This chapter is popularly known and pronounced as Sūrat al-Mujādilah. When the term al-mujādilah is spelt and pronounced thus it is identified as a feminine active participle and means: the woman who argues or disputes with someone, where that someone, in this case, was the Messenger of God, Muhammad (s). However, this surah is also known, and can be pronounced, as Sūrat al-Mujādalah. When the term is spelt and pronounced in this fashion, it is a third form infinitive meaning argument and disputation; consequently the chapter is known as the Chapter of Argumentation. Nonetheless, this surah’s identification as Sūrat al-Mujādilah meaning the Chapter of The Woman Who Argues is suggested to be more apparent and suitable.
Another name for this surah, albeit less-known, is Sūrat al-Ẓihār. Ẓihār, which was a specific pagan ‘emotional divorce’ practice, is the subject of the opening verses of this surah. It is claimed that it is with this name that this surah appeared in the Quran copy of the Prophet’s companion, Ubayy ibn Kaʿb.
This surah is of Medinan provenance in light of the literary and historical context of its verses, and constitutes twenty-two verses. A study of the surah indicates that clusters of its verses were revealed in response to various events that took place in Medina during the Prophet’s residence there, which precipitated a divine response in the form of Quranic verses. Some of these incidents appear related to each other while others do not. Thus this surah most probably did not descend all together, the disparate cluster of verses subsequently brought together to form this surah.
Thus the opening verses (1-4) address the issue of ẓihār, and these verses were revealed in response to the marital incident that occurred between Khawlah bint al-Thaʿlabah and her husband, Aws ibn al-Ṣāmit. Thereafter, verses 5-6 introduce the discussion of those who oppose God and His Messenger, a theme which pervades the entirety of the surah. Some Quran commentators understand these two verses to point to the defeat of the cohort of Arab polytheists (consisting of the Meccan Quraysh and their Bedouin tribal allies) and the Banī al-Naḍīr Jews who together fought the Medinan Muslims in the Battle of the Trench towards the end of 5 AH, and therefore to have been revealed subsequent to that significant event.
Verses 7-10 discuss the secret conversations of those who oppose and deride the Prophet, and those who mischievously insult the Prophet by greeting him with a forked tongue (verse 8), and the proper manner in which to hold private discourse (verse 9) – verses said to have been revealed in response to the sinister and hurtful behaviour of the Jews and the hypocrites who had formed an unholy alliance against the Muslims in Medina. This is followed by verse 11 which is regarding the etiquette of sitting in a gathering and how to behave with latecomers to the same gathering, said to have been revealed in response to some Medinan Muslims begrudging the veterans of the Battle of Badr a place to sit in the Prophet’s gathering. This is while it is possible that such unwholesome behaviour towards others had been going on for some time there.
This is then followed by verses 12-13, which initially enjoin Muslims to offer alms before conversing privately with the Prophet, and then lightens this injunction. These two verses are said to have been revealed regarding the behaviour of some hypocritical Muslims or Muslims of weak faith who used to trouble the Prophet with unnecessary and lengthy private consultations at the expense of other Muslims, especially the poor ones.
The longest section, verses 14-21, addresses the nature of the hypocrites and their unholy alliance with the Jews for the purpose of opposing the Prophet. It is obvious this cluster of verses was revealed in response to this troubling phenomenon occurring at that time.
Finally, the surah concludes with a long verse (22) regarding the rewards God gives to those who believe in Him and in the Last Day.
It is possible that the incidents that precipitated the verses of this surah occurred in succession and therefore the relevant verses descended likewise and were then constituted into this surah, just as it is possible that the incidents and related verses occurred at different times and not in consecutive fashion. Subsequently, the verses were brought together to form a surah with the theme of opposition to God and His Messenger, stringing the surah into a unity. Another possibility is that the whole surah may have been revealed together addressing different issues which occurred over a period of time. This was not uncommon as the revelation of the Quran did not come every day or every week.
There are two surahs in the Quran which deal with the issue of ẓihār, and these are Sūrat al-Aḥzāb (33) and Sūrat al-Mujādilah. The relevant verses are 33:4 and 58:1-4. The part of 33:4 relevant to ẓihār resembles verse 2 of this surah closely, but it is the latter in verses 1-4 that deals with this issue in greater detail, while the former (33:4) condemns ẓihār along with the practice of adoption in the manner in which it was practiced at that time, which was to regard the adopted child as the biological child of the adopting parents. The latter condemns ẓihār and also regulates it.
Ancient chronological lists of Quranic surahs place the revelation of Sūrat al-Aḥzāb prior to this surah on the basis of the place and point in time when a surah’s first verses were revealed. Significant portions of Sūrat al-Aḥzāb, including 33:4, descended in late 5 AH on the basis of a study of the surah in light of the Prophet’s biography. This is while Sūrat al-Mujādilah is suggested by the same lists to have been revealed after Sūrat al-Munāfiqūn (63), which would place its revelation sometime in or after 6 AH. Thus, if the placement of these two surahs in the chronological lists is accepted then 33:4 would serve as the first step towards denouncing and reforming the practice of ẓihār, and verses 1-4 of this surah would serve as the second and ultimate step in this process of reform.
However, such a chronological placement of this surah, especially verses 1-4, is difficult to countenance if the sabab al-nuzūl reports relevant to verses 1-4, cited by all commentators, examples of which are cited in this commentary, are to be taken seriously. These reports suggest that no relevant revelation or divine guidance regarding ẓihār had as yet been revealed. This would be patently false if the ancient chronological lists are to be believed. But since these lists have serious questions regarding their reliability, where their utility is suggested to be more general and approximate than specific, while the sabab al-nuzūl reports relevant to verses 1-4 are accepted without reservation, it would perhaps be more reasonable to hold that the revelation of verses 1-4 preceded the revelation of 33:4, where the former renounced ẓihār and regulated it while the latter reiterated that renunciation. Claims also exist that the incident of Aws ibn al-Ṣāmit divorcing his wife Khawlah bint al-Thaʿlabah by means of ẓihār, which precipitated the revelation of verses 1-4, was the first instance of ẓihār in the history of nascent Islam.
The rest of Sūrat al-Mujādilah, due to its harsh tenor consisting of threats and warnings, indicates an environment of hostility and tension between the Muslims on the one hand and the hypocrites and Jews of Medina on the other. The latter had developed an unholy alliance between themselves against the Muslims. Such a hostile environment in Medina came about very soon after the Prophet’s migration there, indeed from the second year of his migration, and continued right up to his death. Hence, the rest of Sūrat al-Mujādilah could have been revealed at any time in Medina. It could have been revealed prior to, along with, or after verses 1-4, such as in 6 AH, contrary to the erroneous assumption that after the expulsion of the Banī Qurayẓah in late 5 AH no Jews existed in Medina, and therefore verses of Sūrat al-Mujādilah harshly rebuking Jews and hypocrites (such as verses 7-10 and 14-21), must have been revealed before late 5 AH. The reason this assumption is erroneous is because Jews continued to reside in Medina after 5 AH, but their active opposition and hostility was replaced with diplomatic intrigue, while sizeable numbers of Jews lived in fertile oases not too far from Medina. This is while the hypocrites continued with their hypocrisy in Medina well into the subsequent years, and right up to the time of the Prophet’s demise.
Hence, it is not too difficult to imagine continued liaison between the hypocrites and the Jews against the Muslims subsequent to 5 AH, by those who lived within and without Medina. Consequently, the observation has been made that some of the verses of Sūrat al-Mujādilah, which censure the hypocrites, resemble the censure that occurs against them in Sūrat al-Munāfiqūn.
[1] Kanz al-ʿIrfān, 2/288; Munyah, 28/16.
[2] Munyah, 28/16.
[3] Kanz al-ʿIrfān, 2/288; Munyah, 28/16.
[4] Munyah, 28/16.
[5] Munyah, 28/16.
[6] Munyah, 28/16.
[7] Tibyan, 9/539; Tabrisi, 9/369; Mizan, 19/177.
[8] Zamakhshari, 4/489; Munyah, 28/55.
[9] Al-Tafsīr al-Ḥadīth, 8/468.
[10] Al-Tafsīr al-Ḥadīth, 8/468.
[11] Al-Tafsīr al-Ḥadīth, 8/468.
[12] For several examples of such chronological lists and the position of Sūrat al-Aḥzāb and Sūrat al-Mujādilah therein, see Discovering the Qur’an: A Contemporary Approach to a Veiled Text, pp. 69-70.
[13] Tabrisi, 10/405, cited in Qur’anic Sciences, p. 94.
[14] See the analysis of Sūrat al-Aḥzāb in light of the Prophet’s biography in Mawsūʿat al-Taʾrīkh al-Islāmī, 2/534, 545-550, 577-590.
[15] See the lists in Discovering the Qur’an: A Contemporary Approach to a Veiled Text, pp. 69-70.
[16] Sūrat al-Munāfiqūn descended in 6 AH for it is said to have been revealed after the raid on the tribe of Banī al-Muṣṭaliq, which occurred in 6 AH. See Mawsūʿat al-Taʾrīkh al-Islāmī, 2/577-590.
[17] Al-Tafsīr al-Ḥadīth, 8/468. This understanding regarding the sequence of revelation of 33:4 and 1-4 of this surah comes across as implicit in many Quran commentaries.
[18] Furqan, 28/191; Fadlallah, 22/61.
[19] For one useful discussion on the reliability of the chronological lists of Quranic surahs, see Discovering the Qur’an: A Contemporary Approach to a Veiled Text, pp. 69-72.
[20] Discovering the Qur’an: A Contemporary Approach to a Veiled Text, p. 71.
[21] Tibyan, 9/541; Qummi, 2/353; Tabrisi, 9/371.
[22] For examples of cooperation between the Jews and hypocrites of Medina, see The Life of Muhammad: A Translation of Ibn Ishaq’s Sirat Rasul Allah, pp. 246, 363-364, 437; Muhammad at Medina, pp. 209, 212; Muhammad: His Life Based on the Earliest Sources, p. 222.
[23] The expulsion of the Banī Qurayẓah in late 5 AH was preceded by the expulsion of the Jewish Banī al-Naḍīr in 4 AH, which was preceded by the expulsion of the Jewish Banī Qaynuqāʿ in 2 AH, very soon after the Battle of Badr.
[24] Al-Tafsīr al-Ḥadīth, 8/468.
[25] Muhammad at Medina, pp. 216-217.
[26] These oases are such as Khaybar, Fadak, Wādī al-Qurāʾ, and Tayma.
[27] These Jewish settlements were also hostile to the Muslims and were attacked in subsequent years and made to capitulate; see Muhammad at Medina, pp. 217-218.
[28] This is attested by such factors as the revelation of Sūrat al-Munāfiqūn, which descended in 6 AH; the late death of the famous hypocrite ʿAbd-Allāh ibn Ubayy who died in 10/631, shortly before the Prophet’s own demise, thereby indicating a continuous presence of the hypocrites in Medina right until the end of the Prophet’s life; and the revelation of Sūrat al-Tawbah (9), a late Medinan surah which mentions the existence of hypocrites among the Bedouin tribes too, in addition to their existence in Medina (9:97-101).
[29] Al-Tafsīr al-Ḥadīth, 8/468.