Circumstances of Revelation
Place: Mecca, beyond doubt.
Time: The first sūrah of the Qur'an to be revealed. The opening command, Read!, is a command to receive the Qur'an from the angel of revelation. The sūrah may have been revealed all at once. → Introduction · Commentary on verse 1
A point drawn from this: If the sūrah was the first revealed and came down all at once, verse 10 (a servant when he prays) shows that the Prophet was already praying before the Qur'an was revealed to him, which points to his being a prophet before he was commissioned with the Qur'an. → Commentary on verse 10
The accounts of the first revelation: Narrations describe the first revelation at Ḥirāʾ, the Prophet's fear that he was possessed, and his reassurance by the Christian Waraqah. Al-Mizan's view: these accounts are not free of problems; the Prophet was upon clear evidence from his Lord () and did not need a monk's word to know that the revelation was from God. One narration says the first thing Gabriel brought was al-Fātiḥah. → Narrations
Verses 9–19: A narration says these verses were revealed when Abū Jahl threatened to trample the Prophet's neck if he saw him prostrating, then recoiled. Tafsīr al-Qummī names al-Walīd b. al-Mughīrah, who forbade people from praying; Al-Mizan's view: that does not fit the verses, in which the one praying is the Prophet himself. → 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.