(Revealed after Hijrah)
The Surah is the third of the seven last Medinite Chapters of the Qur’an. The preceding Surah had dealt with the secret plots and machinations against Islam of the Jews of Medina. The present one, however, deals with their punishment, particularly with the expulsion from Medina of the Banu Nadir, one of the three Jewish tribes—Banu Qainuqa‘, Banu Nadir and Banu Quraiah—a few months after the Battle of Uhud in the fourth year of the Hijrah. The expulsion was an act of great wisdom and political foresight on the Holy Prophet’s part. Because, if the Jews had been allowed to remain in Medina they would have proved, on account of their conspiracies and secret plots, a source of constant danger to Islam. Next, the Surah deals with the Hypocrites of Medina who were neither true to Muslims nor to Jews. A hypocrite is essentially a coward, and a cowardly person is never sincere or honest to anyone. The Hypocrites of Medina proved dishonest even to the Jews in the latter’s hour of peril. The Surah opens with Divine glorification and ends with an exhortation to Muslims to sing the praises of the Beneficent and Merciful Lord, Who had nipped the wicked designs of their enemies in the bud and had opened out endless vistas of progress and prosperity for them. The Surah has close resemblance with Surah Al-Anfal.