This Sura takes its name from vv. 136 138 and 139 in which some superstitious beliefs of the idolatrous Arabs concerning the lawfulness of some cattle (anam) and the unlawfulness of some others have been refuted.
According to a tradition of Ibn Abbas the whole of the Sura was revealed at one sitting at Makkah. Asma a daughter of Yazld and a first cousin of Hadrat Mu'az-bin Jabl says . "During the revelation of this Sura the Holy Prophet was riding on a she-camel and I was holding her nose-string. The she-camel began to feel the weight so heavily that it seemed as if her bones would break under it. "We also learn from other traditions that the Holy Prophet dictated the whole of the Sura the same night that it was revealed.
Its subject-matter clearly shows that it must have been revealed during the last year of the Holy Prophet's life at Makkah. The tradition of Asma daughter of Yazid also confirms this. As she belonged to the Ansar and embraced Islam after the migration of the Holy Prophet to Yathrab her visit to the Holy Prophet at Makkah must have taken place during the last year of his life there. For before this his relations with those people were not so intimate that a woman from there might have come to visit him at Makkah.
After determining the period of its revelation it is easier to visualize the background of the Sura. Twelve years had passed since the Holy Prophet had been inviting the people to Islam. The antagonism and persecution by the Quraish had become most savage and brutal and the majority of the Muslims had to leave their homes and migrate to Habash (Abyssinia). Above all the two great supporters of the Holy Prophet. Abu Talib and Hadrat Khadijah were no more to help and give strength to him. Thus he was deprived of all the worldly support. But in spite of this he carried on his mission in the teeth of opposition. As a result of this on the one hand all the good people of Makkah and the surrounding clans gradually began to accept Islam ; on the other hand the community as a whole was bent upon obduracy and rejection. Therefore if anyone showed any inclination towards Islam he was subjected to taunts and derision physical violence and social boycott. It was in these dark circumstances that a ray of hope gleamed from Yathrab where Islam began to spread freely by the efforts of some influential people of Aus and Khazraj who had embraced Islam at Makkah. This was a humble beginning in the march of Islam towards success and none could foresee at that time the great potentialities that lay hidden in it. For to a casual observer it appeared at that time as if Islam was merely a weak movement it had no material backing except the meager support of the Prophet's own family and of the few poor adherents of the Movement. Obviously the latter could not give much help because they themselves had been cast out by their own people who had become their enemies and were persecuting them.
These were the conditions when this discourse was revealed. The main topics dealt with in this discourse may be divided under seven headings:
As this is the first long Makki Sura in the order of the compilation of the Quran it will be useful to explain the historical background of Makki Suras in general so that the reader may easily understand the Makki Suras and our references to its different stages in connection with our commentary on them. First of all it should be noted that comparatively very little material is available in regard to the background of the revelation of Makki Suras whereas the period of the revelation of all the Madani Suras is known or can be determined with a little effort. There are authentic traditions even in regard to the occasions of the revelation of the majority of the verses. On the other hand we do not have such detailed information regarding the Makki Suras. There are only a few Suras and verses which have authentic traditions concerning the time and occasion of their revelation. This is because the history of the Makki period had not been compiled in such detail as that of the Madani period. Therefore we have to depend on the internal evidence of these Suras for determining the period of their revelation: for example the topics they discuss their subject. matter their style and the direct or indirect references to the events and the occasions of their revelation. Thus it is obvious that with the help of such evidence as this we cannot say with precision that such and such Sura or verse was revealed on such and such an occasion. The most we can do is to compare the internal evidence of a Sura with the events of the life of the Holy Prophet at Makkah and then come to a more or less correct conclusion as to what particular stage a certain Sura belongs. If we keep the above things in view the history of the mission of the Holy Prophet at Makkah can be divided into four stages.
This Surah mainly discusses the different aspects of the major articles of the Islamic Creed: Tawhid Life-after- death Prophethood an' their practical application to human life. Side by side with this it refutes the erroneous beliefs of the "opponents and answers their objections warns and admonishes them and comforts the Holy Prophet and his followers who were then suffering from persecution. of course these themes have not been dealt with under separate heads but have been blended in an excellent manner.