Ayah 1-40 – Warn People
Ayah 11-56 – Destructive Leadership
Name
The Sura takes its name from the word al- muddaththir in the first verse. This also is only a name not a title of its subject matter.
Period of Revelation
Theme and Subject. Matter
As has been explained above the earliest Revelation to the Holy Prophet (upon whom be peace) consisted of the first five verses of Sura Al-Alaq in which it had been Said: “Read (O Prophet) in the name of your Lord Who created: created man from a clot of congealed blood. Read: and your Lord is Most Generous Who taught knowledge by the pen taught man what he did not know.” This was the first experience of Revelation met with suddenly by the Holy Prophet (upon whom be peace). in this message it was not told what great mission he had been entrusted with and what duties he had to perk form in future. He was only initiated into it and then left alone for a time so that the great strain this experience had caused should pass away and he should mentally become prepared to receive the Revelation and perform the prophetic mission in the future. After this intermission when Revelation Was resumed tbe first seven verses of this Sura Were revealed:In these he Was for the first time commanded to arise and warn the people of the consequences of the way of life they were following and to proclaim the greatness of God in the world where others were being magnified without any right. Along with that he was given this instruction: The demand of the Unique mission that you have to perform now is that your life should be pure in every respect and you should carry out the duty of reforming your people sincerely irrespective of any worldly gain. Then in the last sentence he was exhorted to endure with patience for the sake of his Lord all the hardships and troubles that he might have to face while performing his mission. In the implementation of this Divine Command when the Holy Messenger of Allah began to preach Islam and recite the Qu’anic Suras revealed success sively the people of Makkah felt alarmed and it provoked a great storm of opposition and hostility. A few months passed in this state until the Hajjseason approached. The people of Makkah feared that if Muhammad (upon whom be Allah’s peace) started visiting the caravans of the pilgrims coming from all over Arabia at their halting places and reciting the spell binding and unique Revelations of the Qur’an in their assemblies on the occasion of Hajj his message would reach every part of Arabia and influence countless people. Therefore the Quraishchiefs held a conference and settled that they would start a propaganda campaign against the Holy Prophet (upon whom be peace) among the pilgrims as soon as they arrived. After they had agreed on this Walid bin al-Mughirah said to the assembled people: “If you said contradictory things about Muhuammad (upon whom be Allah’s peace and blessings) we all would lose our trust among the people. Therefore let us agree upon one opinion which we should all say without dispute. Some people said that they would call Muhammad (upon whom be Allah’s peace and blessings) a soothsayer. Walid said : No by God be is not a soothsayer. We have seen the soothsayers: what they murmur and what they utter has no remote resemblance with the Qur’an. Some other people said: Then we say be is possessed. Walid said: He is not a possessed one: we have seen bad and insane people; the way one talks disjointedly and behaves foolishly in that state is known to all: who would believe that what Muhammad (upon whom be peace) presented was the incoherent speech of a madman?The people said: Then we say he is a poet. Walid said: No he is not a poet for we know poetry in all its forms and what he presents conforms to no form of it. The people said: Then he is a sorcerer. Walid said: He is no sorcerer either: we have Seen sorcerers and we also know what methods they adopt for their sorcery. This also does not apply to Muhammad. Then he said: “Whichever of these things you said about Muhammad it would be known to be a false accusation. By God his speech is sweet his root is deep and his branches are fruitful. At this Abu Jahl urging on Walid said: Your people will