Al-Hashr الحشر "The Exile"

Holy Quran

Al-Hashr الحشر, "The Exile" is the 59th chapter of the Quran and has 24 verses

The chapter is named al-hashr because the word hashr, meaning 'exile' or 'banishment', appears in verse 2, describing the expulsion of Jewish Banu Nadir tribe from their settlements. The surah features 15 attributes of God in the last three verses

• 1 Everything in the universe praiseth God
• 2-5 Passage relating to the expulsion of the Baní Nadhír
• 6-7 Ruling of Muhammad concerning spoils
• 8-10 Special ruling for the benefit of the Muhájirín
• 11-17 Hypocrites in Madína reproved for treachery
• 18-20 Muslims exhorted to fear God
• 21 Had the Quran descended on a mountain, it would have split asunder
• 22-24 God hath excellent names, and He only to be worshipped

Surah Al-Hashr opens with God proclaiming:

1 Whatsoever is in the heavens and whatsoever is on the earth glorifies God. And He is the Almighty, the All-Wise.

In Tafsir ibn kathir, Al-Hafiz ibn Kathir explained the significance of the Ayah. He wrote: “Everything glorifies God in its own way. God states that everything that exists in the heavens and on the earth praises, glorifies, reveres and prays to Him and affirms His Oneness." Further, God said in another Ayah: The seven heavens and the earth and all that is therein, glorify Him and there is not a thing but glorifies His praise. But you understand not their glorification (Q17:44)[2]

Ali, the cousin of Muhammad, narrates about the following verse: 7 Whatever God grants to His Messenger (out of the property) of the people of the towns, belongs to God, the Messenger, the kinsfolk, the orphans, the destitute . . . saying that "We are the Ahl al-Bayt (kinsfolk) and this applies to such persons from us exclusively. It is the way God has honored His Holy Prophet and has honored us instead of providing us the unlawful things in the hands of people"

Ayahs 21-24

The last four Ayahs and commentary by ibn Kathir read:

21 Had We sent down this Qur’an on a mountain, you would surely have seen it humbling itself and rent asunder by the fear of God. Such are the parables which We put forward to mankind that they may reflect.

Commenting on Ayah 21, Al-Hafiz Ibn Kathir wrote: “God the Exalted emphasizes the greatness of the Qur’an, its high status and of being worthy of making hearts humble and rent asunder upon hearing it, because of the true promises and sure threats that it contains."

22 He is God, beside Whom La ilaha illa Huwa, the All-Knower of the unseen and the seen. He is the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful.

Commenting on Ayah 22, Al-Hafiz Ibn Kathir wrote:

“God states that He Alone is worthy of worship, there is no Lord or God for the existence, except Him. All that is being worshiped instead of God are false deities. God is the All-Knower in the unseen and the seen, He knows all that pertains to the creations that we see, and those we cannot see. Nothing in heaven or on earth ever escapes His knowledge, no matter how great or insignificant, big or small, including ants in darkness.“God’s statement, ‘He is the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful’ . . . asserts that God is the Owner of the wide encompassing mercy that entails all of His creation

He is Ar-Rahman and Ar-Rahim of this life and of the Hereafter”

23 He is God, beside Whom lā ilaha illā-llah, Al-Malik, Al-Quddus, As-Salam, Al-Mu’min, Al-Muhaymin, Al-Aziz, Al-Jabbar, Al-Mutakabbir. Glory be to God!

Al-Hafiz Ibn Kathir then set out the meaning of God's Names that are listed in Ayah 23. He wrote that Al Malik means "The Owner and King of all things, Who has full power over them without resistance or hindrance". He explained that Al-Quddus, means "‘The Pure’, according to Wahb bin Munabbih, while Mujahid and Qatadah said that Al-Quddus means ‘The Blessed’. " As-Salam, means "Free from any defects or shortcomings that lessen or decrease His perfect attributes and actions" while Al-Mu’min means one "Who has granted safety to His servants by promising that He will never be unjust to them.