In the Shade of the Qur'an by Sayyid Qutb

This sūrah, a Makkan revelation, appears to aim at comforting the Prophet and giving him solace, reassurance and support as he faced the stubborn rejection, maltreatment, haughty argument and open hostility of the Quraysh idolaters. In one aspect, it shows the divine kindness bestowed by God on His Messenger, dispelling his pain, comforting his heart so that it overflowed with reassurance and showing him an abundance of care and compassion. In another aspect, it portrays the fierce battle against arrogant mortals who stubbornly oppose God’s Messenger, combining falsehood with arrogance, and hostility with a wilful rebuffal of divine guidance.

It is ordinary people who insult this glorious Qur’ān, with such boasting as: “This [Qur’ān] is nothing but a lie which he has devised with the help of other people.” (Verse 4)

Or they describe it as: “Fables of ancient times which he has caused to be written down, so that they might be read out to him morning and evening.” (Verse 5) Furthermore people are ready with their abuse of the Prophet, saying: “The man you follow is certainly bewitched.” (Verse 8) Or they may say in ridicule: “Is this the one whom God has sent as His emissary?” (Verse 41) As if all this rejection is not enough, such people are often ready to direct their arrogant remarks at God Himself: “Yet when they are told, Prostrate yourselves before the Most Merciful,’ they ask, ‘What is the Most Merciful? Are we to prostrate ourselves before whatever you bid us?’ And they grow more rebellious.” (Verse 60) Or they may say: “Why have no angels been sent down to us? – or, Why do we not see our Lord?” (Verse 21)

Ever since Noah’s time unbelievers held the same attitude as the Quraysh idolaters towards Muhammad, God’s final Messenger. They all objected to the fact that God’s Messenger was mortal, an ordinary man like them, saying: “What sort of messenger is this, who eats food and goes about in the market places? Why has not an angel been sent down to him to give warning alongside him?” (Verse 7) They also objected to his limited wealth, saying: “Why has not a treasure been granted to him?” (Verse 8) They further objected to the method of revelation: “The unbelievers ask: Why has not the Qur’ān been revealed to him all at once?” (Verse 32) Such voiced objections came on top of their blatant rejection of faith, as also their ridicule and aggression.

The Prophet Muhammad, (peace be upon him), confronted all this alone, having neither physical power nor wealth. He stood within his appropriate limits, suggesting nothing to his Lord, doing nothing other than turning to his Lord seeking His pleasure, caring for nothing else. He prayed: “My Lord! If You are not displeased with me, I do not care what I face... To You I submit until I earn Your pleasure.” Here, in this sūrah, we see the Prophet enjoying his Lord’s compassion, who gives him comfort and solace, and provides him with support against all the difficulties placed in his way, including the ridicule of others. After all, they are often impolite with their Lord who creates them and gives them all that they have. The Prophet then should not be much troubled if he receives a little of such ridicule and ill treatment. “Yet people worship, instead of God, things that can neither benefit nor harm them. An unbeliever always gives support against his Lord.” (Verse 55) “Yet, some choose to worship, instead of Him, deities that cannot create anything but are themselves created, and have it not in their power to avert harm from, or bring benefit to, themselves, and have no power over death, life or resurrection.” (Verse 3) “Yet when they are told, ‘Prostrate yourselves before the Most Merciful,’ they ask, ‘What is the Most Merciful?” (Verse 60)

God redresses the ridicule the Prophet suffers by portraying the very low level into which the unbelievers have sunk: “Have you considered the one who makes his desires his deity? Could you, then, be held responsible for him? Or do you think that most of them listen and use their reason? They are but like cattle. Nay, they are even far worse astray.” (Verses 43-44) God promises him support in any dispute or argument he may have with them: “Whenever they come to you with an argument, We shall reveal to you the truth and the best explanation.” (Verse 33)

When the battle is over, God shows His Messenger scenes of the destruction of earlier communities which rejected His messages, such as the people of Noah, the `Ād, Thamūd and the people of al-Rass, as well as others. The way they met their dismal end is shown in a series of images from the Day of Resurrection: “Those who will be gathered to hell on their faces – they will be worst in station and still farther away from the [right] path.” (Verse 34) “Nay! It is the Last Hour that they deny. For those who deny the Last Hour We have prepared a blazing fire. When it sees them from a far-off place, they will hear its fug and its raging sigh. And when, chained together, they are flung into a tight space within, they will pray for extinction there and then. [But they will be told]: ‘Do not pray today for one single extinction, but pray for many extinctions!’” (Verses 11-13)

“On that day the wrongdoer will bite his hands and say: ‘Would that I had followed the path shown to me by the Messenger. Oh, woe is me! Would that I had never taken so-and-so for a friend!” (Verses 27-28)

God further comforts him by the fact that he faces the same difficulties earlier messengers faced: “Even before you, We never sent messengers other than [men] who indeed ate food and went about in the market places.” (Verse 20) “Thus against every prophet We have set up enemies from among those who are guilty. Sufficient is your Lord to provide guidance and support.” (Verse 31)

God also makes clear to him that his task is to remain patient against all adversity, standing up to the unbelievers and striving hard against them using the Qur’ān to make his argument clear, well founded and overpowering. “Do not obey the unbelievers, but strive most vigorously against them with this Qur’ān.” (Verse 52) The Prophet is clearly told that his best support in his striving for God’s cause is to place his trust in God alone: “Hence, place your trust in the Living One who does not die, and extol His limitless glory and praise. Sufficient is it that He is well aware of his servants’ sins.” (Verse 58)

The sūrah continues along the same lines: one aspect of it overflows with solace and reassurance given by God to His Messenger, and the other portrays the intransigence of the unbelievers and the difficulties they put up against him. It threatens them with punishment and destruction that will be visited upon them by God Almighty. It thus moves on until it approaches its end when it spreads an air of ease, comfort, peace and reassurance. It portrays a detailed image of ‘the servants of God the Most Merciful’. These are the people “who walk gently on earth, and who, whenever the ignorant address them, say: Peace.” (Verse 63) They are seen here as if they are the final product of the long Jihād, or tough striving against people who stubbornly refuse to abandon their erroneous ways and follow divine guidance, or the sweet fruit of the human tree, despite its thorny branches. The sūrah ends with a picture of how little value humanity has in God’s sight, except for those believers who turn to Him and address their prayers to Him alone: “Say: No weight or value would my Lord attach to you were it not for you calling out [to Him]. You have indeed denied [His message], and in time this [sin] will cleave unto you.” (Verse 77)

Such is the general atmosphere of the sūrah and such is its subject matter. It is a single unit that is hard to divide into sections, but we can distinguish four parts in its treatment of themes.

The first part begins with extolling God’s limitless glory and praising Him for the revelation of the Qur’ān which serves as a warner to mankind. It emphasizes in clear, unequivocal terms God’s oneness and sovereignty over the heavens and the earth. It affirms that He alone controls the universe and conducts its affairs in His absolute wisdom, making it clear that He has neither offspring nor partner. It then mentions that the unbelievers nevertheless ascribe divinity to alleged deities that can create nothing, but are themselves created. All this is stated before referring to their hurtful statements about God’s Messenger, denying his message and alleging that it is fabrication of his own making, or the fables of ancient communities. It also comes before any reference to their objection to Muhammad, God’s Messenger, being a human being who eats food and walks in the streets and market places. Also later come their other statements suggesting that he should be supported by an angel, or that he should have a treasure or a garden providing him with all his food.

Furthermore, the sūrah reports their insults claiming that he is bewitched. It appears that the sūrah begins by quoting their denials of their Lord so as to comfort the Prophet as he hears their abusive remarks about him and his message.

The sūrah then declares that they have gone far astray as they deny the Last Hour.

It warns them against the punishment God has prepared for them in hell, where they are to be thrown in a narrow space, chained one to the other. It contrasts this with an image of the believers in heaven where they abide forever, enjoying whatever they wish. It further shows their fate on the Day of Judgement when they are made to face their alleged deities which will confront them with the falsity of their beliefs. This first line in the sūrah ends with further consolation to the Prophet, making it clear to him that all earlier messengers God sent were mortals like him who ate food and walked about the streets and market places.

The second part begins with the arrogant statements of those who deny their inevitable meeting with God. They impudently say: “Why have no angels been sent down to us? – or, Why do we not see our Lord?” (Verse 21) They are then quickly brought face to face with a scene of the day when they will see the angels: “it will be a day of dire distress for the unbelievers. On that day the wrongdoer will bite his hands and say:

‘Would that I had followed the path shown to me by the Messenger.’” (Verses 26-27) This is meant to give reassurance to the Prophet as he complains to his Lord about his people’s disregard of the Qur’ān. It quotes their objections to the way the Qur’ān is revealed as they ask: “Why has not the Qur’ān been revealed to him all at once?” (Verse 32) The answer to this objection is a scene showing them being gathered to hell on their faces on the Day of Judgement, the day they now deny.

Further comment is given in an outline of the fate of past communities that similarly rejected the faith, such as the peoples of Noah, Moses, and the `Ād, Thamūd, al-Rass and many other generations in between. It wonders at their attitude as they pass by the destroyed towns of the people of Lot taking no heed. All this is meant to comfort the Prophet as he hears their ridicule when they refer to him saying: “Is this the one whom God has sent as His emissary?” (Verse 41) The sūrah comments on their ridicule, putting them in their rightful place: “They are but like cattle. Nay, they are even far worse astray.” (Verse 44)

The third part of the sūrah is made up of a number of scenes from the universe, starting with a description of the shadow and moving to the scene of the succession of day and night, before showing the wind as a herald of revitalizing rain and the creation of man from water. Despite all this, the unbelievers continue to worship deities that have no power to bring them benefit or cause them harm. They even go further, by aiding one another against their Lord who has created them. When they are called upon to address their worship to the only true Lord of the universe, they revert to arrogance: “Yet when they are told, ‘Prostrate yourselves before the Most Merciful, ‘they ask: What is the Most Merciful?” (Verse 60) The sūrah explains that God is “He who has set up in the skies great constellations, and has placed among them a lamp and a light-giving moon. And He it is who causes the night and the day to succeed one another; [a clear sign] for him who would take heed or would show gratitude.” (Verses 61- 62)

The fourth and final part of the sūrah paints a detailed picture of the ‘servants of the Most Merciful’, showing them as they prostrate themselves before Him in total devotion, recording their statements that earn them their noble positions as His servants. It opens the door of repentance to anyone who wishes to join this group, describing their reward for their perseverance and patience in the face of adversity, and their fulfilment of the requirements of faith: “These will be rewarded for all their patient endurance [in life] with a high station in heaven, and will be met there with a greeting of welcome and peace.” (Verse 75)

The sūrah concludes with a statement to the effect that all mankind would have been discarded by God, had it not been for those of His servants who obey Him and do His bidding, recognizing His authority and His right to be obeyed. By putting erring humanity in its place, the Qur’ān also shows that the harassment the Prophet is subjected to should be seen as trivial, for that is what it really is.