074- AL- MUDDATHTHIR
THE COVERED ONE
Among the earliest Makkan sūrahs, al-Muddaththir is, according to some commentators, Makkan in its entirety, but others maintain that the last section (vv. 31–56) is from the Madinan period. It is closely connected to the previous sūrah, as both are said to respond to the Prophet’s covering himself when the experience of the revelation began. Whereas the first verses of Sūrah 73 instruct the Prophet regarding the practices that he and his Companions must follow, this sūrah focuses more upon his function as a warner to those who do not as yet follow him.
Although most commentators agree that 96:1–5 constitutes the first revelation of the Quran, according to an account from one of the Companions, Yaḥyā ibn Abī Kathīr, the first five verses of this sūrah constitute the first revelation. Ibn Abī Kathīr asked Abū Salamah ibn ʿAbd al-Raḥmān what the first sūrah of the Quran to be revealed was, and Abū Salamah replied, “O thou who art covered.” Ibn Abī Kathīr then said to him, “They say it was, Recite in the Name of thy Lord Who created! [96:1].” Upon hearing that, Abū Salamah said, “I asked Jābir ibn Abdallah about that, saying the same as you have said, whereupon he said, ‘I will not tell you except what the Messenger of God had told us. The Messenger of God said, “I passed a month at Mt. Ḥirāʾ, and when my stay came to an end, I came down. While I was walking, I heard a voice from the sky. I looked up toward the sky, and behold! I saw the same angel who came to me in the cave of Ḥirāʾ, sitting on a stool between the sky and the earth. I was so terrified by him that I fell down on the ground. Then I went to my wife and said, ‘Cover me! Cover me!’ They covered me, and then God revealed [74:1– 5]”’”.
Ibn Kathīr proposes that the reference to “the same angel who came to me in the cave of Ḥirāʾ” indicates that this narration pertains to the second experience of the revelation, thus making the first five verses of this sūrah the first revelation after 96:1–5. Others propose that this account provides the first command to warn, thus to go forth as a Messenger, while 96:1– 5 marks the beginning of the revelation as a whole.
After the opening exhortation to the Prophet in vv. 1–7, vv. 8–10 warn of the Day of Judgment, serving as the segue into a polemic against those who deny the prophethood of Muhammad (vv. 11–25) and an allusion to the punishment they will encounter in the Hereafter (vv. 26–31).
(source: “The Study Quran” a new translation and commentary by Seyyed Hossein Nasr)
Comments
John Doe
23/3/2019Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipisicing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam, quis nostrud exercitation ullamco laboris nisi ut aliquip ex ea commodo consequat.
John Doe
23/3/2019Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipisicing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam, quis nostrud exercitation ullamco laboris nisi ut aliquip ex ea commodo consequat.
John Doe
23/3/2019Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipisicing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam, quis nostrud exercitation ullamco laboris nisi ut aliquip ex ea commodo consequat.