In the name of Allah, the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful.
The Subtle Commentary
on the book "Identification Cards
for the Surahs of the Noble Qur'an"
by Dr. Muhammad Ibn Abdul Aziz Ibn Omar Naseef,
may Allah preserve him.
Surah Al-Jinn.
In the name of Allah, the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful.
All praise is due to Allah, the Lord of all creation.
Peace and blessings be upon the Seal of the Prophets and Messengers,
and upon his family and all his Companions.
We continue with the subtle commentary on the identification cards,
and today we are with Surah Al-Jinn.
I have three reflections regarding it.
The first reflection
is the placement of the surah,
for it comes directly after Surah Nuh.
It has been noted that perhaps its suitability in following Surah Nuh
is that this surah presents an example of those who believed,
considering that Surah Nuh
portrayed the disbelievers as a model of rejecting the message,
rejecting Islam, and rejecting Tawhid (monotheism),
whereas this surah is a model of those who believed.
Thus, it serves as a complement to that one.
Just as there are those who disbelieve despite
the preacher's utmost eagerness in calling them—as was the case with the Prophet of Allah, Nuh—
there are also those who believe without the caller specifically directing his call to them,
“Say (O Muhammad): It is revealed unto me that a company of the Jinn gave ear, and they said: Lo! we have heard a marvellous Qur'an,” (72:1)
so they said, "Indeed, we have heard an amazing Qur'an."
The Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) recited the Qur'an,
and the jinn were guided.
Notice that the ones guided
were the furthest conceivable from guidance
in our minds.
Observe that regarding those in Surah Nuh,
Allah mentions about them
“If Thou shouldst leave them, they will mislead Thy slaves and will beget none save lewd ingrates.” (71:27)
what was recounted about Nuh (peace be upon him).
Yet here, we find the jinn
becoming callers to truth and goodness.
In truth, the comparison between the two cases
is subtle and full of profound lessons:
guidance is entirely in the hand of Allah, the Exalted,
and He guides whom He wills to a straight path.
As for the second reflection,
regarding what has been mentioned concerning the occasion of revelation of this surah
about the jinn listening to the Qur'an,
I say that, in truth, this matter
requires a broader scholarly investigation.
This is also hinted at regarding the chronological order of the surah's revelation,
as the well-known view is that it is the thirty-ninth.
However, the mention of eavesdropping
and the presence of shooting stars (shuhub)
might suggest that this occurred very early on,
and that the surah was revealed somewhat early.
This warrants further research,
especially given the numerous narrations
concerning the jinn listening to the Qur'an
and its mention in the Qur'an both in Surah Al-Ahqaf
and in Surah Al-Jinn.
This necessitates a study
that balances the verses here and there
with the hadith narrations,
examining the chains of transmission reported,
and harmonizing between those accounts
to discern whether this was a single incident or two separate incidents,
and when the first occurred and when the second took place.
One thing leads to another:
the end of Surah Al-Ahqaf, which contains
"And [mention] when We directed to you a group of the jinn...",
was preceded by mentioning the denial of 'Ad,
“And make mention (O Muhammad) of the brother of A'ad when he warned his folk among the wind-curved sandhills - and verily warners came and went before and after him - saying: Serve none but Allah. Lo! I fear for you the doom of a tremendous Day.” (46:21)
so after the denial of 'Ad, the jinn were mentioned,
and after the denial of Nuh, the jinn were mentioned.
All of this also requires reflection and contemplation.
I conclude with the third reflection,
which relates to the opening of the surah.
The surah, as mentioned here, opens with a command;
and it is perhaps appropriate to add:
specifically with the command to speak (say).
For surahs that begin with a command,
most of them begin with the word "Say" (Qul)—
the command to speak—
except for Surah Iqra' (Al-'Alaq),
which begins with "Read" (Iqra').
It was the first surah in the Qur'an,
and these were the first verses revealed,
wherein Allah said to the Prophet (peace be upon him):
"Read!"
We have five surahs
that begin with the words of the Almighty:
"Say" (Qul): Surah Al-Jinn,
Surah Al-Kafirun,
and the Mu'awwidhat (the surahs of seeking refuge).
If we ponder these surahs,
even though the Prophet (peace be upon him)
was commanded—as the scholars noted regarding such expressions—
to convey the entire Qur'an
and to proclaim it,
these specific surahs, upon reflection, have a unique distinction.
Surah Al-Jinn discusses a matter
of the unseen (Ghayb) from two angles:
it is unseen because the jinn belong to the unseen realm,
and it is unseen because the Prophet (peace be upon him)
did not know that the jinn were listening to him.
So Allah said to him: "Say..."
It is as if this teaches us that matters of the unseen
are received solely through divine revelation;
we do not speak of them based on our own opinions.
The same can be said regarding the stance toward the disbelievers:
“Say: O disbelievers!” (109:1)
the address could have been directed to them immediately,
but this alerts us that the Prophet (peace be upon him)—
and we follow in his footsteps—
proceeds in his dealings with the disbelievers
and his stances toward them
not out of mere reaction to what they do,
but by receiving revelation from Allah
and walking in its light.
I emphasize that we, too, ought to be like this:
proceeding in all our interactions with disbelievers
and our stances toward them guided by the light of revelation.
Likewise, if you look at the Mu'awwidhat:
"Say, He is Allah, the One"
teaches us about Allah,
and this is learned strictly from revelation;
while Al-Falaq and An-Nas teach us how
to take refuge in Allah and seek His protection,
and this, too, is known only through revelation.
Thus, these surahs share the common feature of addressing
specific subjects
in which one must be mindful
that such matters are derived exclusively from divine revelation.
I will suffice with this,
and I apologize for the length.
May the peace and blessings of Allah be upon
our Prophet Muhammad, and upon his family and all his Companions,
and all praise is due to Allah, the Lord of all creation.