Surah 44
(Smoke)
(Makkan Period)
Title
Since the word al-dukhān, meaning smoke, occurs in verse 10 of the surah, it is known by this title.
Period of Revelation
There is no clear indication in authentic traditions as to the precise time of the surah's revelation. Internal evidence provided by the surah's contents, however, indicates that it was revealed during the same time as when al-Zukhruf and other surahs belonging to this group were revealed. This surah, however, was revealed relatively later than the other surahs of the group.
As regards the surah's historical background, the following points are noteworthy. When the hostility of the unbelieving Makkans reached its climax, the Prophet (peace be on him) prayed to God to aid him by afflicting the Quraysh with a famine similar to that which had broken out in the days of the Prophet Joseph (peace be on him.) The Prophet (peace be on him) did so hoping that the famine would open the unbelievers' hearts to Truth and possibly prompt them to turn to God. It was expected that in their hour of severest distress they might become receptive to admonition. As for the Prophet's prayer, God accepted it and a severe famine overtook the Makkans. Eventually, some Makkan chiefs, including Abu Sufyan, as stated in a tradition narrated by 'Abd Allah ibn Mas'ud, called on the Prophet (peace be on him) and implored him to pray to God to deliver the people, his own people, from this calamity. It was in these circumstances that this surah was revealed. (Tabari, Tafsir, comments on Surah al-Dukhān 44: 10.)
Subject Matter and Themes
The introduction to the surah, which aims to instruct and warn the Makkan unbelievers, was comprised of the following crucial points:
(1) In the first place, the people of Makkah were told that they had a very flawed notion about the Qur'an. They were totally wrong in considering it to be the product of a human mind, whereas, in fact, it contains every evidence that it is the Word of God.
(2) They are also mistaken as regards the worth of the Qur'ān since they consider its revelation nothing short of a calamity. The fact, however, is that the Qur'an was revealed at a highly blessed moment when God, out of sheer mercy, decided to raise His Messenger and send His Book for the guidance of the people of Makkah in the first instance.
(3) They were also mistaken in believing that they would be able to vanquish God's Messenger and overwhelm His Book. The advent of the Messenger and the sending down of the Book happened at that particular moment when God decides the fate of a people. God's decisions are not half-baked or tentative so that people might arbitrarily abrogate them. Since God's decrees are fully backed by knowledge and wisdom, they cannot and do not contain any imperfection or flaw. God's decrees are final since He is also All-Seeing, All-Knowing, and All-Wise. It would be no joke to trifle with these decrees.
(4) The Makkan unbelievers themselves regard God as the Lord and Sustainer of the whole universe. They, nevertheless, also take others besides God as objects of devotion and worship. They have no solid argument to justify their stance. Their only plea is that this practice has come down to them from their ancestors of yore. Yet if someone recognises that God alone is the Lord and Sustainer of the universe, and that He alone grants life and causes death, it would not even occur to him that there could be any deity other than the One True God. The unbelievers' plea was that they had found their ancestors worshipping other deities and hence, they felt they should hold on to this. However, given that their ancestors had committed a folly, what good reason could there be for clinging to such irrationality?
(5) Since God is the Lord and Sustainer of human beings this not only requires that He provide for their physical and material needs, but also that He provide for their guidance. It is for this reason that God has raised His Messengers and sent His Books.
These introductory observations are followed by an account of the famine which afflicted Makkah at that time. As we have stated above, God caused a famine to break out at the Prophet's asking. The Prophet (peace be on him) had asked God for it in the hope that such adversity might shake the unbelievers out of their arrogance whereafter they might heed words of admonition. Indeed, even diehard unbelievers were seen exclaiming at that difficult hour that if God were to deliver them from this famine, they would embrace faith.
In this regard, the Prophet (peace be on him) is virtually told that these afflictions will hardly prompt unbelievers to mend their ways. They had refused to listen to God's Messenger whose words and deeds fully demonstrated the genuineness of his claim to Messengership. So how can a famine shake such obstinate people out of their stupor? The unbelievers are categorically told that their promise to embrace faith after they were rescued from the famine was absolutely hollow. The famine will, nonetheless, be ended in order to further test them. It is apparent, however, that they are incapable of drawing the right lessons from such incidents as their deliverance from famine. In other words, it is unlikely that they will take any lesson from it. It will hardly rouse unbelievers out of their negligence. It appears they are heading steadily towards their doom. What they perhaps need is not a mild jolt of misfortune but rather a shake-up of catastrophic proportions.
In this connection, reference is made to Pharaoh and his people. They were also subjected to the same kind of test that the unbelieving Quraysh were then facing and an outstanding Messenger, Moses (peace be on him), was sent to them. Despite the fact that they witnessed a number of miracles, they still did not give up their adamant opposition to the Truth. They even set about conspiring to assassinate God's Messenger. The result was that Pharaoh and his people encountered a massive catastrophe, one that has become a lesson for all times.
This is followed by a discourse on the Hereafter, a belief that was vehemently rejected by the Makkan unbelievers. Their contention was that they had never seen anyone rise from the grave. If the Prophet's assertion about the Hereafter was true, they said, he should bring their ancestors back to life before their very eyes. In this connection, two arguments were succinctly adduced to counter them and to reinforce belief in the Hereafter. First, it was pointed out that rejection of the Hereafter has always had a destructive effect on human morality. Secondly, that the universe itself is not a meaningless sport. On the contrary, its working is characterised by perfect wisdom arising from the fact that it was devised by the All-Wise God. As to the plea that the Prophet (peace be on him) should bring their ancestors back to life, it was pointed out that God has preordained the Day of Resurrection when all the dead will be brought back to life whereafter God will call all of them to account. Each of them, then, should better worry about his own salvation for no one will be able to help or support anyone else on the Day of Judgement.
After facing God's judgement, all who are found guilty will meet a terrible end and those declared successful will be showered with God's rewards. By way of conclusion it is pointed out that the Qur'an has been sent down in their own tongue and in a clear, simple style such that it is easy for them to understand it. If they still refuse to take heed, they should just wait a little while until the ultimate reality becomes manifest to them in all its starkness.