(Revealed after Hijrah)
This is the first of the last ten Medinite Chapters of the Qur’an which end with Chapter 66. It seems to have been revealed after the conquest of Mecca or the Treaty of Hudaibiyah, as is clear from the mention of Al-Fath (the Victory) in v. 11 which refers to the Fall of Mecca or, according to some, more appropriately to the Treaty of Hudaibiyah. The series of the Meccan Chapters which began with Saba’ and which, with the exception of the three intervening Medinite Chapters—Muhammad, Al-Fath and Al-Hujurat—had continued without interruption, ended with the preceding Chapter and had completed the subject matter of the Meccan Surahs. With the present Surah, however, begins a new series of Medinite Chapters, which end with At-Tahrim. In the preceding Surah it is stated that the Qur’an is a well-preserved Book (v. 79) which among other things signifies that its teachings are in perfect harmony with natural laws and with the dictates and demands of human nature, reason and common sense. The present Surah opens with the Divine attributes: the Mighty, the Wise. And quite naturally, the Being Who is Wise and Mighty must have revealed a Book whose teachings are consistent with the laws of nature and with human reason and conscience.
In the previous seven Meccan Surahs, especially in the three immediately preceding ones—Al-Qamar, Ar-Rahman and Al-Waqi‘ah—it was repeatedly declared, in a forceful though metaphorical language, that a great reformation, a veritable resurrection, was about to be brought about by the Holy Prophet among a people who for long centuries had grovelled in moral dust and dirt; and who, because they had no living relations with civilized society, were looked down upon as pariahs among nations. The present Surah points out that the great day of the phenomenal progress and power of that pariah nation—the Arabs—has already dawned and that the eventual victory of truth over falsehood is in sight. But there are essential conditions to be fulfilled before that consummation takes place. There must be on the part of Muslims a firm and invincible faith in the truth of Islamic ideals and a preparedness to make necessary sacrifice of life and property for the furtherance of its cause. The believers then are told that after they have acquired power and prosperity, they should not neglect moral ideals and indulge in the pursuit of transitory material pleasures. The Surah continues the theme, namely, that from time immemorial God’s Messengers have been appearing in the world to lead men to the goal of their lives which is to win the pleasure of God, and which cannot be attained by leading a life of complete renunciation or flight from the world, as Jesus’s followers mistakenly had thought and practised, but by making proper use of natural powers and faculties, bestowed by God on man and of the things He has created for his use.