Essence of the Holy Qur’an — Page 56
56 Chapter 25 Al-Furq a n 7 $ (Revealed before Hijrah) Date of Revelation and Context Preponderance of scholarly opinion regards this S u rah as of Meccan origin and assigns it to the last Meccan period. Certain Western writers are of the view that it was revealed very early in the Holy Prophet’s ministry. They attribute this inference to the absence of any reference to persecution of Muslims on the part of the Quraish which, they say, began some years later. This assumption is too flimsy to merit serious consideration. This is like saying that because some Medinite Chapters are almost devoid of any mention of disbelievers, therefore, no fighting had taken place between Muslims and disbelievers in the Medinite period. S u rah An-N u r had ended on a note about the very great importance and usefulness of the Islamic organisation. It had also stated that certain Muslims were unacquainted with its great potentialities; on the other hand, they were afraid of the organisation of disbelievers which was rotten to the core. The present S u rah gives the reasons why the fear of the people of weak of faith is but an illusion and a figment of their own distraught imagination and does not exist in fact. Subject-Matter The S u rah opens with the categorical statement that the Qur’ a nic Message is meant for the whole of mankind. It further says that the Almighty God Who has revealed the Qur’ a n is the sole and undisputed Master of the heavens and the earth, and the sole Creator of every atom of the universe. His Word, therefore, is and must be in perfect harmony with the laws of nature, hence its acceptance or rejection does not merely mean the acceptance or rejection of a revealed Law but amounts to submission to or violation of the laws of nature itself. Next, it is stated that because disbelievers find it difficult to deny the excellence and superiority of the teachings of the Qur’ a n, they take refuge behind the subterfuge that it is not the work of a single individual but is the result of the combined efforts of many persons. They further allege that its teaching has been plagiarised from old Scriptures. But these pleas possess no substance because if the Qur’ a n had been the work of human effort, it could not have possessed a teaching which it is beyond the power of man to produce. And if it had been merely a copy of the ancient Scriptures, those Scriptures should also have possessed the excellences and beauties possessed by it, but that is not the case. Next, it answers some worn out and hackneyed objections of disbelievers such as the Holy Prophet is a mere mortal and is subject to the demands of the flesh.