(Revealed at Mecca)

43 Verses in 6 Sections

Sections Of Ar-Ra’d

1. Signs of God in Nature.

2. God the Almighty Creator of the Universe.

3. The faithful and the unfaithful, compared.

4. Remembrance of God sets hearts at rest.

5. Apostles of God were mocked at.

6. The two witnesses of the Truth.

Important Topics

1. God the Creator of the Universe - Everything in the Universe pursues its course to an appointed term. (Verse 2-4).

2. People’s wonder about their resurrection. (Verse 2-5).

3. People’s hastening in preferring evil to good. (Verse 6).

4. The Holy Prophet, a Warner and a Guide to every nation (i.e., mankind as a whole). (Verse 7).

5. God alone knows the secrets of the Universe. (Verse 8).

6. Angels deputed to guard every individual. (Verse 11).

7. God changes not the condition of any people until the people themselves bring change on themselves. (Verse 11).

8. Even the thunder declares the glory of God. (Verse 13).

9. Every thing in the heavens and earth, pays obeisance to God. (Verse 15).

10. The Blind and the Seeing, the Darkness and the Light, are not equal. (Verse 16).

11. Those who respond not to God, even all that is in the earth and like thereof, will not be accepted in ransom, from them. (Verse 18).

12. Praise of those who fulfil their promise to God and constant in seeking His pleasure, keep up the prayers, spend their good earning in the way of the Lord, secretly and openly, theirs is the abode of Eternal Bliss. (Verse 22).

13. Those who break their covenant and cause mischief - for them is the evil abode. (Verse 25).

14. God alone amplifieth and straiteneth the sustenance. (Verse 26).

15. A goodly return for those who believe and do good deeds. (Verse 29).

16. Mocking suffered by all the previous Apostles. (Verse 32).

17. All Apostles of God previous to the Holy Prophet Muhammad, were also with many wives and children. (Verse 38).

18. Whomsoever God pleases, He causes to pass away or to remain established. (Verse 39).

19. The witness of God and of the one who is given the knowledge of the Book (the Qur’an) as a whole - sufficient for the Holy Prophet. (Verse 43).

Introduction

The name of the Sura seems to have been drawn from the analogy of rain used in it.

This Sura deals with the matchless powers, strength, authority and the wisdom of God. God alone being the Maker of the heavens and the earth with the mountains and the rivers and the oceans in it. It is God who made and who controls every thing and every affair in the Universe. The disbelievers doubting about the resurrection of man after his being reduced to dust, are actually hastening towards the chastisement instead of availing of the respite. Every nation being given a guide, and the provision of the institution of ‘Imamate’ (i.e., Divine guidance) immediately succeeding the conclusion of the ‘Risalat’ (i.e., the apostleship), and there being an Imam in every age - God’s knowledge encompasses the most hidden things and affairs.

Nothing hidden or manifest is a secret to God. Angels taking care of every individual - No bounty already bestowed is ever taken away without a cause. Everything in the Universe celebrates only God’s glory and is subservient only to Him. The blind, i.e., the disbelievers and the seeing, i.e., the true believers, can never be equalized. Praise of those who exercise patience to earn God’s pleasure, who regularly pray and spend their well-earned wealth in the way of the Lord. Breaking of the covenant with God is condemned. God alone is the Provider or the Sustenance of His Creation. People instead of being guided with what had happened in the past to their ancestors who in spite of seeing clearest signs, i.e., the miracles, did not believe and perished, ask again for miracles.

Every prophet was ridiculed. Miracles are wrought at the will of the Lord and not as and when demanded by those naturalized in disbelief. It is God’s plan that is always fulfilled. Many of the previous Apostles of God had wives more than one and children from them but what connection could this have with the mission of the Apostleship? The mention of the ‘Lawḥ al-Mahfuz’ (i.e., the Secured Tablet or the Mother Book) which contains the Will of God that has to take effect. The one (Ali Ibn Abi Talib) who had been endowed with the fullest knowledge of the Holy Book (the Holy Qur’an) being God’s co-witness about the Holy Prophet’s Apostleship.

The regular recitation of this Sura has been greatly recommended, particularly by the Holy Imam Ja’far Ibn Muhammad as-Sadiq.