Inna allathee farada AAalayka alqur-ana laradduka ila maAAadin qul rabbee aAAlamu man (surah Qasas: 85)

Tafseer Tafheem-ul-Quran by Syed Abu-al-A'la Maududi

(28:85) O. Prophet, be assured that the One Who has ordained this Qur'an for you *107 will certainly bring you to the best end. *108 Tell these people, "My Lord best knows who has brought the guidance, and who is involved in obvious error."

Innal azee farada `alaikal Qur-aana laraaadduka ilaa ma`aad; qur Rabbeee a`lamu man jjaaa`a bil hudaa wa man huwa fee dalaalim mubeen

*107) That is, "He has placed on you the responsibility of conveying the Qur'an and teaching it to the people, and reforming the world according to the guidance contained in it."
*108) The word ma ad in the original means the place to which one has to return ultimately. Its use as a common noun implies that it is a place of eminence and glory. Some commentators think it refers to Paradise. But there is no reason why it should be restricted only to Paradise. Let it remain indefinite as Allah Himself has put it so that the promise become applicable both his world and to the Next World. The context also requires that it should be looked upon as a promise to bestow the highest glory and eminence on the Holy Prophet ultimately not only in the Hereafter but in this world too. In the saying of the disbelievers of Makkah, which has been the theme of the discourse from verse 57 until now, they had said, "O Muhammad (Allah's peace be upon him), do you want us also to be doomed with you ? If we join you and adopt this Faith, it will become hard for us to live in Arabia." In response to this, Allah tells His Prophet: "O Muhammad, that God Who has placed the burden of conveying the message of the Qur'an on you, will not destroy you: rather He will exalt you to the rank which these people cannot even imagine today." And, in actual fact, in a few years after this, even in this world, Allah granted the Holy Prophet complete authority over the whole of Arabia, and there was no power to resist him, and no religion to stand its ground. There had been no precedent in the history of Arabia that the whole peninsula might have come under the sway of one man so completely that no opponent might be there to challenge him and no soul to dare disobey his orders. Then it was not only a political domination but religious too, for the whole population had been won over to Islam.
Some commentators opine that this verse of Surah Al-Qasas was sent down on the way during the Holy Prophet's migration from Makkah to Madinah, and in this Allah had promised His Prophet that He would again bring him back to Makkah. But, firstly, the words of the verse do not allow that "ma `ad" be taken to mean "Makkah". Secondly, this Surah, both according to the traditions and the internal evidence of its theme, was revealed some time during the time of the migration to Habash, and one cannot understand that if this verse was revealed after several years on the way during the migration to Madinah. why was it inserted in this context without any relevance? Thirdly, in this context, the mention of the Holy Prophet's return to Makkah seems quite irrelevant. For if the verse is taken to mean this, it will not be a reply to the disbelievers' excuse but would rather strengthen it. It would mean this: "No doubt, what you say, O people of Makkah, is correct. Muhammad will be expelled from this city, but he will not remain an exile for ever, but eventually We will bring him back to this very place." Though this tradition has been reported by Bukhari, Nasa'i, Ibn Jarir and other traditionists on the authority of Ibn `Abbas, it is, in fact, Ibn `Abbas's own opinion; it is not a tradition that might have been received direct from the Holy Prophet that one may have to accept it.