Bayan ul Quran - English, by Dr. Israr Ahmed (رحمه الله)

074 - Al-Muddaththir ( The One Enveloped ) - سورة المدثر

Themes and purpose:

This Makkan surah marks the formal commencement of the Prophet’s mission, following the initial pause in revelation. Its primary purpose is to command the Prophet (ﷺ) to rise and warn the people, affirm Monotheism, establish the necessity of spiritual and physical purity, and issue a severe warning of Resurrection and Hellfire to the arrogant deniers of Makkah.

Context of Revelation:

Era: Makkan by consensus, though ayah 31 must have a later revelation, and some suggested that was in Madinah.

Context: The surah was revealed immediately after the period of pause in revelation, when the Angel Gabriel appeared to the Prophet (ﷺ), who was covered and resting. The revelation acted as a direct command to end the retreat and begin the public work of warning. The surah also established the initial, general duty of prayer before the five fixed daily prayers were formally mandated.

073 - Al-Muzzammil (The One wrapped in Garments) - سورة المزمل

Themes and purpose:

This surah is the code for prophetic training, commanding the Prophet (ﷺ) to rise for night prayer as preparation for conveying the weighty revelation. Its purpose is to fortify the Prophet’s resolve, guarantee divine support against the polytheists, and establish the initial, mandatory laws of worship and spirituality, concluding with a merciful relaxation of the night prayer obligation.

Context of Revelation:

Era: The surah is definitively Makkan in its beginning [1-19] and Madinan in its concluding ayah.

Context: The opening was revealed very early in the Prophethood (likely 4th in order, after al-Muddaththir), establishing the initial obligation of night vigil. The concluding ayah [20] was revealed as many as ten years later in Madinah, lifting the strict obligation of night prayer due to the community's engagement in fighting and the hardship they faced.

072 - Al-Jinn ( The Jinn ) - سورة الجن

Themes and purpose:

This Makkan surah primarily seeks to prove the truth of the Quran and the prophethood of Muḥammad (ﷺ) by documenting the hidden miracle of the Jinn’s conversion. It establishes monotheism, refutes the worship of the Jinn and the practice of soothsaying, and warns the polytheists of their impending punishment and eventual regret.

Context of Revelation:

Era: Makkan by consensus.

Context: The surah was revealed following the incident where a group of Jinn listened to the Prophet (ﷺ) reciting the Qur’ān while traveling near the ʿUkāẓ marketplace. It was revealed in the 10th year of the Prophethood, placing it shortly before the Prophet’s journey to Ṭā’if and three years before the Hijrah.

071 - Nooh - سورة نوح

Themes and purpose:

This Makkan surah is primarily dedicated to affirming monotheism and prophethood by recounting the comprehensive mission of Prophet Noah. Its purpose is to warn the polytheists that their continued association with God will result in the same catastrophic, inescapable punishment that destroyed the first major nation to deny its messenger.

Context of Revelation:

Era: Makkan by consensus.

Context: The surah was revealed during a period when the Prophet (ﷺ) was facing intense denial and resistance. It uses the story of the first nation to suffer divine collective punishment as a powerful, historical analogue for the conflict in Makkah.

070 - Al-Ma'arij (The Ways of Ascent ) - سورة المعارج

Themes and purpose:

This Makkan surah centers on proving the absolute certainty of the Day of Judgment and the impending punishment, which the polytheists challenged Allah to hasten. It establishes monotheism through proofs of creation, describes the terrifying ascent of the angels and the long duration of the Final Day, and contrasts the virtuous deeds of the believers with the arrogance of the deniers.

Context of Revelation:

Era: Makkan by consensus. 

Context: The surah was revealed to answer the arrogant challenge of a polytheist who scoffed at the threat of punishment and requested that Allah bring it upon them immediately.

069 - Al-Haaqqah ( The Inevitable ) - سورة الحاقة

Themes and purpose:

This Makkan surah is primarily dedicated to establishing the absolute certainty and terrifying reality of the Resurrection and Judgment. It achieves this by citing the historical destruction of past nations (Thāmūd, ʿĀd, people of Pharaoh) as undeniable proof of Allah’s power, while defending the Prophet’s (ﷺ) integrity against accusations of poetry or sorcery.

Context of Revelation:

Era: Makkan by consensus.

Context: It was revealed in the 5th year of the Prophethood, placing it shortly before the Hijrah to Abyssinia. The surah was revealed in response to the polytheists' mockery of the Quran. It is narrated that ʿUmar ibn al-Khaṭṭāb heard the Prophet (ﷺ) reciting the surah in Makkah, and the verses refuting poetry [41–42] caused Islam to enter his heart.

068 - Al-Qalam ( The Pen ) - سورة القلم

Themes and purpose:

This early Makkan surah is an affirmation and defense of the Prophet Muḥammad’s (ﷺ) moral character and the truth of the Quran. It refutes the polytheists’ claims that he was a madman or poet. It confirms the importance of writing and knowledge for the Ummah, warns the arrogant Makkans of impending worldly punishment, and commands the Prophet (ﷺ) to patience.

Context of Revelation:

Era: Makkan by consensus.

Context: The surah was revealed during the first wave of severe persecution and mockery in Makkah, specifically targeting the influential leaders (like Abū Jahl and al-Walīd ibn al-Mughīrah) who were prominent in denying the Prophet (ﷺ).

067 - Al-Mulk ( Dominion ) - سورة الملك

Themes and purpose:

This Makkan surah is dedicated to proving Allah’s absolute sovereignty and the certainty of the Resurrection. It affirms that life and death serve as a test for deeds, warns against the deception of the devils, and challenges the polytheists to find any flaw in creation as proof of their error and impending punishment.

Context of Revelation:

Era: Makkan by consensus.

066 - At-Tahrim ( The Prohibition ) - سورة التحريم

Themes and purpose:

This Madinan surah serves as a lesson in domestic ethics and legal authority. Its core purpose is to correct the Prophet (ﷺ) for forbidding what Allah made lawful, to establish the law of expiation for oaths, and to issue a severe warning to the Prophet’s wives against internal division, using the fates of the wives of Nūḥ and Lūṭ as a dramatic parable.

Context of Revelation:

Era: Madinan by consensus.

Context: There are two domestic incidents narrated to provide context for this surah. The first concerns the Prophet (ﷺ) consuming honey at the house of one wife (likely Zaynab bint Jaḥsh), leading ʿĀ’ishah and Ḥafṣah to conspire against him by claiming he had bad breath. The Prophet (ﷺ) then vowed to forbid himself honey to appease them.

A second report, weaker in transmission, mentions the Prophet (ﷺ) forbidding himself his concubine, Māriyah, after Ḥafṣah found them together

065 - At-Talaq ( The Divorce ) - سورة الطلاق

Themes and purpose:

This Madinan surah completes the legal code regarding marital separation. Its primary purpose is to establish the precise method and limits of divorce (ṭalāq), the rules of the waiting period (ʿiddah), and the subsequent laws of financial support and breastfeeding. The surah interweaves these laws with strong exhortations to piety, assuring believers that adherence to these laws brings ease and provision.

Context of Revelation:

Era: Madinan by consensus.

Context: The surah was revealed to refine the general laws previously mentioned in Sūrat al-Baqarah and al-Nisā’. The specific incident that prompted the revelation was the Prophet’s (ﷺ) correction of ʿAbdullāh ibn ʿUmar, who had divorced his wife while she was menstruating.