Surah # 94 - Ash Sharh

(Arabic: سورة الشرح‎, Solace or Comfort)

This is the 94th surah of the Qur'an with 8 Aayaat.

                 THEME 

 The aim and object of this Surah too is to console and encourage the Messenger (SalAllaahu 'alaihi wa sallam). Before his call he never had to encounter the conditions which he suddenly had to encounter after it when he embarked on his mission of inviting the people to Islam. 

 No sooner had he (SalAllahu 'alaihi wa sallam) started preaching the message of Islam than the same society which had esteemed him with unique honor, turned hostile to him. The same relatives and friends, the same clansmen and neighbours, who used to treat him with the highest respect, began to shower him with abuse and invective.

 No one in Makkah was prepared to listen to him; he began to be ridiculed and mocked in the street and on the road; and at every step he had to face new difficulties. That is why first Surah Ad-Dhuha was sent down to console him, and then this Surah.

        SUBJECT MATTER 

 In it, Allah says: "We have favored you, O Prophet, with three great blessings; therefore you have no cause to be disheartened.

 *The first is the blessing of Sharh Sadr (opening up of the breast),*

 *The second of removing from you the heavy burden that was weighing down your back before the call,* and 

 *The third of exalting your renown the like of which has never been granted to any man before.*

 After this, the Lord and Sustainer of the universe has reassured His Servant and Messenger (SalAllaahu 'alaihi wa sallam) that the period of hardships which he is passing through, is not very long, but following close behind it there is also a period of ease.

This same thing has been described in Surah Ad-Dhuha, saying: "Every later period is better for you than the former period, and soon your Lord will give you so much that you will be well pleased."

 In conclusion, the Prophet (SalAllahu 'alaihi wa sallam) has been instructed, so as to say, "You can develop the power to bear and resist the hardships of the initial stage only by one means, and it is this:

 "When you are free from your occupations, you should devote yourself to the labor and toil of worship, and turn all your attention exclusively to your Lord"