only applies to the instructions and rulings of the Qur’an. It does not apply to the verses where the Almighty refers to His own acts. He does not change his mind! These two verses as well as the verse under discussion (34:28) are all Macci.
So my question is, if we have three verses of the Qur’an, two saying that the Qur’an was revealed so that the prophet warns within the limits of Arabia, and one says that the Qur’an was revealed so that the prophet warns the entire mankind, is this not a contradiction?
You may like to know that some critics of the Qur’an refer to these verses and these kinds of verses to argue that the Qur’an was written by Mouhammad or those after him, who throughout time changed their about the scope of the warning of the Qur’an.
I suggest we should stick to the technical argument in section one, or at least the contextual argument in section two, rather than accepting an interpretation (section three) that is technically wrong (or double wrong according to Zamakhshari), not inline with the context and in contradiction with the other verses of the Qur’an.
For those readers who may read the first few lines and the last few lines of writings, let me repeat my translation of verse 34:28 which is based on section one of this writing. This time I also add some explanatory notes in brackets to make the interpretation clearer:
وَ مَآ أَرْسَلْنَـٰكَ إِلَّا كَآفَّةً لِّلنَّاسِ بَشِيرًا وَنَذِيرًا وَلَـٰكِنَّ أَكْثَرَ ٱلنَّاسِ لَا يَعْلَمُون
"And we did not send you (O messenger) except as a preventer for people (in Arabia), (by being) a giver of glad tidings, and a warner (for them), but most of people (who are among your direct addressees) do not know (the severity of this and its consequences)."
--------
Note 1: In my writings, ‘General Universality of the Qur’an’ refers to the following understanding:
"The Qur’an was sent for the Arabs (Ummi’in) in Arabia and those willing to join them then or in the future, to become part of their religious community (Muslims) by adopting the shari’a of Islam. While primarily aimed at these individuals, the Book also naturally contains a message that is universal and relevant to every human being. This is the message of Monotheism (tawhid), being mindful of the hereafter and doing righteous things. This is a message that almost all religions that exist on the face of the earth have in common."
For details please refer to this page.
-------
Related article:
The True Meaning of Universality of the Qur'an (3rd edition)
-------
Farhad Shafti
June 2022
