Al-Inshiqāq ( ar, الانشقاق, “The Sundering”, “Splitting Open”) is the eighty-fourth chapter (''

surah A ''surah'' (; ar, سورة, sūrah, , ), is the equivalent of "chapter" in the Qur'an. There are 114 ''surahs'' in the Quran, each divided into '' ayats'' (verses). The chapters or ''surahs'' are of unequal length; the shortest surah ('' Al-K ...

'') of the

Qur'an The Quran (, ; Standard Arabic: , Quranic Arabic: , , 'the recitation'), also romanized Qur'an or Koran, is the central religious text of Islam, believed by Muslims to be a revelation from God. It is organized in 114 chapters (pl.: , sing. ...

, with 25 verses ('' āyāt''). It mentions details of the

Day of Judgment The Last Judgment, Final Judgment, Day of Reckoning, Day of Judgment, Judgment Day, Doomsday, Day of Resurrection or The Day of the Lord (; ar, یوم القيامة, translit=Yawm al-Qiyāmah or ar, یوم الدین, translit=Yawm ad-Dīn, ...

when, according to this chapter, everyone will receive reckoning over their deeds in this world.

Summary

*1-5 Signs of the judgment-day *6-15 The books of the righteous and the wicked given into their hands, and the consequence thereof *16-20 Oaths attesting the doctrine of the

resurrection Resurrection or anastasis is the concept of coming back to life after death. In a number of religions, a dying-and-rising god is a deity which dies and is resurrected. Reincarnation is a similar process hypothesized by other religions, which ...

*21-25 The unbelievers denounced and threatened The name of the chapter, ''Al-Inshiqaq'', is a noun variously translated as "The Sundering", "The Bursting Asunder", "The Splitting Open", among others. This name comes from the first verse of the chapter which reads ''When the sky is rent asunder''. The verse does not contain the word ''al-inshiqaq'' verbatim, but rather it contains a word of the same root. It is a reference to the destruction of the world at the end of days, which the chapter portend. Thematically, the chapter follows a day-of-judgement theme that is present in the preceding chapters, including Al-Infitar (the 82nd chapter) and

Al-Mutaffifin Al-Muṭaffifīn ( ar, المطففين, “The Defrauders”) is the eighty-third surah of the Qur'an. It has 36 ayat or verses. Summary The primary theme of this surah is Islamic eschatology or the hereafter, and the rhetoric addresses the f ...

(83rd). The chapter begins (verses 1 to 5) by mentioning events that will happen on the Day of Judgment, including the sundering of the sky and the flattening of all that is on earth. Verses 6 to 15 talk about the disparity between those who in that day will be "given

heir Inheritance is the practice of receiving private property, titles, debts, entitlements, privileges, rights, and obligations upon the death of an individual. The rules of inheritance differ among societies and have changed over time. Officiall ...

book in

right hand" and have a joyful reckoning, and those who will not. A series of oaths (verses 16—18) follows, and then another contrast between the fate of the believers and the unbelievers in the day of judgment.

Revelation

According to the Islamic tradition, Al-Inshiqaq was most likely revealed after the 82nd chapter Al-Infitar, and was chronologically one of the last of the

Meccan surah The Meccan surat are, according to the timing and contextual background of supposed revelation (''asbāb al-nuzūl''), the chronologically earlier chapters (''suwar'', singular ''sūrah'') of the Qur'an. The traditional chronological order attribu ...

s—chapters revealed before Muhammad's

migration to Medina The Hijrah or Hijra () was the journey of the Islamic prophet Muhammad and his followers from Mecca to Medina. The year in which the Hijrah took place is also identified as the epoch of the Lunar Hijri and Solar Hijri calendars; its date eq ...

Prostration

According to the

hadith Ḥadīth ( or ; ar, حديث, , , , , , , literally "talk" or "discourse") or Athar ( ar, أثر, , literally "remnant"/"effect") refers to what the majority of Muslims believe to be a record of the words, actions, and the silent approval ...

, Muhammed was prostrated when reciting this chapter, particularly after the verse 21 which reads ''... and that when the Quran is recited unto them, they do not prostrate?'' Therefore, most Islamic scholars consider this verse one of the 15 verses in the Quran where one prostrates after reciting it. In most copies of the Qur'an these are indicated by the symbol ۩. Most

Maliki The ( ar, مَالِكِي) school is one of the four major schools of Islamic jurisprudence within Sunni Islam. It was founded by Malik ibn Anas in the 8th century. The Maliki school of jurisprudence relies on the Quran and hadiths as primary ...

jurists consider it obligatory to prostrate after reciting the verse;

Malik ibn Anas Malik ibn Anas ( ar, مَالِك بن أَنَس, ‎ 711–795 CE / 93–179 AH), whose full name is Mālik bin Anas bin Mālik bin Abī ʿĀmir bin ʿAmr bin Al-Ḥārith bin Ghaymān bin Khuthayn bin ʿAmr bin Al-Ḥārith al-Aṣbaḥī ...

, the founder of the Maliki school, was a notable exception.

Muwatta Imam Malik The ''Muwaṭṭaʾ'' ( ar, الموطأ, "well-trodden path") or ''Muwatta Imam Malik'' ( ar, موطأ الإمام مالك) of Imam Malik (711–795) written in the 8th-century, is one of the earliest collections of hadith texts comprising the ...

USC-MSA web (English) reference: Book 15, Number 15.5.12
; Arabic reference: Book 15, Hadith 484

References

Citation

Bibliography

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External links

Quran 84

Clear Quran translation Mustafa Khattab is a Canadian–Egyptian Muslim scholar, author, youth mentor, public speaker, imam, and university chaplain. He holds a professional ijâzah in the Ḥafṣ style of recitation. He is known for his translation of the Quran in ...

{{Authority control Inshiqaq Islamic eschatology Judgment in Islam