Surat An-Najm (The Star)
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Period of Revelation: This is the first surah of the Qu’ran, which the Prophet (peace be upon him) had publicly recited before an assembly of the Quraish (and according to Ibn Marduyah, in the Ka’bah) in which both the believers and disbelievers were present. At the end, when he recited the verse requiring the performance of a Sajdah and fell down in prostration, the whole assembly also fell down in prostration with him, and even those chiefs of the polytheists who were in the forefront of the opposition to the Prophet (peace be upon him) could not resist falling down in prostration. Ibn Mas’ud (may Allah be pleased with him) says that he saw only one man, Umayyah bin Khalaf, from among the disbelievers, who did not fall down in prostration but took a little dust and rubbing it on his forehead said that it was enough for him. This Surah was? revealed in Ramadan of 5th year of Prophet's residence at Makkah.Major Issues, Divine Laws and Guidance:• Scene of the First Revelation, that was brought by angel Gabriel to the Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him).• Allah gave Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) a tour of the Heavens, Paradise and other great signs.• Lat, Uzza and Manat (goddesses of Arabs) are nothing but names invented by pagan Arabs.• Angels have no share in divinity, nor can they even intercede without the permission of Allah.• Do not claim piety for yourselves, Allah knows who is Godfearing and pious.• No soul shall bear the burden of another, there shall be nothing for a person except what he strived for.The theme of the Surah is to warn the disbelievers of Makkah about the error of their attitude that they had adopted towards the Qur’an and the Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him). The discourse starts by saying: “Muhammad (peace be upon him) is neither deluded nor has gone astray, as you are telling others in your propaganda against him, nor has he fabricated this teaching of Islam and its message, as you seem to think he has. In fact, whatever he is presenting is nothing but Revelation which is sent down to him. The facts that he presents before you are not the product of his own imagination and speculation but realities of which he himself is an eye witness. He has himself seen the Angel through whom this knowledge is conveyed to him. He has been directly made to observe the great Signs of Allah during his trip of M’iraj; whatever he says is not what he has imagined but what he has seen with his own eyes”. After this, following three convincing arguments are presented:1. The religion that you are following is based on mere conjecture and invented ideas. You have step up a few goddesses like Lat, Manat and Uzza, whereas they have no share in divinity. You regard the Angels as the daughters of Allah. You think that these deities of yours can influence Allah in your favour, whereas the fact is that all the angels together, who are stationed closest to Allah, cannot influence Him even in their own favor. None of the beliefs that you have adopted is based on knowledge and reason, but are wishes and desires based on which you have taken some whims as realities. This is a grave error.2. The final judgement will not depend on your desires or the claims that you make about your purity and chastity but on whether you are pious or impious, righteous or unrighteous in the sight of Allah. If you refrain from major sins, He, in His mercy, will overlook your minor errors.3. A few basic principles of the true faith are reiterated which were stated in the Books of the Prophets Ibraheem (Abraham) and Musa (Moses), to remove their misunderstanding that Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) has brought some new and novel religion, but are the same basic truths which the former Prophets of Allah had always presented in their respective ages. It is made clear that the destruction of the ‘Ad, the Thamud, the people of the Prophets Nuh (Noah) and Lut (Lot) was not the result of accidental calamities, but Allah has destroyed them in consequence of the same wickedness and rebellion from which the disbelievers of Makkah are not inclined to refrain and desist.This was such an impressive Surah, that even the most hardened deniers of the truth were completely overwhelmed, and when after reciting these verses of Divine Word the Prophet of Allah (peace be upon him) fell down in prostration, they too could not help falling down in prostration along with him.