Sūrat al-Mujādilah (Part 3)
Part 3 of observations on the structure and coherence of Sūrat al-Mujādilah
This is a continuation of a series on Sūrat al-Mujādilah (The Woman Who Pleaded and Argued). Please see Part 2 before moving ahead.
The fourth section is the most elaborate and detailed section. It has been shown to be organized into a ring structure.
CONNECTIONS
[D1]/[D1’] – The ring begins with Allah ﷻ reminding us that He witnesses all our meetings, no matter the number of people, or the level of privacy. And then He tells us to consider those who deft Allah ﷻ by having private meetings that are about sin, animosity, and “disobeying the Messenger.”
The ring ends with a summary of these points. We are told to “obey Allah and His Messenger,” and warned about those who “befriend people Allah is angry with.” In short, those meeting in private for nefarious affairs are people we should avoid lest we fall into disobeying Allah ﷻ and His Messenger ﷺ.
These sections are also linked by their shared usage of “Didn’t you see (a-lam tara…)?”
[D2]/[D2’] – Both begin with a call to all believers (ya ayyhāl ladhīna āmanū). [D2] is a general message of what to and not to do; do not have evil meetings, but have good meetings based on God-consciousness instead. The paired section gives us the practical of this enjoinment. Make space in your meetings to allow new people in and to prevent bad people from sitting together. And once the meeting has concluded, immediately leave so you do not meet unnecessarily, which may lead to bad meetings. And in contrast to those who meet privately to scheme against the Messenger ﷺ, there are those who want to set up private meetings with the Messenger ﷺ so that they may increase in their God-consciousness. Allah ﷻ commands the believers to give a little in charity as a show of faith, which is again a practical showcase of the theoretical mentioned earlier.
[D3] – The ring centers on the idea that, “secret meetings are from the Devil so that he might sadden those who believe, but he cannot harm them in any way. And believers should wholeheartedly trust Allah.” We find this idea pervasive throughout the ring.
Believers should trust that Allah ﷻ is privy to all meetings, so they need not worry about any plotting. Their plans cannot harm them since Allah ﷻ already knows all the details. Believers should avoid secret meetings using the tools provided by Allah ﷻ in order to avoid the sadness and worry Satan tries to instill in us. And believers should trust that Allah ﷻ will take care of those He is angry with.
The fifth section is a mirror structure with some further symmetrical patterns layered within.
CONNECTIONS
[C1]/[C1’] – The mirror begins with mention of those who befriend people Allah ﷻ is angry with. The mirror ends with mention of the one Allah ﷻ is most angry with; the Devil. Furthermore, in support of the befriending done in the opening section, Allah ﷻ labels these people as “the gang of Satan.”
[C1]/[C1’] – The center can be split up into a parallel.
[C5.1]/[C5.1’] – Both halves begin with the punishment.
[C5.2]/[C5.2’] – The latter half of the first parallel gives two reasons for them being punished. They used their oaths to protect them from accountability, and they used their money and wealth to protect them from consequences.
The end of the parallel gives two counters to their worldly excuses. They will take oaths before Allah on Judgment Day, just like they used to in this life, but the implication is that their oaths will be useless then. Secondly, they truly believe that they have something to stand on that gives them credibility. But unlike in this life, they will not have social clout to fall on. They have nothing to hold them up now.
In shā’ Allah, we will continue this series next week.
And Allah ﷻ knows best.