Verses 1–2
بِسْمِاللَّهِالرَّحْمَنِالرَّحِيمِ
يَا أَيُّهَا النَّاسُ اتَّقُوا رَبَّكُمْ ۚ إِنَّ زَلْزَلَةَ السَّاعَةِ شَيْءٌ عَظِيمٌ ١ يَوْمَ تَرَوْنَهَا تَذْهَلُ كُلُّ مُرْضِعَةٍ عَمَّا أَرْضَعَتْ وَتَضَعُ كُلُّ ذَاتِ حَمْلٍ حَمْلَهَا وَتَرَى النَّاسَ سُكَارَىٰ وَمَا هُمْ بِسُكَارَىٰ وَلَٰكِنَّ عَذَابَ اللَّهِ شَدِيدٌ ٢
In the Name of Allah, the Beneficent, the Merciful
- O people! Guard against (the punishment from) your Lord; surely the earthquake of the Hour is a grievous thing.
- On the day when you shall see it, every woman giving suck shall leave in confusion what she suckled, and every pregnant woman shall lay down her burden, and you shall see people intoxicated, and they shall not be intoxicated but the chastisement of Allah will be severe.
Introduction
Sūrah al-Ḥajj was revealed in Medina and consists of 78 verses.
This chapter addresses the polytheists about the fundamental beliefs of religion with a tone of warning and threat, much like the chapters that were revealed before the Prophet’s migration. It can be inferred from the context that it was revealed when the polytheists still had some power and force. The chapter also addresses the believers about things like prayer, the rituals of hajj, doing good, and permission to wage war (jihād). It can be inferred from these verses that the believers had just established their community, were now standing on their feet, and had some men, weapons and fighting prowess.
This suggests that the chapter was revealed in Medina between the Prophet’s migration and the Battle of Badr. Its aim is to explain the fundamental beliefs (uṣūl) of Islam in a way that would benefit both the believers and the non-believers, and the religious practices (furūʿ) concisely for the believers. The details of Islamic rulings were not yet prescribed at the time, except for some such as the prayer and the hajj, as seen in this chapter.
The chapter starts by describing the Day of Resurrection and its preceding earthquake which will destroy the earth and bring down the mountains. This is in line with the two main goals of the chapter: (1) to call the polytheists to the fundamental beliefs of Islam through warning them; and (2) to call the believers to religious practices in general by enjoining them to fear God and be conscious of Him.
Commentary
يَا أَيُّهَا النَّاسُ اتَّقُوا رَبَّكُمْ ۚ إِنَّ زَلْزَلَةَ السَّاعَةِ شَيْءٌ عَظِيمٌ ١
(22:1) O people! Guard against (the punishment from) your Lord; surely the earthquake (zalzalah) of the Hour is a grievous thing.
Zalzalah and zilzāl both mean “a violent and terrifying movement.” The term is likely derived from the root zalla, which means “to slip.” The repetition of zal denotes exaggeration as well as recurrence. This is a common Arabic verb form. Other examples are dhabdhaba, derived from dhabba (to repel); damdama derived from damma (to cover); kabkaba derived from kabba (to fall); dakdaka derived from dakka (to crumble); and rafrafa derived from raffa (to spread).
The discourse here addresses all human beings, whether believers or non-believers, male or female, present or absent, and living at the time or in the future. Obviously the primary audience are those who were present at the time of revelation, but by extension it includes all human kind because they are all members of the same species.
The verse commands the people to guard against [the punishment of] their Lord. A non-believer does so by believing, and a believer does so by not contravening God’s injunctions in practice. God has justified this command by the graveness of the earthquake on that Hour. Therefore, it is a command based on warning.
The quake is mentioned along with the Hour because it is one of the signs and tokens of the Hour. It has been said that zalzalat al-sāʿah means “the intensity, violence and horror of the Hour.” However, this interpretation is unlikely given the definitions of zalzalah.
يَوْمَ تَرَوْنَهَا تَذْهَلُ كُلُّ مُرْضِعَةٍ عَمَّا أَرْضَعَتْ وَتَضَعُ كُلُّ ذَاتِ حَمْلٍ حَمْلَهَا وَتَرَى النَّاسَ سُكَارَىٰ وَمَا هُمْ بِسُكَارَىٰ وَلَٰكِنَّ عَذَابَ اللَّهِ شَدِيدٌ ٢
(22:2) On the day when you shall see it, every woman giving suck (murḍiʿah) shall leave in confusion (tadhhalu, from dhuhūl) what she suckled, and every pregnant woman shall lay down her burden (ḥamlah), and you shall see people intoxicated, and they shall not be intoxicated but the chastisement of Allah will be severe.
Al-dhuhūl is “to abandon something in fear.” According to al-Rāghib, ḥaml is “a heavy load that is carried within, like the fetus in the mother’s womb,” while ḥiml is “a heavy load that is carried outwardly, like the load of a camel.” According to Majmaʿ al-bayān, ḥaml is “what is inside the body or atop a tree,” while ḥiml is “what is carried on the back or on the head.”
Al-Kashshāf says:
One may ask, “Why does the verse say murḍiʿah and not murḍiʿ?” The answer is that murḍiʿah is a woman who is actually and presently suckling a baby at the time, with her breast in the mouth of the baby. Murḍiʿ, however, is a woman who does this task but is not doing it right now. The verse says murḍiʿah in order to show the intensity of terror, such that if a woman is in the process of giving suck to her baby, she will take her breast out of the baby’s mouth out of fear.
One may also ask, “Why does the verse first say: you shall see in plural, but then it says you shall see in singular?” The answer is that the first part is about seeing the quake, which will be seen by all people, but the second part is about seeing people intoxicated, which means that each person would see others as if they were intoxicated.
… and you shall see people intoxicated, and they shall not be intoxicated but the chastisement of Allah will be severe: The verse first affirms their intoxication, but then it negates it. This shows that on the day of intense fear and confusion, people’s intellect will cease to function not because of alcohol, but due to the severity of God’s chastisement. He says: Surely His punishment is painful, severe. ()
Apparently the quake spoken about here is before the first blow of the Trumpet, which God describes as: And the trumpet shall be blown, so all those that are in the heavens and all those that are on the earth shall swoon, except those whom Allah wills; then it shall be blown again, then lo! They shall stand, waiting. ()
The current verse [] describes a scene where people are living their normal lives, when all of a sudden they are overtaken by “the earthquake on that Hour,” which changes their condition as described in the verse. This will certainly be before the blow that will cause all living creatures to die.
It has been said that the scene depicted in this verse is only an illustration of the severity of chastisement [not a real image and forecast]. That is, if one were to observe such a scene [hypothetically], then these things would happen to him. However, this view is not in harmony with the purpose of the verse, which is to warn the people, because there is no point in warning people about an unknown chastisement.
Examining Narrations
- ʿImrān b. Ḥuṣayn said: These verses—O people! Guard against (the punishment from) your Lord; surely the earthquake of the Hour is a grievous thing…but the chastisement of Allah will be severe ()—were revealed when the Prophet was on a journey. He told his Companions, “Do you know what day that is?”
They replied, “God and His messenger know better.”
He said, “That is a day when God will tell Adam, ‘Send the shipment of Fire!’ He will ask, ‘My Lord, what is the shipment of Fire?’ He will say, ‘Out of every thousand people, 999 shall go to hell and one to Paradise.’”
The Muslims started weeping when they heard this.
Then the Messenger of God said, “Be steadfast and take the straight path. Prophets have always been sent at an age of ignorance [about divine guidance] (jāhiliyyah). The inhabitants of Hell are taken from the ignorant. If the number is not reached by them, the rest will be taken from the hypocrites. Among these you are like a dot in the leg of an animal, or a mole in the side of a camel.”
Then he added, “Indeed I am hopeful that you will make a quarter of the people of Paradise.” When they heard this, the Muslims exclaimed: “Allāhu akbar (God is greater).” Then he said, “Indeed I am hopeful that you will make a third of the people of Paradise.” The Muslims exclaimed, “Allāhu akbar.” Then he said, “Indeed I am hopeful that you will make half of the people of Paradise.” The Muslims glorified God. The Muslims exclaimed, “Allāhu akbar.”
ʿImrān b. Ḥuṣayn added: I am not sure if he also said two-thirds or not.
Author’s comment: This tradition is narrated through other chains of transmission as well, frequently on the authority of ʿImrān, Ibn ʿAbbās, Abū Saʿīd al-Khudrī, Abū Mūsā and Anas. These narrations have some differences in the text, but the most reliable is the one that we reported above.
- Tafsīr al-Qummī says: you shall see people intoxicated means that they will be confused, with their intellects lost due to sorrow and fear.
The former is grammatically feminine and the latter is grammatically masculine, but since there is no male that gives suck, the latter is always used for any female that gives suck, without any need for a feminine alternative. (Trans.) ↩︎
To complement the author’s commentary, one could also reflect upon the following points that refer to the Day of Resurrection: (1) The verses that follow (especially verses 6-7) primarily concern the Day of Resurrection. (2) The term “Hour” (al-sāʿah) refers to the Day of Resurrection, and the “quake on that Hour” could refer to the quake that will happen on that day. (3) The violent shaking of the earth is mentioned elsewhere in the Qur’an when describing the Resurrection (chapter 99). (4) The most frequent usage of the term “day” (yawm) in the Qur’an is the Day of Resurrection. (5) Verse 2 does not claim that there will necessarily be women who are giving suck and women who are pregnant. Rather, it says that God’s chastisement is so severe that it could cause such panic. This idea is confirmed by the subsequent part of the verse: and you shall see people intoxicated, and they shall not be intoxicated but the chastisement of Allah will be severe (). (6) The initial universal command to all people—to guard against (the punishment from) your Lord ()—complies with a subsequent description of an event that will occur to all people, not just to those who happen to be livers before the first Trumpet. (Trans.) ↩︎
There is an addition in some versions of this narration: min wuldika. The meaning would be: “Send those who shall be sent to the Fire from amongst your children.” (Trans.) ↩︎
Al-Durr al-manthūr, on the authority of Saʿīd b. Manṣūr, Aḥmad, ʿAbd b. Ḥamīd, al-Tirmidhī (who has authenticated it), al-Nasāʾī, Ibn Jarīr, Ibn al-Mundhir, Ibn Abī Ḥātim, al-Ḥākim (who has authenticated it), and Ibn Mardawayh, through various chains, on the authority of al-Ḥasan and others. ↩︎