106. SURAH QURAISH

NAME: In the first Verse a mention of Quraish is made, from which the Surah takes its name.

TIME OF REVELATION: In this Surah the words’ ‘Rabba Hazal bait’ (Lord of this house) occur, which are proof of the fact that this is a Makkan Surah, because the pronoun ‘this’ could be proper for the House of Ka’ba only when it was being revealed in Makka.

CENTRAL THEME: From the subject matter it appears that it must have been revealed after the Surah Al-Feel: Allah has a right on the Quraish that they should worship Him only. In Verses Nos.1 and 2, astonishment is expressed over the attachment that the Quraish have for their trade journeys, because this blessing was available to them by the grace of Allah on account of His House (Ka’ba), but they were ungrateful to Him. In Verse No.3, the demand of this gift and blessing has been stated to be that they should worship only Allah. In Verse No.4, it has been mentioned that the livelihood and peace are the favours granted by Allah, and in acknowledging them they should worship only Allah.

SURAH QURAISH

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

1. How much attachment ¹ the Quraish ² have !

2. The attachment that they have for the journeys in winter and summer. ³

3. So let them worship the Lord of this House. ⁴,⁵

4. Who fed them against hunger and made them safe from fear. ⁶

1. Le (Lam-i-Majroor) has been used here to express astonishment, which in ‘Arabic is called the ‘Lam of Astonishment’. Ibn Jarir Tabri too has preferred this meaning, and therefore, we have translated ‘Li-Eelafi’ as ‘How much attachment they have’!

2. Quraish is the name of a tribe, that were the Trustees of the House of Ka’ba. Prophet Ibrahim had settled his son, Prophet Ismail, in the land of Makka The Quraish were his descendents. One branch of this tribe was known as ‘Bani Hashim’. Prophet Muhammad (S.A.W.) belonged to this family.

3. The land in Makka was not cultivable, therefore, Quraish made trade their occupation. Accordingly, their trade caravans used to go to Yemen in winter and in summer to Syria and Palestine. These trade journeys were a great means of earning their livelihood and were source of addition to their incomes. Although their routes lay on the international highways, they were not safe on account of lack of lawand- order arrangements and highway robberies which were common in those days. Inspite of this, the caravans of the Quraish used to travel safely, because the people respected them being the trustees of .the House of Ka’aba. Besides, they had also obtained trade concessions from the kings of these regions, which allowed them to come and go through their countries unchecked. Accordingly, Hashim, the great grandfather of the Prophet, had obtained concessions from the Kings of Syria, Rome and Ghassan; Abd Shams from Najjashi; Naufal from Cyrus and Muttalib from Himyer (Yemen). -(Al-Bidayah Wan-Nihayah Vol. II, P. 253).

In this way the paths of earning livelihood were opened to them on account of the House of Allah, and even during the common disorderly conditions, their journeys were safe and peaceful. On account of these advantages they loved their trade journeys and therefore they went regularly to Yemen in winter and to Syria and Palestine in summer. Since the region of Yemen is warm, they preferred to travel to Yemen in winter and since the region of Syria and Palestine is cold, they considered it proper to travel there in summer.

In this verse their love for and attachment to these trade journeys has been considered as something astonishing, because from their behaviour they were showing that they were ungrateful and did not recognize Truth, for these blessings were available to them on account of the House of Allah. But they had forgotten the right of God. They ate the provisions and the food supplied by Allah, but they sang praises of the idols.

4. This House means the House of Ka’ba.

5. The attention of the Quraish is invited to this fact that when they recognized the House of Ka’ba as the House of Allah, they should pay its due and do the right thing by it, and that is they should worship only Allah and should not worship any other person or thing besides Him. Similarly on account of this House the trade advantages that they were getting and the comfort and security which were theirs demanded that they should live as the grateful slaves of the Lord of this House and they should not be ungrateful.

The House of Ka’ba was constructed for the worship of the One and the Only Allah. Then what propriety the Trustees of this House had to indulge in worshipping idols instead of Allah?

6.In those days the economic condition of the Arabs was very poor. The geographical conditions of that region were such that there was scarcity of the food grains and other provisions. This was the region of famine and scarcity. Moreover, on account of there being the tribal system and the absence of a strong government there was general disorder. Murders and robberies had disturbed their peace, but the condition of the Quraish, from the economic point of view and that of the law and order was much better. Their economic condition was better because of their trade journeys. As regards peace and security, they were available to them even in the city of Makkah, and outside. The peace in Makkah was on account of its being a holy city, and outside the city no person, tribe or government could dare attack them because they were the protectors of the Haram (holy place) and were considered as the servants of the pilgrims. In short, these two blessings, that is livelihood and peace and security were available to the Quraish because Allah had granted these things to them. Therefore, His gratitude and thanks were due from them. They were obliged to Allah and not to the idols, which had absolutely no say in removing their hunger and fear.

Although in this Surah the demand to worship the one and only God has been made to the Quraish, in reality this demand is to the entire humanity, for the Lord of all the humans is the same Who is the Lord of the House of Ka’ba.