In the name of Allah, the Entirely Merciful, the Especially Merciful.
The Subtle Commentary
upon the book *Introductory Profiles
of the Chapters of the Noble Qur'an*
by Dr. Muhammad ibn 'Abd al-'Aziz ibn 'Umar Nasif,
may Allah preserve him.
Surah al-Jumu'ah.
In the name of Allah, the Entirely Merciful, the Especially Merciful.
Praise be to Allah, the Lord of the worlds,
and may peace and blessings be upon the Seal of the Prophets and Messengers,
and upon his family and all his Companions.
We continue with our subtle commentary on the profile cards,
and we have arrived at Surah al-Jumu'ah.
I have three points to highlight regarding it.
The first point
concerns what was mentioned regarding its name.
For it is mentioned here in the book:
"Al-Jumu'ah, which is its well-known name in the Qur'anic codices,
due to the occurrence of the word 'al-Jumu'ah' in it."
Perhaps it would be better to amend this phrasing,
so it would state: "Due to the mention of..."
— beginning with the word 'al-Jumu'ah' —
"due to the mention of this explicit term near its end,"
namely the explicit word 'al-Jumu'ah' in:
"When the call is proclaimed for the prayer on Friday (the Day of Jumu'ah)...",
"along with the fact that its third passage
discusses the rulings of Jumu'ah."
The first justification is verbal (textual),
and the second is thematic.
For the rulings of Friday—
some of its rulings are mentioned
in this third,
final section of the surah.
Therefore, it should be stated in the phrasing
explaining the name of the surah:
"Due to the mention of this word—
due to the mention of this word near its end,
along with the fact that its third passage
discusses the rulings of Jumu'ah,"
and then it should be added:
"and because what precedes it serves as a prelude to it."
This is another matter,
which is that the entire surah,
even if it is not,
in all of its verses, exclusively about the rulings of Jumu'ah,
is nevertheless intimately connected
to those very rulings.
For everything that precedes it from the beginning of the surah
is essentially a prelude
to what is mentioned at the end of the surah;
in fact, it is a prelude to the very last verse
in the surah: "And when they saw
a transaction or an amusement..."
This is further clarified by the second point,
which pertains to the occasion of revelation (sabab al-nuzul).
The author stated here: "A single occasion of revelation
to which the entire surah is tied."
However, if you examine
the occasion of revelation, you will find
that the incident
concludes with the revelation of
the end of the surah: "And when they saw
a transaction or an amusement..."
But
when you refer back to
some of what has been narrated concerning the surah—
which is cited here in the context of the order
of the surah's revelation—Abu Hurayrah,
may Allah be pleased with him, narrated the hadith
stating
that they were sitting with the Prophet (peace be upon him)
when Surah al-Jumu'ah was revealed to him.
From this, Ibn 'Ashur deduced
several matters, including that it was revealed—
meaning the surah—all at once.
He also deduced from this that it
was revealed after the conversion to Islam
of Abu Hurayrah.
If it was indeed revealed all at once,
it is only fitting—given that it was sent down
regarding an event—that
the verses
would all be connected to that event.
Among them is the overt connection found at the end of the surah,
and among them is what serves as
a prelude, as
will become clearer in the third point.
The third point
concerns the opening of the surah. The author stated:
"It opens with a declarative sentence."
A clarification was made previously and I reiterate it here:
this is not simply an opening
with a declarative sentence, even though it contains declarative information.
Rather, we have proceeded in this book
according to the terminology
of Imam al-Suyuti and his classification
which he adopted, even though
he transmitted it from scholars before him,
in which he categorizes surahs
that open with the praise
of Allah as a distinct category
of Quranic openings.
And this surah
is among those surahs that open
with the praise of Allah,
the Exalted and Glorified.
It opens with praise in general,
and then it belongs to the surahs
that begin specifically with glorification (tasbih).
Specifically,
it is general praise,
and then it is specifically glorification.
Surahs that open with praise
include those beginning with tahmid (Alhamdulillah),
those beginning with tabrik (Tabarak alladhi),
such as "Blessed is He...",
and those beginning with tasbih (Subhana / Yusabbihu / Sabbahe).
Tasbih appears in various morphological forms,
unlike tahmid and tabrik;
for tahmid is consistently expressed
with the phrasing 'Al-hamdu lillah', and tabrik with 'Tabarak alladhi'.
As for tasbih, it varies, and thus it is appropriate to add this phrasing:
"And tasbih in it occurs in the present/imperfect tense form,"
referring to Surah al-Jumu'ah.
For there are surahs where it appears in the past tense, in the imperative, and in the verbal noun form,
across these surahs, some of which will be discussed later, if Allah wills.
This surah opens with the imperfect (present) tense,
and this is what I wished to reflect upon in this third point.
Its occurrence in the imperfect tense
is perfectly suited to the reason the surah was revealed,
and it reinforces that these verses—
beginning with Allah's words: "Whatever is in the heavens and whatever is on the earth exalts Allah,
the Sovereign, the Pure, the Exalted in Might, the Wise"—
are a prelude to the final verse in the surah:
"And when they saw a transaction or an amusement..."
That is because the imperfect tense denotes continuity
and renewal in this context,
the context of extolling the Lord of the earth and the heavens.
Meanwhile, those Muslims who turned away from the Friday sermon
ceased the remembrance of Allah and became preoccupied with what distracted them;
thus, the opening of the surah came to caution and remind
that Allah, the Exalted, is completely free of need of them,
and that all creation continually glorifies Him,
even if they were to turn away from the remembrance of Allah, the Exalted.
This suffices for our discussion of this magnificent surah.
May Allah's peace and blessings be upon our Prophet and all his Companions,
and praise be to Allah, the Lord of the worlds.