Sūrat al-Mujādilah (Part 7)
Final part 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 6 before moving ahead.
The next section is also a mirror structure.
CONNECTIONS
[P]/[P’] – Both ends refer to the disbelievers swearing oaths upon their lies. They “knowingly swear to lies (yaḥlifūna ʿala al-kadhibi wa-hum yaʿlamūna),” and they even come to Allah ﷻ on Judgement Day “swearing lies to Him like they swore lies to you all (yaḥlifūna la-hu kamā yaḥlifūna la-kum).”
[Q]/[Q’] – Allah ﷻ alludes to an “intense punishment” that He has prepared for the disbelievers, and states more explicitly later on that for their punishment they will be “People of the Fire,” and that “they will be in it forever.”
[R]/[R’] – Allah ﷻ simply states that “what they did was evil,” without going into details. The complementary section expounds on this by telling us that they used to hide behind their false oaths of allegiance, and that they would leverage their wealth and children for protection from consequences. The true consequences of their actions are shown in the outer text.
The final structure is also organized into a mirror structure, same as the previous ones.
CONNECTIONS
[S]/[S’] – It begins with a description of the group of disbelievers. Allah ﷻ labels them saying, “They are on Satan’s side, and Satan’s side will be the losers (‘ulāika ḥizbu ash-Shayṭān. ‘Alā inna ḥizba ash-Shayṭāni hum al-khāsirūna).” It ends with the group of believers, who are aptly labeled “They are on Allah’s side, and Allah’s side will be the one to prosper (‘ulāika ḥizbu Allāh. ‘Alā inna ḥizba Allāhi hum al-mufliḥūna).”
[T]/[T’] – Those who oppose Allah ﷻ and His Messenger ﷺ are marked as those who are “the lowest; most debased.” In stark contrast, the believers are told that they will “enter heavenly Paradise, pleased with and pleasing to Allah.” Is there a higher status than that?
[U]/[U’] – Allah ﷻ “wrote (kataba)” that He and His messengers will come out victorious over all. Drawing on this reference to Allah’s indelible decree, Allah ﷻ uses the same word to say that for believers who follow His rules, “He wrote (kataba) faith right into their hearts and aided them with a Rūḥ from Him.”1 These promises being made to believers seem to have their roots in gifts exclusively given to messengers in the past.
[V]/[V’] – And finally, the final structure centers on where we place our royalty. Do we love Allah ﷻ and His Messenger ﷺ? Or do we love those who oppose them, even if they were close family and friends? The surrounding text of this structure tells us the outcome of this choice, and the entire sūrah tells us the actions that come about as a result of choosing one or the other.
And Allah ﷻ knows best.
This concludes the series on Sūrat al-Mujādilah!
In shā’ Allah, we will move to a new sūrah next week.
See above microstructures from Nouman Ali Khan for notes on what Rūḥ entails.
May Allah raise you more in keen observation