Verses from Surah Al-Anbiya’ (101-112)

127. Although the term Zabur is applicable to the Scriptures that were revealed after Musa, preferable is the meaning given out by Sa`id b. Jubayr, Mujahid and others that here the word is equivalent of Zubr, meaning the Umm al-Kitab, (that is, the Lawh al-Mahfuz) – Ibn Jarir.
Asad adds: “Zabur (lit., ‘scripture’ or ‘book’) is a generic term denoting any ‘book of wisdom’: hence, any and all of the divine Scriptures revealed by God to the prophets.”
128. Ibn `Abbas, Sa`id b. Jubayr, Mujahid, Abu al-`Aliyyah and others have said that by “`ard” the allusion is to Paradise. That is, Paradise will be inherited by the righteous. Ibn Zayd quoted another verse in evidence (40: 74):
“And they will say, ‘All praise be to Allah who made true His promise and gave us the earth in inheritance. We dwell in Paradise where we wish. So, how well the reward of those who strove!” (Ibn Jarir).
But the prevalent meaning is that (if it is this earth that is meant, then: Au) Allah gave the Companions of the Prophet the lands of the unbelievers in inheritance (Shawkani).
Mawdudi clears some doubts concerning the inheritance of the earth: “This verse has been seriously misinterpreted by some people .. At the heart of (it) is the belief that it guarantees inheritance of the earth (i.e., governance of and control over the resources of the earth) only to the righteous.. This generalization is then used to derive further conclusions. Some, for example, inferring that the enjoyment of political power is the criterion of righteousness; that those who enjoy it are righteous; while those who do not have it are unrighteous. Such people even go a step further. They look around at those nations which have been ‘inheritors of the earth’ either in the past or currently so, and they note that unbelievers, polytheists, transgressors and sinners have all at one time or another enjoyed ‘inheritance of the earth.’”
Then to refute a few other misconceptions he writes, “As for the inheritance of the land in this world, Qur’anic law is set forth in Surah al-A`raf: ‘The earth is Allah’s. He bestows it on those of His servants He chooses.’ In accordance with God’s will, this inheritance is conferred on unbelievers as well as believers, and both the sinners and the righteous share it.. As it is, this inheritance is not everlasting.. Being a trial, conducted in accordance with God’s law, it is served on different communities in turn.”
Nonetheless, if it is earthly dominance that is meant, then, obviously, it goes with the condition that is attached to it. Asad writes, “The statement that ‘My righteous servants shall inherit the earth’, is obviously an echo of the promise, ‘You are bound to rise high if you are [truly] believers’ (3: 139) – the implication being that it is only through faith in God and righteous behavior on earth that man can reach the heights envisaged for him by his Creator’s grace.”
129. In what sense was the Prophet (saws) a mercy unto the worlds comprising of the believers as well as the unbelievers? One answer is that unbelieving nations previous to him were destroyed to non-existence, while, because of the Prophet, their immediate destruction was withheld during his tenure. Accordingly, Muslim has a hadith which says that it was suggested to the Prophet that he pray against the pagans. He replied,
“I have not been sent as one who curses, but rather as a mercy.”
And a hadith in Ahmad reports the Prophet as having said, “Whosoever I abused in my anger, or cursed him, (may note that) after all, I am a son of Adam, who gets angry as one of you does. Whereas, Allah has sent me as a mercy for the worlds. Therefore, make it (O Allah), a peace blessing for, and on, him on the Day of Judgment” (Razi, Ibn Kathir, Alusi and others).
The report was declared trustworthy by Al-Arna’ut (Au.).
Another answer is that human life on this planet can only be organized on the basis of moral laws. The teachings of all previous Prophets gave place of prominence to moral laws that helped the earlier nations to organize their lives on their basis. But, after ‘Isa, the system suffered negligence and barbaric ways began to be adopted in the East and the West. That remained the situation until the appearance of the Final Prophet. He restored the moral laws as the central principles; and since then the rest of humankind borrowed from their previous as well as this new source brought by Muhammad (though they would not acknowledge it) and were able to organize their lives better than the barbaric nations of the past could do (Au.).
Asad has another aspect in mind. He believes it is the universality of the Prophet’s message, and the fact that it will last till the end of the world, affecting a large number of people, which is the mercy to mankind. He writes, “The universality of the Qur’anic revelation arises from three factors: firstly, its appeal to all mankind irrespective of descent, race or cultural environment; secondly, the fact that it appeals exclusively to man’s reason and, hence, does not postulate any dogma that could be accepted on the basis of blind faith alone; and finally, the fact that contrary to all other sacred scriptures known to history – the Quran has remained entirely unchanged in its wording ever since its revelation fourteen centuries ago and will, because it is so widely recorded, forever remain so in accordance with the divine promise ‘it is We who shall truly guard it [from all corruptions] (cf. 15: 9..). It is by virtue of these three factors that the Qur’an represents the final stage of all divine revelations, and that the Prophet through whom it has been conveyed to mankind is stated to have been the last (in the Qur’anic terminology, the seal) of all prophets (cf. 33:40).¡