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سُبْحَانَ ٱللَّٰهِ
Holy Qur'an
Al-Qur'an
Kids Qur'an
This Surah was revealed during the last stage of the Prophet's stay at Makkah, and most probably it was revealed immediately after Surah Yunus.
This Surah emphasizes invitation to the Message of Allah. It is an admonition and warning to the disbelievers. The invitation is to accept the Message of Allah, obey the Prophet of Allah, discard shirk, and worship Allah alone. Live your life in this world keeping in mind that you shall be held accountable for all of your actions on the Day of Judgement. The admonition is given through the example of those people who put their faith in and used their efforts for this worldly life and rejected the message of the Prophets. As a result, they met the evil consequences of their rejection. Therefore, people are advised to think seriously about whether or not they should follow the way of the arrogant, which history has proved to be the way to destruction. The warning is given to the disbelievers that they should not be deluded by the delay in the punishment of their misdeeds. The delay is only because of the respite that Allah has granted them, by His grace, to mend their ways. If they do not make use of this opportunity, they shall be inflicted with an inevitable punishment that will destroy all of them except the believers. Al-Qur'an has used the stories of the people of Nuh, Hud, Saleh, Lut, Shu'aib and Musa to achieve this purpose. The most prominent feature of these stories is to spell out how Allah passes His judgement on the people, He does not spare any disbeliever even if he/she may be a nearest relative of a Prophet of the time. The stories of Nuh and Lut clearly tell that even the Prophet's own son and wife were not spared for being disbelievers. Therefore, the believers should remember that real relationship is the relationship of faith.
This Surah has been named after Prophet Hud whose story has been related in vv. 50-60.
If we consider its theme deeply, we come to the conclusion that it was revealed during the same period as Surah Yunus and most probably followed it immediately.
The Surah deals with the same subject as Surah Yunus, that is, invitation to the Message, admonition and warning, with this difference that the warning is sterner. This is also supported by a Tradition: It is related that after its revelation, once Hadrat Abu Bakr said to the Holy Prophet, "Of late I have been noticing that you are growing older and older. What is the cause of it?" The Holy Prophet replied, "Surah Hud and the like Surahs have made me old." This shows that it was a very hard time for the Holy Prophet and these stern warnings added greatly to his anxieties that were caused by the persecution from the Quraish, who were doing their worst to crush down the Message of Islam. For it was obvious to the Holy Prophet that the last limit of the respite given by Allah was approaching nearer and nearer and he was afraid lest the term of the respite should expire and his people be seized by the torment. The invitation is this:Obey the Messenger of Allah; discard shirk, and worship Allah and Allah alone: establish the entire system of your life on the belief that you shall be called to account in the Hereafter.
The admonition is this:Remember that those people who put their faith in the outward appearance of this worldly life and rejected the Message of the Prophets met with dire consequences. Therefore you should consider it seriously whether you should follow the same way that history has proved to be the path to ruin.
The warning is this:You should not be deluded by the delay in the coming of the punishment: it is because of the respite that Allah has granted you by His grace so that you might mend your ways: if you do not make use of this opportunity, you shall be inflicted with an inevitable punishment that will destroy you all except the Believers.
Instead of addressing the people directly, the Quran has used the stories of the people of Noah, Hud, Salih, Lot, Shu'aib and Moses to achieve the above mentioned objects. What is most prominent in their stories is that when Allah passes His judgment on the people, He does not spare anyone whatsoever, even if he be the nearest relative of the Prophet of the time. Only that one is rescued who had believed in the Prophet, and none else, not even his own son or wife. More than that: the Faith demands from each and every Believer that he should totally forget his relationships when that judgment comes and remember only the relationship of the Faith. For it is against the spirit of Islam to show any regard whatsoever for the relationships of blood and race. And the Muslims demonstrated these teachings practically in the Battle of Badr, four years after the revelation of this Surah.
1 to 5 - Teachings of Al-Quran
6 to 8 - Allah is the Sustainer of all creatures
9 to 14 - Mankind is ever ungrateful to Allah except the believers and Al-Quran is not forged by the Prophet Muhammad (pbuh)
15 to 24 - People of the Book (Jews and Christians) are of two kinds, those who can see the Truth, and those who choose not to
25 to 35 - Nuh's address to his people and Nuh's people challenged him and asked for the scourge of Allah
36 to 39 - Allah commanded Nuh to build and ark
40 to 41 - Allah commanded Nuh to embark and gather on board the believers and a pair from every species
42 to 49 - Dialogue between Nuh, his son, and Allah
50 to 60 - Prophet Hud's address to his people, their disbelief and its consequences
61 to 68 - Prophet Salah's address to his people, their disbelief and its consequences
69 to 76 - Good news for Prophet Ibrahim, he will have a son (Isaac) and beyond him a grandson (Jacob)
77 to 83 - Prophet Lut's address to his people, their disbelief and its consequences
84 to 95 - Prophet Shu'aib's address to his people who were cheating in their business transactions and Their disbelief and its consequences
96 to 109 - Fate of Fir'on and his chiefs who were warned but they gave no heed
110 to 113 - Differences arose about Torah given to Musa for his followers' lack of belief
114 to 117 - Virtues remove evils, Allah does not let the reward of the righteous be wasted
118 to 123 - Freedom of choice given to mankind is the Will of Allah