Al-Fajr

Commentary

This Surah, by swearing five oaths in its beginning, emphasises the following fact:

إِنَّ رَبَّكَ لَبِالْمِرْصَادِ

Surely your Lord is ever on the watch. [ 89:14]

This means that Allah is watching over whatever you do, and reward or punishment for your deeds is certain and inevitable.

The first among the five oaths sworn at the beginning is Fajr (dawn). It may refer to the dawn of every day that brings about a great change in the world, and thus directs man's attention to the absolute Omnipotence of Allah. It is also possible that it refers to the dawn of some specific day. Commentators like Sayyidna Ibn ` Abbas and Ibn Zubair ؓ say that the word is general, and it refers to any dawn. According to another narration of Ibn ` Abbas ؓ ، it refers to the dawn of the first of Muharram which is the start of the lunar-Islamic calendar. Sayyidna Qatadah رحمۃ علیہ ، among others, has interpreted it in the same way.

Some commentators, like Mujahid and ` Ikramah, refer this to the dawn of 'the Day of Sacrifice' on the tenth of Dhul Hijjah. A narration from Sayyidna Ibn ` Abbas ؓ concurs with this view. The reason for this specification is that according to Islamic principles, Allah has made a night to precede the day. All days are preceded by their respective nights, except the 'the Day of Sacrifice', because the night that precedes the Day of Sacrifice is not the night of Sacrifice. In fact, the preceding night, according to Shari'ah, is the night of ` Arafah. Staying at ` Arafat is the most important and foremost rite of Hajj. If a pilgrim is not able to reach ` Arafat on the 9th of Dhul Hijjah, any time in the day or in the night following it to halt there for a while, he will not be considered to have performed Hajj at all. However if he arrives there any time during the night before the break of dawn on the 10th of Dhul Hijjah, his halt in ` Arafah will be acceptable and his Hajj will be considered valid. This shows that the day of ` Arafah has two nights, one preceding it, and another following it. The Day of Sacrifice [ 10th of Dhul Hijjah ] has no night. From this point of view, the dawn of the day of Sacrifice, among all the days of the year, occupies a special position. [ Qurtubi ].

Next, it says:

لَيَالٍ عَشْرٍ (and by the Ten Nights...89:2) According Sayyidna Ibn ` Abbas ؓ Qatadah, Mujahid, Suddi, Dahhak, Kalbi and other leading commentators, the 'ten nights' refers to the [ first ] ten nights of Dhul Hijjah. It is recorded in Hadith that the Holy Prophet ﷺ said that the first ten days of Dhil Hijjah are the most meritorious days for Allah's worship. Every fast of the day is equivalent to fasts of the whole year. Worshipping Allah every night during this period is equivalent to worshipping Him on the night of Qadr. [ Transmitted by Tirmidhi and Ibn Majah with a weak chain of authorities from Abu Hurairah Mazhari ]. Abu-z-Zubair narrated from Sayyidna Jabir ؓ that the Holy Prophet ﷺ said: وَالْفَجْرِ وَلَيَالٍ عَشْرٍ (I swear by the dawn and by the Ten Nights' refers to the first ten days of Dhul Hijjah. Sayyidna Ibn ` Abbas ؓ said that these are the ten nights that are mentioned in the story of Prophet Musa علیہ السلام ; وَ اَتمَمنٰھَا بِعَشرٍ... then We supplemented them with ten' [ 7:142]. Thus these are the ten nights in the whole year which are most meritorious. Imam Qurtubi says that the Hadith reported by Sayyidna Jabir ؓ indicates that the ten nights of Dhul Hijjah are most meritorious, and that the same ten nights of Dhul Hijjah were designated for Prophet Musa (علیہ السلام) .

وَالشَّفْعِ وَالْوَتْرِ (and by the even and the odd,...89:3). The Qur'an has not

specified what the words 'the even' and 'the odd' refer to. Therefore, the commentators have assigned different interpretations to them. Nevertheless, it has been mentioned in a Prophetic Hadith narrated by Abu-z-Zubair from Sayyidna Jabir ؓ thus:

(وَالْفَجْرِ ۔ وَلَيَالٍ عَشْرٍ ) ھو الصّبح وعشر النحر والوتر یوم عرفہ والشفع یوم النّحر

'Fajr' refers to the dawn, and 'the ten nights' refer to the first ten nights of Dhul Hijjah [ which include the Day of Sacrifice ], and that al-watr [ the odd ] refers to the day of ` Arafah [ because it falls on the ninth ] and ash-shaf refers to the Day of Sacrifice [ because it falls on the 10th day of Dhul Hijjah ].'

Qurtubi cites this narration and confirms that its chain of authorities is more authentic than the other tradition narrated by Sayyidna ` Imran Ibn Husain ؓ which talks about odd [ three ] and even [ two/four ] units of prayers. Therefore, Sayyidna Ibn ` Abbas ؓ Ikramah and Nahhas رحمۃ علیہما have preferred the view that 'even' refers to the Day of Sacrifice and 'odd' refers to the day of ` Arafah.

Some commentators like Ibn Sirin, Masruq, Abu Salih and Qatadah رحمۃ علیہم said that 'even' refers to the entire creation, because Allah has created them in pairs, and thus He says:

وَمِن كُلِّ شَيْءٍ خَلَقْنَا زَوْجَيْنِ

'And from everything We have created (a pair of) two kinds [ 51:49] '

-belief/disbelief, happiness/unhappiness, light/darkness, night/day, cold/ heat, sky/earth, human/Jinn and male/female as against all of these pairs, Allah is the only One Being 'odd' that does not have a pair:

ھو اللہ الاحد الصَّمَد

'He, is Allah, the One, Besought of all, needing none'

وَاللَّيْلِ إِذَا يَسْرِ (and by the night when it moves away...89:4). The word yasr is derived from sara and means 'to walk in the night' or 'travel by night'. The verse says when the night itself moves away. It signifies 'when the night departs and goes away.' After taking oath by these five items, the next verse says:

هَلْ فِي ذَٰلِكَ قَسَمٌ لِّذِي حِجْرٍ (Is there [ not ] in that an oath (enough) for a man of sense?...89:5). An intelligent person is, in a very special style, invited to think and reflect. The word hijr literally denotes 'to prevent'. The intellect has been called hijr because it prevents the person from doing which is unbecoming of him - actions or statements. Are these oaths not sufficient for a man possessed of intellect, sound reasoning, understanding and religious discernment? This sentence is in the form of interrogation to awaken man from his slumber. The subject of oaths is implied, though not stated explicitly. The verse purports to say that when man considers into the Majesty of Allah and reflects on the greatness of objects of oaths, it would be confirmed and verified that everyone has to give account of his deeds, and reward and punishment in the Hereafter is sure. In this connection, reference is made to the destruction of three previous nations: [ 1] the nation of ` Ad; [ 2] the nation of Thamud; and [ 3] the nation of Fir'aun (the Pharaoh). ` Ad and Thamud are two nations whose genealogy link up with Iram. Thus Iram may refer to both, ` Ad as well as Thamud. Here however with ` Ad only the name Iram is linked for genealogical reasons:

أَلَمْ تَرَ كَيْفَ فَعَلَ رَبُّكَ بِعَادٍ ۔ إِرَمَ ذَاتِ الْعِمَادِ (Have you not seen how your Lord dealt with [ the people ] ` Ad of Iram, the men of tall pillars...(89:6-7). The word 'Iram' in verse [ 7] is, grammatically speaking, either ` atf bayan (syndetic explicative) or badal (complement). The purpose of the construction is to specify one of the two tribes of ` Ad. This statement specifies that it refers to ` Ad-ul-'ula (the early generation of ` Ad). A remnant from the former generation is referred to as ` Ad-ul-'Ukhra, because they are linked with their great-grand father Iram more closely than ` Ad-ul-'Ukhra. Here the Qur'an refers to the first tribe as ` Ad Iram. In Surah An-Najm, they are described as: عَادًا الْأُولَىٰ (the earlier ` Ad,) [ 53:50] '