286 Page Notes

17 Al-Isra (continued)

Page 286- Related Hadith/Sunnah

Translation of the meaning by Sahih International.

Page 286 - Related Hadiths and Sunnah

On page 286 of the Quran, Surah Al-Isra (Chapter 17, Verses 39 through 49) marks a profound transition from establishing practical moral and ethical commandments (such as prohibitions on murder, adultery, mistreating orphans, and arrogance) to defending the absolute oneness of God (Tawhid) and addressing the pagans' denial of the Resurrection.

Classical works of prophetic tradition (Hadith) and exegesis (Tafsir), such as those by Ibn Kathir, Al-Bukhari, and Muslim, capture several key historical events (Asbab al-Nuzul) and theological principles related to these specific verses.

1. Verses 39–40: Polytheism and the Blasphemy of "Daughters of Allah"

“That is part of the wisdom your Lord has revealed to you... Has your Lord then chosen sons for you, and taken daughters from among the angels? Indeed, you say a grave saying.”

The Hadith Context:

The Pagan Quraysh held the bizarre theological stance that the angels were the "daughters of God," yet they themselves hated having daughters and would practice female infanticide (a practice condemned just a few verses earlier in 17:31).

In Sahih al-Bukhari, the Prophet ﷺ strongly emphasizes how offensive this claim of God having children is. The Prophet narrated a Hadith Qudsi (divine saying) where Allah says:

"The son of Adam disbelieved Me and he had no right to do so. And he reviled Me and he had no right to do so... As for his reviling Me, it is his saying: 'Allah has taken a son (or offspring),' while I am the One, the Self-Sufficient Master." — Sahih al-Bukhari, Book 65, Hadith 4482

2. Verses 42–44: The Universal Praise of Creation

“The seven heavens and the earth and whatever is in them exalt Him. And there is not a thing except that it exalts [Allah] by His praise, but you do not understand their exalting...” (Verse 44)

The Hadith Context:

Scholars note that everything in existence has a conscious or intrinsic way of glorifying Allah that human ears cannot perceive. However, the Prophet ﷺ and his companions were occasionally granted the miracle of hearing this praise.

• The Food Praising God: Abdullah ibn Mas’ud reported: "We used to consider miracles as Allah's Blessings, but you people consider them to be a warning. Once we were with Allah's Messenger ﷺ on a journey, and we ran short of water... I saw the water gushing out from between the fingers of Allah's Messenger ﷺ, and we could hear the praises of the food as it was being eaten." — Sahih al-Bukhari, Book 61, Hadith 2883

• The Crying Palm Tree: When the Prophet ﷺ stopped using a particular palm tree trunk to lean on during sermons after a formal pulpit (minbar) was built, the companion Jabir bin Abdullah narrated that the tree trunk literally wept and groaned out of longing for the remembrance of God until the Prophet embraced it to calm it down (Sahih al-Bukhari, 3584).

3. Verses 45–48: The Spiritual Veil (Hijab) Over the Disbelievers

“And when you recite the Quran, We put between you and those who do not believe in the Hereafter a concealed veil. And We have placed over their hearts coverings, lest they understand it, and in their ears deafness...” (Verses 45-46)

The Hadith Context:

These verses were structurally revealed regarding specific prominent leaders of the Quraysh (such as Abu Sufyan, Al-Walid ibn al-Mughirah, and Abu Jahl) who used to mockingly listen to the Prophet reciting the Quran at night, only to claim it was nothing but "tales of the ancients."

• The Incident with Abu Jahl and Umm Jamil: Ibn Abbas and historical accounts of Siyar (Prophetic biography) record that when verses condemning Abu Lahab and his wife (Umm Jamil) were revealed, Umm Jamil came looking for the Prophet ﷺ with a stone in her hand to strike him. The Prophet was sitting with Abu Bakr near the Kaaba. As she approached, Allah blocked her vision. She could see Abu Bakr perfectly, but the Prophet ﷺ was entirely invisible to her. She asked Abu Bakr, "Where is your companion? I hear he is mocking me!" After she left, Abu Bakr remarked in amazement that she didn't see him. The Prophet ﷺ replied, "An angel was veiling me from her until she left." This physical and spiritual barrier is tied directly by commentators to the concept of the Hijabam Mastura (concealed veil) mentioned in Verse 45.

4. Verse 49: Denial of the Resurrection

“And they say, 'When we are bones and crumbled particles, will we truly be resurrected as a new creation?'”

The Hadith Context:

This verse sets up the central argument of the pagan Arabs, who viewed biological decomposition as an absolute, irreversible end.

The Prophet ﷺ used to explicitly address this specific doubt by pointing out that the God who brought a human into existence out of nothing the first time can easily reassemble them. In a famous narration regarding how the physical reconstruction will happen on the Day of Judgment:

Abu Hurayrah reported that the Prophet ﷺ said: "The earth consumes all of the son of Adam except the coccyx (the tailbone); from it he was created and from it he will be reconstructed." — Sahih Muslim, Book 54, Hadith 142

Furthermore, the next page immediately answers their skepticism in Verse 51: "Say, 'He who created you the first time!'"—a logical paradigm reinforcing that the second creation is even simpler than the first.