ʻAbasa (, "He Frowned") is the 80th chapter (''

sura A ''surah'' (; ; ) is an Arabic word meaning 'chapter' in the Quran. There are 114 ''suwar'' in the Quran, each divided into verses (). The ''suwar'' are of unequal length; the shortest ''surah'' ( al-Kawthar) has only three verses, while the ...

'') of the

Qur'an The Quran, also romanized Qur'an or Koran, is the central religious text of Islam, believed by Muslims to be a revelation directly from God ('' Allāh''). It is organized in 114 chapters (, ) which consist of individual verses ('). Besides ...

, with 42 verses ('' ayat''). It is a

Meccan sura A Meccan surah is, according to the timing and contextual background of their revelation (''asbāb al-nuzūl'') within Islamic tradition, a chronologically earlier chapter ('' suwar'', singular ''sūrah'') of the Qur'an. The traditional chronologi ...

. The Surah is so designated after the word `abasa with which it opens.

Summary

*1-11 The Surah starts by rebuking someone for frowning on a blind person who came to him. *12-15 The Quran written in honourable, exalted, and pure volumes *16-23 Man cursed for turning aside from his Creator *24-32 It is God who provides man with food *33-37 On the judgment-day men will desert their nearest relatives and friends *38-42 The bright and sad faces of the resurrection-day

Period of revelation

Sunni perspective

According to traditional

Sunni Sunni Islam is the largest branch of Islam and the largest religious denomination in the world. It holds that Muhammad did not appoint any successor and that his closest companion Abu Bakr () rightfully succeeded him as the caliph of the Mu ...

narration, the story behind the revelation of the first ten verses of the sura is as follows: Muhammad was preaching Islam to

Walid ibn al-Mughira Al-Walid ibn al-Mughira al-Makhzumi (; 550 – 622 AD) was the chief of the Banu Makhzum clan of the Quraysh tribe. Family He was the son of al-Mughīra ibn ʿAbd Allāh ibn ʿUmar ibn Makhzūm. Sons: # Khālid ibn al-Walīd. His mother was ...

and other

Quraysh The Quraysh () are an Tribes of Arabia, Arab tribe who controlled Mecca before the rise of Islam. Their members were divided into ten main clans, most notably including the Banu Hashim, into which Islam's founding prophet Muhammad was born. By ...

chieftains in

Mecca Mecca, officially Makkah al-Mukarramah, is the capital of Mecca Province in the Hejaz region of western Saudi Arabia; it is the Holiest sites in Islam, holiest city in Islam. It is inland from Jeddah on the Red Sea, in a narrow valley above ...

. Abdullah ibn Umm Maktum came along and asked Muhammad about something. Muhammad did not want to turn his attention away from the chieftains and frowned at ibn Umm Maktum.

Allah Allah ( ; , ) is an Arabic term for God, specifically the God in Abrahamic religions, God of Abraham. Outside of the Middle East, it is principally associated with God in Islam, Islam (in which it is also considered the proper name), althoug ...

admonished Muhammad for this action via the first ten verses of Abasa.

Shia perspective

The Shia interpretations are unanimous on the view that the person that frowned away was not

Muhammad Muhammad (8 June 632 CE) was an Arab religious and political leader and the founder of Islam. Muhammad in Islam, According to Islam, he was a prophet who was divinely inspired to preach and confirm the tawhid, monotheistic teachings of A ...

, but an elite from Banu Umayya. According to them, these verses were descended about the man from Banu Umayya who was sitting with Muhammad. At the same time, Abdullah bin Umm Maktum(Ibn Taymiyyah) entered, when the rich man saw the poverty stricken Abdullah he drew himself aside, not to get his dress dirty and contracted his facial expressions which got uneasy. In those verses God stated his acts and criticized and condemned them.http://www.imamreza.net/eng/imamreza.php?id=9045

The tenses of grammar used

The word used was Abasa, which refers to 'He'. The Quran does not directly impose the frowning on Muhammad, instead it says "He frowned away", making it widely open for interpretation.

References

External links

Q80:1
50+ translations, islamawakened.com * {{Authority control Chapters in the Quran Afterlife Biographies of Muhammad Life of Muhammad