Tafsir of Surah Al-Jumu'ah - Verse 2

The Virtues of Surat Al-Jumu`ah

Ibn `Abbas and Abu Hurayrah narrated that Allah's Messenger ﷺ used to recite Surat Al-Jumu`ah and Surat Al-Munafiqin during the Friday Prayer. Muslim collected this Hadith in his Sahih.

بِسْمِ اللَّهِ الرَّحْمَـنِ الرَّحِيمِ

In the Name of Allah, the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful.

Everything praises and glorifies Allah Allah states that everything in the heavens and the earth glo

Allah the Exalted said in another Ayah,

وَإِن مِّن شَىْءٍ إِلاَّ يُسَبِّحُ بِحَمْدَهِ

(Glorify Him and there is not a thing but glorifies His praise) (17:44) Allah said,

الْمَلِكُ الْقُدُّوسُ

(the King, the Holy,) meaning that He is the Owner and King of the heavens and the earth Who has perfect control over their affairs. He is the Holy, free of all shortcomings, His attributes are perfect,

العَزِيزُ الحَكِيمُ

(the Almighty, the All-Wise.) whose explanation is already discussed in many places.

The Favor that Allah granted by sending Muhammad ﷺ

Allah the Exalted said,

هُوَ الَّذِى بَعَثَ فِى الأُمِّيِّينَ رَسُولاً مِّنْهُمْ

(He it is Who sent among the unlettered ones a Messenger from among themselves,) the word `unlettered' here refers to the Arabs. Allah the Exalted said in another Ayah,

وَقُلْ لِّلَّذِينَ أُوتُواْ الْكِتَـبَ وَالاٍّمِّيِّينَ ءَأَسْلَمْتُمْ فَإِنْ أَسْلَمُواْ فَقَدِ اهْتَدَواْ وَّإِن تَوَلَّوْاْ فَإِنَّمَا عَلَيْكَ الْبَلَـغُ وَاللَّهُ بَصِيرٌ بِالْعِبَادِ

(And say to those who were given the Scripture and those who are illiterates: "Do you submit yourselves If they do, they are rightly guided; but if they turn away, your duty is only to convey the message; and Allah is All-Seer of (His) servants.) (3:20) Mentioning the unlettered ones in specific here does not mean that Muhammad ﷺ was only sent to them, because the blessing to the Arabs is greater than that of other nations. In another Ayah, Allah said,

وَإِنَّهُ لَذِكْرٌ لَّكَ وَلِقَوْمِكَ

(And verily, this is indeed a Reminder for you and your people) (43:44). Surely, the Qur'an is also a reminder for those other than Arabs to take heed. Allah the Exalted said,

وَأَنذِرْ عَشِيرَتَكَ الاٌّقْرَبِينَ

(And warn your tribe of near kindred.) (26:214) These Ayat do not negate Allah's statements,

قُلْ يَأَيُّهَا النَّاسُ إِنِّى رَسُولُ اللَّهِ إِلَيْكُمْ جَمِيعًا

(Say: "O mankind! verily, I am sent to you all as the Messenger of Allah.) (7:158), and,

لاٌّنذِرَكُمْ بِهِ وَمَن بَلَغَ

(that I may therewith warn you and whomsoever it may reach.) (6:19) and in His statement about the Qur'an,

وَمَن يَكْفُرْ بِهِ مِنَ الاٌّحْزَابِ فَالنَّارُ مَوْعِدُهُ

(But those of the groups that reject it, the Fire will be their promised meeting place.) (11:17) There are other Ayat that indicate that his Message is universal. He, may Allah's peace and blessings be upon him, was sent to all people, mankind and the Jinns alike. We mentioned this meaning before in Surat Al-An`am producing various Ayat and Hadiths. All praise and thanks are to due to Allah. This Ayah testifies that Allah has indeed accepted the invocation of His friend Ibrahim when he supplicated Allah to send a Messenger to the people of Makkah from among them their own. One who will recite to them Allah's statements, purify them and teach them the Book and the Hikmah. So, Allah -- all praise and thanks be to Him -- sent him when the Messengers ceased and the way was obscure. Indeed it was a time when it was most needed. Especially since Allah hated the people of the earth, Arabs and non-Arabs alike, except for a few of the People of the Scripture, who kept to the true faith Allah the Exalted sent to `Isa bin Maryam, peace be upon him. This is why Allah said,

هُوَ الَّذِى بَعَثَ فِى الأُمِّيِّينَ رَسُولاً مِّنْهُمْ يَتْلُو عَلَيْهِمْ ءَايَـتِهِ وَيُزَكِّيهِمْ وَيُعَلِّمُهُمُ الْكِتَـبَ وَالْحِكْمَةَ وَإِن كَانُواْ مِن قَبْلُ لَفِى ضَلَلٍ مُّبِينٍ

(He it is Who sent among the unlettered ones a Messenger from among themselves, reciting to them His Ayat, purifying them, and teaching them the Book and the Hikmah. And verily, they had been before in manifest error.) In ancient times, the Arabs used to adhere by the religion of Ibrahim, peace be upon him. They later changed, corrupted and contradicted it, choosing polytheism instead of Tawhid and doubts instead of certainty. They invented a religion that Allah did not legislate, just as the People of the Scriptures did when they changed and corrupted their Divine Books. Allah sent Muhammad ﷺ, with a great divine legislation, perfect religion that is suitable for all humans and Jinns. In it, there is guidance and explanations of all that they need in this life and the Hereafter. It draws them closer to Paradise and Allah's pleasure and takes them away from the Fire and earning Allah's anger. In it, there is the final judgement for all types of doubts and suspicion for all major and minor matters of the religion. In Muhammad ﷺ, Allah gathered all the good qualities of the Prophets before him, and gave him what He has never given the earlier and later generations of mankind. May Allah's peace and blessings be on Muhammad ﷺ until the Day of Judgement.

Muhammad ﷺ is the Messenger to Arabs and Non-Arabs alike

Allah said,

وَءَاخَرِينَ مِنْهُمْ لَمَّا يَلْحَقُواْ بِهِمْ وَهُوَ الْعَزِيزُ الْحَكِيمُ

(And others among them who have not yet joined them. And He is the Almighty, the All-Wise.) Imam Abu `Abdullah Al-Bukhari, may Allah have mercy upon him, recorded that Abu Hurayrah said, "We were sitting with the Prophet , when Surat Al-Jumu`ah was revealed to him;

وَءَاخَرِينَ مِنْهُمْ لَمَّا يَلْحَقُواْ بِهِمْ

(And others among them who have not yet joined them.) They said, `Who are they, O Allah's Messenger' The Prophet did not reply until they repeated the question thrice. At that time, Salman Al-Farisi was with us. So Allah's Messenger ﷺ placed his hand on Salman, saying,

«لَوْ كَانَ الْإِيمَانُ عِنْدَ الثُّرَيَّا لَنَالَهُ رِجَالٌ أَوْ رَجُلٌ مِنْ هؤُلَاءِ»

(If faith were on Ath-Thurayya (Pleiades), even then some men or a man from these people would attain it.)" Muslim, At-Tirmidhi, An-Nasa`i, Ibn Abi Hatim and Ibn Jarir collected this Hadith. This Hadith indicates that Surat Al-Jumu`ah was revealed in Al-Madinah and that the Messenger's Message is universal. The Prophet explained Allah's statement,

وَءَاخَرِينَ مِنْهُمْ

(And others among them) by mentioning Persia. This is why the Prophet sent messages to the kings of Persia and Rome, among other kings, calling them to Allah the Exalted and to follow what he was sent with. This is why Mujahid and several others said that Allah's statement,

وَءَاخَرِينَ مِنْهُمْ لَمَّا يَلْحَقُواْ بِهِمْ

(And others among them who have not yet joined them.) refers to all non-Arabs who believe in the truth of the Prophet. Allah's statement,

وَهُوَ الْعَزِيزُ الْحَكِيمُ

(And He is the Almighty, the All-Wise.) asserts that He is Almighty and All-Wise in His legislation and the destiny He appoints. Allah's statement,

ذَلِكَ فَضْلُ اللَّهِ يُؤْتِيهِ مَن يَشَآءُ وَاللَّهُ ذُو الْفَضْلِ الْعَظِيمِ

(That is the grace of Allah, which He bestows on whom He wills. And Allah is the Owner of mighty grace.) refers to the great prophethood that He granted Muhammad and the qualities that He favored his Ummah with, by sending Muhammad to them.

هُوَ الَّذِي بَعَثَ فِي الْأُمِّيِّينَ رَ‌سُولًا مِّنْهُمْ (He is the One who raised amidst the unlettered people a messenger from among themselves...62:2) The word ummiyyin is the plural of ummiyy, which denotes 'unlettered'. The Arabs were known by this title, because they did not know how to read and write. Very few of them had the knowledge of reading and writing. The Arabs in this verse are specially referred to in order to express the great power of Allah. The Holy Prophet ﷺ is also sent amongst them, who is himself unlettered. The duties and reformative functions of a Prophet [ as set out in the forthcoming verse ] are based on knowledge and education. These reforms are such that no unlettered individual can ever teach them, nor is it possible for an unlettered nation to learn. It was only through the Divine Supreme Power and the miracle of the Messenger of Allah ﷺ that when these reforms started, great scholars, intellectuals, men of letters, savants and sages were born among the unlettered people, and their knowledge, wisdom, sagacity and erudition was recognized by the entire world.

The Three Objectives of the Advent of the Prophet ﷺ

يَتْلُو عَلَيْهِمْ آيَاتِهِ وَيُزَكِّيهِمْ وَيُعَلِّمُهُمُ الْكِتَابَ وَالْحِكْمَةَ (...to recite His verses to them, and to make them pure, and to teach them the Book and the Wisdom....62:2) In the context of the Divine blessings bestowed to the mankind, three qualities of the Holy Prophet ﷺ have been mentioned. One, to recite the verses of the Qur'an to his Ummah. Two, to purify them of all the outer and inner defilements. This includes outer purification that relates to one's body and dress, and also the inner purification that relates to one's faith, actions and moral attitude. Three, to teach the Book and the wisdom. These three factors are Divine blessings to the mankind on the one hand, and these are the basic objectives and the terms of reference of the Holy Prophet ﷺ for which he was sent to this world.

يَتْلُو عَلَيْهِمْ آيَاتِهِ (...to recite His verses to them) The word tilawah lexically signifies 'to follow, to obey' but in the terminology of the Qur'an, it signifies 'recitation or reading of the Divine Words'. The word 'at refers to the verses of the Qur'an. The prepositional phrase ` alaihim [ to them ] signifies that one of the objectives or duties of the Prophet ﷺ is to recite the verses of the Qur'an to the people.

In the current verse, the second objective of the Holy Prophet ﷺ is to: يُزَكِّيهِمْ (make them pure) which is derived from tazkiyah and it means 'to make pure'. Often it is used exclusively for inner cleanliness, that is, to be free from such inner adulterating matter as kufr, shirk and free from inner moral defilement. But occasionally, it is used in the general sense of both outer and inner cleanliness. Probably, in this context it is used in the general sense of the term.

يُعَلِّمُهُمُ الْكِتَابَ وَالْحِكْمَةَ (...to teach them the Book and the Wisdom...62:2) The word al-Kitab refers to the Holy Qur'an, and the word al-hikmah refers to all the teachings and guidance that have been received from the Messenger of Allah ﷺ orally or practically. As a result, many of the commentators have interpreted the word hikmah as the Approved Way [ Sunnah of the Holy Prophet ﷺ .

A Question and its Answer

A question arises here that the natural order of wording in the verse should have been thus: [ 1] recitation or teaching of words; followed by [ 2] teaching of meaning; and consequently [ 3] making pure by inculcating righteous deeds and high morals. However, in most places the Qur'an has changed the sequence by inserting '[ 3] tazkiyah or making pure' between '[ 1] tilawah (recitation) and '[ 2] ta` lim (teaching). Ruh-ul-Ma'ani explains that if the natural order of wording were to be maintained in all verses, all three elements would have combined together and become 'one', as it happens in pharmaceutical mixing of many substances, the aggregate of which loses the separate identity of each element, and becomes a single 'compound' whereas probably Allah wanted to maintain separate identities of the Divine blessings and the three Prophetic duties separately identifiable. By changing the natural order in most places, the Holy Qur'an has probably alluded to this fact.

Please see Ma` arif--ul-Qur'an Vol. 1/pp 331-343, under the Surah Al-Baqarah Verse 129, for fuller explanation of this verse.

To send the prophets for the guidance of human beings is the expression of the same attributes of God at the level of humanity as those expressed in relation to material things at the level of the universe. The task of the Prophet Muhammad and other prophets was twofold—first, to convey the message of God to the people and, second, to awaken the consciousness of the people, so that they might understand godly matters and connect them with their real life. In future also, the work relating to dawah (the call for Truth) and reform will be twofold, i.e. the teaching of the Quran and intellectual and spiritual development.