And follow not that of which you have not the knowledge;surely the hearing & the sight & the heart,all of these,shall be questioned about that- Q17:36

"Set forth to them, by way of a parable, the (story of) the Companions of the City. Behold!, there came messengers to it.

When We (first) sent to them two messengers, they rejected them: But We strengthened them with a third: they said, "Truly, we have been senton a mission to you."

The (people) said: "Ye are only men like ourselves; and (Allah) Most Gracious sends no sort of revelation: ye do nothing but lie."

They said: "Our Lord doth know that we have been sent on a mission to you:

"And our duty is only to proclaim the clear Message."

The (people) said: "for us, we augur an evil omen from you: if ye desist not, we will certainly stone you. And a grievous punishment indeed will be inflicted on you by us.

They said: "Your evil omens are with yourselves: (deem ye this an evil omen). If ye are admonished? Nay, but ye are a people transgressing all bounds!"

Then there came running, from the farthest part of the City, a man, saying, "O my people! Obey the messengers:

"Obey those who ask no reward of you (for themselves), and who have themselves received Guidance.

"It would not be reasonable in me if I did not serve Him Who created me, and to Whom ye shall (all) be brought back.

"Shall I take (other) gods besides Him? If (Allah) Most Gracious should intend some adversity for me, of no use whatever will be their intercession for me, nor can they deliver me.

"I would indeed, if I were to do so, be in manifest Error.

"For me, I have faith in the Lord of you (all): listen, then, to me!"

It was said: "Enter thou the Garden(paradise)." He said: "Ah me! Would that my People knew (what I know)!-

"For that my Lord has granted me Forgiveness and has enrolled me among those held in honour!"

And We sent not down against his People, after him, any hosts from heaven, nor was it needful for Us so to do.

It was no more than a single mighty Blast, and behold! they were (like ashes) quenched and silent.

Ah! Alas for (My) Servants! There comes not a messenger to them but they mock him!" Quraan 36:13-30

وَاضْرِبْ لَهُم مَّثَلاً أَصْحَابَ الْقَرْيَةِ إِذْ جَاءَهَا الْمُرْسَلُونَ

إِذْ أَرْسَلْنَا إِلَيْهِمُ اثْنَيْنِ فَكَذَّبُوهُمَا فَعَزَّزْنَا بِثَالِثٍ فَقَالُوا إِنَّا إِلَيْكُم مُّرْسَلُونَ

قَالُوا مَا أَنتُمْ إِلاَّ بَشَرٌ مِّثْلُنَا وَمَا أَنزَلَ الرَّحْمَن مِن شَيْءٍ إِنْ أَنتُمْ إِلاَّ تَكْذِبُونَ

قَالُوا رَبُّنَا يَعْلَمُ إِنَّا إِلَيْكُمْ لَمُرْسَلُونَ

وَمَا عَلَيْنَا إِلاَّ الْبَلاغُ الْمُبِينُ

قَالُوا إِنَّا تَطَيَّرْنَا بِكُمْ لَئِن لَّمْ تَنتَهُوا لَنَرْجُمَنَّكُمْ وَلَيَمَسَّنَّكُم مِّنَّا عَذَابٌ أَلِيمٌ

قَالُوا طَائِرُكُمْ مَعَكُمْ أَئِن ذُكِّرْتُم بَلْ أَنتُمْ قَوْمٌ مُّسْرِفُونَ

وَجَاءَ مِنْ أَقْصَى الْمَدِينَةِ رَجُلٌ يَسْعَى قَالَ يَا قَوْمِ اتَّبِعُوا الْمُرْسَلِينَ

اتَّبِعُوا مَن لاَّ يَسْأَلُكُمْ أَجْرًا وَهُم مُّهْتَدُونَ

وَمَا لِي لاَ أَعْبُدُ الَّذِي فَطَرَنِي وَإِلَيْهِ تُرْجَعُونَ

أَأَتَّخِذُ مِن دُونِهِ آلِهَةً إِن يُرِدْنِ الرَّحْمَن بِضُرٍّ لاَّ تُغْنِ عَنِّي شَفَاعَتُهُمْ شَيْئًا وَلاَ يُنقِذُونِ

إِنِّي إِذًا لَّفِي ضَلالٍ مُّبِينٍ

إِنِّي آمَنتُ بِرَبِّكُمْ فَاسْمَعُونِ

قِيلَ ادْخُلِ الْجَنَّةَ قَالَ يَا لَيْتَ قَوْمِي يَعْلَمُونَ

بِمَا غَفَرَ لِي رَبِّي وَجَعَلَنِي مِنَ الْمُكْرَمِينَ

وَمَا أَنزَلْنَا عَلَى قَوْمِهِ مِن بَعْدِهِ مِنْ جُندٍ مِّنَ السَّمَاء وَمَا كُنَّا مُنزِلِينَ

إِن كَانَتْ إِلاَّ صَيْحَةً وَاحِدَةً فَإِذَا هُمْ خَامِدُونَ

يَا حَسْرَةً عَلَى الْعِبَادِ مَا يَأْتِيهِم مِّن رَّسُولٍ إِلاَّ كَانُوا بِهِ يَسْتَهْزِؤُون

يس : ١٣-٣٠

According to most of Tafsirs (books explain Quraan) the verses above were talking about the city of Antioch, the time was either during the life of Jesus or after Allah raised him up unto Himself (the Crucifixion - according to our Christian brothers), the Messengers were Apostles of Jesus and the man who supported them was called "Habib Al-Najar". Ironically according to the Hadiths in those Tafsirs, the ruler of the city eventually believed the Messengers along with his people. Sadly, the Tafsirs were relying on false Hadiths and that's will be explained underneath.

History and the Bible agree with the conclusion those Hadiths drew as it's known that Antioch was one of the first Christianised cities. However, the verses above clearly indicate that Allah poured on them His punishment and eliminated them, surely He wouldn't do so if they followed the Messengers! Also, according to what happened to the man who supported the Messengers and how he ended up it's very obvious that his people didn't follow the Messengers!

Moreover, the specific details of the Hadiths the Tafsirs are relying on do conflict with what the Bible reports. Acts 11:19 (The Church in Antioch) reports that people of Antioch believed in Christianity without obstruction. Nonetheless, there's a similar story in the Bible (Acts:3-9) that's a bit compatible with what those Hadiths report but the location is different though, according to the Bible it was talking about Jerusalem rather than Antioch.

Apparently, those Hadiths are baseless, they are clearly refuted by Quraan, history, and even the Bible (regardless of its accuracy). The frustrating part of the whole thing is how can most of Tafsirs fall into the same simple mistake?! To name few:

• The commentary on the Qur'an (Arabic:Jāmi` al-bayān `an ta'wīl āy al-Qur'ān), popularly Tafsīr al-Ṭabarī (Arabic: تفسير الطبري‎) is a classic Sunni tafsir by the Persian scholar Muhammad ibn Jarir al-Tabari
• Tafsir al-Qurtubi (Arabic: تفسير القرطبي‎) (Arabic: Al-Jami li-Ahkam al-Qur'an) is a famous Qur'an exegesis (Arabic: tafsir) by the famous classical Sunni scholar Al-Qurtubi d.671H.
• Majma‘ al-bayan li-‘ulum al-Qur’an (Arabic: مجمع البيان‎)is a tafsir by the 12th century Imami scholar and author al-Fadl ibn al-Hasan al-Tabrisi.
• Tafsir al-Jalalayn (Tafsir of the twin Jalals) (Arabic: تفسير الجلالين‎)is a classical Sunni tafsir of the Qur'an, composed first by Jalal ad-Din al-Mahalli in 1459 and then completed by his student Jalal ad-Din as-Suyuti in 1505, thus its name.
• Tafsir al-Kabir (Arabic: التفسير الكبير‎) is a classical Islamic Tafsir book, written by the well-known Persian theologian and philosopher Muhammad ibn Umar Fakhr al-Din al-Razi d. 606H (1149-1209)

Those are great scholars Sunni and Shieti, their Tafsirs are of the most respectable ones. Nevertheless, there were not perfect, no matter how much of knowledge and faith they had they were human beings subject to mistakes.


So which city was the verses referring to? Who were the messengers? Who was the man that believed them?
Apparently there is no reliable source provides those information probably because it's insignificant, Allah wanted to us to pay attention to the stances of the different parties of the story (the people, the messengers, the believer) not to their identities.

What's the moral of all this for us?
We should not read blindly and take Hadiths for granted merely because they were reported by great scholars and in reputable books! Don't switch the brain off while reading, you are the one who will be held responsible at the end of the day!

"Nay, man will be evidence against himself,
Even though he were to put up his excuses. " Quraan 75:14-15

بَلِ الإِنسَانُ عَلَى نَفْسِهِ بَصِيرَةٌ

وَلَوْ أَلْقَى مَعَاذِيرَهُ

القيامة : ١٤-١٥