Period of RevelatIon
There is no authentic tradition to show as to when exactly this Sura was sent down. A study of the subject matter
however
reveals that its period of revelation is the second stage of the Holy Prophet's life at Makkah
which lasted from the third year of the Prophethood till the fifth year. We have given the characteristics of this period in the Introduction to the Sarah Al-An'am. In view of those characteristics it can be said that this Sura might have been sent down in about the 5th year
when the antagonism of the disbelievers had become quite intense but had not yet assumed tyrannical proportions.
Theme and Topics
Authentic traditions show that the Holy Prophet used to recite this Sura generally in the Prayer on the Eid days. A woman named Umm Hisham bin Harithah
wbo was a neighbour of the Holy Prophet
says that she was able to commit Sura Qaf to memory only because she often heard it from the Holy Prophet in the Friday sermons. According to some other traditions he often recited it in the Fajr Prayer. This makes it abundantly clear that this was an important Sura in the sight of the Holy Prophet. That is why he made sure that its contents reached as many people as possible over and over again. This reason for this importance can be easily understood by a careful study of the Sura. The theme of the entire Sura is the Hereafter. When the Holy Prophet started preaching his message in Makkah what surprised the people most was the news that people would be ressurected after death
and they would have to render an account of their deeds. They said that that was impossible; human mind could not believe that that would happen. After all
how could it be possible that when the body had disintegrated into dust the scattered particles would be reassembled after hundreds of thousands of years to make up the same body once again and raised up as a living body
Allah in response sent down this discourse. In it
on the one hand
arguments have been given for the possibility and occurrence of the Hereafter in a brief way
in short sentences
and
on the other
the people have been warned
as if to say: "Whether you express wonder and surprise
or you regard it as something remote from reason
or deny it altogether
in any case it cannot change the truth. The absolute
un-alterable truth is that Allah knows the whereabouts of each and every particle of your body that has scattered away in the earth
and knows where and in what state it is. Allah's one signal is enough to make all the scattered particles gather together again and to make you rise up once again as you had been made in the first instance. Likewise
your this idea that you have been created and left free to yourselves in the world and that you have not been made answerable to anyone
is no more than a misunderstanding. The fact is that not only is Allah Himself directly aware of each act and word of yours
even of the ideas that pass in your mind
but His angels also are attached to each one of you
who are preserving the record of whatever you do and utter. When the time comes
you will come out of your graves at one call just as young shoots of vegetable sprout up from the earth on the first shower of the rain. Then this heedlessness which obstructs your vision will be removed and you will see with your own eyes all that you are denying today. At that time you will realize that you had not been created to be irresponsible in this world but accountable to all your deeds the meeting out of the rewards and punishments
the Hell and Heaven
which you regard as impossible and imaginary things
will at that time become visible realities for you in consequence of your enmity and opposition to the Truth you will be cast into the same Hell which you regard as remote from reason today and the ones who fear the Merciful God and return to the path of righteousness
will be admitted to the same Paradise at whose mention you now express wonder and surprise.