This surah is named Sūrat Luqmān due to the occurrence of this name in it and because it contains the discussion of Luqmān and his wise counsels. It does not have any other name, and it is the only surah that talks about this wise man. It consists of thirty-four verses (excluding the basmalah) and is of Meccan provenance as attested by its contents. Tentatively, it is considered to be the fifty-seventh surah to be revealed there. However, Ṭūsī registers an opinion attributed to Hasan al-Baṣrī which maintains that although this surah is of Meccan provenance, its fourth verse is Medinan because it mentions the ritual prayer (ṣalāh) and alms-tax (zakāh), which were legislated in Medina. This is an unusual claim about both practices, for with respect to the ritual prayer, as Tabatabai argues, it already existed in Mecca. This is because, as he writes, clear references are made to the ritual prayer by various expressions in Meccan surahs (such as by words formed from the root letters ṣ-l-w, including the word al-ṣalāh itself in the following Meccan surahs: 74:43, 87:14-15, 108:2, 107:4-5, 75:31, 20:132, 6:72, 6:92, 6:162, 17:78-79, 17:110, 23:2, 23:9, 70:22-23, 70:34, 96:10, 7:170, 11:114, 13:22, 27:3, 29:45, 30:31, 35:18, and 35:29). In addition, he argues that there are several transmitted reports that describe the Prophet performing the ritual prayer with Khadijah and Ali (a) at the moment of the inception of his mission, even though, he writes, the prayer’s specific form is unknown at this earliest period in time. These reports corroborate that the Muslim ritual prayer was established and practiced from the very onset of the faith. Thus it may be concluded that the Muslim ritual prayer as a devotional rite was an accompaniment of Islam from the earliest times, and that it was a prominent part of the new faith such that accepting the faith was tantamount to having to perform the ritual prayer as true and correct worship of the one, true God, and that it was equivalent to faith in Islam.
The same applies to zakāh, for the term, its association with charity and almsgiving and encouragement to discharge it, occurs already in Meccan surahs of the Quran (23:4, 27:3, 30:39, 41:7, 7:156, 19:31, 19:55, 21:73). In Meccan surahs one also observes a general stress on charity and helping the poor and needy without using the term zakāh (for example in 6:141, 70:24-25, and 51:19), as well as harsh condemnation for ignoring the plight of the needy (for example in 89:17-19 and 41:7). Undoubtedly, zakāh subsequently developed into a detailed legal institution in the Medinan period of the Quran’s revelation but the term had already been introduced in Meccan surahs, and its association with charity and encouragement to pay it had already been made in Mecca for the Muslims.
Consequently, this surah is of Meccan provenance and contains themes in accordance with the generality of Meccan surahs, namely theological matters, especially monotheism, resurrection, and prophethood.
This surah has several important aims/themes, such as: to call to monotheism, to call to the worship of one God, and to combat polytheism; to demonstrate the significance of the Quran in contradistinction to frivolous tales engaged in by the Quran’s opponents who used the latter to distract people from the Quran; to inspire certainty in the resurrection; to encourage holding fast to the teachings of the faith, and to relate some details of Luqmān and his wise sayings. Tabatabai observes that verse 30 is one of the finest verses of this surah.
Naming this surah after Luqmān, coupled with the attention that God gives in it to conveying his exhortations and counsels, rendering them in the form of Quranic verses, points to the fact that Luqmān’s words possess a divine hue.
Subḥānī relates that the reason for the revelation of this surah was that the Quraysh asked the Messenger of God about the story of Luqmān and his son, but they did so in a manner that suggested obstinacy on their part and with the intent to test him, whereupon these verses were revealed. On the other hand, Tabatabai opines, on the basis of the beginning part of this surah, that it was revealed concerning one of the polytheists who was preventing others from listening to the Quranic revelations by spreading fanciful tales. He argues that this is indicated by the reports about the reason for the revelation of verse 6 of this surah. Consequently, he writes, it is not implausible that this surah was revealed in response to the polytheist’s whimsical stories. While it is not improbable that the polytheists of Quraysh had asked the Prophet about Luqmān and his son, Tabatabai’s opinion seems more sound since the literary context of the surah strongly focuses on monotheism and on urging its audience to give serious heed to the Quran’s content such that the surah begins with just such an emphasis and where the Luqmān pericope, contrasting with the frivolous discourse of the unnamed opponent, also aims for the same. So to argue that this surah’s revelation was in response to a malicious polytheist (and other like-minded individuals) who rejected monotheism, disregarded the Quranic revelations, and actively sought to oppose it by means of frivolous stories, appears more sound.
[1] Munyah, 21/122.
[2] Amthal, 13/8.
[3] Munyah, 21/122.
[4] Amthal, 13/8.
[5] Mizan, 16/209; Munyah, 21/123; Amthal, 13/7-8.
[6] Quranic Sciences, p. 280. This is based on the chronological order of the surahs according to Ibn Abbas, after having been corrected through the use of different reliable works.
[7] Tibyan, 8/268; Razi, 25/114, merely mentions this opinion without attributing it to Hasan al-Baṣrī.
[8] Mizan, 20/325-326.
[9] Mizan, 20/325-326.
[10] The chronology of Quranic surahs and their geographical provenance are known from the comparative study of 1. Ancient chronological lists of Quran surahs, 2. Historical reports and traditions transmitted about when, where, and why specific verses and surahs were revealed (asbāb al-nuzūl literature), where available, and 3. A study of the surahs themselves in light of Prophet Muhammad’s (s) biography. All of this has further resulted in useful general thematic criteria, identified by scholars, which further aid in determining the Meccan/Medinan provenance of the Quranic surahs as well as verifying their chronology; see Quranic Sciences, pp. 94-108.
[11] Mizan, 20/325-326. He does share his presumption here however, that the Muslim ritual prayer, at some point in time, constituted of some recitations from the Quran and the act of prostration. The historical sources say that the ritual prayer during the earliest Muslim period constituted of two cycles, including bowing and prostration (see the references cited in the next footnote).
[12] For these reports, see The Life of Muhammad: A Translation of Ibn Ishaq’s Sirat Rasul Allah, pp. 112-115, 118; Tarikh, 2/311-312; Kitāb al-Irshād: The Book of Guidance into the Lives of the Twelve Imāms, pp. 18-19; Beacons of Light: Muhammad the Prophet and Fatima the Radiant: A Partial translation of Iʿlām al-Warāʾ bi Aʿlām al-Hudā, pp. 57-59; Kafi, 3/487, 272-273; Wasail, 4/46; al-Sīrah al-Nabawiyyah bi Riwāyah Ahl al-Bayt, 1/251-252.
[13] Amthal, 6/95.
[14] Amthal, 13/7-8.
[15] Mizan, 16/209.
[16] Munyah, 21/123.
[17] Munyah, 21/123.
[18] Mizan, 16/209.
[19] Mizan, 16/209, 212.