Surah Al-Mursalaat is considered Makkan according to Al-Hassan, Ikrimah, Ataa, and Jaabir.
However, Ibn Abbaas and Qataadah said it is Makkan except for one verse, which is the statement of Allah: "وَإِذَا قِيلَ لَهُمُ ارْكَعُوا لَا يَرْكَعُونَ" (And when it is said to them, "Bow [in prayer]," they do not bow), which they claimed to be Madinan.
Ibn Mas'ud said: "The verse 'By those sent forth one after another' (وَالْمُرْسَلَاتِ عُرْفًا) was revealed to the Prophet peace and blessings be upon him on the Night of the Jinn while we were with him traveling. When we reached a cave in Mina, the surah was revealed. As we received it from his lips, still fresh and moist with it, a snake appeared. We attempted to kill it, but it fled. The Prophet peace and blessings be upon him said, 'You have been spared its harm as it has been spared your harm.'"
It is narrated by Kuraib, the freed slave of Ibn Abbaas, who said: "I recited Surah Al-Mursalaat aloud, and Umm Al-Fadl, the wife of Al-Abbaas, heard me. She began to weep and said, 'By Allah, my son, your recitation of this surah reminded me of the last time I heard the Messenger of Allah peace and blessings be upon him recite it during Maghrib prayer.'"
The surah contains fifty verses.
In the Name of Allah, the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful.
"By those sent forth one after another" (وَالْمُرْسَلَاتِ عُرْفًا)
The surah begins with Allah’s statement:
"By those sent forth one after another" (وَالْمُرْسَلَاتِ عُرْفًا)
The commentators have differed regarding the meanings of the five attributes mentioned at the beginning of the surah: "Al-Mursalaat, Al-Asifat, An-Naashirat, Al-Faariqaat, and Al-Mulqiyaat."
The majority of scholars interpret "those sent forth" (المرسلات) as referring to winds.
Masruq reported from Abdullah Ibn Mas'ud: "They are the angels sent with Allah’s commands, prohibitions, news, and revelations."
This is also the view of Abu Hurayrah, Muqattil, Abu Saalih, and Al-Kalbi.
Ibn Abbaas said: "They are the Prophets sent with the message 'There is no god but Allah."
Abu Saalih explained: "They are the messengers sent with miracles that affirm their prophethood."
Ibn Abbaas and Ibn Mas'ud also said: "They are the winds, as Allah says: 'And We send the winds fertilizing' (وَأَرْسَلْنَا الرِّيَاحَ) and 'And it is He who sends the winds' (وَهُوَ الَّذِي يُرْسِلُ الرِّيَاحَ)."
The meaning of "one after another" (عُرْفًا) is that they follow one another, like the mane of a horse. Arabs say: "The people rushed to so-and-so in one wave" (عرف واحد) when they collectively turn toward someone.
Grammatically, "one after another" (عُرْفًا) is in the accusative case, describing the winds as being sent consecutively. It could also be a verbal noun, meaning "in succession." Alternatively, it may imply an omitted preposition, as if to say, "By those sent forth in succession (بالعرف)."
Some scholars suggest the term "those sent forth" (المرسلات) refers to clouds due to their dual nature as blessings and punishments, knowing both their mission and their destination.
Others interpret "those sent forth" (المرسلات) as admonitions and warnings, while "one after another" (عُرْفًا) would then mean successive, like the mane of a horse. Ibn Mas'ud supported this view. Al-Hassan interpreted them as "running swiftly in hearts," while others explained them as "known truths in the intellect." And Allah knows Best.
Abdulwahab Ibn Yusuf Isah
