The Difference in Expression Between “What Was Sent Down” and “What Was Given”

The Glorious God commanded the believers to say: We believe in what was sent down to the prophets and in all that was given to them, including revelation, prophethood, messengership, miracles, and the like: “Say, ‘We believe in God and what has been sent down to us, and what was sent down to Abraham, Ishmael, Isaac, Jacob, and the Tribes, and what was given to Moses and Jesus, and what was given to the prophets from their Lord.’”

The variation in expression between “sending down” (inzāl): “what was sent down” and “giving” (ītāʾ): “what was given,” where the former is used for Abraham, Ishmael, Isaac, Jacob, and the Tribes, and the latter for Moses and Jesus, if not merely for stylistic variety, may point to other nuances or points that were mentioned at the beginning of the exegetical discussion and will be explained in this section. It is worth noting that in some verses of Sūrah al-Anʿām where God mentions a group of prophets, He uses the expression “giving” for all of them without distinction: “And We gave him Isaac and Jacob… Those are the ones to whom We gave the Scripture and authority and prophethood.” (521)

Although the word “giving” (ītāʾ), like the word “sending down” (inzāl), does not have a strong indication of messengership and prophethood, as “giving” is also used for non-prophets, such as when God says about Luqman: “And We had certainly given Luqman wisdom” (522), this ambiguity is resolved when the object of “giving” is mentioned. On this basis, the giving of prophethood, scripture, and the like has a clear and complete indication of revelation, prophethood, and messengership, as the Glorious God said in the aforementioned verses describing many prophets: “Those are the ones to whom We gave the Scripture and authority and prophethood.” (523) In other verses, the expression of giving the scripture, clear proofs, and the like is also used for Moses and Jesus, such as: “And We did certainly give Moses the Scripture and followed up after him with messengers. And We gave Jesus, the son of Mary, clear proofs.” (524)

A point that has been considered possible in the aforementioned difference is that “giving” (ītāʾ) is broader than “sending down” (inzāl). “Sending down” in such cases, when contrasted with “sending,” only includes the scripture, although it may in some instances also apply specifically to the teaching of rulings. However, “giving” encompasses both the scripture and the status and miracles. Regarding miracles, there is less mention of “sending down” and “revelation” and the like. Therefore, the meaning of belief in what was given to Moses and Jesus includes belief in their status as prophets and messengers, belief in the Torah and Gospel themselves, and belief in the miracles that God Almighty bestowed upon them, such as the white hand, the staff turning into a serpent, raising the dead, healing the congenitally blind, and so on.

Alongside the word “giving” (ītāʾ), which indicates that the prophets have nothing of their own, this point is also raised that whatever they have is given by God Almighty: “… and what was given to the prophets from their Lord.”