Al-Masad

The Palm Fiber

Name
The Surah takes its name from the word Lahab in the first verse.

Period of Revelation
Although the commentators have not disputed its being a Makki Surah, yet it is difficult to
determine in which phase of the life at Makkah precisely it was revealed. However, in view
of Abu Lahab's role and conduct against the Holy Prophet's message of Truth, it can be
assumed that it must have been revealed in the period when he had transgressed all limits
in his mad hostility to him, and his attitude was becoming a serious obstruction in the
progress of Islam. It may well have been revealed in the period when the Quraish had
boycotted the Holy Prophet (upon whom be peace) together with the people of his clan
and besieged them in Shi'b Abi Talib, and Abu Lahab was the only person to join with the
enemies against his own relatives. The basis of this assumption is that Abu Lahab was the
Holy Prophet's uncle, and public condemnation of the uncle by the tongue of the nephew
could not be proper until the extreme excesses committed by the uncle had become
visible to everyone. If the Surah had been revealed before this, in the very beginning, the
people would have regarded it as morally discourteous that the nephew should so
condemn the uncle.

Background
This is the only place in the Quran where a person from among the enemies of Islam has
been condemned by name, whereas in Makkah as well as in Madinah, after the migration,
there were many people who were in no way less inimical to Islam and the Prophet
Muhammad (upon whom be Allah's peace and blessings) than Abu Lahab. The question is,
what was the special trait of the character of this person, which became the basis of this
condemnation by name? To understand that it is necessary that one should understand
the Arabian society of that time and the role that Abu Lahab played in it.

In ancient days since there prevailed chaos and confusion, bloodshed and plunder
throughout Arabia, and the condition for centuries was that a person could have no
guarantee of the protection of life, honor and property except with the help and support
of his clansmen and blood relations, therefore silah rehmi (good treatment of the kindred)
was esteemed most highly among the moral values of the Arabian society and breaking
off of connections with the kindred was regarded as a great sin. Under, the influence of
the same Arabian tradition when the Holy Prophet (upon whom be peace) began to
preach the message of Islam, the other clans of Quraish and their chiefs resisted and
opposed him tooth and nail, but the Bani Hashim and the Bani al-Muttalib (children of al-
Muttalib, brother of Hashim) not only did not oppose him but continued to support him
openly, although most of them had not yet believed in his Prophethood. The other clans
of Quraish themselves regarded this support by the blood relations of the Holy Prophet as
perfectly in accordance with the moral traditions of Arabia. That is why they never taunted
the Bani Hashim and the Bani al-Muttalib in that they had abandoned their ancestral faith
by supporting a person who was preaching a new faith. They knew and believed that they
could in no case hand over an individual of their clan to his enemies, and their support
and aid of a clansman was perfectly natural in the sight of the Quraish and the people of
Arabia.

This moral principle, which the Arabs even in the pre-Islamic days of ignorance, regarded
as worthy of respect and inviolable was broken only by one man in his enmity of Islam,
and that was Abu Lahab, son of Abdul Muttalib. He was an uncle of the Holy Prophet,
whose father and he were sons of the same father. In Arabia, an uncle represented the
father especially when the nephew was fatherless. The uncle was expected to look after
the nephew as one of his own children. But this man in his hostility to Islam and love of
kufr trampled all the Arab traditions under foot.

The traditionists have related from Ibn Abbas with several chains of transmitters the
tradition that when the Holy Prophet was commanded to present the message of Islam
openly, and he was instructed in the Quran to warn first of all his nearest kinsfolk of the
punishment of God, he ascended the Mount, Safa one morning and called out aloud: Ya
sabahah (O, the calamity of the morning!). This alarm in Arabia was raised by the person
who noticed early at dawn an enemy tribe advancing against his tribe. When the Holy
Messenger made this call, the people inquired as to who had made the call. They were
told that it was Muhammad (upon whom be Allah's peace). There the people of all the
clans of Quraish rushed out. Everyone who could, came. He who could not, sent another
one for himself. When the People had assembled, the Holy Messenger calling out each
clan by name, viz. O Bani Hashim, O Bani Abdul Muttalib, O Bani Fihr, O Bani so and so,
said: "If I were to tell you that behind the hill there was an enemy host ready to fall upon
you, would you believe me?" The people responded with one voice, saying that they never
had so far experienced a lie from him. The Holy Prophet said: "Then I warn you that you
are heading for a torment." Thereupon, before anyone else could speak, Abu Lahab, the
Holy Prophet's uncle, said: "May you perish! Did you summon us for this?"Another
tradition adds that he picked up a stone to throw at the Holy Prophet. (Musnad Ahmad,
Bukhari, Muslim, Tirmidhi, Ibn Jarir, and others).

According to Ibn Zaid, one day Abu Lahab asked the Holy Prophet: "If I were to accept
your religion, what would I get?" The Holy Prophet replied: "You would get what the other
believers would get." He said: "Is there no preference or distinction for me?" The Holy
Prophet replied: "What else do you want?" Thereupon he said: "May this religion perish in
which I and all other people should be equal and alike!" (Ibn Jarir).

In Makkah Abu Lahab was the next door neighbor of the Holy Prophet. Their houses were
separated by a wall. Besides him, Hakam bin As (Father of Marwan), Uqbah bin Abi Muait,
Adi bin Hamra and Ibn al-Asda il-Hudhali also were his neighbors. These people did not
allow him to have peace even in his own house. Sometimes when he was performing the
Prayer, they would place the goat's stomach on him; sometimes when food was being
cooked in the courtyard, they would throw filth at the cooking pot. The Holy Prophet
would come out and say: "O Bani Abdi Manaf, what kind of neighborliness is it?"Abu
Lahab's wife, Umm Jamil (Abu Sufyan's sister), had made it a practice to cast thorns at his
door in the night so that when he or his children came out of the house at dawn, they
should run thorns in the foot. (Baihaqi, Ibn Abi Hatim, Ibn Jarir, Ibn Asakir, Ibn Hisham).

Before the proclamation of Prophethood, two of the Holy Prophet's daughters were
married to two of Abu Lahab's sons, Utbah and Utaibah. After his call when the Holy
Prophet began to invite the people to Islam, Abu Lahab said to both his sons:"I would
forbid myself seeing and meeting you until you divorced the daughters of Muhammad
(upon whom be Allah's peace and blessings)."So, both of them divorced their, wives.
Utaibah in particular became so nasty in his spitefulness that one day he came before the
Holy Prophet and said: "I repudiate An-najmi idha hawa and Alladhi dana fatadalla " and
then he spat at him, but his spital did not fall on him. The Holy Prophet prayed: "O God,
subject him to the power of a dog from among Your dogs."Afterwards, Utaibah
accompanied his father in his journey to Syria. During the journey the caravan halted at a
place which, according to local people, was visited by wild beasts at night. Abu Lahab told
his companions, the Quraish: "Make full arrangements for the protection of my son, for I
fear the curse invoked by Muhammad (upon whom be Allah's peace) on him."
Accordingly, the people made their camels sit all around Utaibah and went to sleep. At
night a tiger came which crossed the circle of the camels and devoured Utaibah tearing
him to pieces. (Ibn Abdul Barr: Al-Istiab ; Ibn Hajar: Al- Isabah; Abu Nuaim al-Isfahani:
Dalail an-Nubuwwat ; As-Suhaili: Raud al-Unuf. Here there is a difference of opinion. Some
reporters say that the divorce took place after the Holy Prophet's proclamation of
Prophethood and some say that it took place after the revelation of Tabbat yada Abi
Lahab. There is also a difference of opinion about whether Abu Lahab's this son was Utbah
or Utaibah. But this much is confirmed that after the conquest of Makkah, Utbah
embraced Islam and took the oath of allegiance at the Holy Prophet's hand. Therefore, the
correct view is that it was Utaibah).

Abu Lahab's wickedness can be judged from the fact that when after the death of the Holy
Prophet's son Hadrat Qasim, his second son, Hadrat Abdullah, also died, this man instead
of joining with his nephew in his bereavement, hastened to the Quraish chiefs joyfully to
give them the news that Muhammad (upon whom be Allah's peace and blessings) had
become childless that night. This we have already related in the commentary of Surah Al-
Kauthar.

Wherever the Holy Prophet went to preach his message of Islam, this man followed him
and forbade the people to listen to him. Rabiah bin Abbad ad- Dill has related: "I was a
young boy when I accompanied my father to the face of Dhul-Majaz. There I saw the Holy
Messenger (may peace be upon him) who was exhorting the people, saying: 'O people,
say: there is no deity but Allah, you will attain success.' Following behind him I saw a man,
who was telling the people, \`This fellow is a liar: he has gone astray from his ancestral
faith.' I asked; who is he? The people replied: He is his uncle, Abu Lahab." (Musnad Ahmad,
Baihaqi).

Another tradition from Hadrat Rabiah is to the effect; "I saw that the Holy Prophet went to
the halting place of each tribe and said: \`O children of so and so, I have been appointed
Allah's Messenger to you. I exhort you to worship only Allah and to associate none with
Him. So, affirm faith in me and join me so that I may fulfill the mission for which I have
been sent.' Following close behind him there was a man who was saying: \`O children of
so and so, he is leading you astray from Lat and Uzza and inviting you to the religion of
error and innovation which he has brought. Do not at all listen to what he says and do not
follow him.' I asked my father: who is he? He replied: he is his uncle, Abu Lahab." (Musnad
Ahmad, Tabarani).

Tariq bin Abdullah al-Muharibi's tradition is similar. He says: "I saw in the fare of Dhul-
Majaz that the Holy Messenger (upon whom be peace) was exhorting the people, saying:
\`O people, say La ilaha ill-Allah, you will attain success', and behind him there was a man
who was casting stones at him, until his heels bled, and he was telling the people: 'Do not
listen to him, he is a liar.' I asked the people who he was. They said he was his uncle, Abu
Lahab." (Tirmidhi).

In the 7th year of Prophethood, when all the clans of Quraish boycotted the Bani Hashim
and the Bani al-Muttalib socially and economically, and both these clans remaining
steadfast to the Holy Prophet's support, were besieged in Shib Abi Talib, Abu Lahab was
the only person, who sided with the disbelieving Quraish against his own clan. This
boycott continued for three years, so much so that the Bani Hashim and the Bani al-
Muttalib began to starve. This, however, did not move Abu Lahab. When a trade caravan
came to Makkah and a besieged person from Shib Abi Talib approached it to buy some
article of food, Abu Lahab would shout out to the merchants to demand a forbidding
price, telling them that he would make up for any loss that they incurred. Thus, they would
demand exorbitant rates and the poor customer had to return empty handed to his
starving children. Then Abu Lahab would purchase the same articles from them at the
market rates. (Ibn Sa'd, Ibn Hisham).

On account of these very misdeeds this man was condemned in this Surah by name, and
there was a special need for it. When the Holy Prophet's own uncle followed and opposed
him before the Arabs who came for hajj from outside Makkah, or gathered together in the
fares held at different places, they regarded it as against the established traditions of
Arabia that an uncle should run down his nephew without a reason, should pelt stones at
him and bring false accusations against him publicly. They were, therefore, influenced by
what Abu Lahab said and were involved in doubt about the Holy Prophet (upon whom be
peace). But when this, Surah was revealed, and Abu Lahab, filled with rage, started uttering
nonsense, the people realized that what he said in opposition to the Holy Prophet was not
at all reliable, for he said all that in his mad hostility to his nephew.

Besides, when his uncle was condemned by name, the people's expectation that the Holy
Messenger (upon whom be peace) could treat some relative leniently in the matter of
religion was frustrated for ever. When the Holy Messenger's own uncle was taken to task
publicly the people understood that there was no room for preference or partiality in their
faith. A non-relative could become a near and dear one if he believed, and a near relation
a non-relative if he disbelieved. Thus, there is no place for the ties of blood in religion.

Sayyid Abul Ala Maududi - Tafhim al-Qur'an - The Meaning of the Quran

(1) watabba lahabin abī yadā tabbat

and perish he Lahab Abu (of) hands (the) Perish

Perish the two hands of Abû Lahab (an uncle of the Prophet) and perish he!

(2) kasaba wamā māluhu ʿanhu aghnā mā

he earned and what his wealth him avail (will) Not

His wealth and his children will not benefit him!

(3) lahabin dhāta nāran sayaṣlā

Blazing Flames of a Fire (in) He will be burnt

He will be burnt in a Fire of blazing flames!

( 4) l-ḥaṭabi ḥammālata wa-im'ra-atuhu

firewood (of) carrier (the) And his wife

And his wife, too, who carries wood (thorns of Sa‘dân which she used to put on
the way of the Prophet ‫ﺻﻠﻰ ﷲ ﻋﻠﻴﻪ وﺳﻠﻢ‬, or use to slander him).
 ( 5) masadin min ḥablun jīdihā fī
palm-fiber of a rope (will be) her neck In

In her neck is a twisted rope of Masad (palm fibre).