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la-qad manna llāhu ʿalā l-muʾminīna ʾidh baʿatha fīhim rasūlan min ʾanfusihim yatlū ʿalayhim ʾāyātihī wa-yuzakkīhim wa-yuʿallimuhumu l-kitāba wa-l-ḥikmata wa-ʾin kānū min qablu la-fī ḍalālin mubīnin
Allah certainly favoured the faithful when He raised up among them an apostle from among themselves to recite to them His signs and to purify them and teach them the Book and wisdom, and earlier they had indeed been in manifest error.
— Ali Quli Qarai
Surah 'Ali-Imran, Verse 164
164. "Indeed Allah conferred a favour upon the believers when He raised up among them a messenger of their own selves to recite His verses unto them and purify them and to teach them the Book and the Wisdom; although earlier they had surely been in manifest error."
The Arabic term /minnah/ is derived from the root /manna/ with the sense of a stone by which things may be weighed. Thus, every weighty and valuable bounty is called /minnah/. But showing some slight bounties as some heavy and magnificent ones is disagreeable. Therefore, donating a great bounty is good, but representing an ordinary bounty in a great shape is reprobated.
Explanations
1. The appointment of Prophets to prophecy is the greatest heavenly gift and the greatest bounty of Allah.
2. Prophets were chosen from among people themselves.
(See also the following complementary explanation, No.1)
3. Purification is prior to teaching. (Purification and instruction have been at the top of the training programs of prophets).
4. The mission of prophets envelops all human kind, yet only the believers are gratitude unto this bounty and enjoy of the light of guidance.
5. Self-improvement and rectitude should be performed under the light of the prophets' school of thought and the verses of Allah.
The austerities and monasticisms whose origin is not verses of Allah and whose teachers are not divine prophets, themselves are deviation.
6. In order to recognize the bounty of appointment of prophets better, we should refer to the history concerning before their times.
7. In corruptive dark and very gloomy environments it is possible to work, too.
8. In the manner of prophets, spiritual training and teaching both are accompanied with wisdom.
Complementary Explanations
1. The appointment of prophets from among people has some favours in itself:
a) People know the background of such a prophet and trust in him.
b) People are Pioneers in executing the commands of Allah.
c) Prophets are acquainted with the pains of people and they sympathetically have a share in their joys and sorrows.
d) Prophets are always available for people.
2. There is a popular proverb in the Arabic Language which says: Things are known by their opposites.
As it is understood from the statements of Hadrat Ali (as) in Nahjul-Balagha, in the Age of Ignorance, People had neither a sound culture nor a good hygiene.4 When Hadrat Ja'far Tayyar, Hadrat Ali's brother, was in Abyssinia, he illustrated the situation of the Age of Ignorance for Najashi as such:
"We were worshipping idols (but now we are worshippers of Allah). At that time, we consumed corpses; we were of corruptives; we used to break off connections with our kindred, we had ill treatments with our neighbours, the strong members of us often devoured the rights of the weak."
Footnotes