Name and Background
Like many other Soorahs, the name Al-Lahab comes from the first verse.
This Soorah prophesizes about Aboo Lahab and his wife. Aboo Lahab was the worst enemy of the Prophet ŝall Allaahu ‘alayhi wa sallam’s Islamic mission and the only such enemy mentioned by name in the Qur-aan, though there were many other enemies of the mission almost as staunch as he was. Thus some background information about him will be pertinent here.
Pre-Islamic Arabia was a land of lawlessness, insecurity and bloodshed. There was no protection for anyone’s life, wealth or honour except the fighting power of one’s blood relatives. Thus, the Arabs highly valued blood relation and regardless of the circumstances or cause, every person would stand up with and fight for his blood relatives -- the closer the relationship, the more loyal the protection. Anyone not honouring one’s relationship, that is, not providing protection to and fighting for one’s relatives, was considered the worst kind of person. That is why when the Prophet ŝall Allaahu ‘alayhi wa sallam was giving the message of Islam, his clan provided him full support, though many of them did not believe in him.
Aboo Lahab was a brother of the Prophet’s late father. An uncle was considered like a father, especially when the father was not alive. However, Aboo Lahab sided with the Prophet ŝall Allaahu ‘alayhi wa sallam’s enemies, breaking the ethical and social rules that were the core of Arabian society.
He was a rich man, but he was also extremely miserly. He never provided any support to his nephew when the Prophet was a child under the care of the other uncle, Aboo Ŧaalib.
At the start of his Islamic mission, when the Prophet ŝall Allaahu ‘alayhi wa sallam used the morning-danger- call[1] tradition to gather the Quraish and warn them about the Hereafter, before anyone could have responded, Aboo Lahab reacted angrily saying, “Perished be you! Did you gather us for this?”
When the Prophet ŝall Allaahu ‘alayhi wa sallam invited his close relatives for a dinner to talk to them about Islam and started started talking after the dinner, Aboo Lahab immediately interrupted, did not give the Prophet a chance to say what he wanted to say and caused the gathering to disperse.
One day he asked the Prophet ŝall Allaahu ‘alayhi wa sallam, “If I accept your Deen, what would I get when you succeed?” When he was told that he would be like all other believers, without any special status, he responded, “Perished be this Deen where I am treated equal to everyone else.” He was also extremely annoyed by the Qur-aanic criticism of those who are stingy and by the constant Islamic exhortation about spending in the way of Allaah Subhaanahu wa Ta’aala to help the poor and the orphans.
Two of the Prophet ŝall Allaahu ‘alayhi wa sallam’s daughters were betrothed to two of the sons of Aboo Lahab. When the Prophet started the Islamic mission, Aboo Lahab ordered his sons to divorce Prophet’s daughters, which they did.
When the second and only remaining son of the Prophet died, instead of offering condolences to the Prophet ŝall Allaahu ‘alayhi wa sallam, Aboo Lahab went to the Makkans merrily announcing that Muĥammad had become totally root-less.
When the Prophet ŝall Allaahu ‘alayhi wa sallam used to go out to bazaars, fairs, exhibitions and pilgrim encampments to invite people to Islam, Aboo Lahab would follow him throwing dust and stones at him and announcing to people, “Do not listen to him, he is a deviant liar”. Aboo Lahab’s word was taken very seriously by outsiders because, according to Arab traditions, a father or uncle’s word about a son carried the most significant weight, and those outsiders did not know the real situation.
When the Makkans boycotted the Prophet ŝall Allaahu ‘alayhi wa sallam’s clan, Aboo Lahab sided with the enemies and participated in the boycott of his own clan. In fact, he was so vicious that when his clan would try to buy groceries from trade caravans arriving in Makkah, he would out-bid his clan to make them unable to obtain supplies for their families.
He was the next door neighbour of the Prophet ŝall Allaahu ‘alayhi wa sallam. He and his wife used to throw their filthy trash over the wall into the Prophet’s house, which was sometimes aimed at the food being cooked in the Prophet ŝall Allaahu ‘alayhi wa sallam’s house. Aboo Lahab’s wife used to put thorny bushes at night right in front of Prophet’s door so that in the morning, when he or his children venture out, they would get hurt.
After the death of Aboo Ŧaalib, the clan’s leadership was inherited by Aboo Lahab who, because of his wealth and religious influence, became the most influential Makkan chief. As the leader of the clan, he withdrew the protection of the clan that had been available to the Prophet ŝall Allaahu ‘alayhi wa sallam under the leadership of his uncle Aboo Ŧaalib. Deprived of the protection from his own uncle, the Prophet had to seek protection from Muŧ‘am ibn ‘Addi in order to stay and continue his mission in Makkah.
This Soorah announces that he and his wife are doomed to fail in their efforts to eradicate Islam and that they will be severely punished and humiliated in the Hereafter. When was this announcement made, that is, when was this Soorah revealed? Some people think that it was revealed in the early period of Makkah in response to the comments that Aboo Lahab made about the Prophet ŝall Allaahu ‘alayhi wa sallam and Islam using similar words as used in this soorah for him. This assumption is untenable considering that it has never been the style of the Prophet or of the Qur-aan to respond to the enemies in the same harsh language as they used in their animosity. Even if the Qur-aan citicizes someone or prophesizes about the punishment of Allaah Subhaanahu wa Ta’aala for any people, it does so only after all attempts have been made and all avenues have been exhausted to open the heart of that person to Islam. For this reason, it was revealed late in the Makkan period when his vicious behaviour, which was totally unacceptable from all Arabian and Makkan standards, had become evident to people. If we use the approach, the most pertinent juncture appears to be when Aboo Lahab had withdrawn the clan’s protection and the Prophet had to live under the protection of another clan. At that stage, it had become evident that in his animosity towards Islam and the Prophet ŝall Allaahu ‘alayhi wa sallam, he could do the most unthinkable and abominable act in the eyes of Arabs. Thus, it was sometime after this stage that Allaah Subhaanahu wa Ta’aala revealed this Soorah to let everyone know that Aboo Lahab was going to be an utter failure and to comfort the Prophet ŝall Allaahu ‘alayhi wa sallam by informing him of the success of his mission.
The revelation of this Soorah, singling out Aboo Lahab by mentioning his name, underscored another important point – a prophet or a believer does not make any compromise in the matter of principle for a close blood relative. Rather, if a relative is on the wrong, he will be singled out more than another person. Also, the closeness is determined by the strength of the faith, not by blood.
This Soorah announces the failure of Aboo Lahab and his gang immediately after Soorah An-Naŝr announced the victory of the Islamic mission. That is in the same way as Allaah Subhaanahu wa Ta’aala said, “The truth came and falsehood vanished.” Banee Israaeel 81:17. Another way to look at the arrangement of the three Soorahs – Al-Kaafiroon, An-Naŝr and Al-Lahab – is in the light of the following statement the Prophet ŝall Allaahu ‘alayhi wa sallam made after the conquest of Makkah:
“There is no God except Allaah alone; He fulfilled His promise and helped His slave; and defeated all of the opponents by Himself.”
The same statement has been made by the three Soorahs: The uncompromising message of Towĥeed has been conveyed in Al-Kaafiroon, Allaah Subhaanahu wa Ta`aala’s help and victory has been announced in An-Naŝr and the defeat of the opponents has been predicted in Al-Lahab.
Footnotes
[1] Please see the teaching of Al-‘Aadiyaat for details of nature and need for this danger call.
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