A Critical Analysis of the Article “Interpretive Rereading of Surah al-Masad”

Document Type : Research Article

Author

Hamid Naderi Ghahfarokhi

Assistant Professor, Faculty of Letters and Humanities, Shahrekord University, Shahrekord, Iran

10.22067/jquran.2026.97773.1951

Abstract

Based on lexical, theological, and historical evidence, the authors of the article “Interpretive Rereading of Surah al-Masad” argue that, contrary to the popular interpretation, this surah does not denote the curse and hellishness of Abū Lahab and his wife in the hereafter but rather conveys the Quran’s prediction of their incendiary actions against the Prophet (PBUH) in this world and their failure. Evaluating the article’s evidence and examining its strengths and ambiguities necessitate rereading it to reveal new dimensions of the surah. A critical analysis of the aforementioned view shows that although this hypothesis is novel, it faces significant challenges. Firstly, from a lexical point of view, the root “t-b-b” is capable of conveying the meaning of curse even without the preposition lām, and the term “ṣalā” cannot mean “incendiary action”. Secondly, the view not only fails to resolve the theological doubt of “Abū Lahab’s compulsion to become hellish”, but it itself falls into this doubt in another way. Thirdly, the sequence of revelation of the Quranic surahs cannot prove that Surah al-Masad was revealed after Abū Lahab’s obstructionism during the event of “indhār al-ashīrat al-aqrabīn” (warning the close relatives) and the appointment of Ali (AS) as the Prophet’s minister.

Keywords

Surah al-Masad

Quranic curse

Free will and determinism

Abū Lahab’s incendiary action

Sequence of revelation

Subjects

• Qurʾanic Exegesis and its methods

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