Al-Anbiyā’ 21:95

The issue

Muslim exegetes disagree concerning the meaning of this verse. Some state that the verse means that the townspeople who died may not be brought back to this life. Others state that “we have destroyed” means “we determined to destroy it” or “we decreed to destroy it.” Some also state that the metaphor of the verse implies that a people whom Allah determined to destroy could not be imagined to return and build until the resurrection [Day of Judgment] takes place. Then, they would return.

However, the problem with this verse is that it states, “There is a ban upon a city which we have destroyed that they shall not return” (emphasis added). However, the intended meaning (banned from returning) requires the omission of the Arabic word lā (translated by Palmer as “not”). This problem moved a group of exegetes to state that lā is an extra, or unnecessary, addition. The view that lā is extra is rejected by another group, explaining that if it was true that the word lā is extra then the verse would be interpreted, “And there is a ban on a town which we destroyed that they would return to this world. There is no benefit in this [statement]”.

These differing opinions on this verse do not help at all in delivering the verse from its ambiguity and bring back the question regarding the precise rhetoric and clarity of the Qur’ān.