Surah Al-Mumenoon – Abdullah Ibn Ali Basfar

Al-Mumenoon (Al-Mu'minun, "The Believers") is the 23rd surah of the Quran. A Meccan surah of 118 verses, it is 74th in the traditional order of revelation, after Al-Anbiya, and opens the eighteenth juz'. It takes its name from its first verse, "Successful indeed are the believers", followed by a portrait of those believers (23:1–11).

Structure

The surah is framed by two contrasting statements: it opens with the success of the believers (23:1) and closes with "the disbelievers will not succeed" (23:117), followed by the prayer "My Lord, forgive and have mercy, for You are the best of those who show mercy" (23:118).

Main themes

• The qualities of the believers: humility in prayer, turning away from idle talk, paying zakat, guarding their chastity, honouring trusts and commitments and keeping up their prayers; they will inherit Paradise (23:1–11).
• The stages of human creation, from an extract of clay to a drop, a clinging clot, a lump, bones clothed with flesh, and then "another creation": "Blessed is God, the best of creators" (23:12–14); then the signs of the heavens, rain, the olive tree of Sinai, cattle and ships (23:17–22).
• The messengers and their peoples: Noah and the ark (23:23–30), a later generation destroyed for its denial (23:31–41), Moses and Aaron before Pharaoh (23:45–49), and Mary and her son, made a sign (23:50). All messengers are told to eat of what is good and do righteous deeds, for they form one community (23:51–52).
• Those who give while their hearts are fearful that they will return to their Lord (23:57–61), in contrast to the heedless and arrogant.
• Questions to the polytheists: to whom does the earth belong, who is Lord of the seven heavens? They will answer "God" (23:84–89). God has taken no son, and there is no other god with Him (23:91).
• Refuge from the promptings of devils (23:97–98); the dying disbeliever who begs to be sent back, the barrier (barzakh) until the Resurrection, and the Trumpet, when kinship no longer counts (23:99–101). "Did you think that We created you without purpose?" (23:115).

In the Sunnah

'Abd Allah ibn al-Sa'ib reported that the Prophet ﷺ led the dawn prayer in Mecca with this surah, and when he reached the mention of Moses and Aaron, or of Jesus, he was overcome by a cough and bowed (Muslim). In Sahih Muslim, the hadith "God is good and accepts only what is good" cites 23:51. 'A'isha asked whether 23:60 described people who drink and steal; the Prophet ﷺ replied that it described those who fast, pray and give charity while fearing that their deeds will not be accepted (al-Tirmidhi and Ibn Majah, graded sahih by al-Albani). The hadith of 'Umar promising Paradise to whoever applies the first ten verses (al-Tirmidhi) is, however, graded weak.