Sūra al-Ḥashr is the fifty-ninth sura of the Qur'an. It is a Madani sura located in juz' 28. The name of sura is adopted from the second verse which mentions the exile of Jews from Medina. Sura al-Hashr begins with the praise of God and ends with His glorification. The topics mentioned in this sura are defeat of the Jews of Banu Nadir by Muslims, the rulings about distribution of properties and booties Muslims gained without war, criticism of hypocrites and disclosing their actions, description and admiration of the Immigrants' sacrifices.
It is mentioned in hadiths that when a person recites Sura al-Hashr, all creatures praise him and send blessings upon him and ask for his forgiveness and if he dies that day or that night, he will be considered a martyr.
This sura is called al-Hashr because in the second verse, it speaks of "al-hashr", i.e. the time of moving and exile of the mass of Jews of Banu Nadir who fought Muslims and broke their treaty. Thus, another name of this sura is "Banu Nadir".
Order and Place of Revelation
Number of Verses and Other Features
Sura al-Hashr begins with the praise of God[Note 1], and toward the end of the sura, in the last verses, the attributes of beauty and glory of God and great and beautiful names of God are mentioned.[Note 2]
The following issues are mentioned in this sura:
- Story of the Jews of Banu Nadir and their defeat from Muslims and their exile,
- Rulings of distribution of the properties and booties Muslims gain without war,
- Criticism of hypocrites and disclosing their actions,
- Description and admiration of the Immigrants' sacrifices. There is a special relationship between the beginning and end of the Sura al-Hashr; as it begins with the praise of God and ends with it.
Context of Revelation
When the Prophet (s) immigrated to Medina, made treaties with the Jews there, i.e. Banu Nadir, Banu Qurayda and Banu Qaynuqa' tribes. But, Banu Nadir broke the treaty by making some plots including the following ones:
- Alliance of Ka'b b. Ashraf (the chief of Jews) with Abu Sufyan for killing the Prophet (s) after the Battle of Uhud, the Prophet (s) received the news of which through revelation.
- Plot of 'Amr b. Jihash of Banu Nadir for the assassination of the Prophet (s).
- Composing satirical poems and insulting the Prophet (s).
After all these plots, an army of Muslims besieged the strong fortress of Banu Nadir for several days and set the palms around the fortress on fire and destroyed them; so, Jews had to surrender and Muslims won without war. After this victory, the Prophet (s) suggested that the Jews leave Medina and take some of their properties and a part of them were destroyed. Some of Jews went to Adhra'at of Syria and few of them went to Khaybar and al-Hira. (See: Battle of Banu Nadir)
Merits and Benefits
|For the full text, see text:Sura al-Hashr.|
It is narrated from the Prophet (s) that, "everyone who recites Sura al-Hashr, the paradise, the hell, the Throne and the Seat and their veils, the seven skies and the seven earths, the air, winds, birds, trees, mountains, the sun, the moon, and angels praise him and send blessings upon him and ask for his forgiveness and if he dies that day or that night, he will be considered as a martyr." It is narrated from Imam al-Sadiq (a) that, "everyone recites suras, al-Rahman and al-Hashr toward the evening, God will order an angel to guard him until the next morning."
- Khurramshāhī, Dānishnāma-yi Qurʾān, vol. 2, p. 1254-1255.
- Maʿrifat, Āmūzish-i ʿulūm-i Qurʾān, vol. 1, p. 168.
- Khurramshāhī, Dānishnāma-yi Qurʾān, vol. 2, p. 1254-1255.
- Khurramshāhī, Dānishnāma-yi Qurʾān, vol. 2, p. 1257.
- Khamagar, Muhammad, Sakhtar-i suraha-yi Qur'an-i karim, Mu'assisa-yi Farhangi-yi Qur'an wa 'Itrat-i Nur al-Thaqalayn, Qom: Nashra, ed.1, 1392 Sh.
- Makārim Shīrāzī, Barguzīda-yi tafsīr-i nimūna, vol. 5, p. 132-133.
- Ṣadūq, Thawāb al-aʿmāl, p. 117.
- Ṭabrisī, Majmaʿ al-bayān, vol. 9, p. 384.
- Whatever there is in the heavens glorifies Allah and whatever there is in the earth, and He is the All-mighty, the All-wise. (Qur'an 59:1)
- He is Allah—there is no god except Him— Knower of the sensible and the Unseen, He is the All-beneficent, the All-merciful. (22) He is Allah—there is no god except Him— the Sovereign, the All-holy, the All-benign, the Securer, the All-conserver, the All-mighty, the All-compeller, the All-magnanimous. Clear is Allah of any partners that they may ascribe [to Him]! (23) He is Allah, the Creator, the Maker, the Former. To Him belong the Best Names. Whatever there is in the heavens glorifies Him and [whatever there is in] the earth, and He is the All-mighty, the All-wise. (Qur'an 59:22-24)
- It is He who expelled the faithless belonging to the People of the Book from their homes at the outset of [their] en masse banishment. You did not think that they would go out, and they thought their fortresses would protect them from Allah. But Allah came at them from whence they did not reckon and He cast terror into their hearts. They demolish their houses with their own hands and the hands of the faithful. So take lesson, O you who have insight! (Qur'an 59:2)
- Have you not regarded the hypocrites who say to their brethren, the faithless from among the People of the Book: 'If you are expelled, we will surely go out with you, and we will never obey anyone against you, and if you are fought against we will surely help you,' and Allah bears witness that they are indeed liars. (11) Surely, if they were expelled they would not go out with them, and if they were fought against they would not help them, and were they to help them they would surely turn their backs [to flee] and then they would not be helped. (Qur'an 59:11-12)
- Khurramshāhī, Bahāʾ al-Dīn. Dānishnāma-yi Qurʾān wa Qurʾān pazhūhī. Tehran: Dūstān-Nāhīd, 1377 Sh.
- Makārim Shīrāzī, Nāṣir. Barguzīda-yi tafsīr-i nimūna. Edited by Aḥmad ʿAlī Bābāyī. Tehran: Dār al-Kutub al-Islāmīyya, 1382 Sh.
- Maʿrifat, Muḥammad Hādī. Āmūzish-i ʿulūm-i Qurʾān. [n.p]: Markaz Chāp wa Nashr-i Sāzmān-i Tablīghāt, 1371 Sh.
- Ṣadūq, Muḥammad b. ʿAlī al-. Thawāb al-aʿmāl wa ʿiqāb al-aʿmāl. Edited by Muḥammad Riḍā Anṣārī. Qom: Nasīm-i Kawthar, 1382 Sh.
- Ṭabrisī, Faḍl b. al-Ḥasan al-. Majmaʿ al-bayān fī tafsīr al-Qurʾān. Beirut: Dār al-Maʿrifa, 1406 AH.