THE SIXTH AND LAST PERIOD

Twenty Sūrahs given at al-Madīnah. Chapter XCVIII . Sūratu ʾl-Baiyinah . The Chapter of the Manifest Sign. Rebuke to Jews and Christians for doubting the manifest sign of Muḥammad’s mi ion. Chapter II . Sūratu ʾl-Baqarah . The Chapter of the Heifer. The Qurʾān a guidance. Rebuke to unbelievers. A parable of one who kindles fire. God is not ashamed of trifling similitudes. The creation of man. Adam taught the names. Iblīs refuses to adore him. The temptation and fall. The Children of Israel. Their trials in Egypt. The golden calf. The manna and quails. Bidden to enter the city and say, “Ḥit̤t̤atun.” Moses strikes the rock. He bids the people slaughter a dun cow to discover a murder. Charge against the Jews of corrupting the Scriptures. The golden calf. The mountain held over them. Gabriel reveals the Qurʾān. Hārūt and Mārūt. Believers are not to say “Rāʿinā,” but “Unz̤urnā.” Verses which are annulled will be replaced by better ones. Paradise not exclusively for Jews and Christians. Mosques to be free. Story of Abraham. He rebuilds the Kaʿbah. Was a Ḥanīf. The qiblah free. Aṣ-Ṣafā and al-Marwah may be compa ed. Proofs of God’s unity. Lawful and unlawful food. The law of retaliation for homicide. Testators. The fast of Ramaẓān. Rites of the pilgrimage. Its duration. Fighting for religion lawful during the sacred months. Wine and gaming forbidden. Marriage with idolaters unlawful. The law of divorce. Of suckling children. The Muhājirūn to be rewarded. The Children of Israel demand a king . Saul (T̤ālūt). The she china. The ark. Saul and Gideon confounded. Goliath. Jesus. The Āyatu ʾl-kursī (verse of the throne), a erting the self-subsistence and omnipresence of God. Nimrod and Abraham. Almsgiving. No compulsion in religion. Proofs of the Resurrection. Ezekiel’s vision of the dry bones referred to. Abraham and the birds. Almsgiving recommended. Usurers denounced. Laws relating to debt and trading. Persons mentally incapable are to act by agents. The believer’s prayer. Chapter III . Sūratu Āli ʿImrān . The Chapter of ʿImrān’s Family. God’s unity and self-subsistence. The Qurʾān confirmatory of previous scripture. The verses are either decisive or ambiguous. Example of Pharaoh’s punishment. The battle of Badr. Islām the true religion. Future torment eternal. Obedience to God and the Apostle enjoined. Conception of the Virgin Mary. She is brought up by Zachariah. Birth of John. The annunciation of the Virgin. Birth and infancy of Jesus. The miracle of the birds of clay. The disciples. Allusion to Muḥammad’s dispute with a Christian deputation from Najrān. Abraham a Ḥanīf. Reproof to Jews who pretend to believe and then recant, and who pervert the scriptures. No distinction to be made between the prophets. The Jews rebuked for prohibiting certain kinds of food. The foundation of the Kaʿbah. Abraham’s station. Pilgrimage enjoined. Schism and misbelief reproved. Battle of Uḥud referred to. The victory at Badr due to angelic aid. Usury denounced. Fate of those who rejected the prophets of old. Muḥammad’s death must not divert the believers from their faith. Promise of God’s help. Further account of the battle of Badr. The Muslim martyrs to enter Paradise. The victory of Badr more than counterbalanced the defeat at Uḥud. The hypocrites detected and reproved. Death the common lot, even of apostles. Prayer for the believers. Exhortation to vie in good works and be patient. Chapter VIII . Sūratu ʾl-Anfāl . The Chapter of the Spoils. Spoils belong to God and the Apostle. Who are the true believers? The expedition of Muḥammad against the caravan from Syria under Abū Sufyān. The miraculous victory at Badr. Addre to the Makkans who, fearing an attack from Muḥammad, took sanctuary in the Kaʿbah, and prayed to God to decide between themselves and him. Exhortation to believe and avoid treachery. Plots against Muḥammad frustrated by Divine interference. The revelation treated as old folks’ tales. Rebuke of the idolaters for mocking the Muslims at prayer. Offer of an amnesty to those who will believe. Exhortation to fight the infidels. Division of the spoils. Description of the battle. The enemy made to seem few in the Muslim’s eyes, while they seemed more numerous than they really were. The infidels forsaken by Satan, their leader, on the day of battle. Fate of the hypocrites. Warning from Pharaoh’s fate. The infidels who break their treaty. Treachery to be met with the like. God will help the Prophet against the traitors. A few enduring believers shall conquer a multitude of infidels. The Muslims are reproved for accepting ransom for the captives taken at Badr. The spoils are lawful. The Muhājirūn who fled with Muḥammad, and the inhabitants of al-Madīnah who gave him refuge, are to form ties of brotherhood. Chapter XLVII . Sūratu Muḥammad . The Chapter of Muḥammad. Promise of reward to believers. Exhortation to deal severely with the enemy. Description of Paradise and of Hell. Reproof to some pretended believers and hypocrites who hesitate to obey the command to make war against the unbelievers. Their secret malice shall be revealed. Exhortation to believe, and to obey God and the Apostles, and sacrifice all for the faith. Chapter LXII . Sūratu ʾl-Jumaʿah . The Chapter of the Congregation. God has sent the illiterate prophet. The Jews rebuked for unbelief. Muslims are not to leave the congregation during divine service for the sake of merchandise. Chapter V . Sūratu ʾl-Māʾidah . The Chapter of the Table. Believers are to fulfil their compacts. Brute beasts, except those hereafter mentioned, are lawful, but chase during the pilgrimage is unlawful. The rites and sacrifices of the Pilgrimage are lawful. The Muslims are not to bear ill-will against the Quraish, who prevented them at Ḥudaibiyah from making the Pilgrimage. Forbidden meats. The food of Jews and Christians is lawful to Muslims. So, too, their women. Ablutions before prayers. Rules for purification in cases of pollution. The Muslims are bidden to remember the oath of fealty (at ʿAqabah), and how God made a similar covenant with the children of Israel, and chose twelve wardens. Muḥammad is warned against their treachery, as well as against the Christians. Refutation of the doctrine that Christ is God, and of the idea that the Jews and Christians are the sons of God and His beloved. Muḥammad sent as a warner and herald of glad tidings. Moses bade the children of Israel invade the Holy Land, and they were punished for hesitating. Story of the two sons of Adam. The crow shows Cain how to bury the body of Abel. Gravity of homicide. Those who make war against God and His Apostle are not to receive quarter. Punishment for theft. Muḥammad is to judge both Jews and Christians by the Qurʾān, in accordance with their own Scriptures, but not according to their lusts. Or would they prefer to be judged according to the unjust laws of the time of the pagan Arabs? The Muslims are not to take Jews and Christians for patrons. The hypocrites hesitate to join the believers. They are threatened. Further appeals to the Jews and Christians. Fate of those before them who were transformed for their sins. The Jews reproved for saying that God’s hand is fettered. Some of them are moderate, but the greater part are misbelievers. The Prophet is bound to preach his me age. Sabians, Jews, and Christians appealed to as believers. Prophets of old were rejected. Against the worship of the Me iah and the doctrine of the Trinity. Jews and idolaters are the most hostile to the Muslims, and the Christians are nearest in love to them. Expiation for an inconsiderate oath. Wine and gambling forbidden. Game not to be hunted or eaten during pilgrimage. Expiation for violating this precept. Fish is lawful at this time. Rites of the Ḥajj to be observed. Believers must not ask about painful things till the whole Qurʾān is revealed. Denunciation of the superstitious practices of the Pagan Arabs with respect to certain cattle. Witne es required when a dying man makes his testament. The mi ion of Jesus. The miracles of the infancy. The Apostles ask for a table from heaven as a sign. Jesus denies commanding men to worship him and his mother as gods. Chapter LIX . Sūratu ʾl-Ḥashr . The Chapter of A embly. The chastisements of the Jews who would not believe in the Qurʾān. The divisions of the spoils. The treacherous conduct of the hypocrites. Chapter IV . Sūratu ʾn-Nisāʾ . The Chapter of Women. God creates and watches over man. Women’s dowries. Administration of the property of orphans and idiots. Distribution of property among the heirs. Witne es required to prove adultery. Believers are not to inherit women’s estates against their will. No false charge of adultery to be made with a view of keeping a woman’s dowry. Women whom it is unlawful to marry. Men are superior to women. Punishment of refractory wives. Arbitration between man and wife. Duty towards parents, kinsmen, orphans, the poor, neighbours, . Almsgiving for appearance sake a crime. Believers must not pray when drunk or polluted. Sand may be used for purification when water is not to be had. Charge against Jews of perverting the Scriptures and saying, “Rāʿinā.” They are threatened with transformation, like those who broke the Sabbath, for their unbelief. Idolatry the unpardonable sin. Some who have Scriptures believe. Trusts to be paid back. Quarrels to be referred to God and the apostles only. The Apostle will intercede for the believers. Muḥammad commanded to settle their differences. Believers to take precautions in sallying forth to battle. They are exhorted to fight, and promised Paradise if they fall. Obedience to the Prophet is obedience to God. Salutation to be returned. The hypocrites. Deserters are to be slain, unle they have taken refuge with a tribe in league with the Muslims. Penalty for killing a believer by mistake. Believers are not to plunder others on the mere pretence that they are infidels. Fate of the half-hearted Muslims who fell at Badr. Precautions to be taken against an attack during prayers. Exhortation to sincerity in supporting the faith. Rebuke to the pagan Arabs for their idolatry and superstitious practices. Islām the best religion, being that of Abraham the Ḥanīf. Laws respecting women and orphans. Equity and kindne recommended. Partiality to one wife rather than another reproved. Fear of God inculcated. God does not pardon the unstable in faith or the hypocrites. No middle course is allowed. The Jews were punished for demanding a book from heaven. Of old they asked Moses to show them God openly, and were punished. They are reproached for breaking their covenant with God, for calumniating Mary, and for pretending that they killed Jesus, whereas they only killed his similitude, for God took him to Himself. Certain lawful foods forbidden the Jews for their injustice and usury. Muḥammad is inspired in the same manner as the other apostles and prophets. Jesus is only an apostle of God and His Word, and a spirit from Him. Doctrine of the Trinity denounced. God has not begotten a son. The law of inheritance in the case of remote kinship. Chapter LVIII . Sūratu ʾl-Mujādilah . The Chapter of the Disputer. Abolition of the idolatrous custom of divorcing women with the formula, “Thou art to me as my mother’s back.” God’s omniscience and omnipresence. He knows the secret plottings of the disaffected. Discourse on the duties of true believers. Denunciation of those who oppose the Apostle. Chapter LXV . Sūratu ʾt̤-T̤alāq . The Chapter of Divorce. The laws of divorce. The Arabs are admonished by the fate of former nations to believe in God. The seven stories of heaven and earth. Chapter LXIII . Sūratu ʾl-Munāfīqīn . The Chapter of the Hypocrites. The treacherous designs of the hypocrites revealed. Chapter XXIV . Sūratu ʾn-Nūr . The Chapter of Light. (This chapter deals with the accusation of unchastity against ʿĀyishah.) Punishment of the whore and the whoremonger. Witne es required in the case of an imputation of unchastity to a wife. Vindication of ʿĀyishah’s character and denunciation of the accusers. Scandalmongers rebuked and threatened with punishment at the Last Day. Believers are not to enter other persons’ houses without permi ion, or in the absence of the owners. Chastity and modest deportment enjoined, particularly upon women. Those by whom women may be seen unveiled. Slaves to be allowed to purchase their freedom. Slave-girls not to be compelled to prostitute themselves. God the Light of the Heavens. Nothing keeps the believers from the service of God, but the unbeliever’s works are like the mirage on a plain, or like darkne on a deep sea. All nature is subject to God’s control. Reproof to a sect who would not accept the Prophet’s arbitration. Actual obedience required rather than an oath that they will be obedient. Belief in the unity of God, steadfastne in prayer, and the giving of alms enjoined. Slaves and children not to be admitted into an apartment without asking permi ion, when the occupant is likely to be undre ed. Rules for the social intercourse of women past child-bearing, and of the blind, lame, or sick. Persons in whose houses it is lawful to eat food. Salutations to be exchanged on entering houses. Behaviour of the Muslims towards the Apostle. He is to be more respectfully addre ed than other people. Chapter XXXIII . Sūratu ʾl-Aḥzāb . The Chapter of the Confederates. Muḥammad is warned against the hypocrites. Wives divorced by the formula, “Thou art henceforth to me like my mother’s back,” are not to be considered as real mothers, and as such regarded as unlawful. Neither are adopted sons to be looked upon as real sons. The real ties of kinship and consanguinity are to supersede the tie of sworn brotherhood. God’s covenant with the Prophet. Miraculous interference in favour of the Muslims when besieged by the confederate army at al-Madīnah. Conduct of the hypocrites on the occasion. Departure of the invaders. Siege and defeat of the Banū Quraiz̤ah Jews. The men are executed. Their women and children are sold into slavery and their property confiscated. Laws for the Prophet’s wives. They are to be discreet and avoid ostentation. Encouragement to the good and true believers of either sex. Vindication of Muḥammad’s conduct in marrying Zainab, the divorced wife of his freed man and adopted son Zaid (who is mentioned by name). No term need be observed in the case of women divorced before cohabitation. Peculiar privileges granted to Muḥammad in the matter of women. Limitation of his licence to take wives. Muslims are not to enter the Prophet’s house without permi ion. After, they are to retire without inconveniencing him by familiar discourse. Are to be very modest in their demeanour to his wives. Are not to marry any of his wives after him. Those relations who are permitted to see them unveiled. God and His angels ble the Prophet. Slander of misbelievers will be punished. The women are to dre modestly. Warning to the hypocrites and disaffected at al-Madīnah. The fate of the infidels at the Last Judgment. Man alone of all creation undertook the responsibility of faith. Chapter LVII . Sūratu ʾl-Ḥadīd . The Chapter of Iron. God the controller of all nature. Exhortation to embrace Islām. Those who do so before the taking of Makkah are to have the precedence. Discomfiture of the hypocrites and unbelievers at the Last Day. The powers vouchsafed to former apostles. Chapter LXI . Sūratu ʾṣ-Ṣaff . The Chapter of the Ranks. Believers are bidden to keep their word and to fight for the faith. Moses was disobeyed by his people. Jesus prophesied the coming of Aḥmad. The Christians rebuked. Chapter XLVIII . Sūratu ʾl-Fatḥ . The Chapter of Victory. Announcement of a victory. God comforts the believers and punishes the hypocrites and idolaters. The oath of fealty. The cowardice and excuses of the desert Arabs. Those left behind wish to share the spoil gained at K͟haibar. The incapacitated alone are to be excused. The oath of fealty at the tree. God prevented a collision between the Makkans and the Muslims, when the latter were prohibited from making the pilgrimage. Prophecy of the pilgrimage to be completed the next year. Chapter LX . Sūratu ʾl-Mumtaḥin ah . The Chapter of the Tried. Exhortations to the Muslims not to treat secretly with the Quraish. Abraham’s example. Other idolaters who have not borne arms against them may be made friends of. Women who desert from the infidels are to be tried before being received into Islām. If they are really believers, they are, ipso facto , divorced. The husbands are to be recompensed to the amount of the women’s dowries. Chapter LXVI . Sūratu ʾt-Taḥrīm . The Chapter of Prohibition. The Prophet is relieved from a vow he had made to please his wives. The jealousies in his ḥaram occasioned by his intrigue with the Coptic slave-girl, Mary. Exhortation to hostilities against the infidels. The example of the disobedient wives of Noah and Lot. And of the good wife of Pharaoh. And of the Virgin Mary. Chapter IX . Sūratu ʾt-Taubah . The Chapter of Repentance. (This chapter is without the initial formula, “In the name of the Merciful,” .) An immunity for four months proclaimed to such of the idolaters as have made a league with the Prophet, but they are to be killed wherever found when the sacred months have expired. An idolater seeking refuge is to be helped, in order that he may hear the word of God. None are to be included in the immunity but those with whom the league was made at the Sacred Mosque. They are not to be trusted. Exhortation to fight against the Makkans. Idolaters may not repair to the mosques of God. Reproof to al-ʿAbbās, the Prophet’s uncle, who, while refusing to believe, claimed to have done enough in supplying water to the pilgrims and in making the pilgrimage himself. Chapter XLIX . Sūratu ʾl-Ḥujurāt . The Chapter of the Inner Chambers. Rebuke to some of the Muslims who had presumed too much in the presence of the Apostle, and of the others who had called out rudely to him. Also of a man who had nearly induced Muḥammad to attack a tribe who were still obedient. Of certain Muslims who contended together. Of others who use epithets of abuse against each other. Who entertain unfounded suspicions. Exhortation to obedience and reproof of the hypocrites. The Muhājirūn are to hold the first rank. Infidels are not to be taken for patrons, even when they are fathers or brothers. Religion is to be preferred to ties of kinship. The victory of Ḥuna in. The idolaters are not to be allowed to enter the Sacred Mosque at Makkah another year. The infidels are to be attacked. The Jews denounced for saying that Ezra is the son of God. The a umption of the title Rabbi reproved. Diatribe against Jewish doctors and Christian monks. Of the sacred months and the sin of deferring them. Exhortation to the Muslims to march forth to battle. Allusions to the escape of Muḥammad and Abū Bakr from Makkah, and their concealment in a cave. Rebuke to those who seek to be excused from fighting and to those who sought to excite sedition in the Muslim ranks. Reproof to the hypocrites and half-hearted and to those who found fault with the Prophet for his use of the alms ( zakāt ). Proper destination of the alms. Hypocrites and renegades denounced. They are warned by the example of the people of old who rejected the Prophets. Rewards promised to the true believers. Continued denunciation of the hypocrites and of those who held back from the fight. Muḥammad is not to pray at the grave of any one of them who dies. Their seeming prosperity is not to deceive him. Happine in store for the Apostle, the believers, and the Muhājirūn. Those who may lawfully be excused military service. The desert Arabs are among the worst of the hypocrites, though some believe. Some people of al-Madīnah also denounced as hypocrites. Others have sinned but confe ed. Others wait for God’s pleasure. Denunciation of some who had set up a mosque from motives of political opposition. Muḥammad is not to sanction this mosque, but rather to use that of Qubāʾ, founded by him while on his way from Makkah to al-Madīnah during the Flight. God has bought the persons and wealth of the believers at the price of Paradise. The Prophet and the believers must not ask forgivene for the idolaters, however near of kin. Abraham only asked pardon for his idolatrous father in fulfilment of a promise. The three Anṣārs who refused to accompany Muḥammad to Tabūk are forgiven. The people of al-Madīnah and the neighbouring Arabs blamed for holding back on the occasion. All sacrifices for the sake of the religion are counted to them. Exhortation to fight rigorously against the infidels. Reproof to those who receive the revelation suspiciously. God will stand by his Apostle.