Name and Background
The name, Al-Zilzaal – the violent shaking, is taken from the first verse, and as usual it implies “the Soorah containing the word Zilzaal”.
The subject matter of this and the next two Soorahs, Al-‘Aadiyaat and Al-Qaari‘ah, is the end of the world, the Day of Judgment and the way people will be held accountable for their deeds done during this life. Belief in the Hereafter, accountability and Judgment was the most difficult article of faith for the people of Makkah. That is what they had the most difficulty accepting. They could not fathom how it would be possible for this universe, the cosmos, the earth and mountains to be totally destroyed; how people who had become dust in their graves would be raised; and how the record of their deeds could be preserved and presented to them. These small Soorahs clarify these points in a very appealing style using small rhythmic verses that can be easily memorized, recited and repeated. They were all revealed in the very early stage of the Prophet sall Allaahu `alayhi wa sallam’s mission in Makkah in order to inculcate the belief in the Hereafter in people’s minds, possibly around the same time when the Prophet stood at the mountain and called people to tell them about the Hereafter. There are, however, some reports which claim that Soorah Al-Zilzaal and Soorah Al-‘Aadiyaat were revealed in Madeenah. For example, there is a report about Aboo Sa‘eed Khudri radhiallaahu ‘anhu who was a young man from Madeenah to be very concerned about accountability when he heard Al-Zilzaal recited. The way the Sahaabah used to talk about the revelation of a certain verse or soorah for a particular occasion did not necessarily mean that it was revealed exactly at that time or for that occasion. Hence, these soorahs were revealed at a very early stage of the Makkan period.
These three Soorahs have been naturally placed immediately after Al-Bayyinah because they expound upon the reality of the Hereafter when the reward for belief and the punishment for disbelief, which was introduced in Al-Bayyinah, will take place.
ICTruth.info