Dear respected readers,
As-salam alaykum
As I am sure many readers will appreciate, God's agents on earth were not
'automatons'. They were human beings, with individual personalities, that had been inspired by God with His words and granted wisdom.
They were expected to make use of their wisdom and apply it to their specific set of circumstances in the best manner they could during their respective ministries.
On the Day of Judgement, each messenger
will be questioned as to how they parted the message they were given, as will those that received the message.
007.006
“Then verily We shall question those to whom (Our message / messengers) has been sent, and verily We shall question the messengers”For example, some agents of God have been held blameworthy by God at times because they did not act in a manner that they would had been expected to
in that moment. Prophet Jonah is one example that has been explicitly cited by the Quran:
037.141
Then he drew lots and was of those rejected / losers"037.142
"Then the fish swallowed him while he was blameworthy (mulim - alama),* The verb
‘alama’ (mulim) means blameworthy. Please see the meaning of the word in its usage in verse 51:40 where Pharaoh's hosts were seized and cast into the sea as Pharaoh was deemed
'alama (mulim)' (blameworthy)
- 1 لَامَ , inf. n. لَوْمٌ, He blamed, censured, or reprehended, syn. عَذَلَ, (S, M, Msb, K,) a person, (S, Msb,) عَلَى كَذَا [for such a thing]. (S.) 4 أَلَامَ He did a thing for which he should be blamed. (S in art. جنف, and L and TA in art. ريب.) 5 تَلَوَّمَ i. q. تَكَلَّفَ اللَّوْمَ. (Ham, p. 356.) لَائِمَةٌ A thing for which the doer is blamed. (TA.) [1]
Prophet Jonah's
specific actions are cited as something not to be followed in another verse:
“…and do not be like the companion of the fish when he called out while was distressed. Were it not that a favour from His Lord had reached him, he would certainly have been cast down upon the naked shore in disgrace / rejection, while he was blameworthy / reprobate (dhamma)” (68:48-49)
The verb
'dhamma' (madhmum) means someone who is
condemned as seen in other verses:
Example:
17:18 - "...wherein he shall roast / burn,
condemned (madhmuman) and rejected"
17:22 - "...lest you will sit disgraced /
condemned (madhmuman), forsaken"
- 1 ذَمَّهُ , (T, S, M, &c.,) aor. ذَمُ3َ , (T, M, Msb,) inf. n. ذَمٌّ (T, S, M, Mgh, Msb, K) and مَذَمَّةٌ, (M, K,) He blamed, dispraised, discommended, found fault with, censured, or reprehended, him, in respect of evil conduct; [2]
However, this is
not to say that prophet Jonah was not forgiven for his mistake,
nor does it mean that he will not have a high rank on the Day of Judgment. After all, God says explicitly that he would have tarried to the Day of Judgment had he not been one of those
that glorified God -
musabiheen (37:143-144). He was further sent to another town where many believed him (37:147-148).
The rank prophet Jonah will be given will be assessed and judged by God, given the message he was entasked with, his personality, his resources and his circumstances.
It is not for believers to make those distinctions as to which messenger or prophet fared better.
God does not cite such examples for us to ignore.
Therefore:
Verse 2:258 - Makes it clear that believers are not to make any distinctions between messengers. For example, messenger
x is better than messenger
Y. However, this does not mean there are no distinctions between them or that they are 'automatons' and have fared exactly the same as robots in their endeavours with every other agent of God.
It simply means that
we have no knowledge or capacity to make those distinctions and thus,
we should refrain from doing so."...We make no difference (Arabic: Nufarriqu) between any of His messengers; and they say: We hear and obey..." Verse 2:253 - Makes it clear that there are different ranks but it is for God to decide those ranks.
“We have made some of these messengers to excel the others among them are they to whom God spoke, and some of them He exalted by rank / degrees (Arabic: Darajatin)..." In my humble opinion, there is absolutely
no conflict between verses 2:258 and 2:253 with believers being asked not to make distinctions between messengers and the fact that ranks do exist with God. These are two
separate matters.
I hope that clarifies my position, God willing.
Joseph
REFERENCES:[1] LANE. E.W, Edward Lanes Lexicon, Williams and Norgate 1863; Librairie du Liban Beirut-Lebanon 1968, Volume 8, Supplement, Page 3014[2] Ibid., Volume 3, Page 975