Surah Ash-Shams(91)

This surah was revealed in the earliest

period at Makkah.

Historical context it was revealed in: It was

revealed when the opposition to the

Prophet was very strong.

Historical Background

Main Ideas:

Differences between good and evil

To warn people who were refusing to

understand the difference between good and

evil and those who wanted to follow the evil

way

Introduction

The surah has 2 main parts:

Part one: Ayahs 1-10

Part two: Ayahs 11-15

Introduction

The first part deals w/ 3 things:

1. The same way the sun and the moon, night and day, and the earth and sky are different from each other in their purpose and results, so is good and evil.

2. Allah informed humans of what is right and wrong, gave us a conscience and a complex mind. He sent us messengers and books.

3. Future of humans depends on how they use their free will, to do good or evil.

Introduction (Part One)

The second part:

Allah brings up the example of the Thamud

for the Quraish and for the rest of us

The people of Thamud followed the evil path

and they were overtaken by disaster

For anyone who follows evil, they will also

have a bad end

We should take lesson from the past

Introduction (Part Two)

Questions (Introduction)

1. Where was this surah revealed?

2. How strong was the opposition to the Prophet when this surah was revealed?

3. What are the main ideas of this surah?

4. List the 3 things that the first part deals with.

5. Whose example does Allah bring up in the second part?

6. Why does Allah bring up the example from the past?

﴿﴾والشمس وضحاها

Ayah One: By the sun and its heat and

brightness.

Allah swears by the sun and the moon, two

opposites

﴿﴾والقمر إذا تلهاAyah Two: and by the moon as it follows it;

ها ﴿﴾والنهار إذا جل

Ayah Three: and by the day as it displays the

sun’s glory,

Allah swears by two more opposites, the day

and the night

The day and the night serve two very different

purposes

﴿﴾والليل إذا يغشاها

Ayah Four: and by the night as it envelopes

the sun;

﴿﴾والسماء وما بناها

Ayah Five: and by the sky and Him Who made

it;

Allah swears by yet another set of opposites the

sky and the earth

He also swears by Himself as He is the One who

controls all things, including what He mentioned

right now

﴿﴾والرض وما طحاه Ayah Six: and by the earth and by Him Who

stretched it out;

اها ﴿﴾ونفس وما سو

Ayah Seven: and by the soul and by Him Who

perfectly proportioned it,

Allah swears by the balanced soul

Allah created human beings with perfect souls,

created good and with Faith

Allah gave us all senses and understanding and

a complex brain

He also swears by Himself

﴿﴾واهافألهمها فجورها وتق

Ayah Eight: and imbued it with (the

consciousness of) its evil and its piety:

Allah instilled in the soul He created a

conscience which means that people know deep

down inside what is good and what is bad

Whenever you are doing something bad, you

conscience bothers you and you feel bad inside

﴿﴾قد أفلح من زكاها

Ayah Nine: He who purifies it will prosper,

Those who continue to do good and keeps a

clean soul will be successful

Those who suppresses the conscience that tells

them when they are doing something wrong and

do the wrong anyway, they will have to face

severe punishment for their actions

﴿﴾وقد خاب من دساهاAyah Ten: and he who suppresses it will be

ruined.

Questions (Ayahs 1-10)

1. List all the things Allah swears by.

2. Explain why He swears by each of

those things.

3. What does balanced soul mean?

4. What does it mean to purify the soul?

5. What does it mean to suppress the

conscience?

﴿﴾اكذبت ثمود بطغواه

Ayah Eleven: In their presumptuous insolence

the Thamud called the Truth a lie

The people of Thamud were sent Salih(a)

because they were so busy doing evil

When Salih(a) preached to them they

disbelieved him and disbelieved in Allah and the

Hereafter

The people even went so far as to murder the

camel that Allah sent as a sign and blessing

﴿﴾إذ انبعث أشقاها

Ayah Twelve: when their arch-criminal rose up

in rage.

From the people of Thamud, there were

objections to the camel and they wanted to harm

and kill it because it would drink up a fraction of

the water

Salih (a) refused to let them take her and told

them to let her drink

ن وسق فقال لهم رسول الل ﴿﴾ياهااق اللAyah Thirteen: Then Allah’s Messenger warned

them: “Hands off the she-camel and her drink!”

هم مدم عليهم رب فكذبوه فعقروها فد

اها ﴿﴾بذنبهم فسوAyah Fourteen: But they rejected his statement as a

lie and hamstrung the she-camel. For that crime their

Lord rumbled down upon them, utterly razing them to

the ground.

But the people did not listen and they ended up

killing her

For this reason, Allah punished those people by

destroying them

﴿﴾ول يخاف عقباها

Ayah Fifteen: He has no fear of its sequel.

Allah is the Supreme.

The people can not harm Him or take any

revenge

Whatever He wills, happens

Questions (Ayahs 11-15)

Briefly describe the story of the people of

Thamud and explain why the story is

mentioned.

Disclaimer

These slides are an abridged, simplified

version of tafseer. For detailed explanations,

please view other sources.