Surah Ash-Sharh – The Relief
Before the advent of Islam, the Arabs were living in dark ages. They used to live a meaningless life with many gods to worship. It was until the Messenger of Allah, Hazrat Muhammad ﷺ was given the Sacred Book of Quran containing clear instructions about One God`s veneration and many other issues of life. In the Hallowed Chapter of Furqan e Hameed, i.e. Surah Ash-Sharh, which is a Makki Chapter, the Almighty Lord has reminded the Holy Prophet ﷺ about His great Favor upon Him when He faced a lot of stress and anxiety at the hands of the disbelievers who openly rejected all the instructions of the Creator of the universe:
“Did We not expand for you, [O Muhammad], your breast? And We removed from you your burden, which had weighed upon your back, and raised high for you your repute. For indeed, with hardship [will be] ease. Indeed, with hardship [will be] ease. So when you have finished [your duties], then stand up [for worship]. And to your Lord direct [your] longing.” [Quran, 94: 1-8]
In the above mentioned Ayats of Surah Ash-Sharh, the Gracious God is causing Hazrat Muhammad ﷺ to remember about the kindness shown by Him upon Him. The Almighty Lord says that He presented Prophet ﷺ with augmented and sufficient wisdom of the Holy Quran. He raised the Messenger`s ﷺ status among them all and removed all the troubles from Him. Then, Allah says that every difficulty is meant to be followed with His Mercy and Compassion on the believers. In the end, the Most Beneficent tells about His worship and that He alone should be consulted in times of needs and desires.
Now let us discuss the major implications of Surah Ash-Sharh in detail:
i) Increase In The Knowledge of Quran and Patience
The very first Ayah of this Chapter means to fill the heart with the help of heavenly enlightenment and the Magnificent God’s gifted serenity and tranquility. Anyhow, surely here it has been used in the sense of its nominative meaning: the interpretation of increasing the chest is to broaden the spirit and the feelings of Prophet Muhammad ﷺ and this widening can have very endless meaning. It consists of enormity of information of the Messenger`s ﷺ understanding by the help of the revelation, Prophet hood and the vast extent of endurance, tolerance and the firmness in facing the inflexibility and obstructions caused by the foes and the enemies. The Almighty Lord has described the same situation of Hazrat Musa A.S (Moses) when he supplicated to Him the following prayer:
[Moses] said, “My Lord, expand for me my breast [with assurance]. And ease for me my task. [Quran, 20: 25-26]
It means that Prophet Moses also begged Allah SWT to grant him His clarification, calmness and easiness of the expedition to face his opponent Firaon (Pharaoh) bravely. Regarding great virtue of the righteous people, the Most Beneficent says in His Holy Book:
“So whoever Allah wants to guide – He expands his breast to [contain] Islam …..” [Quran, 6: 125]
It means that Rasulullah ﷺ has been given the awareness of the word of morality and decency in the form of Religion of Peace because of His great personality and character which made His process of Preaching Islam easy.
ii) Great Blessing of Allah SWT Over Messenger PBUH
In second and third verses, the Almighty Lord reminds the Holy Prophet ﷺ about easing pressures on His shoulders in terms of starting the expedition of spreading Islam. When He (PBUH) received the very first revelation in the Cave of Hira, the Messenger ﷺ was shivering with fear initially. But soon Allah SWT granted Him with complete peacefulness in this regard by dropping all kinds of strains from Him when Hazrat Khatijah (R.A) consoled Him and believed in Him as the Prophet. It also means that the Almighty Lord gave Hazrat Muhammad ﷺ forgave all the mistakes of Him from early age, if any and shown Him the right path. The Creator of the universe says on another occasion:
“That Allah may forgive for you what preceded of your sin and what will follow and complete His favor upon you and guide you to a straight path.” [Quran, 48: 2]
It shows that the Most Merciful informs the Holy Prophet ﷺ to pardon His past and future errors because of His unmatched standing and that He has favored Rasulullah ﷺ with His blessings of the path of righteousness.
iii) Raising the Reputation Of The Holy Prophet PBUH
The fourth Ayah indicates towards the greatest Standing of the Messenger ﷺ of God among all of His past, present and future Creations present in the entire universe. One cannot enter the circle of Islam until or unless it recites First Qalma, which includes considering Allah as One and that Hazrat Muhammad ﷺ is His Last Apostle. It also means that at first He had very less followers, but with the passage of time, His (PBUH) admirers and devotees kept on increasing. In this way, Allah SWT has made Rasulullah ﷺ a living example and a source of enlightenment for the rest of the generations.
iv) Ease Following Every Difficulty
In the fifth and sixth verses, Allah SWT tells the Prophet ﷺ about to take the period of distress and complexity as temporary and that it will always be accompanied with soothing times. The great emphasis on this issue by the Almighty Lord by repeating the subject matter in these two Ayats shows that one should always remain patient and steadfast on its religious convictions in strict times. The other meaning of it could also be taken in terms of relieve as being double the amount the pain was caused in the way of one`s spiritual duties in the first place.
v) Worshiping Allah SWT and Asking Him Only
In the last two Holy Verses of Surah Ash-Sharh, the Most Beneficent commands the Holy Prophet ﷺ to spend time in His Adoration through Salah and Prayers and considering Him as Enough for fulfillment of all kinds of desires.
In short, Surah Ash-Sharh is a short yet highly comprehensive Chapter of the Holy Quran which reminds the Messenger ﷺ about the greatest favor of Allah SWT on Him in terms of easing all of His worries and making His journey of preaching Islam easy for Him.
