Surah Sad

The Surah begins with a review of the aforesaid meeting. Making the dialogue between the Prophet ﷺand the disbelievers the basis, Allah says that the actual reason with those people for their denial is not any defect in the message of Islam but their own arrogance, jealousy and insistence on following the blind. They are not prepared to believe in a man from their own clan as a Prophet ﷺof Allah and follow him. They want to persist in the ideas of ignorance which they have found their ancestors following. And when a person exposes this ignorance and presents the truth before them, they are alarmed and regard it as an oddity, rather as a novel and impossible thing. For them, the concept of Monotheism (Tawhid) and the Hereafter is not only an unacceptable creed but also a concept which only deserves to be ridiculed and mocked.

Then, Allah, both in the initial part of the Surah and in its last sentences, has precisely warned the disbelievers, as if to say, “The man whom you are ridiculing today and whose guidance you reject will soon overpower you, and the time is not far when in this very city of Makkah, where you are persecuting him, he will overwhelm you completely.” Then describing nine of the Prophets, one after the other, with greater details of the story of the Prophets Dawud and Sulayman; Allah has emphasized the point that His law of justice is impartial and objective, that only the right attitude of man is acceptable to Him, that He calls to account and punishes every wrongdoer, whoever he be, and that He likes only those people who do not persist in wrongdoing but repent as soon as they are warned of it, and pass their life in the world keeping in mind their accountability in the Hereafter. After this, the final end that the obedient servants and the disobedient people will meet in the Hereafter, has been depicted, and two things have been especially impressed on the disbelievers:

1. That the leaders and guides whom the ignorant people are following blindly in the world, on the way of deviation, will have reached Hell even before their followers in the Hereafter, and the two groups will be cursing each other there;
2. That the disbelievers will be amazed to see that there is no trace whatever in Hell of the Believers whom they used to regard as contemptible in the world and will themselves be involved in its torment.

In conclusion, mention has been made of the story of Adam and Satan (Iblis), which is meant to tell the disbelieving Quraysh that the same arrogance and vanity which was preventing them from submitting before Prophet Muhammad ﷺhad prevented Satan also from bowing before Adam. Satan felt jealous of the high rank Allah had given to Adam and became accursed when he disobeyed His command.

Likewise, “You, O people of Quraysh, are feeling jealous of the high rank Allah has bestowed on Prophet Muhammad ﷺand are not prepared to obey him whom Allah has appointed His messenger. Therefore, you will be doomed ultimately to the same fate as will be met by Satan.”

Connection between the beginning and the ending of the Surah In the beginning, there is an Ayat of prostration (38:24) and the end of the Surah, a mention of Satan’s refusal to prostrate (38:73).

Dhikr (reminder) - There is mention of the Qur’an being a reminder in the beginning and the end of the Surah.

“Sad. By the Qur’an containing reminder...” (38:1) “It is but a reminder to the worlds.” (28:87)