The Surah derived its name from the words of the very first verse. This too is not a title of its subject matter, but the name implies that it is the Surah in which the incident of tahrim has been mentioned.
Probable date of revelation
In connection with the incident of tahrim referred to in this Surah, the traditions of the Hadith mention two ladies who were among the wives of Muhammad at that time Safiyya bint Huyayy and Maria al-Qibtiyya. The former was taken to wife by Muhammad after the conquest of Khaiber, and Khaiber was conquered, as has been unanimously reported, in A. H. 7. The other lady, Mariyah, had been presented to Muhammad by Al-Muqawqis, the ruler of Egypt, in A. H. 7 and she had borne him his son, Ibrahim ibn Muhammad, in Dhu al-Hijjah, A. H. 8. These historical events almost precisely determine that this Surah was sent down some time during A.H. 7 or A. H 8.
Asbab al-nuzul
, an Arabic term meaning "occasions/circumstances of revelation", is a secondary genre of Qur'anic exegesis directed at establishing the context in which specific verses of the Qur'an were revealed. Though of some use in reconstructing the Qur'an's historicity, asbāb is by nature an exegetical rather than a historiographical genre, and as such usually associates the verses it explicates with general situations rather than specific events. According to Sale, the occasion of this chapter was as follows: “There are some who suppose this passage to have been occasioned by Muhammad’s protesting never to eat honey any more, because, having once eaten some in the apartment of Hafsa bint Umar or of Zaynab bint Jahsh, three other of his wives, namely, Aisha, Sawda bint Zamʿa, and Safiyya bint Huyayy, all told him they smelt he had been eating of the juice which distils from certain shrubs in those parts, and resembles honey in taste and consistence, but is of a very strong savour, and which the Prophet had a great aversion to.” Muhammad al-Bukhari recorded that Aisha narrated :
The first and foremost exegesis/tafsir of the Qur'an is found in hadith of Muhammad. Although scholars including ibn Taymiyyah claim that Muhammad has commented on the whole of the Qur'an, others including Ghazali cite the limited amount of narratives, thus indicating that he has commented only on a portion of the Qur'an. Ḥadīth is literally "speech" or "report", that is a recorded saying or tradition of Muhammad validated by isnad; with Sirah Rasul Allah these comprise the sunnah and reveal shariah. According to Aishah, the life of Prophet Muhammad was practical implementation of Qur'an. Therefore, mention in hadith elevates the importance of the pertinent surah from a certain perspective. Ibn Abbas is known for his knowledge of traditions as well as his critical interpretation of the Qur'an. From early on, he gathered information from other companions of Muhammad and gave classes and wrote commentaries.
Sa'id ibn Jubayr narrated that Ibn 'Abbas said: "A man came to him and said: 'I have made my wife forbidden to myself.' He said: 'You are lying, she is not forbidden to you.' Then he recited this Verse: 'O Prophet! Why do you forbid that which Allah has allowed to you.' : 'You have to offer the severest form of expiation: Freeing a slave.'"
Placement & Coherence with other surahs
The idea of textual relation between the verses of a chapter has been discussed under various titles such as nazm and munasabah in non-English literature and coherence, text relations, intertextuality, and unity in English literature. Hamiduddin Farahi, an Islamic scholar of the Indian subcontinent, is known for his work on the concept of nazm, or coherence, in the Quran. Fakhruddin al-Razi, Zarkashi and several other classical as well as contemporary Quranic scholars have contributed to the studies. This surah is the last surah of 6th group of surahs which starts from surah Qaf and runs till At-Tahrim and the recurring theme of this section of Quran is Arguments on afterlife and the requirements of faith in it. With regards to the subject-matter, this surah forms a pair with the previous one. Tadabbur-i-Quran is a tafsir of the Qur'an by Amin Ahsan Islahi based on the concept of thematic and structural coherence, which was originally inspired by Allama Hamiduddin Farahi. The tafsir is extended over nine volumes of six thousand pages. It describes At-Tahrim as a supplement to the previous surah with respect to the central theme. According to Javed Ahmad Ghamidi
