Surah 3
(Madinan Period)
Title
The house of 'Imran is mentioned once in this surah and has symbolically been chosen as its title.
Period of Revelation
This surah comprises four discourses. The first discourse runs from the beginning of the surah till verse 32, and was probably revealed not long after the Battle of Badr. The second opens with 3: 33: 'Truly Allah chose Adam, Noah, the descendants of Abraham and of 'Imran over all mankind', and continues to 3: 63. This was revealed in 9 A.H. at the time of the deputation of Christians from Najrän. The third opens with 3: 64 and concludes with 3: 120. The period of its revelation is approximately the same as that of the first discourse. The fourth runs from 3: 121 to the end of the surah. It was revealed after the Battle of Uḥud.
Subject Matter and Central Theme
These various discourses are permeated by a unity of purpose and theme. The surah is addressed in the main to two groups: the People of the Book (i.e. the Jews and Christians), and those who believe in Muḥammad (peace be on him) as God's message-bearer.
In this surah the first of these groups is admonished, along the same lines as in Surah 2. They are censured for their doctrinal errors and moral corruption, and are told that the Prophet (peace be on him) and the Qur'an invite them to the same true religion preached by the Prophets from the earliest times. The deviant course they have adopted is inconsistent with the very scriptures which they themselves acknowledge to be of Divine origin. They ought, there- fore, to accept the Truth now placed before them by Muḥammad (peace be on him).
Further directives, similar to those found in Surah 2, are addressed to the second group of people (the Muslims), since they are pro- claimed to be the 'best nation'. (Qur'an 3: 109-Ed.) In this capacity the Muslims are required to be the standard-bearers of the Truth, and are made responsible for the reform of the world. The Jews' and Christians' record of religious and moral degeneration is placed before them as a warning. They are told how they should act as a nation devoted to bringing about reforms in the world, and how to deal with the People of the Book and the hypocrites who place all kinds of obstructions in the way of God. Moreover, their attention is drawn to the need to reform themselves, and to root out the weaknesses which came to light during the Battle of Badr.
This surah is thus not only characterized by a unity of theme and inner coherence, but also appears so intimately related to Surah 2 that it can be considered a logical supplement to it.
Historical Background
At about the time this surah was revealed, the followers of the Prophet (peace be on him) had already encountered fierce trials and tribulations, the advent of which had been foretold in Surah 2. Even though the believers had won a victory at Badr, a hornet's nest had been disturbed, in that all those forces in Arabia hostile to the new movement were alerted. The Muslims were in a state of unease and fear. It seemed that the small town of Madina, which endured the wrath of most of the neighbouring societies, might be wiped out completely. The situation also aggravated the town's economic pos- ition, not least because of the dislocation and imbalance caused by the large influx of immigrants.
The Jewish tribes around Madina were in no way disposed to honour the agreements they had concluded with the Prophet (peace be on him) after his migration from Makka. At the time of the Battle of Badr their sympathies clearly lay with the idol-worshipping polytheists rather than with the Muslims who believed in the One True God, in Prophethood, in the Divine Scriptures and in the After- life. After the Battle of Badr these tribes openly promoted the Quraysh and other Arab tribes to avenge themselves on the Muslims. In particular the chief of Banu Nadir, Ka'b b. al-Ashraf had carried his manoeuvres to the point of implacable hostility and downright treachery. Leaving aside all other considerations, the Jews had disregarded the centuries-old friendship and good neighbourliness which had existed between them and the people of Madina.
Finally, their brazen violation of treaty obligations exceeded all reasonable limits. A few months after the Battle of Badr, the Prophet (peace be on him) launched an attack upon Banu Qaynuqā', the most hostile of the Jewish tribes, and banished them from the outskirts of Madina. This inflamed the animosity of the remaining Jewish tribes, who began to hatch conspiracies in collaboration with the hypocrites of Madina and the polytheistic tribes of the Ḥijäz, so much so that people feared a murderous assault on the Prophet (peace be on him). The situation was so alarming that the Compan- ions kept their weapons at their sides day and night, and a constant vigil was maintained. If the Prophet (peace be on him) ventured out of sight for any length of time the Companions launched a search immediately.
The Quraysh were smarting from the defeat of Badr, and the Jewish efforts to arouse their feelings of revenge were like pouring oil on flames. Within a year they attacked Madina again with an army of three thousand. This was the Battle of Uḥud (named after the mountain in the valley of which it was fought). A thousand Madinans accompanied by the Prophet engaged the invading army. Three hundred of these, (the hypocrites), however, cut themselves off from the army of the Prophet and returned to Madina. Even among the seven hundred left with the Prophet (peace be on him) there was still a small group of hypocrites who did their best to demoralize the Muslim ranks during the course of the battle. This was the first occasion when the problem of enemies within their own ranks became manifest to the Muslims.
Although the machinations of the hypocrites contributed a good deal to the setback suffered by the Muslims in the Battle of Uḥud, their own weaknesses also played an equal role. It should be recalled, however, that the Muslims had not been a group for long, and had been organized on the basis of a common devotion to a faith and ideology, and a shared commitment to follow a set of principles. A process of moral instruction and discipline was in operation, but had not yet reached maturity. For a group which was fighting to defend its beliefs and convictions for only the second time in its history, it was only natural that some of its members should betray certain weaknesses in their conduct. The battle's results called for a detailed review of the events connected with it: the weaknesses found among the Muslims, according to Islamic standards of judgement, were pointed out and directives were given with a view to helping them purify and reform themselves. It is instructive, with this in mind, to study with care the Qur'anic comments on the incident, and to see how these differ from comments generally made by military commanders in the aftermath of battles!