Circumstances of Revelation
Place: Medina, as the content of its verses shows. → Introduction
Time: After the Battle of Badr. Al-Mizan's view: the sūrah was revealed wholly about Badr and what happened shortly after it, so that Ibn ʿAbbās is said to have called it "Sūrah Badr". A narration from Imam al-Riḍā says the Prophet went to Badr in Ramaḍān; al-Yaʿqūbī dates the battle to a Friday with thirteen nights of Ramaḍān remaining, eighteen months after the Prophet came to Medina. → Introduction · Commentary on verse 1 · Narrations
Order of the verses on spoils: Al-Mizan's view: verses 67–69 were revealed first, censuring the fighters for taking captives for ransom and then allowing them the spoils; they then disputed over how the spoils should be shared, and verse 1 was revealed; verse 41, on the fifth (khums), came some time later, since it speaks of the day when the two hosts met as past. → Commentary on verse 1
Verse 1: ʿUbādah b. al-Ṣāmit reports that it was revealed when the fighters at Badr disputed over the spoils, those who gathered them, those who chased the enemy and those who guarded the Prophet each claiming a right; Ibn ʿAbbās reports a dispute between the elders and the youths. Saʿd b. Abī Waqqāṣ says it came when he asked for a sword he had taken; Al-Mizan: that report has discrepancies and fits the reading "they ask you for the spoils". Al-Mizan also rejects Mujāhid's report that it answered a question about the khums, and the claim that verse 41 abrogated it. → Narrations
Verses 9 and 17, "revealed on the day": Narrations say verse 9 (when you sought aid from your Lord) came down at Badr as the Muslims prayed for help, and verse 17 (You did not throw…) when the Prophet threw a handful of dust at the enemy. Al-Mizan: the wording of verse 9 speaks of a past event, so it was revealed with verse 1 and the verses after it; such reports mean the verse concerns that moment, not that it was revealed then, as often happens in narrations on occasions of revelation. → Narrations · Narrations
Verse 16: Many Sunni narrations say the ban on fleeing from battle applied to the day of Badr only. Al-Mizan: the context shows the verses were revealed after Badr, and the ruling is not limited to that day. → Commentary on verse 16 · Narrations
Verse 27: Imam al-Bāqir, Imam al-Ṣādiq, al-Kalbī and al-Zuhrī report that it was revealed about Abū Lubābah b. ʿAbd al-Mundhir, who betrayed the Prophet's purpose to the Banū Qurayẓah during their siege and then tied himself to a pillar of the mosque until God forgave him. Al-Mizan: the story is authentic and acceptable as an application of the verses, but it happened long after Badr, whereas these verses refer to a situation shortly after Badr. Jābir's report that a hypocrite warned Abū Sufyān is closer to the verse's meaning; al-Mughīrah's report that it concerned the killing of ʿUthmān does not fit it at all. → Narrations
Verse 30: Narrations (Tafsīr al-Qummī, Ibn Jurayj) say it was revealed in Mecca before the Hijrah, when Quraysh plotted at Dār al-Nadwah to imprison, kill or expel the Prophet and ʿAlī slept in his bed. Al-Mizan: the context does not support this; the verse is linked with verse 7 and reminds the believers of God's past favors. → Commentary on verse 30 · Narrations
Verses 32–34: Reports name Abū Jahl, or al-Naḍr b. al-Ḥārith, as the one who said O Allah, if this be the truth from You, rain down stones upon us. Some say the first part of verse 33 was revealed in Mecca and the second after the Hijrah, and that verse 34 abrogated it. Al-Mizan rejects both: there were believers seeking forgiveness in Mecca, and the Prophet was among the people after the Hijrah too, so there is no reason to divide the verse; the abrogation view conflicts with the context and wording. → Commentary on verse 33 · Narrations
Verse 36: Reports say it was revealed about the Quraysh who collected money after Badr to avenge their dead, or about Abū Sufyān hiring fighters for Uḥud. Al-Mizan: the verse, revealed after Badr, is a prophecy, alluding to Uḥud or another encounter and then the conquest of Mecca. → Commentary on verse 36 · Narrations
Verse 64: A report says it was revealed when ʿUmar accepted Islam. Al-Mizan: this is not supported; the Muslims could not have been addressed so at that time of hardship, and the verse appears to have been revealed in Medina with the rest of the sūrah. → Narrations
Verses 67–70, the captives of Badr: Majmaʿ al-Bayān and other reports say verses 67–69 came down after the Anṣār asked the Prophet to ransom the captives rather than kill them; verse 70 was revealed about al-ʿAbbās, ʿAqīl and Nawfal b. al-Ḥārith. Al-Mizan: exegetes agree the verses were revealed after Badr; the censure is for taking captives, not for taking ransom, which came after the verses. → Commentary on verse 67 · 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.