Circumstances of Revelation
Place: Medina, as the content of its verses shows. → Introduction
Verses 1–4, the woman who pleaded (ẓihār): Al-Mizan: the opening four or six verses came down about ẓihār, a pre-Islamic form of divorce. A man of the Anṣār divorced his wife in this way and regretted it, and she came to the Prophet, arguing with him and complaining to God in the hope of a way back to her husband; then these verses were revealed. ʿĀʾishah reports that the woman was Khawlah bint Thaʿlabah and her husband Aws b. al-Ṣāmit; the Sunni reports are many but differ over the names, and these are the better-known ones. Imam al-Bāqir gives an account in which verses 1–2 were revealed first and verses 3–4 afterwards. Al-Mizan: the context of the verses fits better than that account; though the report has no problem in its chain, it does not agree with the apparent sense of verse 3. → Commentary on verse 1 · Narrations
Verses 8–10, secret counsels: Al-Mizan: the verses show that a group of hypocrites and the sick of heart held secret counsels against the Prophet and the believers, to grieve them, and persisted after being forbidden; so these verses were revealed. On they greet you with a greeting with which Allah does not greet you, Ibn ʿUmar reports that the Jews greeted the Prophet with al-sāmu ʿalayka ("death be upon you"); Ibn ʿAbbās reports that it was the hypocrites. Al-Mizan: the report naming the hypocrites is more credible, since the inclusion of the Jews in the verse is not explicit. → Commentary on verse 8 · Narrations
Verses 12–13, charity before private consultation: Verse 12 ordered charity before consulting the Prophet in private. Al-Mizan: perhaps the reason was that the wealthy kept consulting him privately, which grieved the poor. The Companions then gave up private consultation for fear of the expense, and none consulted him save ʿAlī, who did so ten times, giving charity each time; then verse 13 came down and abrogated the ruling. ʿAlī says this is a verse no one acted on before or after him; there are many Shia and Sunni reports with this meaning. → Commentary on verse 12 · Commentary on verse 13 · Narrations
Verses 21–22: Majmaʿ al-bayān reports that verse 21 was revealed when the hypocrites scoffed at the Muslims' hope of conquering Byzantium and Persia. Other reports say verse 22 was revealed about Abū ʿUbaydah b. al-Jarrāḥ, who killed his father at Badr; or about Abū Bakr, who struck a man who insulted the Prophet; or they connect it with ʿAbd al-Raḥmān b. Thābit b. Qays b. al-Shammās, to whom the Prophet recited it when he set off, with the Prophet's permission, to visit his maternal uncle. Al-Mizan: such reports apply the verse's meaning to the event (taṭbīq), and the verses show no apparent connection with them. → Narrations
A summary prepared from Tafsīr al-Mīzān: where and when the sūrah was revealed, and the occasions reported for its verses, with the ʿAllāmah's view of them. Each point links to the full discussion.