Sūrat al-Ḥadīd is the fifty-seventh chapter of the Quran. Most consider it a Medinan surah revealed after Sūrat al-Zalzalah (99). It contains twenty-nine verses and takes its name from verse 25 that mentions the iron (al-ḥadīd).

Some exegetes have opined it may be Meccan with some Medinan verses or that its middle part may be Meccan,[1] but most agree it is Medinan.

The surah opens with the glorification of God and lists some of His beautiful names (al-asmāʾ al-ḥusnā), declaring His sovereignty and might (verses 1-6), before it starts discussing its two major themes: faith in God and His Apostle (verses 7-8, 19, 21, 28), and spending in the way of God (verses 7, 10-11, 18, 24).

The latter is presented as a good loan to God, the best of debtors, who never fails in His promise to richly repay one who gives. Besides the manifold return, those who adopt the twin virtues that are the major themes of this surah – perfection in faith and spending in God’s way – are promised forgiveness of sins and paradise (verse 21) as well as a guiding light and a promise to be joined to the truthful (ṣiddīqīn) and the witnesses (shuhadāʾ) before God, the exalted (verse 19).

The faithful are also contrasted with the hypocrites (verses 12-15). The main and middle part of the surah addresses the faithful, inviting them to be generous in their support for God’s cause (verses 11 and 18) and to soften their hearts to God’s remembrance (verse 16), and not to fall prey to the ephemeral world and its illusions (verse 20). As the surah concludes, it discusses the People of the Book (verses 25-29), criticising them for having failed to be true to their prophets and calling upon them to believe in the prophethood of Prophet Muhammad (s).

This surah is also the first in a group of five Medinan surahs that are known as the musabbiḥāt (glorifiers) because they all open with a verse glorifying God, either with sabbaḥa li-llāh or yusabbiḥu li-llāh. And these five surahs are al-Ḥadīd (57), al-Ḥashr (59), al-Ṣaff (61), al-Jumuʿah (62), and al-Taghābun (64). Sabbaḥa is in the perfect tense and yusabbiḥu in the imperfect present continuous tense to show that He is glorified both with perpetuity (dawām) and constantly (istimrār), respectively.

A salient feature of this surah is that almost every verse in it contrasts two opposites. Some of this is to show the oneness of some of these phenomena, despite the apparent contrast; others are to show opposites that nonetheless manifest the power of their common Creator, and yet other contrasts are to demark a black-and-white difference that invites man to choose the better of the two.

As for the opposites that are one, it is that God Himself is the First and the Last (verse 3) and the Manifest and the Hidden (verse 3).

As for the opposites that complement each other and point to the might and wisdom of their common Creator, they include the heavens and earth (verses 1, 3, and 5), life and death (verse 2), what enters the earth and emerges from it (verse 4), what descends from the sky and ascends to it (verse 4), night and day (verse 6), and darkness and light (verse 9).

And as for the true opposites that must either be shunned or favoured, they all relate to the faithful: those who spent and fought before victory and those who did after (verse 10), the faithful versus the hypocrites (verses 12-15), those with humble hearts versus the hard-hearted (verse 16), the charitable (verse 18) versus the stingy (verse 24), the faithful versus the faithless (verse 19), the hereafter versus the life of this world (verse 21), and the status of the faithful versus the People of the Book (verses 27-29). There is also the contrast of neither grieving excessively over suffering nor exulting over worldly gains (verse 23), both of which are to be shunned. This continuous, focused, contrasting of the inward and the outward reveals that all things have two dimensions and, while they may share the same space and realm, they are not equal. Man is invited to always choose that which is closer to God in terms of spiritual elevation and possessing higher reality, as that is everlasting, and promises the bliss, joy, and tranquillity that man always seeks.

Equally important to note is that this surah repeatedly employs rhetorical questions, instead of imperatives, to introduce and emphasise its two major themes of adopting increased faith and generosity to God’s cause: Why should you not have faith in Allah …? (verse 8), Why should you not spend in the way of Allah …? (verse 10), Who is it that will lend Allah a good loan …? (verse 11), Is it not time yet for those who have faith that their hearts should be humbled …? (verse 16). This is because the surah is an address to the faithful. It appeals to their existing faith and sincerity, reasoning with them and inviting them to, voluntarily, choose a greater spiritual rank inspired by their love for their Lord.

Sūrat al-Ḥadīd is one in which exegetes are not unanimous on it being entirely Meccan of Medinan, though most seem to agree with it being Medinan. Professor Abdel Haleem has criticised the ‘Orientalist obsession’ with dating the Quran’s verses as an exercise of great importance and yet their works are plagued with speculations and the use of conjectural words (such as ‘probably’) to support their findings, and a vagueness that makes it difficult to see how they contribute to an understanding of a surah. As well, the common Orientalist tradition in studying the Quran is that of assuming its surahs, in general, comprise of disparate material and jump from one theme to another ‘in a disjointed, haphazard manner’ and so they tend to group parts of the surah into stories, polemics, perorations, and so on. This not only fails to inspire the Muslim believer, but it hampers the non-believer from seeing what the surah is about. Abdel Haleem has therefore published a paper on How to Read the Qurʾan: Sūrat al-Ḥadīd,[2] seeking to show ‘its organic structural and thematic unity, as an example of how to read the Quran’.[3] His approach is somewhat similar to that of Tabatabai, who consistently, even when explaining the longest surahs like al-Baqarah (2) and Āl ʿImrān (3), seeks to tie a preceding set of verses with the following passage and to show the relevance of their juxtapositions and apparent change in theme.

Abdel Haleem’s understanding of the central theme of Sūrat al-Ḥadīd, which ties every verse in it to this core message, is the imperative anfiqū (give/spend) in verse 7. He reads the opening six verses as a prelude to this message, reminding the faithful that all on the earth and in the heavens glorify God and man is therefore urged to join the chorus and not put himself in discord with the rest of creation; that God controls everything and knows everything. And that man shall return to God to give account and that this is inevitable. This introduction, according to Abdel Haleem, functions to serve as targhīb (persuasion) in heeding God’s orders, and tarhīb (instilling awe) to break down resistance.

He also points that the surah does not simply command the faithful to greater faith in God and His Apostle and to spend in God’s way. Instead, as is characteristic of the Quran, it accompanies its prescriptions with a rationale. For example, faith in Allah and His Apostle (verse 7) is mentioned before asking the faithful to spend, implying one who does not contribute lacks in faith. Second, instead of asking the faithful to give ‘their’ wealth, it asks them to be generous with what God has given them (verse 7), reminding them that everything in life came from Him and that no one will have it forever. In return, the faithful are promised a great reward.[4]

The faithful are now engaged in dialogue (verses 8-11), reminding them of God’s kindness and mercy (verse 9). Those who give are better than those who hesitate (verse 10). One who gives a good loan to God will receive a great reward on Judgement Day (verse 12). This is contrasted with the hypocrites (verses 13-14) who pretend to believe but are not ready to give.[5] So the push is to soften the hearts of the hesitant faithful (verse 16) whilst informing the hypocrites that no ransom will be accepted from them on Judgement Day (verse 15).[6]

For the hesitant amongst the faithful, whose hearts have hardened, there is hope: just as you see the dead land coming to life (verse 17) so can dead hearts come back to life if one applies reason. This revival also reminds of the resurrection, judgement, and man’s final fate (verses 17-19).

From verses 20-24, the surah tackles its core subject (of giving) from a different angle, aiming to break two pretexts that may prevent the faithful from giving. First, that this life is an illusion and will not last forever (verse 20) whereas paradise is everlasting and worth racing toward (verse 21). The second pretext, given in verses 22-23, is that everything in life: fortune or misfortune, is ordained by God, so the fear of death, poverty, or misfortune should not be the reason to disobey God.[7]

The basis of the persuasion then widens in the surah by referring to the message of all the previous prophets (verse 25). Prophets were sent to uphold justice and iron was sent for its mighty strength. The importance of iron is highlighted in being the surah’s title. This is so God could mark out those who would secretly help Him and His messengers (verse 25); for God uses the righteous to repel the wicked (2:251, 22:40).

The faithful are thus brought into the realm of history to see how their role is not isolated or for their time only, but fits into the mosaic of God’s plan for humanity from its inception; and that there is an honour for them in becoming a part of this holistic divine plan. Those who do not give or obey, essentially abandon the cause of God and His messengers.

The central idea of giving in verse 7, according to Abdel Haleem, determines the structure, position, nature, and function of each element, subordinating all to the spirit of the whole.[8] And this, he emphasises, is how one must view a surah’s message, meaning a holistic reading that ties each verse to the other, for ‘conjectural claims about the composition of the Qurʾan, mere dating and labelling, do not show readers how to read the Qurʾan’.[9]

[1] Nasr, p. 1330.
[2] Haleem, Abdel, How to Read the Qurʾan: Sūrat Al-Ḥadīd (Q. 57), (Journal of Qurʾanic Studies, vol. 10, no. 2, 2008), pp. 124-130.
[3] Haleem, Abdel, How to Read the Qurʾan: Sūrat Al-Ḥadīd (Q. 57), (Journal of Qurʾanic Studies, vol. 10, no. 2, 2008), p. 124.
[4] Haleem, Abdel, How to Read the Qurʾan: Sūrat Al-Ḥadīd (Q. 57), (Journal of Qurʾanic Studies, vol. 10, no. 2, 2008), p. 125.
[5] Haleem, Abdel, How to Read the Qurʾan: Sūrat Al-Ḥadīd (Q. 57), (Journal of Qurʾanic Studies, vol. 10, no. 2, 2008), p. 126.
[6] Haleem, Abdel, How to Read the Qurʾan: Sūrat Al-Ḥadīd (Q. 57), (Journal of Qurʾanic Studies, vol. 10, no. 2, 2008), p. 126
[7] Haleem, Abdel, How to Read the Qurʾan: Sūrat Al-Ḥadīd (Q. 57), (Journal of Qurʾanic Studies, vol. 10, no. 2, 2008), p. 127.
[8] Haleem, Abdel, How to Read the Qurʾan: Sūrat Al-Ḥadīd (Q. 57), (Journal of Qurʾanic Studies, vol. 10, no. 2, 2008), p. 130.
[9] Haleem, Abdel, How to Read the Qurʾan: Sūrat Al-Ḥadīd (Q. 57), (Journal of Qurʾanic Studies, vol. 10, no. 2, 2008), p. 130.