JUZ SEVENTEEN
The seventeenth juz of the Qur’an contains two surahs in their entirety, Surah al-Anbiyaʾ, and Surah al-Hajj. The focus of this juz is on the third and fourth pillars of faith; the messengers and their messages. Surah al-Anbiyaʾ focuses on the messengers, their stories, and struggles. Surah al-Hajj focuses on the message of the prophets: a message of monotheism, worship, and righteous conduct. The Hajj is focused on as a symbol of all three; Hajj is the ultimate act of worship based on pure monotheism that builds in us the best of character.
Surah al-Anbiyaʾ gives us a snapshot of the lives of sixteen prophets and a glimpse of how each of their stories ended. Every prophet is briefly mentioned except Ibrahim who is a primary focus of both of these surahs. The pagans of Makkah considered themselves followers of Ibrahim so a lot of early Makkan revelation focused on reminding them of the true message of Ibrahim, which was exactly the same as the message of Prophet Muhammad صلى الله عليه وسلم .
Both surahs begin with strong warnings about the end of times. These passages serve as firm reminders to embrace the message quickly before The Hour occurs. Mankind does not have the luxury of time to wait and make excuses for rejecting the truth.
Mankind’s reckoning has drawn near, but they turn away heedlessly. No fresh reminder comes to them from their Lord, but they listen to it playfully. Their hearts distracted, the wrongdoers confer secretly, Is this anything but a mortal like you? Will you take to sorcery, with open eyes?
O people be conscious of your Lord. The quaking of the Hour is a tremendous thing. On the Day when you will see it: every nursing mother will discard her infant, and every pregnant woman will abort her load, and you will see the people drunk, even though they are not drunk—but the punishment of God is severe.
A core theme of Surah al-Anbiyaʾ is that Prophet Muhammad صلى الله عليه وسلم was not the first prophet, and the claims made against him were not made for the first time. Every excuse made by the Quraysh is tackled and they are reminded that every messenger before him was also a human just like them. It is not the way of Allah to send angels as messengers. Allah
reminds them further that the message of Muhammad صلى الله عليه وسلم is consistent with the message of those who came before him. The surah leaves no excuse for disbelieving in the truth.
The core focus of this surah is the prophets of the past and their similarities to Prophet Muhammad صلى الله عليه وسلم in message and challenges. We learn about the struggles of Lut, Nuḥ, Musa, Dawud, Ayyub, and Yunus , along with many others. In all these stories, the end is the same, victory was given to the prophet and those who followed him. This surah was revealed as both a warning to the Quraysh and a source of hope and optimism for the Prophet صلى الله عليه وسلم and his followers.
Towards the beginning of Surah al-Ḥajj is a beautiful verse that summarizes our lives on earth. It is worth taking time to reflect on this verse and its implications for how we live our lives.
O people! If you are in doubt about the Resurrection—We created you from dust, then from a small drop, then from a clinging clot, then from a lump of flesh, partly developed and partly undeveloped. In order to clarify things for you. And We settle in the wombs whatever We will for a designated term, and then We bring you out as infants until you reach your full strength. And some of you will pass away, and some of you will be returned to the vilest age, so that he may not know, after having known. And you see the earth still; but when We send down water on it, it vibrates, and swells, and grows all kinds of lovely pairs.
Surah al-Anbiyaʾ reflects on the creation of the heavens and earth, while this surah calls on us to reflect on our own existence. Between the two, we are given a lot to reflect on, all of which should lead to the same conclusion; we must devote our lives to serving our Creator.
There are different opinions on whether Surah al-Ḥajj is Makkan or Madinan. The strongest opinion seems to be that it is a mixture of Makkan and Madinan verses. The surah was most likely revealed around the time of the Ḥijrah with part of it revealed before and part of it after. This explains why it is difficult to categorize. The second half of the surah focuses on the test of life, an important reminder for the migrants who had just left Makkah in exile.
The story of Prophet Ibrahim is once again a central focus of this surah. The story of how he built the Kaʿbah and called people for Hajj is mentioned as a sign of hope. Prophet Ibrahim did not see the multitudes arriving for Hajj during his lifetime. Today, millions of people respond each year to his call. This was a powerful and hopeful reminder to the Prophet صلى الله عليه وسلم that he too would one day be successful and return to Makkah.
By Dr. Omar Suleiman & Sh. Ismail Kamdar
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