Recitation by Mishary Al-Alfasy
The Surah takes its name from the word al- muddaththir in the first verse.
This also is only a name, not a title of its subject matter.
Period of Revelation
The first seven verses of this Surah belong to
the earliest period at Makkah. Even according to some traditions which have been
related in Bukhari, Muslim, Tirmidhi, Musnad Ahmad, etc., on the authority of
Hadrat Jabir bin Abdullah, these are the very earliest verses of the Qur'an to
be revealed to the Holy Prophet (upon whoa be peace). But the Muslim Ummah
almost unanimously agreed that the earliest Revelation to the Holy Prophet (upon
whom be peace) consisted of the first five verses of Surah Al-Alaq (XCVI)
However, what is established by authentic traditions is that after this first
Revelation, no Revelation came down to the Holy Prophet (upon whom be peace) for
quite some time. Then, when it was resumed, it started with theme verses of
Surah Al- Muddaththir. Imam Zuhri has given the following details of it:
"Revelation to the Holy Prophet remained suspended for quite some time, and it
was such a period of deep grief and distress for him that he started going early
to the tops of the mountains to throw himself down from them. But whenever he
stood on the edge of a peak, the Angel Gabriel would appear and tell him that he
was Allah's Prophet. This would console him and restore to him full peace of
mind." (Ibn Jarir).
After this Imam Zuhri relates the following tradition
on the authority of Hadrat Jabir bin Abdullah:
"The Ho]y Messenger of
Allah describing the period of falrat al-wahi (break in revelation) said: One
day when I was passing on the way, I suddenly heard a call from heaven. I raised
my head and saw that the same Angel who had visited me in the Cave of Hira was
sitting on a throne between heaven and earth. This struck terror in my heart,
and reaching home quickly, I said: 'Cover me up, cover me up'. So the people of
the house covered me up with a quilt (or blanket). At that time Allah sent down
the Revelation: Ya ayyuhal-Muddaththiru... From then on revelation became
intense and continuous." (Bukhari, Muslim Musnad Ahmad, Ibn Jarir).
The
rest of the Surah (vv. 8-56) was revealed when the first Hajj season came after
public preaching of Islam had begun in Makkah. This has been fully well
described in the Sirah by Ibn Hisham and we shall cite it below.
Theme and Subject Matter
As has been explained above, the earliest
Revelation to the Holy Prophet (upon whom be peace) consisted of the first five
verses of Surah Al-Alaq, in which it had been Said: "Read (O Prophet), in the
name of your Lord, Who created: created man from a clot of congealed blood.
Read: and your Lord is Most Generous, Who taught knowledge by the pen, taught
man what he did not know."
This was the first experience of Revelation
met with suddenly by the Holy Prophet (upon whom be peace). in this message it
was not told what great mission he had been entrusted with and what duties he
had to perk form in future. He was only initiated into it and then left alone
for a time so that the great strain this experience had caused should pass away
and he should mentally become prepared to receive the Revelation and perform the
prophetic mission in the future. After this intermission when Revelation Was
resumed, the first seven verses of this Surah Were revealed:In these he Was for
the first time commanded to arise and warn the people of the consequences of the
way of life they were following and to proclaim the greatness of God in the
world where others were being magnified without any right. Along with that he
was given this instruction: The demand of the Unique mission that you have to
perform, now is that your life should be pure in every respect and you should
carry out the duty of reforming your people sincerely irrespective of any
worldly gain. Then, in the last sentence, he was exhorted to endure with
patience, for the sake of his Lord, all the hardships and troubles that he might
have to face while performing his mission.
In the implementation of this
Divine Command when the Holy Messenger of Allah began to preach Islam and recite
the Qur'anic Surahs revealed successively, the people of Makkah felt alarmed,
and it provoked a great storm of opposition and hostility. A few months passed
in this state until the Hajj season approached. The people of Makkah feared that
if Muhammad (upon whom be Allah's peace) started visiting the caravans of the
pilgrims coming from all over Arabia at their halting places and reciting the
spell binding and unique Revelations of the Qur'an in their assemblies on the
occasion of Hajj, his message would reach every part of Arabia and influence
countless people. Therefore, the Quraish chiefs held a conference and settled
that they would start a propaganda campaign against the Holy Prophet (upon whom
be peace) among the pilgrims as soon as they arrived.
After they had
agreed on this, Walid bin al-Mughirah said to the assembled people: "If you said
contradictory things about Muhammad (upon whom be Allah's peace and blessings),
we all would lose our trust among the people. Therefore, let us agree upon one
opinion, which we should all say without dispute.
Some people said that
they would call Muhammad (upon whom be Allah's peace and blessings) a
soothsayer. Walid said: "No, by God, be is not a soothsayer. We have seen the
soothsayers: what they murmur and what they utter has no remote resemblance with
the Qur'an.”
Some other people said: "Then we say he is possessed." Walid
said: He is not a possessed one: we have seen mad and insane people; the way one
talks disjointedly and behaves foolishly in that state is known to all: who
would believe that what Muhammad (upon whom be peace) presented was the
incoherent speech of a madman?”
The people said: "Then we say he is a
poet.” Walid said: "No, he is not a poet, for we know poetry in all its forms,
and what he presents conforms to no form of it.”
The people said: "Then
he is a sorcerer.” Walid said: "He is no sorcerer either: we have seen sorcerers
and we also know what methods they adopt for their sorcery. This also does not
apply to Muhammad.”
Then he said: "Whichever of these things you said
about Muhammad, it would be known to be a false accusation. By God, his speech
is sweet, his root is deep and his branches are fruitful.” At this Abu Jahl
urging on Walid said: "Your people will never be pleased with you unless you say
something about Muhammad.” He said: "Let me think over it awhile.”
Then,
after prolonged thought and consideration, he said: "The nearest thing to the
truth is that you tell the Arabs that he is a sorcerer, who has brought a
message by which he separates a man from his father; and from his brother, and
from his wife and children, and from his family.” They all agreed on what Walid
had proposed.
Then, according to a scheme the men of Quraish spread among
the pilgrims in the Hajj season and they warned everyone they met of the sorcery
of Muhammad (upon whom be peace) and of his stirring up divisions in the
families by it." But the result was that by their this plan the Quraish chiefs
themselves made the name of the Holy Messenger known throughout Arabia. (Ibn
Hisham, pp. 288-289. That Walid had made this proposal on the insistence of Abu
Jahl has been related by Ibn Jarir in his Tafsir on the authority of Ikrimah).
This same event has been reviewed and commented upon in the second section
of this Surah. The sequence of its contents is as follows:
In vv. 8-10
the deniers of Truth have been warned, saying: "You will see the evil result of
what you are doing today on the Resurrection Day."
In vv. 11-26, without
naming Walid bin al-Mughirah, it has been told how Allah had blessed him and how
inimical he proved to be to true Faith. In this connection, his mental conflict
has been portrayed, telling that, on the one hand, he was fully convinced of the
truth of Muhammad (upon whom be Allah's peace and blessings) and the Qur'an,
but, on the other, he did not want to risk his leadership and position among his
people. Therefore, not only he did not believe himself but after a
long-drawn-out conflict with his conscience he also came out with the proposal
that in order to restrain the people from believing the Qur'an should be branded
as magic. After exposing his evil nature, it has been said: "Notwithstanding
such evil inclinations and misdeeds, this person desires that he should be
further blessed, whereas he has now become worthy of Hell, and never of further
blessings."
In vv. 27-48, the dreadfulness of Hell has been depicted and
it has been explained as to people of what character and morals really deserve
it.
In vv. 49-53, the root cause of the disbelievers' aversion has been
pointed out, saying: "Since they are fearless of the Hereafter, and look upon
this worldly life as an end in itself, they flee from the Qur'an as though they
were wild asses fleeing away from the lion: therefore, they propose unreasonable
conditions for believing, whereas even if each and every condition of theirs was
fulfilled, they could not advance even an inch on the way of Faith with their
denial of the Hereafter."
In conclusion, it has been explicitly stated:
Allah does not stand in need of anybody's faith that He may fulfill his
conditions. The Qur'an is an admonition that has been presented before the
people openly; now whoever wills may accept it. Allah has a right that the
people should fear His disobedience and He alone has the power to forgive the
one who adopts piety and an attitude of God consciousness even though one may
have committed many acts of disobedience in the past.