(Say (O Muhammad, unto mankind): I ask of you no fee therefor, save loving kindness among kinsfolk…) [42:23]. Said Ibn ‘Abbas: “When the Messenger of Allah, Allah bless him and give him peace, migrated to Medina, he went through periods of time when he faced needs and rights which he had to address but did not have the means to do so. The Helpers said: ‘Allah, exalted is He, has guided you through this man who is the son of your sister. He faces life’s vicissitudes and has rights but does not have the means to fulfil them. Collect for him from your wealth that which will not hurt you and give it to him so that he uses it to help himself with the ups and downs of life’. They collected some wealth and took it to him. They said: ‘O Messenger of Allah, you are the son of our sister, and Allah, exalted is He, has guided us through you. Sometimes you go through ups and downs in life and you also have rights to address. But you do not have the means to face up to all of this. We thought to collect for you some of our wealth so that you can use it when you need it. Here it is’. This verse was then revealed”.

(And if Allah were to enlarge the provision for His slaves they would surely rebel in the earth…) [42:27]. This verse was revealed about some people amongst the folk of the Platform (ahl al-Suffah) who wished to have an expansion of this worldly life and riches. Khabbab ibn al-Aratt said: “This verse was revealed about us. This is because we had looked at the wealth of Banu Qurayzah and Banu’l-Nadir and wished to have the same, and so Allah, glorified and exalted is He, revealed this verse”. He said: Abu ‘Uthman al-Mu’adhdhin informed me> Abu ‘Ali al-Faqih> Abu Muhammad ibn Mu‘adh> al-Husayn ibn al-Hasan ibn Harb> Ibn al-Mubarak> Haywah> Abu Hani’ al-Khawlani> ‘Amr ibn Hurayth who said: “This verse was revealed about the 'folk of the Platform' (And if Allah were to enlarge the provision for His slaves they would surely rebel in the earth). This is because they said: ‘If only we had this worldly life’, they desired this worldly life”.

(And it was not (vouchsafed) to any mortal that Allah should speak to him unless (it be) by revelation or from behind a veil...) [42:51]. The Jews said to the Prophet, Allah bless him and give him peace: “Do you not speak [directly] with Allah and look at Him as did Moses? This is if you are really a Prophet. We will never believe in you until you do that”. He said: “Moses did not look at Allah, exalted is He”. Then, Allah, exalted is He, revealed this verse.