Al-Qaria, The Calamity القارعة The Striking

Holy Quran

Al-Qaria is the 101st chapter of the Quran, with 11 āyāt or verses. This chapter takes its name from its first word "qariah",[3] referring to the Quranic view of the end time and eschatology. "Qariah" has been translated as calamity, striking, catastrophe and clatterer.[4] According to Ibn Kathir, a traditionalistic exegete, Al-Qariah is one of the names of the Day of Judgement, like Al-Haaqqa, At-Tammah, As-Sakhkhah and others.[5]

Summary

• 1-5 The day of judgment a day of calamity[1][6]
• 6-9 The good and bad shall be judged according to their works
• 10-11 Háwíyah described [6]

After a picturesque depiction of judgement day in first 5 verses,[7] next 4 verses (ayat) describe that God's Court will be established and the people will be called upon to account for their deeds. The people whose good deeds will be heavier, will be blessed with bliss and happiness, and the people whose good deeds will be lighter, will be cast into the burning fire of hell.[8]

Period of revelation

Regarding the timing and contextual background of the supposed revelation (asbāb al-nuzūl), Al-Qāriʻah is a Meccan surah.[18] Meccan suras are chronologically earlier surahs that were revealed to Muhammad at Mecca before the hijrah to Medina in 622 CE. They are typically shorter, with relatively short ayat, and mostly come near the end of the Qur'an's 114 sūwar. Most of the surahs containing muqattaʿat are Meccan. Theodor Nöldeke and William Muir[19] alike assign this surah a place among the earliest revelations of the Qurán -George Sale.[20] In accordance with the western exegesis mentioned, the Muslim tafsirs [21] also exert that the contents of this surah show that this is one of the earliest Surahs to be revealed at Makkah.

This surah belongs to the seventh and final group of surahs, which starts from Surah Al-Mulk (67) and runs to the end of the Quran. The theme of the seventh group is to warn the leadership of the Quraysh of the consequences of the Hereafter, to communicate the truth to them to the extent that they are left with no excuse to deny it, and, as a result, to warn them of a severe punishment, and to give glad tidings to Muhammad of the dominance of his religion in the Arabian peninsula. Briefly, this can be stated as delivering warning and glad tidings.[24]

Rhetorically Al-Qariah has 2 similarities with Al-Haaqqa(69). Firstly the opening of the surah resembles Al-Haaqqa (69), which opens with the wordings
69:1 الْحَاقَّةُ
69:2 مَا الْحَاقَّةُ
69:3 وَمَا أَدْرَاكَ مَا الْحَاقَّةُ

notice that Al-Qaria opens in exactly same style
101:1 الْقَارِعَةُ
101:2 مَا الْقَارِعَةُ
101:3 وَمَا أَدْرَاكَ مَا الْقَارِعَةُ

Secondly, word Al-Qaria appears as a total of 5 times in Quran and out of which thrice it is mentioned in this surah while once it appears in Al-Haaqqa as well