The Holy Quran with Five Volume Commentary (Vol 4) — Page 213
CHAPTER 22 AL-HAJJ (Partly revealed before Hijrah and partly after Hijrah) Time of Revelation According to scholarly opinion this Surah is both of Meccan and Medinite origin. A part of it was revealed before the Hijrah and a part after it. Ibn 'Abbas and Mujāhid are of the opinion that vv. 20, 21, 22 were revealed after the Hijrah while Ibn 'Abbās includes v. 23 also in this category. According to Daḥḥāk, however, the whole Surah was revealed after the Hijrah. Order and Arrangement of the Sūrah The immediate connection of this Surah with its predecessor, the Surah Al-Anbiyā', consists in the fact that the basic subject dealt within that Surah was that Divine punishment continues to dog the footsteps of disbelievers because they persistently reject truth. It leads to the evident conclusion that it is only by believing in the Divine Message and leading a good and useful life that man can obtain salvation. This subject was further elaborated and the Holy Prophet was told that disbelievers among his own people too would not escape punishment if they did not believe in him. In the concluding words of the last verse of Surah Al-Anbiyā', viz. Say, O Lord judge with justice, the Holy Prophet was enjoined to invoke Divine punishment upon disbelievers because of their persistently hostile attitude, and the opening verse of the present Sūrah, viz. O people fear your Lord, the quaking of the Hour is a terrible thing, constitutes an answer to his prayer. In these words the disbelievers are warned that they can escape Divine punishment only by believing in the Holy Prophet, and by mending their ways and invoking God's mercy and forgiveness. This is the immediate connection of this Surah with its predecessor. But there exists a broader connection and deeper relationship between the subject matter of the various Sūrahs. The subject which began in Surah Maryam and was later developed and elaborated in Surahs Tā Hā and Al-Anbiya' has been brought to completion in the present Sūrah. In Sūrah Maryam, the basic principles of the Christian faith were explained and effectively refuted, as without their refutation there could have been no justification for a new message. The Holy Prophet had claimed to have brought a new message and a new Law for the whole of mankind. If Christianity could be shown to have existed in the world in its pristine purity and if there was extant in the world a faith which claimed to be true and practicable, then the need of a new faith could not be established. So the basic 2127