NAME: الزلزلة, Az-Zalzala/ Al Zilzal.
Name taken from Verse 1 where there is a mention of the word ”Zilzal”. Name applied to whole Surah.
١ إِذَا زُلْزِلَتِ الْأَرْضُ زِلْزَالَهَا
1 When the earth is shaken with its [final] earthquake
ENGLISH NAME: The Quake.
CHAPTER NUMBER: 99
SURAH ZILZAL TOTAL VERSES: 8
SURAH ZILZAL TOTAL WORDS: 36
TOTAL UNIQUE WORDS WITHOUT REPETITION: 29
TOTAL LETTERS: 158
REVELATION PERIOD:
Meccan, Approx. 613 – 618 AD.
MAIN CHARACTERS:
God, Mankind, Earthquake.
SURAH ZILZAL MAIN TOPICS:
Description Of Last Day, Earth Will Shake, Even An Atoms Weigh Of Deed Will Be Recompensed.
SURAH ZILZAL KEY VERSES:
٤ يَوْمَئِذٍ تُحَدِّثُ أَخْبَارَهَا
4 That Day, it will report its news
٦ يَوْمَئِذٍ يَصْدُرُ النَّاسُ أَشْتَاتًا لِيُرَوْا أَعْمَالَهُمْ
6 That Day, the people will depart separated [into categories] to be shown [the result of] their deeds.
٧ فَمَنْ يَعْمَلْ مِثْقَالَ ذَرَّةٍ خَيْرًا يَرَهُ
7 So whoever does an atom’s weight of good will see it,
SUMMARY OF TOPICS
1-5(Description Of The Last Day: Earth Will Shake And Put Forth All Its Burdens, it will report its news), 6-8(Mankind Will Be Arranged in Groups to be Shown their Deeds, Even An Atoms Weigh Of Deed Will Be Recompensed)
SURAH ZILZAL BRIEF COMMENTARY & BACKGROUND
This Surah has 8 verses. It takes its name from verse 1: “إِذَا زُلْزِلَتِ الْأَرْضُ زِلْزَالَهَا” ( When the earth is shaken with its earthquake) where the word “الزلزلة” meaning “The Quake” appears. This Surah was revealed in Mecca most probably during the early days of Muhammad’s proclamation of his Prophethood. There is a difference of opinion as some commentators of the Quran say that this Surah was revealed in Madina. They based there claim on a tradition narrated from Hadrat Abu Said Khudri, who said:
When ”فَمَنْ يَعْمَلْ مِثْقَالَ ذَرَّةٍ خَيْرًا يَرَهُ, وَمَنْ يَعْمَلْ مِثْقَالَ ذَرَّةٍ شَرًّا يَرَهُ, was revealed, I said: “O Prophet of God PBUH, Will I truly see my deeds there? The Prophet of God replied in the positive. I further stated: All major sin? He replied, yes. I said: And the small minor sins too? He replied, yes. Thereon I sadly said that I would then be ruined. The Holy Prophet said: be happy, O Abu Said, for each good act will be equal to 10 good acts like it.
Those who favor that it’s a Madni Surah asserts that Abu Said lived in Madina and was a young boy and reached adolescence after the battle of Uhad. As he said and if this Surah was revealed in his presence, then it must be a Madani Surah. However, this often happened that when Prophet recited some previously revealed Surah on some occasion and companions who heard that first time might be thought that it revealed just now. Further, the subject matter and length of verses also showing that it resembles with that of Meccan Surah.
Abu Hurairah bin Amr told of a man coming to the Prophet of God PBUH asking him to teach him to recite. On being told to recite three of the Surahs with الٓر, he replied, “I am old, my heart has difficulty in remembering, and my tongue is slow.” Prophet of God told him to recite the three Surahs of حمٓ, he gave the same reply and then asked Prophet of God “Teach me the reading of a comprehensive surah.” So Prophet of God taught him to recite إِذَا زُلْزِلَتِ الْأَرْضُ زِلْزَالَهَا up to the end. The man said, “I swear by Him who has sent you with the truth that I shall never recite more than that.” When the man turned away, Prophet of God said twice, “The little man has become successful.”
Anas ibn Malik and Ibn Abbas reported Prophet of God PBUH said that إِذَا زُلْزِلَتِ الْأَرْضُ زِلْزَالَهَا is equivalent to half the Quran, قُلْ هُوَ اللَّهُ أَحَدٌ is equivalent to a third of the Quran, and قُلْ يَا أَيُّهَا الْكَافِرُونَ is equivalent to a quarter of the Quran.
