059- AL-HASHR
THE GATHERING
Al-Hashr, a Madinan sūrah, takes its name from the mention of the first gathering in v. 2. It is also known as al-Naḍīr or Banū Naḍīr, since most of its verses are said to have been revealed in relation to the Jewish tribe of Banū Naḍīr after they were banished from Madinah for having broken their treaty with the nascent Muslim polity. This is the second in a group of sūrahs known as “The Glorifiers” (al-Musabbiḥāt), because they begin with a reference to the glorification of God; the other sūrahs in the group are 57, 61, 62, and 64. According to a ḥadīth, “Within [the Glorifiers] there is a verse that is better than a thousand verses”. Some scholars are of the opinion that this ḥadīth refers to v. 3 of Sūrah 57, al-Ḥadīd, while others propose that it refers to the last verse of this sūrah.
After arriving in Madinah, the Prophet established peaceful relations with the Jewish tribes of the surrounding oasis, of which the largest were the Banū Qaynuqāʿ, the Banū Naḍīr, and the Banū Qurayẓah. The tribes of the oasis had made a covenant, often known as the Constitution of Madinah, in which they pledged to support one another, should any of them be attacked by outside forces, and to make no alliances against one another. The Muslims believed that the Banū Qaynuqāʿ had broken these terms after the Battle of Badr; hence the Banū Qaynuqāʿ were subsequently banished from the oasis.
After the Battle of Uḥud, the Banū Naḍīr were accused of having entered into an alliance against the Muslims and having plotted to kill the Prophet. When the Prophet heard of their treachery, some say from the Archangel Gabriel, others say through a woman of the Banū Naḍīr, the Prophet presented them with the choice of leaving the oasis with all their possessions, but retaining the right to the proceeds from their crops, or facing war. They requested a respite of ten days. After conferring with their allies, among whom were some of the hypocrites within Madinah, they chose the latter course, thinking that reinforcements would be forthcoming. The Muslim armies besieged their fortresses for twenty-one days, during which time the fighting was limited to brief exchanges of arrows. The Banū Naḍīr’s hopes dwindled when none of the promised reinforcements arrived. When the Muslim armies cut some of the Banū Naḍīr’s prized date palms that lay just outside their fortresses, it was more than they could bear. They sent word they would agree to the initial terms of exile. The Prophet, however, was no longer willing to offer the same terms. Under the new terms, they would be banished, allowed to keep their considerable wealth, except their armaments, but had to forfeit their land, crops and all. The Banū Naḍīr had no choice but to accept.
Dealing with the complexities of administering justice when a treacherous group makes up a part of a small community, this sūrah addresses all of the groups that were to be found in the nascent Muslim community: the Emigrants from Makkah; the Helpers who had embraced Islam before the emigration; the Helpers who had embraced Islam after the emigration; the hypocrites, who embraced Islam outwardly but betrayed it inwardly, many of whom conspired against the Prophet; and the Jewish tribes, who initially welcomed the Prophet, but many of whom later developed animosity toward him and his followers. After the first section (vv. 1–5) addresses the situation of the Banū Naḍīr, vv. 6–10 discuss the proper distribution of spoils from their banishment among the different groups of believers and the relationships among these groups. Their harmonious relations are then contrasted to the disharmony between the hypocrites and the Banū Naḍīr (vv. 11–19), whose counsel toward one another is likened to that of Satan (v. 16). After declaring the incommensurability of those destined for the Fire and those destined for the Garden (v. 20), the sūrah ends with a famous passage that discusses the nature of the revelation (v. 21) and provides the most comprehensive list of Divine Names in the Quran (vv. 22–24).
(source: “The Study Quran” a new translation and commentary by Seyyed Hossein Nasr)
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