Overview - Surah 50: Qaf (Qaf)

Surah Introduction

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The Surah emphasizes the theme of resurrection and the ultimate success of those who have faith in Allah and His Prophets.

Sections:

  1. Nature points out to the Resurrection.
  2. Allah is closer to us than our life-vein. The death, the end of the world, and the Resurrection.
  3. The Final judgment.

The Surah takes its name from the first Ayat, ق ۚ وَالْقُرْآنِ الْمَجِيدِ "Qaf. By the honored Qur'an..." (50:1).

There are 45 Ayat in this Surah.

Overview

Total Ayat45
Total Words *373
Root Words *153
Unique Root Words *3
Makki / MadaniMakki
Chronological Order* 34th (according to Ibn Abbas)
Year of Revelation* 5th year of Prophethood
Events during/before this Surah*
Physical beating and torture of some Muslims - 1st Migration of Muslims to Abyssinia, Public Invitation to Islam - Persecution of Muslims; antagonism - ridicule - derision - accusation - abuse and false propaganda., Revelation begins - Private Invitation to Islam , Revelation begins - Private Invitation to Islam , Revelation begins - Private Invitation to Islam
Events during/after still to occur*
2nd Migration to Abyssinia,Boycott of Banu Hashim Yr 1,Boycott of Banu Hashim Yr 2,Boycott of Banu Hashim Yr 3,Death of Abu Talib - Death of Khadijah - Stoning at Ta'if - al-Isra wal Mi'raj - Night Journey,1st Pledge of Aqabah,2nd Pledge of Aqabah,,Migration from Makkah to Madinah - Building of Masjid Nabi in Madinah - Treaty with Jews of Madinah - Marriage of Prophet to Aishah,Change of Qiblah from Jerusalem to Makkah - Battle of Badr,Battle of Uhud,,Battle of Ahzab - Expedition of Banu Quraydhah,Treaty of Hudaiybiyah - Letters to Kings and Rulers,,Conquest of Makkah - Battle of Hunain,Hajj led by Abu Bakr - Expedition of Tabuk,Farewell Hajj by Prophet - Death of Prophet - End of Divine Revelation
Names of Prophets Mentioned
Nuh, Lut
Surah Index
‘Aad, God (wills no wrong to His creation) , Angels, Date palms, Dates, Death, Disbelievers (bear what they say in patience) , Earth, Earth (condition of at the time of resurrection) , Earth (creation of) (in six days), Hell, Judgement, Judgement (Day) , Judgement (Day) (riven asunder), Knowledge (obligation upon man to obtain and impart) , Lot, Madyan, Mountains, Noah, Pharaoh, Prayer (prostration) , Prayer (times of day of) , Qur’an, Resurrection (Day) , Resurrection (of soul) , Thamud, Tubba, Weather (rain)

Central Theme

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Theme 1: Ressurection

Authentic traditions show that the Prophet used to recite this Surah generally in the Prayer on the Eid days. A woman named Umm Hisham bin Harithah, who was a neighbour of the Prophet, says that she was able to commit Surah Qaf to memory only because she often heard it from the Prophet in the Friday sermons. According to some other traditions he often recited it in the dawn (Fajr) Prayer. This makes it abundantly clear that this was an important Surah in the sight of the Prophet. That is why he made sure that its contents reached as many people as possible over and over again.

The reason for this importance can be easily understood by a careful study of the Surah. The theme of the entire Surah is the Hereafter. When the Prophet started preaching his message in Makkah what surprised the people most was the news that people would be resurrected 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 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. God 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, unalterable truth is that God 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. God’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, 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 God 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 realise that you had not been created to be irresponsible in this world but accountable to all your deeds. The meting 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.

Connection of the name of the Surah and its Ayaat

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Connection between the beginning and the ending of the Surah

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  • There is a mention of the word 'Qur'an' in the begining and end of the Surah
    ق ۚ وَالْقُرْآنِ الْمَجِيدِ "Qaf. By the honored Qur'an..." (50:1)
    نَّحْنُ أَعْلَمُ بِمَا يَقُولُونَ ۖ وَمَا أَنتَ عَلَيْهِم بِجَبَّارٍ ۖ فَذَكِّرْ بِالْقُرْآنِ مَن يَخَافُ وَعِيدِ "We are most knowing of what they say, and you are not over them a tyrant. But remind by the Qur'an whoever fears My threat." (50:45)
  • Giving life to the dead after death is mentioned in the begining and the end (50:3) (50:43)

Manuscripts / Inscriptions

Connection of the Surah to the Surah before/after it

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The Virtues of the Surah

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  • The Prophet would recite this Surah in the two Eid salahs along with Surah al-Qamar [Saheeh Muslim]
     
  • Hisham bint Harithah memorised this Surah due to the frequency of the Prophet mentioning it in the Jummah Khutbah.

Special Features of the Surah

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Important key and unique words of the Surah

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123 Total Word Count per Ayat (shows how many words per Ayat) *

Unique Root Words to this Surah only


3 unique root words that do not appear in any other Surah *

Top 10 Most Frequent Root Words used in this Surah

Root Word Frequency
in Surah
Frequency
in Qur'an
ق و ل 10 1722
ي و م 9 405
ك و ن 6 1390
ل ق ي 6 146
ك ل ل 6 377
ج ي أ 5 278
و ع د 5 151
م و ت 4 165
أ ر ض 4 461
ح ق ق 4 287

Period of Revelation

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Background Reasons for Revelation

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Relevant Hadith

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  • وَحَدَّثَنَا عَمْرٌو النَّاقِدُ، حَدَّثَنَا يَعْقُوبُ بْنُ إِبْرَاهِيمَ بْنِ سَعْدٍ، حَدَّثَنَا أَبِي، عَنْ مُحَمَّدِ، بْنِ إِسْحَاقَ قَالَ حَدَّثَنِي عَبْدُ اللَّهِ بْنُ أَبِي بَكْرِ بْنِ مُحَمَّدِ بْنِ عَمْرِو بْنِ حَزْمٍ الأَنْصَارِيُّ، عَنْ يَحْيَى بْنِ عَبْدِ اللَّهِ بْنِ عَبْدِ الرَّحْمَنِ بْنِ سَعْدِ بْنِ زُرَارَةَ، عَنْ أُمِّ هِشَامٍ بِنْتِ حَارِثَةَ بْنِ النُّعْمَانِ، قَالَتْ لَقَدْ كَانَ تَنُّورُنَا وَتَنُّورُ رَسُولِ اللَّهِ صلى الله عليه وسلم وَاحِدًا سَنَتَيْنِ أَوْ سَنَةً وَبَعْضَ سَنَةٍ وَمَا أَخَذْتُ ‏{‏ ق وَالْقُرْآنِ الْمَجِيدِ‏}‏ إِلاَّ عَنْ لِسَانِ رَسُولِ اللَّهِ صلى الله عليه وسلم يَقْرَؤُهَا كُلَّ يَوْمِ جُمُعَةٍ عَلَى الْمِنْبَرِ إِذَا خَطَبَ النَّاسَ

    Umm Hisham bin Harithah bin An-Nu'man said, "Our oven and the oven of the Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) were the same for two years, or for one year and part of a year. And I only learned "Surah Qaf. By the Glorious Quran" from the tongue of the Messenger of Allah (ﷺ), who used to recited it every Friday from the Minbar, when he addresses the people." Sahih Muslim no. 1894

  • حَدَّثَنَا يَحْيَى بْنُ يَحْيَى، قَالَ قَرَأْتُ عَلَى مَالِكٍ عَنْ ضَمْرَةَ بْنِ سَعِيدٍ الْمَازِنِيِّ، عَنْ عُبَيْدِ اللَّهِ بْنِ عَبْدِ اللَّهِ، أَنَّ عُمَرَ بْنَ الْخَطَّابِ، سَأَلَ أَبَا وَاقِدٍ اللَّيْثِيَّ مَا كَانَ يَقْرَأُ بِهِ رَسُولُ اللَّهِ صلى الله عليه وسلم فِي الأَضْحَى وَالْفِطْرِ فَقَالَ كَانَ يَقْرَأُ فِيهِمَا بِـ ‏{‏ ق وَالْقُرْآنِ الْمَجِيدِ‏}‏ وَ ‏{‏ اقْتَرَبَتِ السَّاعَةُ وَانْشَقَّ الْقَمَرُ‏}‏

    'Abdullah b. 'Umar reported that (his father) 'Umar b. Khattab asked Abu Waqid al-Laithi what the Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) used to recite on 'Id-ul-Adha and 'Id-ul-Fitr. He said: He used to recite in them:" Qaf. By the Glorious Qur'an" (Surah Qaf)," The Hour drew near, and the moon was rent asunder" (Surah al-Qamar)" Sahih Muslim no. 1936

  • حَدَّثَنَا أَبُو بَكْرِ بْنُ أَبِي شَيْبَةَ، حَدَّثَنَا شَرِيكٌ، وَابْنُ، عُيَيْنَةَ ح وَحَدَّثَنِي زُهَيْرُ بْنُ حَرْبٍ، حَدَّثَنَا ابْنُ عُيَيْنَةَ، عَنْ زِيَادِ بْنِ عِلاَقَةَ، عَنْ قُطْبَةَ بْنِ مَالِكٍ، سَمِعَ النَّبِيَّ صلى الله عليه وسلم يَقْرَأُ فِي الْفَجْرِ ‏{‏ وَالنَّخْلَ بَاسِقَاتٍ لَهَا طَلْعٌ نَضِيدٌ‏}‏
    Qutba b. Malik reported that he had heard the Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) reciting in the morning prayer this: " And the tall palm trees having flower spikes piled one above another" (Al-Qur'an (50:10). Sahih Muslim no.921

Lessons/Guidance/Major-Issues/Reflections

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  • Life after death is a reality and there is nothing strange about it.
  • Allah has assigned two angels to each person for noting down each single word that he utters.
  • Every disbeliever will be thrown into hell and hell shall be asked, "Are you full." Hell will answer, "Are there some more?"
  • Admonish people with The Qur'an and bear with them in patience.

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Miscellaneous Issues

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