Essence of the Holy Qur’an — Page 9
9 Chapter 3 A l-e-‘Imr a n (Revealed after Hijrah) Connection with the Preceding S u rah There exists such a deep and far-reaching connection between this S u rah and the preceding one, Al-Baqarah, that the two are called Az-Zahraw a n (The Two Bright Ones). Whereas Al-Baqarah deals with the wrong beliefs and evil practices of the Jews with whom began the Mosaic Dispensation, the present S u rah deals mainly with the wrong doctrines and dogmas of Christianity which subject constitutes its culmination. The S u rah is named A l-e-‘Imr a n (The Family of ‘Imr a n). ‘Imr a n or ‘Amr a n was the father of Moses and Aaron, the progenitors of the family from which sprang Mary, the mother of Jesus, brief account of whose life and mission is given in this S u rah. Being closely connected with Al-Baqarah, the S u rah may be safely supposed to have been revealed immediately after it. A detailed mention of the Battle of U h ud places its revelation in the third year of the Hijrah. A l-e-‘Imr a n has a twofold connection with Al-Baqarah. First, there subsists a strong and deep link between the subject-matter of the whole of this S u rah and that of the whole of S u rah Al-Baqarah, and another link equally strong between the concluding portion of Al-Baqarah and the opening verses of this S u rah. In fact, the order in the Qur’ a n is of two kinds. Either, the topic with which one Chapter is concluded is continued in the following Chapter, or the whole of the subject matter of the preceding Chapter is referred to in the next. This two-fold connection also exists between Al-Baqarah and A l-e-‘Imr a n. The connection of the whole subject-matter of A l-e-‘Imr a n with that of Al-Baqarah mainly consists in a description of the causes that led to the transfer of Prophethood from the Mosaic to the Islamic Dispensation. This was the main theme of Al-Baqarah, and in explanation of it the degenerate condition of the Jews was dealt with at some length in that S u rah. But in Al-Baqarah very little light was shed on Christianity, in which culminated the Mosaic Dispensation. This omission could have given rise to the seemingly legitimate doubt that though Judaism which constituted the beginning of the Mosaic Dispensation had become corrupt, its culmination, the Christian Faith, was still pure; and hence, apparently there was no necessity of introducing and establishing a new religion—Islam. To remove this doubt, the hollowness of the Christian dogmas has been exposed in the present S u rah. Title The S u rah is known by several names in the H ad i th, i. e. Az-Zahr a ’ (The