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40. Mumin
Name
The Sura takes its name Al Mu'min from verse 28
implying thereby
that it is a Sura in which Al Mu'min (the Believer of Pharaoh's people) has been mentioned.
Period of Revelation
According to Ibn 'Abbas and Jabir bin Zaid
this Sura was sent down consecutively after Sura Az-Zumar
and its present position in the order of the Suras in the Quran is the same as its chronological order.
Background of Revelation
There are clear indications in the subject matter of this Surah to the conditions in which it
was revealed. The disbelievers of Makkah at that time were engaged in two kinds of the
activities against the Holy Prophet. First, they were creating every kind of suspicion and
misgiving in the minds of the people about the teaching of the Quran and the message of
Islam and about the Holy Prophet himself by starting many disputes and discussions,
raising irrelevant objections and bringing ever new accusations so that the Holy Prophet
and the believers were sick of trying to answer them. Second, they were preparing the
ground for putting an end to the Holy Prophet himself. They were devising one plot after
the other, and on one occasion had even taken the practical steps to execute a plot.
Bukhari has related a tradition on the authority of Hadrat Abdullah bin Amr bin 'As saying
that one day when the Holy Prophet was offering his Prayer in the precincts of the
Kaabah, suddenly 'Uqbah bin Abi Mu'ait, rushed forward and putting a piece of cloth
round his neck started twisting it so as to strangle him to death. Hadrat Abu Bakr, who
happened to go there in time, pushed him away. Hadrat Abdullah says that when Abu
Bakr was struggling with the cruel man, he was saying words to the effect: "Would you
kill a man only because he says: Allah is my Lord?" With a little variation this event has
also been mentioned in Ibn Hisham, Nasa'i and Ibn Abi Hatim.
Theme and Topics
Both aspects of this have been clearly stated at the very outset, and then the whole
following discourse is a most effective and instructive review of them.
As an answer to the conspiracies of murder, the story of the Believer of the people of
Pharaoh has been acknowledge the prophethood of Muhammad (upon whom be Allah's peace), your power and authority will come to an end. That is why you are straining every
nerve to frustrate and defeat him." In the same connection, the disbelievers have been
warned again and again to the effect: "If you do not desist from wrangling against the
Revelations of Allah, you will be doomed to the same fate as the nations of the past.
Much worse torment awaits you in the Hereafter. Then you will repent, but it will be too
late."
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