Is the address in the saying of Allah the Exalted: “And ask those whom We sent before you of Our messengers” directed to our Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) or to someone else? If so, how can he speak to them when they are dead?
Machine translationRead the Arabic original
The questioner : Allah the Exalted said: [Az-Zukhruf 43:45] How can the Messenger ask the messengers before him when they are dead? Or is the address not for the Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him)?
The Shaykh : In the name of Allah, the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful.
The saying of Allah (Blessed and Exalted is He):[Az-Zukhruf 43:45] The answer to this question, if it were to occur from the Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him), would be what is mentioned in their books of what was revealed to them, because all the books revealed to the messengers call to the oneness of Allah. [Al-Anbya 21:25]
The intended meaning of the verse is to clarify that Allah the Exalted has not permitted in any of the Shari'ahs that anyone other than Him be worshipped. This is the intended meaning of the noble verse.
And ask those We sent before you of Our messengers
وَاسْأَلْ مَنْ أَرْسَلْنَا مِنْ قَبْلِكَ مِنْ رُسُلِنَاThe Shaykh : In the name of Allah, the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful.
The saying of Allah (Blessed and Exalted is He):
And ask those We sent before you of Our messengers; have We made besides the Most Merciful deities to be worshipped?
وَاسْأَلْ مَنْ أَرْسَلْنَا مِنْ قَبْلِكَ مِنْ رُسُلِنَا أَجَعَلْنَا مِنْ دُونِ الرَّحْمَانِ آلِهَةً يُعْبَدُونَAnd We sent not before you any messenger except that We revealed to him that, "There is no deity except Me, so worship Me."
وَمَا أَرْسَلْنَا مِنْ قَبْلِكَ مِنْ رَسُولٍ إِلَّا نُوحِي إِلَيْهِ أَنَّهُ لَا إِلَ?هَ إِلَّا أَنَا فَاعْبُدُونِThe intended meaning of the verse is to clarify that Allah the Exalted has not permitted in any of the Shari'ahs that anyone other than Him be worshipped. This is the intended meaning of the noble verse.