Surah 40
(The Believer)
(Makkan Period)
Title
The title is derived from verse 28: 'Then a man endowed with faith (mu'min), from Pharaoh's folk, who had kept his faith hidden, said...' The significance of giving the surah this title is to be found in the fact that it talks about that man of faith.
Period of Revelation
According to 'Abd Allah ibn 'Abbās and Jābir ibn Zayd, this surah was revealed soon after the revelation of Surah al-Zumar. It is, accordingly, placed next to that sūrah. (Ālūsī, Rūḥ al-Ma'ānī, introductory remarks on Surah al-Mu'min 40.)
Background
The circumstantial setting in which the surah was revealed is indicated by its contents. At that point in time the Makkan unbelievers had initiated the following two kinds of activities against the Prophet (peace be on him): (i) On the one hand, they had raised a storm of controversy and adversarial propaganda against the Prophet (peace be on him) on all possible issues. By levelling a whole range of allegations against the Qur'ān, Islam and the Prophet (peace be on him), they tried to create myriad doubts and misgivings in people's minds. Furthermore, such negativity could not be easily removed. Perhaps inevitably then the accumulation of such misgivings created by this vicious onslaught naturally vexed the Prophet (peace be on him) and the believers. (ii) Additionally, the unbelievers had also begun to prepare the ground for the Prophet's assassination. As a part of this plan they hatched several conspiracies. On one occasion, they even took concrete steps towards assassinating him. Bukhārī has recorded the following tradition on the authority of 'Abd Allah ibn 'Amr ibn al-'As: 'Once while the Prophet (peace be on him) was offering Prayer in the Holy Mosque [of Makkah], 'Uqbah ibn Mu'ayt surged forward and tied a piece of cloth around the Prophet's neck so as to strangle him. In the meantime, Abu Bakr arrived on the scene and pushed 'Uqbah away from the Prophet (peace be on him). While trying to release the Prophet (peace be on him) from 'Uqbah's grip he kept saying: "Would you kill a person simply because he says: 'My Lord in Allah?"'' (Bukhārī, Kitāb Tafsir al-Qur'an, Bāb Surah al- Mu'min.) This tradition, in a slightly different form, also features in Ibn Hisham's Sirah and is also cited by Nasa'i and Ibn Abi Ḥātim. ('Abd al-Malik ibn Hishām, al-Sīrah al-Nabawiyah, Muṣṭafā al-Saqqā et al. eds., Beirut: Där Iḥya' al-Turāth al-'Arabi, n.d., vol. I, p. 310; Nasā'ī, al-Sunan al-Kubrā, Kitāb al-Tafsir, Bāb Surah Ghafir; Ibn Abi Ḥātim, Tafsir, comments on Surah al-Mu'min 40: 28.)
Subject Matter and Themes:
Both these aspects of the prevalent state of affairs are clearly indicated in the surah's opening part. The discourse that then follows represents a moving and instructive commentary on the situation.
In response to the assassination attempts on the Prophet (peace be on him) the story of the man of faith belonging to Pharaoh's community is recounted (see verses 23-55). Through this story, three different lessons are imparted to three concerned groups of people:
(i) The Makkan unbelievers are told that what they had planned to do against the Prophet Muhammad (peace be on him) is exactly the same as what Pharaoh had planned to do against the Prophet Moses (peace be on him). The Makkan unbelievers are also warned that if they tried to repeat what Pharaoh and his community attempted to do, the consequence of their efforts will, in the end, be no different from that of Pharaoh and his followers.
(ii) The Prophet (peace be on him) and his Companions are assured that disregarding the fact that the believers are weak and helpless in comparison to the unbelievers, and that the latter are seemingly dominant and able to oppress the believers, they are nonetheless striving to exalt the faith prescribed by God, the Mightiest of all mighties. They, therefore, have no reason to be cowed down. When confronted with the unbelievers' enmity, their response should be as follows: 'I have taken refuge with my Lord and your Lord from everyone who waxes arrogant and does not believe in the Day of Reckoning' (verse 27). As believers consistently follow God's way, God will strengthen them by His support and eventually their tormentors will eat dust just as had happened with the tormentors of the past - in this case Pharaoh and his supporters. Believers should always stand valiantly firm in the teeth of such hostility and brutal repression.
(iii) Additionally, there were those who were inwardly convinced that the truth lay with the Prophet (peace be on him) and yet they watched in detached silence the unfolding conflict between truth and falsehood. God arouses the consciences of such people, reproaching them for their inaction after they have witnessed the brazen wrongdoing perpetrated by the enemies of truth. In such circumstances what behoves a man whose conscience is alive is that he speaks out in support of the truth just as the man of faith belonging to the Pharaonic folk did. It is remarkable that such a man proclaimed the truth at a time when Pharaoh was planning to assassinate Moses (peace be on him). In this respect, then, concern for one's own interests and safety, factors that prevented people in Pharaoh's time from speaking the truth was no less important now than it was in the past. So we see how the man endowed with faith disregarded all considerations of self-interest and instead valiantly declared: 'I entrust my affairs to Allah. Surely Allah is watchful over His servants' (verse 44).
As for the Makkan unbelievers' campaign against the Prophet (peace be on him), the Qur'an adduces a number of proofs that clearly establish him to be in the right. On the one hand, weighty proofs are put forward to establish the truth of monotheism and the Hereafter, the two articles of faith which the Makkan unbelievers vehemently opposed. It is forcefully shown how the unbelievers were engaged, for no understandable reason, in a campaign to oppose the truth and that this opposition had nothing by way of solid evidence or proof to support it. The surah also lays bare the motives behind the Quraysh chiefs' opposition to Islam, which was, in essence, their own lust for power. Accordingly, it is unequivocally stated in verse 56 that their denial stems simply from pride and arrogance. They feared that they would not be able to maintain their supremacy if the Prophet Muhammad (peace be on him) gained general recognition among people as God's Messenger. Hence their false pretexts to reject the Prophet's mission.
The Makkan unbelievers are given a severe warning whereby if they do not relinquish their adamant opposition to God's Signs, they will meet with the same terrible end that had overtaken the iniquitous nations of the past. As for the Hereafter, a much worse end awaits them. No sooner than the present life ends, they will experience great sorrow and remorse, but to no avail.