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29.
Al-Ankabut
Name The Sura takes its name
from verse 41 in which the word Ankabut (Spider) has occurred. Period
of Revelation Verses 56 to 60 clearly
show that this Sura was sent down a little before the migration to Habash
and this is supported by the internal evidence of the subject matter as
well. Some commentators have opined that since it mentions the hypocrites
and hypocrisy appeared in Madinah the first ten verses of this Sura were
revealed at Madinah and the rest of it at Makkah; whereas the people whose
hypocrisy has been mentioned here are those who had adopted a hypocritical
way of life because they were afraid of the oppression and extreme
physical torture to which the Muslims were being subjected by the
disbelievers. Evidently this kind of hypocrisy could be there only at
Makkah and not at Madinah. Similarly some other commentators seeing that
in this Sura the Muslims have been exhorted to migrate have regarded it as
the last Sura to be revealed at Makkah whereas the Muslims had migrated to
Habash even before their migration to Madinah. These opinions are not
based on any tradition but on the internal evidence of the subject matter
and this internal evidence when considered against the subject matter of
the Sura as a whole points to the conditions prevailing in the time of the
migration to Habash and not to the last stage at Makkah. Theme
and Subject matter A perusal of the Sura
shows that the period of its revelation was the period of extreme
persecution of the Muslims at Makkah. The disbelievers were opposing and
fighting Islam tooth and nail and the new converts were being subjected to
the severest oppression. Such were the conditions when Allah sent down
this Sura to strengthen and encourage the sincere Muslims as well as to
put to shame those who were showing weakness of the faith. Besides the
disbelievers of Makkah have been threatened and warned not to invite for
themselves the fate that the antagonists of the Truth have been
experiencing in every age. In this connection the
questions that some young men were facing in those days have also been
answered. For instance their parents were urging them to abandon Muhammad
(may Allah's peace be upon him) and return to their ancestral religion for
they argued: "The Qur'an in which you have put your faith regards the
rights of the parents as the uppermost; therefore listen to what we say;
otherwise you will be working against the dictates of your own
Faith." This has been answered in verse 8. Similarly the people of
some clans said to the new converts to Islam Leave the question of
punishments etc. to us. Listen to us and abandon this man. If God seizes
you in the Hereafter we will come forward and say 'Lord these people are
innocent: we had forced them to give up the Faith; therefore seize us'.
This has been dealt with in vv. 12-13. The stories mentioned
in this Sura also impress the same point mostly as if to say Look at the
Prophets of the past: they were made to suffer great hardships and were
treated cruelly for long periods. Then at last they were helped by Allah.
Therefore take heart: Allah's succour will certainly come. But a period of
trial and tribulation has to be undergone. Besides teaching this lesson to
the Muslims the disbelievers also have been warned as if to say If you are
not being immediately seized by Allah you should not form the wrong
impression that you will never be seized. The signs of the doomed nations
of the past are before you. Just see how they met their doom and how Allah
succoured the Prophets. Then the Muslims have
been instructed to the effect: "If you feel that the persecution has
become unbearable for you you should give up your homes instead of giving
up your Faith: Allah's earth is vast: seek a new place where you can
worship Allah with the full peace of mind." Besides aIl this the
disbelievers also have been urged to understand Islam. The realities of
Tauhid and the Hereafter have been impressed with rational arguments shirk
have been refuted and drawing their attention towards the signs in the
universe they have been told that all these Signs confirm the teachings
that the Prophet is presenting before them.
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