ʻAbasa (Arabic: عبس, "He Frowned") is the 80th chapter (sura) of the Qur'an, with 42 verses (ayat). It is a Meccan sura. The Surah is so designated after the word `abasa with which it opens.[1]
Summary
1-11 Muhammad rebuked for frowning on a blind Muslim who came to Muhammad at the middle of a discussion with Meccan chieftains to try and convert them to Islam
12-15 The Quran written in honourable, exalted, and pure volumes
16-23 Man cursed for turning aside from his Creator
24-32 It is God who provides man with food
33-37 On the judgment-day men will desert their nearest relatives and friends
38-42 The bright and sad faces of the resurrection-day [2]
Period of revelation
Sunni perspective
According to traditional Sunni narration, the story behind the revelation of the first ten verses of the sura is as follows: Muhammad was preaching Islam to Walid ibn al-Mughira and other Quraysh chieftains in Mecca. Abdullah ibn Umm Maktum came along and asked Muhammad about something. Muhammad did not want to turn his attention away from the chieftains and frowned at ibn Umm Maktum. Allah admonished Muhammad for this action via the first ten verses of Abasa.
Shia perspective
The Shia interpretations are unanimous on the view that the person that frowned away was not Muhammad, but an elite from Banu Umayya.[3] According to them, these verses were descended about the man from Banu Umayya who was sitting with Muhammad. At the same time, Abdullah bin Umm Maktum(Ibn Taymiyyah) entered, when the rich man saw the poverty stricken Abdullah he drew himself aside, not to get his dress dirty and contracted his facial expressions which got uneasy. In those verses God stated his acts and criticized and condemned them.[4][5]
The tenses of grammar used
The word used was Abasa, which refers to 'He'. The Quran does not directly impose the frowning on Muhammad, instead it says "He frowned away", making it widely open for interpretation.[6][7]
^Wherry, Elwood Morris (1896). A Complete Index to Sale's Text, Preliminary Discourse, and Notes. London: Kegan Paul, Trench, Trubner, and Co. This article incorporates text from this source, which is in the public domain.
