Circumstances of Revelation
Place: Mecca, although there is some difference of opinion about some of its verses. Its verses are addressed to the polytheists and the small number of believers in Mecca. Ibn ʿAbbās reports that it was revealed in Mecca; Qatādah says one verse is Medinan, Ask them about the town that was situated on the seaside… (), and the rest Meccan. Al-Mizan: this is Qatādah's personal opinion. → Introduction · Narrations
Order: Al-Mizan infers that the sūrah was revealed before Sūrah al-Anʿām (6): the lawfulness of whatever God has not forbidden, which refers back to as already revealed, is found here in verse 32; and the rulings here are more concise than the detailed ones of , in keeping with the gradual legislation of Islam. → Introduction
A point drawn from this: Because the sūrah was revealed in Mecca, readings of set your faces at every place of worship (verse 29) that assume the Kaʿbah as qiblah or many mosques do not fit, since neither existed for the Muslims there at the time. → Commentary on verse 29
Verses 26–32, garments and adornment: ʿIkrimah reports that verse 26 was revealed about Quraysh (the Ḥums) and other Arab tribes and their pilgrimage customs, among them circumambulating the Kaʿbah naked; Saʿīd b. Jubayr, Ibn ʿAbbās, Mujāhid and ʿAṭāʾ connect verses 31–32 with the naked circumambulation. Al-Mizan: these verses open with O Children of Adam and lay down universal laws, not words addressed to one community; these solitary reports are personal opinions, not authoritative proofs. The soundest reports match the verses to these customs while keeping their general meaning, and this is how most such narrations should be read. → Introduction · Narrations
Verse 43 (We will remove whatever rancor there is in their breasts): ʿAlī is reported to say it was revealed about "us, the fighters of Badr." Al-Mizan: the sentence occurs here and in , both in Meccan verses, so it cannot have been revealed on the day of Badr or about its fighters. → Narrations
Verses 175–177 (him to whom We gave Our signs, but he cast them off): Imam al-Riḍā, Ibn Masʿūd and Ibn ʿAbbās identify him as Balʿam b. Bāʿūrāʾ of the Children of Israel. Other accounts say the verses were revealed about the poet Umayyah b. Abī al-Ṣalt, or about the monk Abū ʿĀmir. Al-Mizan: since the sūrah was apparently revealed in Mecca, the Umayyah reports are applications of the verse (taṭbīq) beyond its original context, and the Abū ʿĀmir account suffers from the same problem. → Commentary on verse 175 · Narrations
Verse 187 (They question you concerning the Hour): Tafsīr al-Qummī says Quraysh sent al-ʿĀṣ b. Wāʾil, al-Naḍr b. al-Ḥārith and ʿUqbah b. Abī Muʿayṭ to Jewish scholars at Najrān to learn questions to put to the Prophet, among them when the Hour would come, and this verse was revealed in reply. → Narrations
Verses 199–200: A narration says that when Cling to forgiveness… was revealed the Prophet asked how he could do so in anger, and verse 200 was revealed. Al-Mizan: this narration is somewhat problematic, though it can be explained in line with the commentary. → Narrations
Verse 204 (When the Qur'an is recited, listen to it and be silent): Sunni narrations say it was revealed when people praying behind the Prophet recited with him, or talked; others name a young man of the Anṣār, or simply "a man." Imam al-Bāqir says it was revealed about congregational prayer behind an imam. Al-Mizan: the verse has a general meaning. → Commentary on verse 204 · 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.