Surah 31

Luqmān

(Makkan Period)

Title

Verses 13-19 of this sūrah contain the sage Luqman's advice to his son. Accordingly, the surah was named after him.

Period of Revelation

A careful study of the surah's contents indicates that it was revealed at a time when Islam's opponents had begun to adopt a variety of oppressive measures to arrest the spread of its message. At the time, however, this storm of hostility had not yet reached its peak. This seems to be indicated by verses 14-15, whereby those youths, who had freshly converted to Islam, were told that they ought to be dutiful to their parents, this being next only to their duty to God. At the same time, they were also directed to pay no heed to them if they prevented them from embracing Islam or compelled them to revert to their original polytheistic faith. The same directive is also found in Surah al-'Ankabūt (see verse 8). This shows that both sūrahs - Luqmān and al-'Ankabut – were revealed around the same time. However, the content and overall stylistic features of these sūrahs suggest that of the two, Surah Luqman was revealed prior to al-'Ankabut. This because the former does not betray that it was revealed in the context of the unbelievers' vehement opposition to Islam. Conversely, anyone who reads Surah al-'Ankabūt cannot fail to notice that it was revealed when the Muslims were being subjected to severe persecution.

Subject Matter and Themes

The surah impresses on people the utter falsehood and absurdity of polythesism. Conversely, it stresses how absolutely sound and reasonable monotheism is. It also invites people to abandon blindly following the ways of their forefathers and to consider, with unbiased minds, what the Prophet Muhammad (peace be on him) was teaching them on God's behalf. They were also asked to look around and observe the innumerable Signs in the Universe and within their own beings that bore witness to the truth of the Prophet's teachings.

In this regard, it also emphasises that the Islamic call to acknowledge God as the only Lord is not new at all. It had not just risen for the first time in the world nor was it new to the Arabian Peninsula. Monotheism was, therefore, neither bizarre nor alien to the Arabs. People known in the past for their knowledge, reason and wisdom had said much the same that the Prophet Muhammad (peace be on him) was saying. It was also significant that in Arabia itself there had lived some time previously a sage called Luqman whose wisdom and insight were proverbial among the Arabs. Thanks to this legendary fame, Luqmān's maxims had become commonplace and were often quoted in day-to-day conversation and had also found their way into oratory and poetry.

People are being asked in this sūrah to consider the beliefs Luqman expounded and the morals he sought to promote. The implicit suggestion is that they should examine whether or not the beliefs and morals expounded by him conform with what the Prophet Muhammad (peace be on him) was teaching them.