المسد
Al Masad
Also known as: Al-Lahab, Al-Masad
Verses
5
Revelation
Makki
Period
Early Meccan
Surah No.
111 / 114
Al-Masad is one of the most direct and personal condemnations in the Quran, directed at Abu Lahab – the Prophet's uncle and one of his most bitter enemies – and his wife Umm Jamil, who used to scatter thorns on the Prophet's path. The surah declares that Abu Lahab's wealth and efforts will not save him, and that he will enter a blazing fire. His wife will carry firewood (as she did in life in a different sense) with a rope of twisted palm fibre around her neck. The surah is remarkable for naming a specific individual and predicting his death in disbelief.
أسباب النزول
When the Prophet climbed Mount Safa and called the Quraysh to faith, Abu Lahab responded: "May you perish! Is it for this you gathered us?" Surah Al-Masad was revealed in response. Abu Lahab died after the Battle of Badr (624 CE) in a state of unbelief, fulfilling the prophecy. His wife Umm Jamil was known to spread malicious rumours and scatter thorns on the Prophet's paths, earning her the title "carrier of firewood."
“May the hands of Abu Lahab be ruined, and ruined is he. His wealth and his earnings will not avail him. He will burn in a flaming Fire.”
The early revelation of this condemnation and Abu Lahab's subsequent death in disbelief (having never accepted Islam) is cited by scholars as one of the Quran's own internal proofs of prophethood – a direct, named prediction fulfilled precisely.