(Revealed before Hijrah)
This Surah was revealed at Mecca in the first few years of the Call. Its connection with the preceding Surah, Al-Inshiqaq, is indicated by the fact that in that Surah the full moon was invoked as a witness, and in the present Surah 'mansions of stars' and 'the promised day' have been invoked to serve the same purpose. The "Buruj" or 'mansions of stars' may represent the twelve Divine Reformers (Mujaddids), each of whom was raised at the beginning of every century of the Hijrah, and the Promised Day stands for the 14th century of the Hijrah. The Surah seems to point to the severe persecution to which the followers of the Promised Messiah would be subjected, ending appropriately on the note that because in his time the integrity of the Qur’an as God’s revealed Word would be assailed from all quarters, particularly by Christian writers, he would devote all his energies and his great God-given powers to rebut their attacks and to prove its infallibility and inviolability.