Surah 6
(Makkan Period)
Title
The title refers to verses 136 ff., which dispel the superstitions common in Arabia regarding the unlawfulness of various types of cattle.
Period of Revelation
According to a tradition from Ibn 'Abbās, this surah was revealed as one piece in Makka. (Cf. the introduction to the surah by Qurtubi and 'Ālūsī, and the traditions mentioned therein - Ed.) Asma' bint Yazid, the cousin of Mu'adh b. Jabal, says: 'When this surah was being revealed to the Prophet (peace be on him) he was mounted on a she-camel, whose nose-string I was holding in my hand. The burden on the she-camel was so excessive that it seemed as if her bones would soon snap into pieces.' Traditions also mention that the Prophet (peace be on him) had this surah written down the very night it was revealed.
From a glance at the subjects discussed, it is evident that this surah must have been revealed during the last period of the Prophet's life in Makka. This seems to be confirmed by the tradition from Asma' bint Yazid (cited above), for she belonged to the Anṣār (Helpers) of Madina, and embraced Islam after the Prophet's migration to the city. Assuming that she visited the Prophet (peace be on him) in Makka, as an admirer, before having embraced Islam, this visit must have taken place during the very last year of the Prophet's stay in Makka. Before that stage, relations between the Prophet (peace be on him) and the people of Madina were not so close as to have occasioned a visit by a woman.
Background
At the time when this surah was revealed the Messenger of God (peace be on him) had already spent twelve years calling people to Islam. Resistance to this movement, and the persecution and oppression of the Muslims at the hands of the Quraysh, had reached their apogee. Many Muslims had even forsaken their homeland because of constant harassment and had settled in Abyssinia. The Prophet (peace be on him) himself had been deprived of the protection of his uncle, Abū Ṭālib, and the support of his wife, Khadijah, for both had by then passed away. Although cut off from all earthly support, the Prophet (peace be on him) continued to preach his message in the face of severe opposition. Thanks to these efforts, the righteous among the inhabitants of Makka and its environs began to embrace Islam. Nevertheless, the people as a whole seemed bent upon rejecting the message of the Prophet (peace be on him). As soon as a person showed the slightest inclination to Islam, he was derided and subjected to physical persecution and social and economic boycott. In this bleak situation, a faint ray of hope arose from Yathrib (later to be called Madina). A number of influential members of the Aws and Khazraj tribes of this city had already visited the Prophet (peace be on him) and had taken the oath of fealty at his hands. From then on Islam began to spread there without significant internal resistance. But few could have had the insight to appreciate in full measure the potentialities for the future in this modest beginning. As commonly perceived, Islam was then a moribund movement without material support, a movement whose leader was backed by no power except the feeble protection of his own family, a movement whose tiny band of helpless followers had been scattered like dry leaves and for no other reason than that they had abandoned the beliefs and way of life of their people.
Main Themes
Such were the conditions at the time when this surah was revealed, and its themes may be classified into the following categories:
(1) to repudiate polytheism and call men to pure monotheism;
(2) to preach belief in the Hereafter and refute the notion that there will be no life after the present one;
(3) to refute the pagan superstitions to which people had fallen a prey;
(4) to inculcate the principles on the basis of which Islam seeks to erect the structure of human society;
(5) to clarify the issues relating to objections raised against the message of the Prophet (peace be on him);
(6) to console the Prophet (peace be on him) and the Muslims in general who had begun to feel disconcerted, even heart- broken, by the fact that despite their long struggle their mission did not seem to be making effective headway; and (7) to admonish and warn those who, in their heedlessness, inebriated folly and self-destructive ignorance, had adopted an attitude of denial and opposition to the Truth.
The surah does not deal separately with each of these subjects; it takes up one after the other and treats them in a different fashion on each occasion.
The Prophet's Life in Makka
Since in the following pages the reader will be studying a surah which was revealed during the Prophet's life in Makka, it seems pertinent to place before him a detailed background to the Makkan surahs as a whole.
The exact period of revelation of the Madinan surahs is more or less known to us. In fact, there are reliable traditions which refer to the revelation of individual verses as opposed to surahs. Our information regarding the Makkan surahs, however, is not abundant. There are very few surahs and verses for which we possess well-es- tablished and fully trustworthy traditions regarding their context and period of revelation. The reason is that the Makkan period of the Prophet's life was not recorded in such elaborate detail as the Madinan period. So instead of relying on direct, historical traditions and evidence we have to look at the internal evidence provided by the themes, contents and styles of different surahs, and on the direct and indirect allusions to their background. Such fragmentary evi- dence does not enable us to state with certainty the exact date or year in which a particular surah or verse was revealed. The most that we can do is to bear in mind the various pieces of evidence found in the Makkan surahs, to recall the main incidents in the Makkan period of the life of the Prophet (peace be on him), and then conclude, by comparing the two, which Makkan surah belongs to one and which to the other period of the Prophet's life in Makka. When we review the life of the Prophet (peace be on him) in Makka, from this standpoint, it seems to be divided into four major periods.
The first period commenced with the entrustment of the Prophetic mission to Muḥammad (peace be on him) and lasted for about three years, concluding with the public announcement of his message. During this period the spreading of the message was secret and discreet. It was addressed to a select few, with the result that the Makkans, in general, were scarcely aware of it.
The second period lasted for about two years, that is, from the public announcement of his ministry until the beginning of persecu- tion and oppression. The initial opposition turned into active resistance, then into a campaign of derision and lampooning, of slander, abuse and false propaganda, and of organized blocs of opposition. The result was that in the end those Muslims who were relatively poor, weak, and lacked support were badly harassed and even physically intimidated.
The third period opened with the start of persecution (the sixth year of prophethood) and lasted up till the death of the Prophet's uncle Abu Talib, and his wife, Khadijah in the tenth year of prophethood. This period, therefore, lasted for about five or six years. During it, opposition turned into violent hostility and because of the persecution and cruelty perpetrated by the pagans of Makka a good many Muslims migrated to Abyssinia. The Prophet (peace be on him), his family, his Companions and the rest of the Muslims were subjected to economic and social boycott with the result that they were confined to the ravine known as Shi'b Abi Talib.
The fourth period extended from the year 10 until the year 13 of prophethood. This was the period of utmost hardship and suffering for the Prophet (peace be on him) and his Companions. His life in Makka was made unbearable. When he went to Ta'if, that city offered him no shelter. On the occasion of Hajj, the Prophet (peace be on him) approached every single tribe with an appeal to accept his message, but the answer from each of them was a disappointing 'no'. The Makkans deliberated among themselves again and again as to what they should do with the Prophet (peace be on him): should they kill him, put him in prison, or should they banish him from their town? Ultimately, by the grace of God, the hearts of the Anşar (Helpers) opened to Islam, and at their invitation the Prophet (peace be on him) migrated to Madina.
The surahs revealed in each of these four periods are distinct from those revealed in the other periods, both in terms of content and style. At various places we find allusions to incidents which throw a clear enough light on the background against which the different parts of the surahs were revealed. The characteristics of each period are, to a large extent, conspicuous in the respective surah sections. It is on the basis of such indications that we shall try to determine, in our introductory remarks to each Makkan surah in this work, the exact Makkan period in which it was revealed.