هُوَ الَّذِي بَعَثَ فِي الْأُمِّيِّينَ رَ‌سُولًا مِّنْهُمْ (He is the One who raised amidst the unlettered people a messenger from among themselves...62:2) The word ummiyyin is the plural of ummiyy, which denotes 'unlettered'. The Arabs were known by this title, because they did not know how to read and write. Very few of them had the knowledge of reading and writing. The Arabs in this verse are specially referred to in order to express the great power of Allah. The Holy Prophet ﷺ is also sent amongst them, who is himself unlettered. The duties and reformative functions of a Prophet [ as set out in the forthcoming verse ] are based on knowledge and education. These reforms are such that no unlettered individual can ever teach them, nor is it possible for an unlettered nation to learn. It was only through the Divine Supreme Power and the miracle of the Messenger of Allah ﷺ that when these reforms started, great scholars, intellectuals, men of letters, savants and sages were born among the unlettered people, and their knowledge, wisdom, sagacity and erudition was recognized by the entire world.

The Three Objectives of the Advent of the Prophet ﷺ

يَتْلُو عَلَيْهِمْ آيَاتِهِ وَيُزَكِّيهِمْ وَيُعَلِّمُهُمُ الْكِتَابَ وَالْحِكْمَةَ (...to recite His verses to them, and to make them pure, and to teach them the Book and the Wisdom....62:2) In the context of the Divine blessings bestowed to the mankind, three qualities of the Holy Prophet ﷺ have been mentioned. One, to recite the verses of the Qur'an to his Ummah. Two, to purify them of all the outer and inner defilements. This includes outer purification that relates to one's body and dress, and also the inner purification that relates to one's faith, actions and moral attitude. Three, to teach the Book and the wisdom. These three factors are Divine blessings to the mankind on the one hand, and these are the basic objectives and the terms of reference of the Holy Prophet ﷺ for which he was sent to this world.

يَتْلُو عَلَيْهِمْ آيَاتِهِ (...to recite His verses to them) The word tilawah lexically signifies 'to follow, to obey' but in the terminology of the Qur'an, it signifies 'recitation or reading of the Divine Words'. The word 'at refers to the verses of the Qur'an. The prepositional phrase ` alaihim [ to them ] signifies that one of the objectives or duties of the Prophet ﷺ is to recite the verses of the Qur'an to the people.

In the current verse, the second objective of the Holy Prophet ﷺ is to: يُزَكِّيهِمْ (make them pure) which is derived from tazkiyah and it means 'to make pure'. Often it is used exclusively for inner cleanliness, that is, to be free from such inner adulterating matter as kufr, shirk and free from inner moral defilement. But occasionally, it is used in the general sense of both outer and inner cleanliness. Probably, in this context it is used in the general sense of the term.

يُعَلِّمُهُمُ الْكِتَابَ وَالْحِكْمَةَ (...to teach them the Book and the Wisdom...62:2) The word al-Kitab refers to the Holy Qur'an, and the word al-hikmah refers to all the teachings and guidance that have been received from the Messenger of Allah ﷺ orally or practically. As a result, many of the commentators have interpreted the word hikmah as the Approved Way [ Sunnah of the Holy Prophet ﷺ .

A Question and its Answer

A question arises here that the natural order of wording in the verse should have been thus: [ 1] recitation or teaching of words; followed by [ 2] teaching of meaning; and consequently [ 3] making pure by inculcating righteous deeds and high morals. However, in most places the Qur'an has changed the sequence by inserting '[ 3] tazkiyah or making pure' between '[ 1] tilawah (recitation) and '[ 2] ta` lim (teaching). Ruh-ul-Ma'ani explains that if the natural order of wording were to be maintained in all verses, all three elements would have combined together and become 'one', as it happens in pharmaceutical mixing of many substances, the aggregate of which loses the separate identity of each element, and becomes a single 'compound' whereas probably Allah wanted to maintain separate identities of the Divine blessings and the three Prophetic duties separately identifiable. By changing the natural order in most places, the Holy Qur'an has probably alluded to this fact.

Please see Ma` arif--ul-Qur'an Vol. 1/pp 331-343, under the Surah Al-Baqarah Verse 129, for fuller explanation of this verse.