“It was but a single Cry.” (Qur’an 36:29)

Gabriel then grasped the two jambs of the city gate and let out one shout; at once they were dead, no sound at all issuing from them—like a fire the moment it is put out. This is the meaning of His words, “and suddenly they were extinguished” (36:29), that is, lifeless and still, like cold ashes.

It is well-known that the people of Antioch were never afflicted with such a punishment after the mission of the Messiah. Rather, they had believed before his religion was altered; they were Muslims, faithful to him and to his creed until that creed was later changed.

What confirms this is what is known among scholars that after the Torah was revealed, Allah did not destroy any nation that denied its messenger with an all-encompassing punishment from the heavens, as He had done with the people of Noah, ʿĀd, Thamūd, the people of Lot, Pharaoh, and others. Instead, He ordered the believers to wage jihad against the disbelievers, just as He ordered the Children of Israel, through Moses, to fight the tyrants.

Yet the inhabitants of this town were annihilated by a punishment from the sky, which indicates that the messengers mentioned in Sūrah Yā Sīn lived before Moses, peace be upon him. Moreover, Allah has not mentioned in the Qur’an any messenger