090 Surah Balad

Al-Balad (“The City”) is the 90th chapter of the Qur’an with 20 ayat. Its subject matter and style resemble those of the earliest Surahs revealed at Mecca, but it contains a pointer which indicates that it was sent down in the period when the disbelievers of Makkah had resolved to oppose Muhammad, and made it lawful for themselves to commit tyranny and excess against him. According to an interpretation expounded on in the tafsir (commentary) written by Sayyid Abul Ala Maududi (d. 1979) entitled Tafhim al-Qur'an, Its theme is to explain the true position of man in the world and of the world in relation to man and to tell that God has shown to man both the highways of good and evil, has also provided for him the means to judge and see and follow them, and now it rests upon mans own effort and judgment whether he chooses the path of virtue and reaches felicity or adopts the path of vice and meets with doom. --- Updated: 2018-08-18