Surah Al-Hajj: Verse 1 - يا أيها الناس اتقوا ربكم... - English

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Commentators differ on whether this Surah is Makkan or Madani. Ibn ` Abbas ؓ has expressed two views on different occasions. However, a majority of commentators believe that the Surah is a combination of both the Makkan and Madani verses, and Qurtubi prefers this view. He has also mentioned the other peculiarities of this Surah, namely that some of its verses were revealed at night and some during the day; some were revealed during travels and some when the Holy Prophet ﷺ was not traveling; some were revealed in Makkah and others at Madinah; some were revealed in the middle of battle and others in peace time. Some verses of this Surah are nasikh (verses of the Qur'an abrogating some other verses), and some are mansookh (verses of the Qur'an which have been abrogated by others); some are muhkam while others are mutashabih (مُتَشَابِہ). Indeed this Surah comprises all categories of revelations.

يَا أَيُّهَا النَّاسُ اتَّقُوا رَ‌بَّكُمْ (0 men, fear your Lord. - 22:1).This verse was revealed to the Holy Prophet ﷺ while he was traveling. He recited in a loud voice, so that all his companions gathered around him after hearing his voice. Then he addressed them "Do you know when the upheaval of the Resurrection, which is mentioned in this verse, will take place?" They replied, "Allah and His Prophet ﷺ knows best." Then the Holy Prophet ﷺ said, "That will be the day when Allah will command Sayyidna 'Adam (علیہ السلام) to raise those people who have been marked out for hell. Sayyidna Adam (علیہ السلام) will ask Allah Ta'ala who those people are, and Allah will inform him that nine hundred and ninety nine out of every one thousand will go to hell." The Holy Prophet ﷺ then added, "That will be the time when small children will become old on account of terror, and pregnant women will abort their fetuses." The companions were frightened when they heard this and asked the Holy Prophet ﷺ ، "0 prophet of Allah! Who are those among us who will escape this terrible fate?" The Holy Prophet ﷺ replied, "Set your minds at ease. For every one thousand of the Gog and Magog (Ya’ juj and Ma'juj) there will be only one from amongst you." This incident is reported in Sahih Muslim on the authority of Abu Said Al-Khudri ؓ . There are other versions also according to which the Holy Prophet ﷺ is reported to have said, "On the Day of Resurrection you will find yourself with two peoples who will predominate numerically all the other peoples who would be near them. One of them is the tribe of Gog and Magog (یا جوج ماجوج) and the other is the Shaitan and his descendants, and those of the progeny of Sayyidna 'Adam (علیہ السلام) who have died earlier." Thus, among the nine hundred and ninety nine the majority will be from those peoples. Qurtubi and others have quoted these narrations.

When will the earthquake of the Day of Resurrection take place?

Will it happen before or after the dead are raised to life? Some people have opined that the earthquake will occur in this world before the Day of Judgment and will be among the last signs of the coming of the Dooms Day, to which reference has been made in several verses of the Qur'an, such as:

إِذَا زُلْزِلَتِ الْأَرْ‌ضُ زِلْزَالَهَا

When earth is shaken with a mighty shaking - 99:1

وَحُمِلَتِ الْأَرْ‌ضُ وَالْجِبَالُ فَدُكَّتَا دَكَّةً وَاحِدَةً

And the earth and the mountains are lifted up and crushed with a single blow - 69:14

إِذَا رُ‌جَّتِ الْأَرْ‌ضُ رَ‌جًّا

When the earth shall be rocked. 56:4

There are others who have deduced from the above-referred hadith that the earthquake will occur after the Dooms Day and Resurrection. In fact there is no inconsistency between these two views, because verses of the Qur'an and the ahadith of the Holy Prophet ﷺ may be quoted in support of either view. Allah knows best.

This verse also gives a picture of the earthquake of the Day of Resurrection when all the pregnant women will abort their fetuses and every breast-feeding woman nursing her child will be diverted from it. If the earthquake takes place in this world before the Dooms Day, then there is no ambiguity in all these happenings. But if the earthquake occurs after the Dooms Day, then the explanation would be that a pregnant woman would be raised on the Dooms Day in the same state, and a woman who died while breast-feeding her child will also be raised in the same condition along with her child. (Qurtubi). Allah knows best.

Which was revealed in Makkah

In the Name of Allah, the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful.

Another Version of this Hadith

At-Tirmidhi recorded from `Imran bin Husayn that when the words,

(O mankind! Have Taqwa of your Lord.) Until His saying,

(but Allah's torment is severe.) were revealed, the Prophet was on a journey, and he said:

(Do you know what Day that is) They said, "Allah and His Messenger know best." (He said: That is the Day on which Allah will say to Adam, "Send forth (those of your progeny) who are to be sent to the Fire." He will say, "O Lord, how many are to be sent to the Fire" He will say, "From every thousand, nine hundred and ninety-nine will be in the Fire and one will be in Paradise.") The Muslims started to weep, then the Messenger of Allah said:

(Be close in your rank and be straight forward, for there was never any Prophet but there was a time of ignorance just before his advent, so the number will be taken from that time of ignorance, and if that is not enough, it will be made up from the hypocrites. A parable of yours in comparison to the other nations is that, you are like a mark on the foreleg of an animal, or a mole on the flank of a camel.) Then he said,

(I hope that you will be a quarter of the people of Paradise.) They said, "Allahu Akbar!" Then he said,

(I hope that you will be a third of the people of Paradise.) They said, "Allahu Akbar!" Then he said,

(I hope that you will be half of the people of Paradise.) They said, "Allahu Akbar!" Then he the narrator said, "I do not know if he said two-thirds or not." This was also recorded by Imam Ahmad. Then At-Tirmidhi also said, "This is a Hasan Sahih Hadith." In his Tafsir, under this Ayah, Al-Bukhari recorded that Abu Sa`id said, "The Prophet said:

(On the Day of Resurrection, Allah will say: "O Adam." He will say, "At Your service, O Lord." Then a voice will call out: "Allah commands you to send forth from your progeny those who are destined for the Fire." He will say, "O Lord, who is destined for the Fire" He will say, "From every thousand" -- I think he said -- "nine hundred and ninety-nine." At that time every pregnant female will drop her load and children will turn grey. (and you shall see mankind as in a drunken state, yet they will not be drunken, but Allah's torment is severe.)) That will be so difficult for mankind to bear that their faces will change. The Prophet said:

(Nine hundred and ninety-nine from Ya'juj and Ma'juj, and one from you. Among mankind you are like a black hair on the side of a white bull, or a white hair on the side of a black bull. I hope that you will be one quarter of the people of Paradise.) We said "Allahu Akbar!" Then he said, (A third of the people of Paradise.) We said, "Allahu Akbar!" Then he said, (One half of the people of Paradise.) We said: `Allahu Akbar!" Al-Bukhari also recorded this elsewhere. It was also recorded by Muslim, and An-Nasa'i in his Tafsir. The Hadiths and reports about the terrors of the Day of Resurrection are very many, and this is not the place to quote them all.

(Verily, the earthquake of the Hour is a terrible thing.) means, a serious matter, a terrifying crisis, a horrendous event. This earthquake is what will happen to people when they are filled with terror, as Allah says:

(There, the believers were tried and shaken with a mighty shaking.) 33:11. Then Allah says:

(The Day you shall see it, every nursing mother will forget her nursling,) means, she will be distracted by the horror of what she is seeing, which will make her forget the one who is the dearest of all to her and to whom she shows the most compassion. Her shock will make her neglect her infant at the very moment of breastfeeding, Allah says,

(every nursing mother), and He did not say a mother who has an infant of breastfeeding age.

(her nursling) means, her nursing infant that has not yet been weaned.

(and every pregnant one will drop her load,) means, before the pre- gnancy has reached full term, because of the intensity of the horror.

(and you shall see mankind as in a drunken state,) means, because of the severity of their situa- tion, when they will lose their minds, so that whoever sees them, will think, that they are drunk,

(yet they will not be drunken, but Allah's torment is severe.)