Sura al-Zumar

This article is an introduction to the Sura al-Zumar; to read its text see text:Sura al-Zumar.

Sura al-Zumar

Sad
Sura Number	39
Juz'	23/24
Revelation
Revelation Number	59
Makki/Madani	Makki
Information
Verse Count	75
Word Count	1180
Letter Count	4871\

Sūra al-Zumar (Arabic: سورة الزمر) is the thirty ninth sura of the Qur'an. It is one of the Makki suras placed in the twenty third and twenty fourth juz' of the Qur'an. The title Zumar ("groups") is taken from verses seventy one and seventy three in the sura, where the word appears to refer to the two groups of the people of Paradise and the people of Hell.

Sura al-Zumar includes themes such as resurrection, the fruits of the belief in the Oneness of God, glorifying Him, and the fact that human beings remember God and implore Him when they are afflicted, but when He saves them from the affliction, they forget Him.

Among the famous verses of the sura is verse fifty three, which instructs people never to lose their hope in God's mercy. The sura occupies nearly one sixtieth of the Quran.

As to the merits of reciting Sura al-Zumar, it is reported that on the Day of Judgment God will not make those who recite it hopeless and will grant them the reward of those who fear Him.

Introduction

• Naming

The title of the sura, "al-Zumar" (groups), is taken from its seventy first and seventy third verses where the word zumar appears to refer to two groups: the people of Paradise and the people of Hell. Another title for Sura al-Zumar is "Ghuraf" (rooms) which is taken from its twenty first verse. The sura is also called Sura al-Arab, since its twenty eighth verse uses the adjective "Arabic" for the Qur'an.

• Place and Order of Revelation

Sura al-Zumar is the fifty-ninth sura of the Qur'an, revealed to the Prophet (s) in Mecca. In the current sequence of suras, it is the thirty ninth sura, placed in the twenty third and twenty fourth juz' of the Qur'an.

• Number of Verses and Characteristics

Sura al-Zumar has seventy five verses, 1180 words, and 4871 letters. In terms of its length, it is one of the mathani suras, occupying nearly one-sixtieth of the Qur'an.

Content

The main message of the sura is calling to monotheism and sincerity in worship. It begins with enumerating the fruits of monotheism and rejecting the idea of God having a son. It commands the Prophet (s) to keep his faith pure, reject the gods of the polytheists, and announce to them that he has been commanded to be a monotheist and to be sincere in his faith.

Among the other themes mentioned in Sura al-Zumar are the fact that people usually turn to God when they are in need but then they forget, arguing for God's unity of lordship based, comparison between the believers and polytheists, mentioning the characteristics of believers and giving them glad tidings about the blessings of the hereafter, warning the polytheists about their ill-fated path and the punishment that awaits them in this world and the hereafter, and describing the resurrection and the hereafter with vivid imagery.

Content of Sura al-Zumar

Calling to Tawhid

First part: verses 1-9 Supporting monotheism

Second part: verses 10-35 The Prophet's (s) mission to call the people to monotheism

Third part: verses 36-52 Arguments for God's rule over the world and the powerlessness of the idols

Fourth part: verses 53-66 Calling the polytheists to repent and receive God's mercy

Fifth part: verses 67-75 God's rule in the hereafter as a manifestation of tawhid

Introduction: verses 1-2 The Prophet (s) worships God only

First duty: verse 10 Calling the people to taqwa (God-wariness)

First reason: verses 36-37 The inability of the idols to harm the Prophet (s)

First issue: verses 53-54 Do not lose hope in God's mercy

First issue: verse 67 The world losing its order by the will of God

First reason: verses 3-4 God does not have any partners or children

Second duty: verses 11-12 Proclaiming God's command to be monotheists

Second reason: verses 38-41 The powerlessness of the idols before God

Second issue: verses 55-59 Follow the Qur'an so that you do not regret in the hereafter

Second issue: verse 68 Death and coming to life of all beings by God's command

Second reason: verse 5 The creation and regulation of the world belongs to God

Third duty: verses 13-16 Warning against the punishment of polytheists in the hereafter

Third reason: verse 42 The life and death of mankind is in God's hands

Third issue: verses 60-61 Disgracefulness of the polytheists in the hereafter

Third issue: verses 69-70 Reckoning the deeds of all people by God's command

Third reason: verse 6 The creation of human beings and the direction of their affairs belongs to God

Fourth duty: verses 17-20 Mentioning the reward of monotheists in the hereafter

Fourth reason: verses 43-45 The true helper and intercessor is God

Fourth issue: verses 62-63 Polytheism, the source of harm

Fourth issue: verses 71-72 Sending the disbelievers to hell by God's command

Fourth reason: verse 7 Monotheism is to the benefit of people

Fifth duty: verses 21-23 Reminding the wise of the signs of God's unicity

Fifth reason: verses 46-48 The punishment in the hereafter is under God's control

Fifth issue: verses 64-66 Polytheism, the cause of the fruitlessness of deeds

Fifth issue: verses 73-74 Sending the believers to Paradise by God's command

Fifth reason: verse 8 Polytheism is a sign of ungratefulness

Sixth duty: verses 24-35 Warning the polytheists about their punishment in the hereafter

Sixth reason: verses 49-52 All the blessings come from God

Sixth issue: verse 75 Angels obeying God on the Day of Judgment

Sixth reason: verse 9 Worshiping God is a sign of wisdom

Occasions of the Revelation of Some Verses

Verses 17 and 18

“ As for those who stay clear of the worship of fake deities and turn penitently to Allah, there is good news for them. So give good news to My servants who listen to the word [of Allah] and follow the best [interpretation] of it. They are the ones whom Allah has guided, and it is they who possess intellect. ”

The revelation of the verses seventeen and eighteen is said to have been related to Zayd b. Amr, Abu Dhar al-Ghifari, and Salman al-Farsi, who used to say, la ilaha illa Allah" (There is no god but Allah) constantly in the Age of Ignorance.

Verse 22

“ Is someone whose breast Allah has opened to Islam so that he follows a light from His Lord…? So woe to those whose hearts have been hardened to the remembrance of Allah. They are in manifest error. ”

The first part of verse twenty two is said to have been revealed referring to Hamza and Imam Ali (a), who readily embraced Islam, and the second part of the verse ("So woe to those whose hearts have been hardened to the remembrance of Allah..") reportedly refers to Abu Lahab and his children who refused Islam due to their hard-heartedness.

Verse 53

“ Say [that Allah declares,] ‘O My servants who have committed excesses against their own souls, do not despair of the mercy of Allah. Indeed Allah will forgive all sins. Indeed, He is the All-forgiving, the All-merciful. ”

Several referents have been reported for the word "My servants" in this verse:

• Wahshi, who killed Hamza, the Prophet's (s) uncle in the battle of Uhud.
• A youth who used to steal burial shrouds and, on one occasion, committed adultery with a corpse.
• The Meccans who used to worship idols and commit other sins.

Well-Known Verses

Verse 7

“ Then We will surely recount to them with knowledge, for We had not been absent. ”

This verse illustrates God's justice, based on which no one will bear another person's burden of sins.

Verse 6

“ We will surely question those to whom the apostles were sent, and We will surely question the apostles. ”

The "threefold darkness" in this verse is said to refer to the darkness of the belly, womb, and amniotic sac. Some commentators, however, believe that it refers to the amniotic sac alone, which consists of three thick layers. This verse is considered one of the verses that show the miraculous nature of the Qur'an in scientific aspects.

Verse 18

“ who listen to the word [of Allah] and follow the best [interpretation] of it. They are the ones whom Allah has guided, and it is they who possess intellect. ”

Praising those servants of God who listen to different sayings and then follow the best of them, this verse is understood as illustrating the value of free thinking in Islam.

Verse 30

“ You will die, and they [too] will die. ”

This verse is addressed to the Prophet (s). It indicates that death is an experience that all human beings, including the Prophet (s), go through, and there is no exception in this regard.

Verse 53

This verse, with its affectionate tone, proclaims that God is ready to embrace all sinners with His forgiveness. According to a hadith from Imam Ali (a), no verse of the Qur'an is as inclusive as this verse, since it encompasses all sins.

Merits and Benefits

It is reported that whoever recites this sura, God will not make him hopeless on the Day of Judgment and will grant him the reward of those who fear Him. In another hadith, Imam al-Sadiq (a) is reported to have said, "God will grant the one who recites Sura al-Zumar and pronounces its words calmly the honor of this world and the hereafter and will make him venerable, not through wealth or kinsfolk, such that whoever sees him reveres him, and He shall prohibit hellfire to burn his body."

External Links

• Audio playback of the Sura