2.2 Man Or Angel?

Allah choses His messengers from mankind and they were sent to their own people for a number of reasons. Two of these reasons were mentioned and explained by Abul Hassan Ali Nadwi as follows: if the messenger is an angel, the people might say, "What has he got to do with us? He is an angel and we are mortal human beings! We eat and drink and we have wives and children. How can we worship as he does?" But since the messenger was man, he could answer them, "I eat and drink as you do; I have a wife and children. But I worship ALLAH alone. Why don't you worship Allah as I do?"; and if the messengers were angels, the people might say to them, "You do not get hungry or thirsty. You do not get ill or die. So you can worship Allah remember Him always!" But because they were men, they could answer, "Well, I am just like you. I also get hungry and thirsty. I get ill and will die when my day comes. But I worship Allah and remember Him. So why you people do not do the same? Why don't you remember Allah and obey Him? Consequently, their people would not be able to make up excuses.

Another is that the messengers were sent to their own people because they could understand their language, their culture and customs. They have families and tribes in society to which they were sent so that their people may know them very well. If the messengers were sent to other people than theirs, the people might say, "Who are you? Where do you come from? We even don't know you." Thus the messengers may have difficulty to explain and introduce themselves to people from societies they totally ignore. But since they were sent to their own people, there are no excuses like this because their people know them very well.

2.2 Man Or Angel?

In order to leave no excuses to people before Allah if they did not worship Him alone, Allah choses His messengers from people of all call of life. Some of them were kings and rich like Prophets Dawuud and Sulaiman (peace be upon them), some were poor like Prophet Jesus (peace be upon him, some were very handsome like Prophet Yusuf (peace be upon him), and some were tested by illness like Prophet Ayyoob (Peace be upon him).

Thus, if people say in the Day of Judgment, "O Allah! We were rich and the wealth prevents us from worshiping you." They may be answered: "My Prophets Dawuud and Sulaiman were king and rich but this does not prevent them worshiping Me and obeying My orders". So you have no valid excuses. And the same goes for the other categories of people. There had been Prophets in the same conditions as theirs or worse and who despite these difficult conditions worship Allah alone without associating anything with Him.