Human Reactions to Ease and Hardship
Some deny and mock when punishment is delayed, become despairing in hardship, and boastful in ease—except those who are patient and righteous, promised forgiveness and reward.
Juz 12
11. Hūd
HudThe Messenger’s Duty and the Qur’an’s Proof
The Prophet is told not to be pressured by demands for miracles; he is only a warner, while the Qur’an—supported by earlier revelation—stands as evidence for those who seek truth.
Liars against Allah vs. People of Paradise
Those who fabricate lies about Allah and block others from His path face severe loss, while believers who do good are the people of Paradise; the two groups are contrasted like blind and seeing.
Noah’s Call and His People’s Objections
Noah calls his people to worship Allah and seek forgiveness, but they dismiss him as merely human and reject following the poor; Noah insists he seeks no payment and cannot drive away believers.
Refuting the Claim of Fabrication
If they claim the message is invented, the Prophet is told to declare that any sin of fabrication would be on him, while he is innocent of their wrongdoing.
The Ark and the Breaking of Family Ties
Allah informs Noah that only a few will believe; Noah builds the ark amid mockery, the flood begins, and even Noah’s son refuses to board and is overcome by the waves.
The Flood Ends and the Lesson Remains
The waters recede, the ark rests, and the wrongdoers are removed; Noah is told his son was not of his true family due to deeds, and the story is given as a revelation and reminder.
Hud and the People of ‘Ad
Hud calls ‘Ad to worship Allah and seek forgiveness, promising strength and rain, but they accuse him and persist in arrogance; they are destroyed by a relentless wind and cursed for rejecting their Lord.
Salih and Thamud: The She-Camel Sign
Salih invites Thamud to worship Allah and repent; the she-camel is given as a sign, but they hamstring her and defy the warning, leading to their destruction and ruin.
Angels Visit Abraham with Glad Tidings
Angels come to Abraham, reassure him, and announce a son to Sarah; they also inform him about the coming punishment of Lot’s people, while Abraham pleads for mercy.
Lot Confronts His People’s Corruption
Lot is distressed by his people’s approach to the guests; the angels reveal themselves, command departure before dawn, and the towns are overturned and pelted—an enduring warning for transgressors.
Shu‘ayb: Honest Trade and True Worship
Shu‘ayb urges Madyan to worship Allah, give full measure and weight, and avoid corruption; he calls them to repentance and trust in Allah, warning that earlier nations’ fates could be repeated.
Mockery Rejected and the Inevitable Cry
Madyan’s leaders belittle Shu‘ayb and threaten him, but he declares his reliance on Allah; when they persist, a mighty blast seizes them and they become lifeless in their homes.
Moses and Pharaoh: Signs and Ruin
Moses is sent with clear signs to Pharaoh, but Pharaoh leads his people astray; they are pursued by curse in this life and will be led to the Fire in the Hereafter.
Lessons from Ruined Cities and the Day of Gathering
Past towns are recounted as warnings: Allah did not wrong them, they wronged themselves; the Day of Judgment will gather all, dividing people into the wretched in Fire and the blessed in Paradise by Allah’s will.
Stand Firm and Do Not Incline to Wrong
The Prophet is told not to doubt the end of those who worship as their forefathers did; Allah will repay fully, so remain upright and do not lean toward ظلم (wrongdoing), lest punishment touch you.
Prayer, Patience, and the Path of Mercy
Establish prayer at day’s ends and night, as good deeds erase bad; be patient, follow revelation, and remember that اختلاف (differences) persist except among those Allah shows mercy, while all will be judged for what they do.
Context · al-Wahidi
Verse 11:114 came down about a man who kissed or touched a woman who was not his wife, short of intercourse, and then came to the Prophet to confess. The Prophet recited this verse to him and said it applies to all people. Al-Wahidi reports this from Ibn Mas'ud, and al-Fahl grades these chains sound or fair. In a report from Abu al-Yasr, he names himself as the man, and al-Fahl calls it a fair hadith with a gap in al-Wahidi's chain. A report from Ibn Abbas has the man go to Umar and Abu Bakr first; al-Fahl grades it weak. A report from Mu'adh ibn Jabal has the Prophet tell the man to make ablution and pray; al-Fahl grades it weak because the chain is broken.
Source text (1 entry)
His saying, Mighty and Majestic: "And establish the prayer at the two ends of the day and in the early hours of the night. Indeed, good deeds remove bad deeds" ... [to the end of the verse] [11:114].(274) The Professor Abu Mansur al-Baghdadi informed us, saying: Abu Amr ibn Matar informed us, saying: Ibrahim ibn Ali narrated to us, saying: Yahya ibn Yahya narrated to us, saying: Abu al-Ahwas narrated to us from Simak, from Ibrahim, from Alqamah and al-Aswad, from Abdullah, who said: A man came to the Prophet (peace be upon him) and said: O Messenger of Allah, I handled a woman at the far end of Madinah, and I got from her what falls short of having intercourse with her. Here I am, so judge me as you wish. He said: Umar said: Allah had covered you; if only you had covered yourself. The Prophet (peace be upon him) did not (6) answer him anything. The man went away, and he sent a man after him and called him, and recited this verse to him.
A man said (1): O Messenger of Allah, is it (2) for him specifically? He said: "Rather (3), for all the people." It was recorded by
Muslim (4) from Yahya ibn Yahya.
And al-Bukhari recorded it (5) by way of Yazid ibn Zuray'.
(275) Amr ibn Abi (2) Amr informed us of it (1), saying: Muhammad ibn Makki informed us, saying: Muhammad ibn Yusuf informed us, saying: Muhammad ibn Isma'il (3) informed us, saying: Musaddad narrated to us, saying: Yazid ibn Zuray' narrated to us, saying: Sulayman al-Taymi narrated to us from Abu Uthman al-Nahdi, from Ibn Mas'ud, that a man got a kiss from a woman. He came to the Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him) and mentioned that to him, and there was sent down (4): "And establish the prayer at the two ends of the day and in the early hours of the night" to the end of the verse. The man said: Is this for me? He said: "For whoever of my nation acts upon it." (5)
(276) Muhammad ibn Musa ibn al-Fadl informed us, saying: Muhammad ibn Ya'qub al-Umawi narrated to us, saying: al-Abbas al-Duri narrated to us, saying: Ahmad ibn Hanbal al-Marwazi narrated to us, saying: Muhammad ibn al-Mubarak (6) narrated to us, saying: Suwayd narrated to us, saying: Uthman ibn Mawhab (7) informed us
from Musa ibn Talhah, from Abu al-Yasar (1) ibn Amr, who said: A woman came to me — her husband had been sent by the Prophet (peace be upon him) on an expedition (2) — and said: Sell me dates for a dirham. He said: She pleased me, so I said: In the house there are dates better than these, so follow me. I squeezed her and kissed her. Then I came to the Prophet (peace be upon him) and told him the matter. He said: "Have you betrayed (3) a man fighting in the way of Allah in his family with this?" He lowered his head away from me, so I thought I was of the people of the Fire and that Allah would never forgive me. Allah Most High sent down: "And establish the prayer at the two ends of the day ..." [to the end of the verse]. The Prophet (peace be upon him) sent for me and recited it to me (4).
(277) Nasr ibn Bakr ibn Ahmad al-Wa'iz informed us, saying: Abu Sa'id Abdullah ibn Ahmad (1) al-Sijzi informed us, saying: Muhammad ibn Ayyub al-Razi informed us, saying: Ali ibn Uthman, Musa ibn Isma'il and Ubaydullah (2) ibn al-Asim informed us — the wording is Ali's — they said: Hammad ibn Salamah informed us, saying: Ali Zayd (3) narrated to us from Yusuf ibn Mihran (4), from Ibn Abbas: that a man came to Umar and said to him: A woman came to me to trade with me, and I took her into the inner room (5), and I got from her everything except intercourse. He said: Woe to you! Is her husband (6) away in the way of Allah? I said: Yes. He said: Go to Abu Bakr. He went to him and said the like (7) of what he had said to Umar, and he answered him the like of that, and said: Go to the Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him) and ask him (8). So he came to him, and the Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him) said: "Is her husband (9) away in the way of Allah?" And he was silent (10) toward him, and the Qur'an came down: "And establish the prayer at the two ends of the day and in the early hours of the night. Indeed, good deeds remove bad deeds." The man said: Is it for me specifically (11) or for the people generally? Umar struck his chest and said:
No, and no delight of eye for you! Rather, it is for the people generally. The Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him) laughed and said: "Umar has spoken the truth." (1)
(278) Abu Mansur (2) Muhammad ibn Muhammad al-Tusi informed us, saying: Ali ibn Umar al-Hafiz informed us, saying: al-Husayn (3) ibn Isma'il al-Mahamili narrated to us, saying: Yusuf ibn Musa narrated to us, saying: Jarir narrated to us from Abd al-Malik ibn Umayr, from Abd al-Rahman ibn Abi Layla, from Mu'adh ibn Jabal, that he was sitting with the Prophet (peace be upon him) when a man came to him and said: O Messenger of Allah, what do you say about a man who got from a woman what (4) is not lawful for him, and left nothing that a man gets from his wife except that he got it from her, except that he did not have intercourse with her? He said: "Perform ablution well, then stand and pray." He said: Then Allah Most High sent down this verse: "Establish the prayer at the two ends of the day and in the early hours of the night" [11:114] to its end. Mu'adh ibn Jabal said: Is it for him specifically or for the Muslims generally? He said: "Rather, it is for the Muslims generally." (5)
(279) The Professor Abu Tahir al-Ziyadi (1) informed us, saying: Hajib ibn Ahmad informed us, saying: the Professor Abu Abd al-Rahim ibn Munib (2) informed us, saying: al-Fadl ibn Musa al-Sinani (3) narrated to us, saying: Sufyan al-Thawri narrated to us from Simak ibn Harb, from Ibrahim, from Abd al-Rahman ibn
Yazid (4), from Ibn Mas'ud, that he said: A man came to the Prophet (peace be upon him) and said: O Messenger of Allah, I got something from a woman, except that I did not have intercourse with her. So Allah Most High sent down this verse (5): "And establish the prayer at the two ends of the day and in the early hours of the night. Indeed, good deeds remove bad deeds." (6)
Surah Yusuf
(4) Sahih Muslim 8/102 (2763)(42). Also recorded by al-Tayalisi (285), Abd al-Razzaq (13829), Ahmad 1/445 and 449, Muslim 8/102 (2763)(42), Abu Dawud (4468), al-Tirmidhi (3112), al-Nasa'i in al-Kubra (7323), al-Tabari in al-Tafsir 12/134 and 135, Ibn Khuzaymah (313), Abu Ya'la (5343) and (5389), Ibn Hibban (1730), and al-Bayhaqi 8/241, by various routes from Simak with this chain.
Also recorded by Ahmad 1/452, Muslim 8/102 (2763)(43), al-Nasa'i in al-Kubra (7319), (7320) and (7322), and al-Tabari 12/135 by way of Simak, from Ibrahim, from his maternal uncle al-Aswad, from Abdullah, with it; he did not mention Alqamah.
(5) Sahih al-Bukhari 6/94; it is by way of Abu Uthman al-Nahdi, from Ibn Mas'ud. It will come in the next one.
(3) He is Imam al-Bukhari; the hadith is in his Sahih 6/94 (4687).
(5) Its chain is sound.
Recorded by Abd al-Razzaq (13830), Ahmad 1/385 and 430, al-Bukhari 1/140 (526), Muslim 8/101 and 102, Ibn Majah (1398) and (4253), al-Tirmidhi (3114), and al-Nasa'i in al-Kubra
(4) A hasan hadith, as al-Tirmidhi said; in al-Wahidi's chain there is an evident omission. Recorded by al-Tirmidhi (3115), al-Nasa'i in al-Kubra (11248) and in al-Tafsir al-Mufrad (268), al-Tabari in his Tafsir 12/137, and al-Tabarani in al-Kabir 9/(371).
(5) Al-dawlaj: the closet, which is the small room inside the large house. See: al-Lisan 3/99.
(1) Its chain is weak, because of the weakness of Ali ibn Zayd ibn Jud'an. Recorded by Ahmad 1/245 and 269 by way of Hammad ibn Salamah, with it.
(5) Its chain is weak, because it is broken: Abd al-Rahman ibn Abi Layla did not hear from Mu'adh. Mu'adh ibn Jabal died in the caliphate of Umar, and when Umar was killed Abd al-Rahman ibn Abi Layla was a small boy of six years. Recorded by Ahmad 5/244, al-Tirmidhi (3113), al-Tabari in his Tafsir 12/136, and al-Tabarani in al-Kabir 20/
(6) Its chain is hasan; Simak ibn Harb is truthful, hasan in hadith.
Recorded by Ahmad 1/406, al-Tirmidhi (3112), and al-Nasa'i (7317) and (7318) by way of Simak ibn Harb with this chain. See the hadith of Abdullah ibn Mas'ud above.
fair chainweak chain
Stories to Steady the Heart and Trust Allah
Accounts of messengers are given to strengthen the Prophet and affirm truth; the disbelievers are warned to act as they will, for Allah knows the unseen and the final outcome returns to Him.
12. Yūsuf
JosephA Clear Arabic Revelation
The surah opens with the clear signs of the Book, revealed as an Arabic Qur'an for understanding.
Joseph’s Dream and Glad Tidings
Joseph relates his dream; Jacob warns him, and Allah promises Joseph favor, knowledge, and continuation of Abraham’s legacy.
Context · al-Wahidi
Verse 12:3 is the subject of these reports. Al-Wahidi reports from Sa'd ibn Abi Waqqas that the Prophet recited the Quran to his Companions for a time, and they said, "O Messenger of Allah, if only you would tell us stories." Allah then revealed the opening verses of this surah through 12:3. Al-Fahl notes that Ibn Hajar graded this report fair. Awn ibn Abdullah gives the order differently. He says the Companions grew weary and asked for talk, and Allah revealed 39:23. When they grew weary again and asked for stories, Allah revealed 12:3. Al-Fahl notes that al-Wahidi gives this second report without a chain.
Source text (1 entry)
His saying, Mighty and Majestic: "We relate to you the best of stories ... [to the end of the verse]" [12:3].(280) Abd al-Qahir ibn Tahir informed us, saying: Abu Amr ibn Matar informed us, saying: Ja'far ibn Muhammad ibn al-Hasan ibn al-Mustafad informed us, saying: Ishaq ibn Ibrahim al-Hanzali related to us, saying: Amr ibn Muhammad al-Qurashi related to us, saying: Khallad ibn Muslim al-Saffar related to us, from Amr ibn Qays al-Mula'i, from Amr ibn Murrah, from Mus'ab ibn Sa'd, from his father Sa'd ibn Abi Waqqas, concerning His saying, Mighty and Majestic: "We relate to you the best of stories" [12:3]. He said: The Quran was sent down to the Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him), and he recited it to them for a time. They said: "O Messenger of Allah, if only you would tell us stories." So Allah, Exalted is He, sent down: "Alif Lam Ra. These are the verses of the clear Book" [12:1-2] up to His saying: "We relate to you the best of stories ... [to the end of the verse]" [12:3]. He recited it to them for a time, and they said: "O Messenger of Allah, if only you would talk to us." So Allah, Exalted is He, sent down: "Allah has sent down the best of discourse, a Book consistent in itself." He said: In all of this you are being directed (1) to the Quran. Al-Hakim Abu Abdullah recorded it in his Sahih (2) from Abu Bakr al-Anbari, from Muhammad ibn Abd al-Salam, from Ishaq ibn Ibrahim.
Awn ibn Abdullah said: The Companions of the Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him) grew weary once, and said: "O Messenger of Allah, talk to us." So Allah, Exalted is He, sent down: "Allah has sent down the best of discourse ... [to the end of the verse]" [39:23]. He said: Then they grew weary another time, and said: "O Messenger of Allah, something above talk and below the Quran" — meaning stories. So Allah, Exalted is He, sent down: "We relate to you the best of stories." They wanted talk, so He directed them to the best of talk; and they wanted stories, so He directed them to the best of stories (1).
Surat al-Ra'd
(2) Al-Mustadrak 2/345. Al-Tabari recorded it in al-Tafsir 12/150, Abu Ya'la (740), Ibn Hibban (6209), and al-Bazzar (3218) by way of Umar ibn Muhammad al-Qurashi, with this chain. Al-Hafiz Ibn Hajar cited it in al-Aliyah (3652) and said: "hasan," attributing it to Ibn Rahawayh, Abu Ya'la and al-Bazzar. Al-Suyuti cited it in al-Durr al-Manthur 4/496 and additionally attributed it to Ibn al-Mundhir, Ibn Abi Hatim, Abu al-Shaykh and Ibn Mardawayh.
(1) He cited it thus suspended, without a chain, though it has been transmitted connected. Abu Ubayd recorded it in al-Amwal
Brothers’ Jealous Plot
Joseph’s brothers, driven by envy, conspire to remove him; one suggests casting him into a well instead of killing him.
They Seek Jacob’s Permission
The brothers persuade Jacob to send Joseph with them; Jacob fears harm, while they insist they will protect him.
Joseph Thrown into the Well
They cast Joseph into the well; Allah reassures him of future vindication, while they return with a false story and stained shirt.
Found and Sold Cheaply
A passing caravan finds Joseph and conceals him as merchandise, selling him for a small price.
Settled in Egypt
An Egyptian official buys Joseph and urges kind treatment, as Allah establishes His plan beyond human schemes.
Temptation and Innocence
Joseph reaches maturity and resists the official’s wife; evidence clears him, and the matter is hushed to avoid scandal.
The Women’s Test and Joseph’s Prayer
City women gossip; the wife stages a banquet where they are struck by Joseph’s beauty. Joseph prays for protection, and Allah turns their plot away.
Imprisoned with Two Men
Despite signs of his innocence, Joseph is jailed, where two young men enter prison with him.
Calling to Tawhid in Prison
Before interpreting dreams, Joseph teaches faith in the One God, then interprets the two inmates’ dreams and asks one to mention him to the king.
The King’s Troubling Dream
The king sees a baffling dream; the court cannot explain it, and the freed prisoner later remembers Joseph.
Joseph Explains the Dream
Joseph interprets the dream: years of abundance followed by famine, advising storage and planning, then relief and renewed harvest.
Vindication Before Release
Joseph refuses to leave prison until his case is investigated; the women confess, and he affirms integrity while acknowledging the soul’s weakness without Allah’s mercy.