and despite Allah’s wrath toward them, He has informed us that He would not punish them until He had sent a messenger to them. This statement invalidates the view of those who claim that such people were neither sinners nor guilty of anything reprehensible until revelation actually reached them; it likewise refutes the view of those who assert that they would still be punished even without the message—either because, they say, rational evidence alone establishes the proof (as some of the Qadariyyah contend) or purely by the divine will (as the Jabariyyah allege).

The Exalted said:
“Your Lord would never destroy the towns until He had raised up in their mother-city a messenger who recited Our verses to them; nor did We ever destroy the towns except when their people were wrongdoers.” (al-Qasas 59)

He, the Exalted, also said:
“Were it not that a calamity should befall them on account of what their hands had sent ahead and then they would say, ‘Our Lord, why did You not send a messenger to us so that we might follow Your signs and be among the believers?’” (al-Qasas 47)