Surah Al-Hijr

Al-Hijr ("Stoneland", the rocky tract of al-Hijr) is the 15th surah of the Quran. A Meccan surah of 99 verses, it is 54th in the traditional order of revelation, after Yusuf, and opens the fourteenth juz'. It takes its name from verse 80, which mentions "the people of al-Hijr", the tribe of Thamud to whom the prophet Salih was sent.

Name

Al-Hijr is the rocky region of north-western Arabia where Thamud carved their homes out of the mountains (15:82). It is identified with the site of Mada'in Salih (Hegra), near al-'Ula, listed as a UNESCO World Heritage site in 2008. Like Ibrahim, the surah opens with the letters Alif-Lam-Ra.

Main themes

• The deniers mock the Prophet ﷺ as a madman; God answers that He Himself has sent down the Reminder and will guard it (15:9).
• Signs in the heavens and the earth: the constellations, the sky guarded against devils, the fertilising winds and the rain (15:16–25).
• Man created from clay, and Iblis's refusal to bow: he vows to lead people astray, except God's sincere servants (15:26–44).
• "Tell My servants that I am the Forgiving, the Merciful, and that My punishment is the painful punishment" (15:49–50).
• The angels' visit to Abraham, then the fate of Lot's people, the people of the Thicket and the people of al-Hijr (15:51–84).
• The Prophet ﷺ is told to proclaim openly what he has been commanded (15:94) and to worship his Lord "until the certainty comes" (15:99).

Notable verses

Verse 87 speaks of "the seven oft-repeated" given to the Prophet ﷺ along with the great Quran; in Sahih al-Bukhari he identifies them with Al-Fatiha. When he passed through al-Hijr on the expedition of Tabuk, he told his Companions not to enter the dwellings of those who had been punished unless weeping, "lest what befell them befall you" (al-Bukhari and Muslim).