(Revealed after Hijrah)

Date of Revelation and Context
This Surah seems to have been revealed several years after Hijrah (see v. 4). In the preceding Surah Jesus's prophecy about the advent of the Prophet Ahmad was mentioned. The present Surah further deals with that prophecy. Like the preceding Surah it opens with the glorification of the might and wisdom of God, and, as a proof and demonstration of these two Divine attributes, points to the appearance of the Holy Prophet among the unlettered Arabs, who from an uncivilized, uncultured and unlettered people, became, through the teaching of the Qur'an and the Prophet's noble example, the teachers and leaders of mankind, spreading light and learning wherever they went.

The Surah then refers to the same spiritual phenomenon which will take place at some later time through a great Deputy of the Holy Prophet, the Promised Messiah, and proceeds to condemn the Jewish people for their rejection of the Holy Prophet, in spite of the fact that their Scriptures abound in prophecies concerning him. Thus by implication the Surah warns Muslims against behaving like Jews when the Great Deputy of the Holy Prophet appears among them.

Towards its close, importance of the Friday Prayer is emphasized and an implied hint is made that at the time of the Second Advent of the Holy Prophet which has been likened to the Friday Prayer, there would be a mad craze for trade, commerce and worldly gains and many other diversions to amuse and turn men away from God; and Muslims are exhorted not to let these things distract their attention in the midst of their religious duties.

بِسْمِ اللَّهِ الرَّحْمَنِ الرَّحِيم
[62:1] In the name of Allah, the Gracious, the Merciful.

يُسَبِّحُ لِلَّهِ مَا فِي السَّمَاوَاتِ وَمَا فِي الأَرْضِ الْمَلِكِ الْقُدُّوسِ الْعَزِيزِ الْحَكِيمِ
[62:2] Whatever is in the heavens and whatever is in the earth glorifies Allah, the Sovereign, the Holy, the Mighty, the Wise[3043].

هُوَ الَّذِي بَعَثَ فِي الأُمِّيِّينَ رَسُولاً مِنْهُمْ يَتْلُو عَلَيْهِمْ آيَاتِهِ وَيُزَكِّيهِمْ وَيُعَلِّمُهُمْ الْكِتَابَ وَالْحِكْمَةَ وَإِنْ كَانُوا مِنْ قَبْلُ لَفِي ضَلاَلٍ مُبِينٍ

[62:3] He it is Who has raised among the Unlettered[3044] people a Messenger from among themselves who recites unto them His Signs, and purifies them, and teaches them the Book and wisdom[3045], although they had been, before, in manifest misguidance;

وَآخَرِينَ مِنْهُمْ لَمَّا يَلْحَقُوا بِهِمْ وَهُوَ الْعَزِيزُ الْحَكِيمُ
[62:4] And among others from among them who have not yet joined them[3046]. He is the Mighty, the Wise.

ذَلِكَ فَضْلُ اللَّهِ يُؤْتِيهِ مَنْ يَشَاءُ وَاللَّهُ ذُو الْفَضْلِ الْعَظِيمِ
[62:5] That is Allah’s grace; He bestows it on whom He pleases; and Allah is the Master of immense grace.

مَثَلُ الَّذِينَ حُمِّلُوا التَّوْرَاةَ ثُمَّ لَمْ يَحْمِلُوهَا كَمَثَلِ الْحِمَارِ يَحْمِلُ أَسْفَارًا بِئْسَ مَثَلُ الْقَوْمِ الَّذِينَ كَذَّبُوا بِآيَاتِ اللَّهِ وَاللَّهُ لاَ يَهْدِي الْقَوْمَ الظَّالِمِينَ

[62:6] The likeness of those who were made to bear the law of Torah, but would not bear it, is as the likeness of an ass carrying a load of books. Evil is the likeness of the people who reject the Signs of Allah. And Allah guides not the wrongdoing people.

قُلْ يَاأَيُّهَا الَّذِينَ هَادُوا إِنْ زَعَمْتُمْ أَنَّكُمْ أَوْلِيَاءُ لِلَّهِ مِنْ دُونِ النَّاسِ فَتَمَنَّوْا الْمَوْتَ إِنْ كُنتُمْ صَادِقِينَ

[62:7] Say, ‘O ye who are Jews, if you think you are the friends of Allah to the exclusion of all other people, then wish for Death[3047], if indeed you are truthful.’

وَلاَ يَتَمَنَّوْنَهُ أَبَدًا بِمَا قَدَّمَتْ أَيْدِيهِمْ وَاللَّهُ عَلِيمٌ بِالظَّالِمِينَ
[62:8] But they will never wish for it, because of that which their hands have sent on before them. And Allah knows full well those who do wrong.

قُلْ إِنَّ الْمَوْتَ الَّذِي تَفِرُّونَ مِنْهُ فَإِنَّهُ مُلاَقِيكُمْ ثُمَّ تُرَدُّونَ إِلَى عَالِمِ الْغَيْبِ وَالشَّهَادَةِ فَيُنَبِّئُكُمْ بِمَا كُنتُمْ تَعْمَلُونَ

[62:9] Say, ‘The Death from which you flee will surely meet you. Then will you be returned unto Him Who knows the unseen and the seen, and He will inform you of what you had been doing.’

يَاأَيُّهَا الَّذِينَ آمَنُوا إِذَا نُودِي لِلصَّلاَةِ مِنْ يَوْمِ الْجُمُعَةِ فَاسْعَوْا إِلَى ذِكْرِ اللَّهِ وَذَرُوا الْبَيْعَ ذَلِكُمْ خَيْرٌ لَكُمْ إِنْ كُنتُمْ تَعْلَمُونَ

[62:10] O ye who believe! when the call is made for Prayer on Friday[3047A], hasten to the remembrance of Allah, and leave off all business. That is better for you, if you only knew.

فَإِذَا قُضِيَتْ الصَّلاَةُ فَانتَشِرُوا فِي الأَرْضِ وَابْتَغُوا مِنْ فَضْلِ اللَّهِ وَاذْكُرُوا اللَّهَ كَثِيرًا لَعَلَّكُمْ تُفْلِحُونَ

[62:11] And when the Prayer is finished, then disperse in the land and seek of Allah’s grace[3048], and remember Allah much, that you may prosper.

وَإِذَا رَأَوْا تِجَارَةً أَوْ لَهْوًا انفَضُّوا إِلَيْهَا وَتَرَكُوكَ قَائِمًا قُلْ مَا عِنْدَ اللَّهِ خَيْرٌ مِنْ اللَّهْوِ وَمِنْ التِّجَارَةِ وَاللَّهُ خَيْرُ الرَّازِقِينَ

[62:12] But when they see some merchandise or some amusement, they break up for it, and leave thee standing. Say, ‘That which is with Allah is better than amusement and merchandise, and Allah is the Best Provider.’

3043. The four Divine attributes concern the fourfold mission of the Holy Prophet, mentioned in the next verse.

3044. See 3:76 and 7:158.

3045. The Divine mission of the Holy Prophet consisted in the performance of the fourfold sacred duty referred to in this verse. This was the great and noble task which was entrusted to him: because it was to his appearance among the unlettered Arabs that the Patriarch Abraham had prayed several thousand years ago, when in company with his son, Ishmael, he was raising the foundations of the Ka'bah (2:130). In fact, no Reformer can truly succeed in his mission unless he prepares, by his noble and purifying example, a community of sincere, devoted and righteous followers, whom he first teaches the ideals and the principles of his Message and their philosophy, significance and importance, and then sends them abroad to preach that Message to other people. The training he imparts to his followers refines their
intellect, and the philosophy of his teaching engenders in them certainty of faith, and his noble example creates in them purity of heart. It is to this basic fact of religion that the verse refers.

3046.  The Message of the Holy Prophet was meant not only for the Arabs among whom he was raised but for all non-Arabs as well, and not only for his contemporaries but also for the generations to come till the end of time. Or, the verse may signify that the Holy Prophet will be raised among another people who have not yet joined his immediate followers. The reference in the verse and in a well-known saying of the Holy Prophet is to the Second Advent of the Holy Prophet himself in the person of the Promised Messiah in the Latter Days. Says Abu Hurairah: "One Day we were sitting with the Holy Prophet when Surah Jumu'ah was revealed. I enquired from the Holy Prophet, 'Who are the people to whom the words, 'And among others of them who have not yet joined them,' refer." Salman, the Persian, was sitting among us. Upon my repeatedly asking him the same question, the Holy Prophet put his hand on Salman and said, 'If Faith were to go up to the Pleiades, a man from these would, surely, find it' (Bukhari). This saying of the Holy Prophet shows that the verse applies to a man of Persian descent. The Promised Messiah, the Founder of the Ahmadiyya Movement, was of Persian descent. Other sayings of the Holy Prophet speak of the appearance of the Messiah at a time when there would remain nothing of the Qur'an but its words and of Islam but its name, i.e., the true spirit of Islamic teaching will have been lost (Baihaqui). Thus the Qur'an and the Hadith both agree that the present verse refers to the Second Advent of the Holy Prophet in the person of the Promised Messiah.

3047. The Promised Messiah will challenge the so-called Muslim Ulema; who will reject his claim, to Mubahalah, i.e., prayer-contest by which Divine curse is invoked upon those who forge lies against God (3:62).

3047A. In the preceding verses mention was made of the Jews who rejected the Holy Prophet's Message and who profaned their Sabbath and consequently incurred God's displeasure. In the present verse, however, Muslims have been enjoined to be particularly careful about the obligatory Friday Prayer. Every people has a Sabbath and the Muslim Sabbath is Friday. As the Surah seems particularly to deal with the time of the Promised Messiah, the call for Friday Prayer may also signify his clarion call to Muslims to listen to his Message.

3048. Unlike the Jewish or Christian Sabbath, the Muslim Sabbath is not a day of rest. Before the Friday Prayer and after it Muslims may as usual pursue their daily avocations. The words 'of Allah's grace,' have generally been understood to mean 'doing business and earning one's livelihood.'