Sūrah al-Anbiyāʾ

Overview

Sūrah al-Anbiyāʾ is a Makkan sūrah with 112 āyāt. The sūrah makes mention of many prophets, either giving a detailed account of their narrative or praising their station, hence the title. The sūrah opens with a terrifying threat that, as mankind is distracted with worldly endeavours, their reckoning draws near. The sunnah of Allah is then recounted, preparing listeners for the narratives to come: He sends messengers and prophets, mortals of flesh and bone, with the truth. Whoever believes is saved, and whoever denies is given respite for a while until he is severely seized. Ultimately, “We hurl the truth at falsehood and it obliterates it, and thus it vanishes!” (21:1-18).

The only way the harmony and equilibrium we so readily witness in the cosmos could be possible is via a single, all-powerful, all-wise creator to whom everything submits and ultimately returns (21:19-43). It is Allah giving the disbelievers temporary rein which deludes them into their haughty arrogance—He is only delaying them for a day where even a mustard seed of good or evil will be weighed on the balance, and sufficient is Allah as reckoner (21:44-47).

Allah then makes mention of many prophets, namely: Mūsā, Hārūn, Ibrāhīm, Isḥāq, Yaʿqūb, Lūṭ, Nūḥ, Dāwūd, Sulaymān, Ayyūb, Ismāʿīl, Idrīs, Dhū al-Kifl, Dhū al-Nūn (Yūnus), Zakariyyā, Yaḥyā, and implicitly Maryam and ʿĪsā—Allah’s peace and blessings be upon them and upon all His prophets and messengers. They all came with the same essential message of uncompromising monotheism (21:48-92). The sūrah concludes with an exposition into the portents and cataclysmic cosmic events of the Last Day (21:93-112).

Context

Sūrah al-Anbiyāʾ was likely revealed after Sūrah al-Sajdah and before Sūrah al-Naḥl. On the authority of Ibn ʿAbbās, when the āyah: “Surely you and what you worship other than Allah are the fuel of Hellfire; there you will inevitably arrive” (21:98) was revealed, it was a heavy blow to the Quraysh. They went to one of their elders and poets, Ibn al-Zibaʿrā, and told him of what had taken place. He went to the Prophet ﷺ and asked, “Muḥammad, is this something specific to our gods or does it apply for anything worshiped other than Allah?” He ﷺ replied with the latter. Triumphantly, al-Zibaʿrā exclaimed, “By the Lord of this edifice (the Kaʿbah), I’ve got you! Do you not claim that the angels are righteous servants, and that ʿĪsā is a righteous servant, and that ʿUzayr is a righteous servant? Well, Banū Malīḥ worship the angels, the Christians worship ʿĪsā, and the Jews worship ʿUzayr.” The Makkans were ecstatic with this, until Allah revealed: “Indeed, those to whom goodness has been decreed from Us—they are kept far away from it (Hell)” (21:101).

Themes

• The majesty of Allah, His power, and His dominion. (21:11-33, 38-47, 97-106)
• The unity among all prophets of Allah and the unity of their message. (21:7-9, 25, 48-92)
• The truthfulness of the Prophet ﷺ. (21:1-10, 25, 34-37, 45-47, 107-112)
• The tremendous magnitude of the Last Day. (21:1, 38-41, 46-47, 94-106)

Unique Features

• Sūrah al-Anbiyāʾ, Sūrah al-Fātiḥah, and Sūrah al-Ikhlāṣ are the only three sūrahs in the Qur’an whose name does not appear in any capacity in their respective sūrah. Instead, their titles describe some characteristic feature thereof.
• Sūrah al-Anbiyāʾ has the second highest number for prophetic mentions in a single sūrah, with 17 prophets being named therein (ʿĪsā is mentioned as the ‘son of her who guarded her chastity’). The first is Sūrah al-Anʿām with 18.
• It is in this sūrah where we read the beautiful qur’anic extolment of the Prophet ﷺ: “We have not sent you except as a mercy to the worlds.” (21:107)

Lessons

• Whilst we naturally—and rightly—incline towards ease and dislike hardship, faith in Allah ought to allow us to see these two imposters just the same. They are borne of one divinely ordained principle: fitnah. The worldly life is a test from Allah until we meet Him and He judges our deeds and intentions. That is where true joy or grief will be realised. Allah says: “Every soul shall taste death, and we try you with good and evil as a fitnah, and unto Us you shall be returned.” (21:35)
• Ours is the all-embracing, non-rejecting, unified nation under God. While every other religion picks and chooses its prophets, we honour, respect, and follow the essential teachings of every single divinely inspired messenger. Allah concludes the narratives of the prophets by saying: “Indeed, this is your ummah—a single ummah—and I am your Lord, so worship Me!” (21:92)
• We cannot perceive the Divine solely via the lens of jalāl (majesty which inspires awe) or jamāl (beauty which inspires want). The prophets were the best of mankind. Allah praises them by saying: “They used to hasten towards good works and call upon Us in hope and fear, and they were humbly submissive before Us.” (21:90)

Virtues and Valuable Information

• The Prophet ﷺ said: “The supplication of Dhū al-Nūn (Yūnus) which he called with upon Allah in the belly of the fish was: ﴾لا إلَـٰهَ إلّا أنْتَ سُبْحانَكَ إنِّي كُنْتُ مِنَ الظّالِمِينَ﴿. No Muslim calls upon Allah by it except that Allah answers their call.”
• On the authority of ʿĀmir ibn Rabīʿah, a man offered him some land in return for his kindness and hospitality. It was a section from a sought-after valley. ʿĀmir replied by saying: “I have no need for your land. Today, a sūrah was revealed which disillusioned us from the worldly life: ‘Their reckoning draws near for mankind, while they are in a heedless stupor, turning away.’ (21:1)”