(Revealed after Hijrah)
This Surah seems to have been revealed several years after Hijrah (see v. 4). In the preceding Surah Jesus’s prophecy about the advent of the Prophet Ahmad was mentioned. The present Surah further deals with that prophecy. Like the preceding Surah it opens with the glorification of the might and wisdom of God, and, as a proof and demonstration of these two Divine attributes, points to the appearance of the Holy Prophet among the unlettered Arabs, who from an uncivilized, uncultured and unlettered people, became, through the teaching of the Qur’an and the Prophet’s noble example, the teachers and leaders of mankind, spreading light and learning wherever they went. The Surah then refers to the same spiritual phenomenon which will take place at some later time through a great Deputy of the Holy Prophet, the Promised Messiah, and proceeds to condemn the Jewish people for their rejection of the Holy Prophet, in spite of the fact that their Scriptures abound in prophecies concerning him. Thus by implication, the Surah warns Muslims against behaving like Jews when the Great Deputy of the Holy Prophet appears among them. Towards its close, importance of the Friday Prayer is emphasized and an implied hint is made that at the time of the Second Advent of the Holy Prophet which has been likened to the Friday Prayer, there would be a mad craze for trade, commerce and worldly gains and many other diversions to amuse and turn men away from God; and Muslims are exhorted not to let these things distract their attention in the midst of their religious duties.