NAME: الغاشية, Al-Ghashiya.
Name taken from Verse 1 where there is a mention of the word ”Ghashiya”.
١ هَلْ أَتَاكَ حَدِيثُ الْغَاشِيَةِ
1 Has there reached you the report of the Overwhelming [event]?
ENGLISH NAME: The Overwhelming.
CHAPTER NUMBER: 88
SURAH GHASHIYAH TOTAL VERSES: 26
SURAH GHASHIYAH TOTAL WORDS: 92
TOTAL UNIQUE WORDS WITHOUT REPETITION: 76
TOTAL LETTERS: 382
REVELATION PERIOD:
Meccan, Approx. 618 – 621 AD.
MAIN CHARACTERS:
God, Prophet Muhammad, Believers, Disbelievers.
SURAH GHASHIYAH MAIN TOPICS:
Description of The Last Day, Some Faces Exhausted Some Happy, Prophets and Messengers Are Not A Controller Over Their People There duty is Only To Remind.
SURAH GHASHIYAH KEY VERSES:
٥ تُسْقَىٰ مِنْ عَيْنٍ آنِيَةٍ
5 They will be given drink from a boiling spring.
٦ لَيْسَ لَهُمْ طَعَامٌ إِلَّا مِنْ ضَرِيعٍ
6 For them there will be no food except from a poisonous, thorny plant
٧ لَا يُسْمِنُ وَلَا يُغْنِي مِنْ جُوعٍ
7 Which neither nourishes nor avails against hunger.
١٧ أَفَلَا يَنْظُرُونَ إِلَى الْإِبِلِ كَيْفَ خُلِقَتْ
17 Then do they not look at the camels – how they are created?
٢١ فَذَكِّرْ إِنَّمَا أَنْتَ مُذَكِّرٌ
21 So remind, [O Muhammad]; you are only a reminder.
٢٢ لَسْتَ عَلَيْهِمْ بِمُصَيْطِرٍ
22 You are not over them a controller.
SUMMARY OF TOPICS
1(Do You Know About The Overwhelming), 2-7(On The Last Day Some Faces are Humbled & Exhausted, They Have Boiling Drink And Poisonous Food), 7-16(Some Faces, That Day, will show Pleasure, They Will Be On Cushions, Eating What They Desire And In Pleasure) 17-26(Don’t They See The Camels, Sky, Mountains And Earth: How they are created?, So Remind Only, Prophets and Messengers Are Not A Controller Over There People)
SURAH GHASHIYAH BRIEF COMMENTARY & BACKGROUND
This Surah has 26 verses. It takes its name from verse 1: ” هَلْ أَتَاكَ حَدِيثُ الْغَاشِيَةِ” (Has there reached you the report of the Overwhelming) where the word “الغاشية” meaning “The Overwhelming” appears. This Surah was revealed in Mecca most probably in a later stage of Prophet Muhammad’s preaching in Mecca when persecution had become severe.
The Surah begins with the description of The Last Day. All Mankind will be divided into two groups, the scared, drained and exhausted group, and the happy and peaceful group. Then it narrates and depicts some of the scenes of Jahanum/Hellfire and of paradise. Lastly, it tells that the Prophets and Messengers are not a controller over their People. Their duty is only to remind them.
Muslim, Abu Dawud, Tirmidhi, Nasai and Ibn Majah all recorded in their books that the Prophet of God PBUH used to recite
سَبِّحِ ٱسۡمَ رَبِّكَ ٱلۡأَعۡلَى and هَلۡ أَتَٮٰكَ حَدِيثُ ٱلۡغَـٰشِيَةِ
Surah Ala and Surah Ghashiyh for the two Eid prayers and also in Friday prayers. If one of the festivals fell on a Friday.
Abu Dawud, Nasai, Malik, Muslim, and Ibn Majah recorded that Dahhak bin Qays asked Numan bin Bashir, “What else did the Prophet of God PBUH recite on Friday along with Surah Jumuah. Numan replied, “Surah Ghashiyah.
