Surah Al-Hijr (15) — Ayah 87

(Ayah87) ➊ {وَ لَقَدْ اٰتَيْنٰكَ سَبْعًا مِّنَ الْمَثَانِيْ:’’ الْمَثَانِيْ ‘‘ ’’ ثَنٰي يَثْنِيْ ‘‘} is the plural of the passive participle { ’’مَثْنِيَّةٌ‘‘} (on the pattern of {مَضْرُوْبَةٌ، مَرْمِيَّةٌ}), meaning to repeat, to reiterate, that is, those which are repeated again and again.
➋ Along with the instruction to overlook the excesses of the disbelievers, a reminder of His great blessing, the seven oft-repeated and the magnificent Qur’an, is given, so that the sense of possessing such a great wealth makes it easier to forgive the disbelievers.
➌ {سَبْعًا مِّنَ الْمَثَانِيْ:} with the emphasis of “lam” and {’’قَدْ‘‘ }, it is said that We have given you seven oft-repeated. This verse is also a very clear proof that faith in and practice upon the hadith, along with the Qur’an, is obligatory; without it, neither can the Qur’an be properly understood nor acted upon. See, Allah Almighty has not mentioned anywhere in the Qur’an that the sab‘ al-mathani are seven surahs or seven verses, nor has He specified which surahs or which verses they are. Rather, in one place, He has called the entire Qur’an “mathani,” saying: «{ اَللّٰهُ نَزَّلَ اَحْسَنَ الْحَدِيْثِ كِتٰبًا مُّتَشَابِهًا مَّثَانِيَ }» [ الزمر : ۲۳ ] “Allah has sent down the best statement, a Book consistent and oft-repeated.” Now it is necessary that, from the entire Qur’an, which is all “mathani,” it be determined what is meant by these seven oft-repeated. If one determines it on their own, there can never be agreement; thus, some commentators have said seven surahs, some seven verses, and some something else. Here, without the clarification of the Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him), it is not possible to determine the meaning of this verse of the Qur’an. Thus, Abu Sa‘id bin Ma‘la (may Allah be pleased with him) says: [ كُنْتُ أُصَلِّيْ فَمَرَّبِيْ رَسُوْلُ اللّٰهِ صَلَّی اللّٰهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّمَ فَدَعَانِيْ، فَلَمْ آتِهِ حَتّٰی صَلَّيْتُ، ثُمَّ أَتَيْتُهُ، فَقَالَ مَا مَنَعَكَ أَنْ تَأْتِيَ؟ أَلَمْ يَقُلِ اللّٰهُ : «{ اسْتَجِيْبُوْا لِلّٰهِ وَ لِلرَّسُوْلِ اِذَا دَعَاكُمْ }» [الأنفال : ۲۴] “Then he said to me: ‘I will surely teach you a surah which is the greatest of the surahs in the Qur’an before you leave the mosque.’ Then he took my hand, and when he intended to leave, I said to him: ‘Did you not say you would teach me a surah which is the greatest surah in the Qur’an?’ He said: «{ اَلْحَمْدُ لِلّٰهِ رَبِّ الْعٰلَمِيْنَ }» ‘It is the seven oft-repeated and the magnificent Qur’an which I have been given.’” [ بخاری، التفسیر، باب ما جاء في فاتحۃ الکتاب : ۴۴۷۴، ۴۶۴۷ ] “The Prophet (peace be upon him) passed by me while I was praying, so he called me, but I did not come to him until I finished my prayer. Then I came, and he said: ‘What kept you from coming to me?’ Has not Allah said: «{ اسْتَجِيْبُوْا لِلّٰهِ وَ لِلرَّسُوْلِ اِذَا دَعَاكُمْ }» [ الأنفال : ۲۴ ] ‘Respond to Allah and to the Messenger when he calls you .’” Then he said to me: “Before you leave the mosque, I will surely teach you a surah which is the greatest of all the surahs in the Qur'an.” Then he took my hand, and when he intended to leave, I said to him: “Did you not say you would teach me a surah which is the greatest of all the surahs in the Qur'an?” He (peace be upon him) said: «{ اَلْحَمْدُ لِلّٰهِ رَبِّ الْعٰلَمِيْنَ }» “It is the seven oft-repeated and the magnificent Qur’an which I have been given.” From this it is known that by “seven oft-repeated” is meant the seven verses of Surah al-Fatihah, because they are recited repeatedly in every rak‘ah of every prayer. Other interpretations, such as that the seven long surahs are meant, etc., have no standing after the explicit statement of the Prophet (peace be upon him), especially since the majority of the seven long surahs were revealed in Madinah, whereas this verse is Makkan.
➍ {وَ الْقُرْاٰنَ الْعَظِيْمَ : } Many commentators have taken “seven oft-repeated” to mean al-Fatihah and “the magnificent Qur’an” to mean the rest of the Qur’an, but this is not correct, because the Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him) has called both the “seven oft-repeated” and “the magnificent Qur’an” mentioned in this verse as Surah al-Fatihah. In Bukhari, in the commentary of this verse, his words are: [ اُمُّ الْقُرْآنِ هِيَ السَّبْعُ الْمَثَانِيْ وَالْقُرْآنُ الْعَظِيْمُ ] [ بخاري، التفسیر، باب قولہ : « و لقد اٰتینک سبعا من المثانی…» : ۴۷۰۴ ] “Umm al-Qur’an is the seven oft-repeated and the magnificent Qur’an.” Because for something to be Qur’an, it is not necessary for it to be the entire Qur’an; even one verse is Qur’an. His meaning is that since Surah al-Fatihah is the greatest surah of the Qur’an, then the magnificent Qur’an (the very great Qur’an) is this. As for the “waw” (and), it can come between two different attributes of the same thing, as He said: «{ سَبِّحِ اسْمَ رَبِّكَ الْاَعْلَى (1) الَّذِيْ خَلَقَ فَسَوّٰى (2) وَ الَّذِيْ قَدَّرَ فَهَدٰى (3) وَ الَّذِيْۤ اَخْرَجَ الْمَرْعٰى }» [ الأعلٰی : ۱ تا ۴ ] “Glorify the name of your Lord, the Most High, Who created and proportioned, and Who determined and guided, and Who brought forth the pasture.” And in this sense also, al-Fatihah is called {’’ وَ الْقُرْاٰنَ الْعَظِيْمَ ‘‘ } because all the subjects of the Qur’an are present in it in a summarized form.
Once, in Gujranwala, a denier of hadith made a great commotion and corrupted the beliefs of many people. Maulana Muhammad Abdullah (may Allah have mercy on him, of Dal Bazaar) had a discussion with him, so Maulana recited the verse from Surah al-Tawbah: «{ اِنَّ عِدَّةَ الشُّهُوْرِ عِنْدَ اللّٰهِ اثْنَا عَشَرَ شَهْرًا فِيْ كِتٰبِ اللّٰهِ يَوْمَ خَلَقَ السَّمٰوٰتِ وَ الْاَرْضَ مِنْهَاۤ اَرْبَعَةٌ حُرُمٌ }» [ التوبۃ : ۳۶ ] “Indeed, the number of months with Allah is twelve months in the Book of Allah, the day He created the heavens and the earth; of these, four are sacred.” And he said, “When there is no need for hadith, then tell us from the Qur’an which are those four sacred months?” He had absolutely no answer, and the truth became clear to many people.