Surah Quraysh - The Quraysh
(Revealed at Mecca)
4 Verses in 1 Section
Sections of Surah Quraysh
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The protection of the Quraysh.
Quraysh - The Protection Of The Quraysh
To serve God to earn protection against the seasonal inconveniences.
بِسْمِ اللَّهِ الرَّحْمَٰنِ الرَّحِيمِ
“In the name of God the Beneficent the Merciful”
لِإِيلَافِ قُرَيْشٍ
“For the union1of the Quraysh” (106:1)
إِيلَافِهِمْ رِحْلَةَ الشِّتَاءِ وَالصَّيْفِ
“Their union during their journey in the winter and the summer” (106:2)
فَلْيَعْبُدُوا رَبَّ هَٰذَا الْبَيْتِ
“So let them worship the Lord of this House” (106:3)
الَّذِي أَطْعَمَهُمْ مِنْ جُوعٍ وَآمَنَهُمْ مِنْ خَوْفٍ
“(He) Who fed them against hunger2, and secured them against fear” (106:4)
Commentary
Verse 1
‘Quraysh’ - The noble tribe constituted by the descendants of Nazr Ibn Kunanah, settled in Mecca. They were the descendants of Abraham through Ishmael. To this tribe belonged the Holy Prophet Muhammad. The Quraysh held the charge of the Holy House which was constructed and dedicated exclusively for the worship of the Only True God, by Abraham and Ishmael. The Quraysh were honoured all over Arabia because of the Holy Ka’ba being in their City Mecca and their being its guardians and custodians.
In summer they used to go to Syria and in winter to Yaman for purposes of trade and it was through God’s grace that they travelled safe and undisturbed in their journeys, otherwise the routes were not safe, and none could travel without being plundered and suffering death and destruction or suffering heavy losses. It was the position of the Quraysh with regard to their connection with their services to the Holy Ka’ba, that they received the security and honour from the people.
This chapter is the supplementary to the preceding one describing the blessings the Quraysh were given to enjoy. What was done with the owners of the Elephant to bring about the unification of the Quraysh - Their unification in their journeys.
The political and the economic importance of the Holy Shrine of the Ka’ba for the Quraysh then secure from the attacks of the hostile tribes settled in the Arabian Peninsula and thus made them monopolise the trade of the land from North to the South and vice versa. The main cause of their opposition to the advent of Islam was the fear of losing their supremacy in the political and the economical fields. (A.P.).
Verse 2
The protection, safety and the honour, the Quraysh enjoyed was due to the Holy Ka’ba being in their city and their being its guardians.
Verse 3
The Quraysh, under the great obligation, in duty bound, should worship or serve the Lord of the Ka’ba who is the True God and not their own made idols and their other fanciful deities in His place, who could neither hurt nor profit anyone.
Verse 4
When the Quraysh have been granted such great blessings they must gratefully worship the Lord of the Ka’ba, who in spite of their land being only a desert and thus unproductive, provides them with every kind of good food and the other provisions of life through merchandise and the pilgrimage which brings to their very door, their needs through the great multitudes of the visitors who come there also to buy and sell, and God had protected them from the most formidable enemy Abraha, but for God’s help they would have been destroyed and their city would have been lost, the Ka’ba, on account of which they are honoured and respected, their city would have been laid waste by the enemy, they with their wives and children would have been taken as captives, and enslaved and sold away to the others and thus they would have been tom away from their kith and kin and their tribe as a whole would have been disintegrated and wiped out of existence.
This was an open admonition to the Quraysh who had been in the start of the ministry of the Holy Prophet, the most inveterate enemies of the Apostle of God and the message of the Unity of the Lord which he preached. It was as well a warning inviting their attention to the Mighty power of God who could also destroy them and humiliate them as he did act with their mighty foe Abraha3.
