Al-Araf (, al-ʾAʿrāf; meaning: The Heights) is the 7th chapter (sūrah) of the Qur'an, with 206 verses (āyāt). Regarding the timing and contextual background of the revelation (Asbāb al-nuzūl), it is a "Meccan surah", which means it was revealed before the Hijra. This chapter takes its name from verses 46–47, in which the word A'araf appears. According to Abul A'la Maududi, the time of its disclosure is about the same as that of Al-An'am, i. e., the last year of the Islamic prophet Muhammad's residence at Makkah: the manner of its admonition clearly indicates that it belongs to the same period and both have the same historical background; however, it cannot be declared with assurance which of these two was uncovered before the other. The audience should keep in mind the introduction to Al-An'am.

Summary

Subject matter

Although heading of the subject matter of this surah can be summarized as "Invitation to the Divine Message", some further elaboration is required to comprehend the underlying themes and their interconnection.

Contents

The chapter refers to Adam and Eve, Noah, Lot, Hud, Saleh, Shuaib, Moses and Aaron. The significant issues, Divine laws and points of guidance in this surah are as follows

Theme

The chief subject of this Surah is an invitation to the Divine Message sent down to Muhammad. The Messenger had been admonishing the individuals of Makkah for 13 years. Yet there was no substantial impact on them, since they had deliberately ignored his message. And had become so adversarial that Allah was going to order Muhammad to disregard them and go to others. That is the reason they are being reproved to acknowledge the message and an admonition is given about the results of their off-base demeanor. Since Muhammad was going to get Allah's edict to relocate from Makkah, the finishing up part of this Surah addresses the People of the Book with whom he was going to come into contact at Al-Madinah. In the ayaat directed to the Jews, the outcomes of their deceptive mentality towards the prophets are likewise brought up clearly. As they proclaimed to put belief in Musa (Moses) yet their practices were against his lessons. They were defying him as well as were in certainty worshipping falsehood. Towards the ending of the Surah, guidelines are given to Muhammad and his adherents to show tolerance and exercise patience in answer to the incitements of their rivals. Since the devotees were feeling the squeeze and stress, are encouraged to be cautious and not make any stride that may hurt their cause.

Exegesis

80-84 Lot in Islam

Verses 7:80–84 deal with the story Lot who was sent to a city, that, according to the quranic narrative, was of the transgressors. Angels descend to protect Lot and his daughters, and the city is destroyed by a stone rain. Lot's wife perishes as well. Lot was sent to a group of people who had committed unprecedented levels of immorality. The men amongst them approached other men with desire instead of women; and thus they were transgressing the bounds of God. Upon hearing the accusation that Prophet Lot had leveled on them, his people gave no answer but this: they said, "Drive them out of your city: these are indeed men who want to be clean and pure!" (the second part of the statement was probably a form of sarcasm). In the end, Allah saved Prophet Lot and his family except his wife who was amongst the evildoers and Allah punished the people by sending a rain of stones down on them.

103-156 Moses

The narrative focuses on the history of Moses

142 Golden Calf

The incident of the Golden Calf as narrated in Q7:142 paints a positive light on Aaron. The Quran says that Aaron was entrusted the leadership of Israel while Moses was up on Mount Sinai (, tur sina’) for a period of forty days. Q19:50 adds that Aaron tried his best to stop the worship of the Golden Calf. Further parts of the story are to be found in Quran 7:150. The story ends in an earlier chapter, Quran 5:25.

157 The coming of Muhammad

Verse 7:157 reveals that prophecies about the coming of Muhammad were present in the Jewish law and Gospel.

۩ 206 Prostration

This final verse, verse 206, requires a sajdah, or prostration.

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