Al-Jumu'a (Friday)

3. And a Messenger unto another group who have not yet joined them. And He is the All-Mighty, the All-Wise.

4. That is Allah's Grace which He bestows on whom He wills and regards worthy of it. And Allah is the Owner of Mighty Grace.

The Prophetic Call of the Noble Prophet of the Islamic faith (S) is not only addressed to his contemporaries but it embraces all men from different races and regions and no one is able to impede the dissemination of the Islamic faith in future.

The blessed Verse is saying that he is appointed to proclaim his Prophetic mission unto other believers who have not joined former converts yet. Later generations were fostered through the teachings of the Noble Prophet (S) and used the pure springhead of the Holy Qur’an and Muhammadan traditions (sunna) as they were also embraced by the great Prophetic Call.

Thus, the blessed Verse in question includes all the peoples from Arabs and non-Arabs who came into being following the Noble Prophet's (S) Companions.

It is narrated that upon the recitation of the blessed Verse, the Noble Prophet (S) was asked regarding the identity of such people.

The Noble Prophet (S) put his hand on Salman's shoulder, saying:

“If faith happens to be on the star of Thuraya, proverbial for being farthest from the earth, men from this group, namely Persian, will attain to it.1

Since such things all spring from Divine Might and Wisdom, the blessed Verse 3 closes by saying that He is the All-Mighty, the All-Wise.

The blessed Verse 4 makes a reference to such great Divine Grace, namely the Noble Prophet's (S) Prophetic Call and his teachings, saying:

“That is Allah's Grace which He bestows on whom He wills and regards worthy of it. And Allah is the Owner of Mighty Grace.”

It is worthy of note, however, that the expression

“on whom He wills”

does not imply that God Almighty bestows His Grace and Mercy upon everyone without measure, but His Will is accompanied by His Wisdom, as it is reflected in the first Verse of the blessed Chapter in question by the Divine Attributes All-Mighty and All-Wise.

Elaborating on such Divine Great Grace, the Commander of the Faithful, Imam ‘Ali (as) in his Nahj al-Balagha says:

“Look at the Divine Graces bestowed upon this community when His Messenger (S) was appointed to proclaim his Prophetic Call unto them and thereby unified them. Behold that such Great Bounty was bestowed upon all of them and the rivers of His Graces flow onto them and the true religion with its Blessings embraced them. They are embraced by such Bounties and live happily thereby.”2