Occasions of Revelation — Asbab al-Nuzul

✈️The Trench (Al-Khandaq) — an unseen wind

In 5 AH a confederation of roughly 10,000 fighters besieged Madinah. Surah al-Ahzab's verses on the siege, including this one, are read by commentators as referring directly to that event — the story itself is told at length on our History Timeline, so it isn't repeated here.

Historical circumstance Seerah & tafsirThe wind that scattered the confederates' camp after roughly three weeks of siege is described in the classical seerah literature (Ibn Ishaq, al-Waqidi, al-Tabari) and in the Maghazi chapters of Sahih al-Bukhari's narrations on the battle. No single hadith states in so many words "this verse was revealed because of the storm" — the connection here is the plain historical reference inside the ayah itself, read against the accepted narrative of the siege, rather than a report with its own isnad naming this specific verse.

See the full account of the siege, Salman al-Farisi's trench, and the Banu Qurayza judgment on the Islamic History Timeline.

🐌The Ifk — the slander against Aisha

Returning from the expedition against Banu al-Mustaliq, Aisha (رضي الله عنها) was accidentally left behind when she stepped away from the caravan to search for a lost necklace and a search party later escorted her back. The delay was seized on by Abdullah ibn Ubayy, the leader of Madinah's hypocrites, who spread a slander against her honour that some believers repeated. Aisha herself narrates that she fell ill from grief for a month before her innocence was declared from heaven.

Historical circumstance Hadith-attestedAisha's own long narration of the episode — her being left behind, the slander spreading through Madinah, her month of illness, and finally the Prophet ﷺ receiving these verses while visiting her at her father's house — is preserved in full in the hadith collections themselves, not only in tafsir works, which is what sets this occasion apart as especially well-attested.

🏖️"This day I have perfected your religion" — the Farewell Hajj

This clause sits inside a longer ayah of dietary law, but its own occasion is distinct: it was revealed on 9 Dhul-Hijjah, the Day of Arafah, during the Prophet's ﷺ only Hajj — covered in full, including the rest of the Farewell Sermon, on our Practice and Hajj pages.

Historical circumstance Hadith-attestedUmar ibn al-Khattab was asked by a Jewish man which verse the Muslims would have made a festival day of, had it been given to his own people. Umar answered that he knew precisely when and where it was revealed — on the Day of Arafah, a Friday, during the Prophet's ﷺ Farewell Hajj in 10 AH.

The wider Farewell Hajj — the sermon at Arafah, the equality of Adam's children, the sanctity of life and property — is covered on Practice: the Farewell Sermon and in brief on the Timeline.

⚔️Hunayn — when numbers weren't enough

Weeks after the conquest of Makkah in 8 AH, the Muslim army — swelled by thousands of new converts and larger than any force the Muslims had fielded before — was ambushed in the narrow Hunayn valley and briefly scattered. The full battle narrative is told on our History Timeline; this entry only covers what the ayah itself refers to.

Historical circumstance Seerah & tafsirCommentators read this ayah as directly addressing the army's brief overconfidence in its own size at Hunayn, just before the ambush struck. As with the Trench, this is the Quran's own historical reference read against the accepted seerah narrative of the battle, rather than a separate hadith stating in isolation that the verse was revealed "because of" the overconfidence.

See the battle in full — the ambush, the Prophet ﷺ holding his ground, and the aftermath at Awtas — on the Islamic History Timeline.

👼Safa & Marwah — a hesitation about idols

As part of Hajj and Umrah, pilgrims walk seven times between the two hills of Safa and Marwah (sa'i) — explained in full on our Practice page. This ayah addresses a specific hesitation some early Muslims felt about that walk.

Historical circumstance Hadith-attestedTwo idols, Isaf and Na'ilah, had stood on Safa and Marwah in the pre-Islamic period, and some companions — among them, by his own account, Anas ibn Malik — felt uneasy about a rite that touched ground once associated with idol worship. Separately, some of the Ansar had understood their instruction to cover only the circling of the Kaaba, not walking between the two hills. This ayah settled both concerns.

The ritual itself, sa'i, is explained step by step on Practice: Hajj.

🛡️"Obey those in authority" — a test in the field

This verse pairs obedience to those placed in authority with an unstated limit, made explicit elsewhere: never in disobedience to Allah. Its classical occasion is a military expedition where that limit was tested directly.

Historical circumstance Hadith core, tafsir identificationThe underlying incident — a commander ordering his men to walk into a fire he had lit, as a test of obedience, and the Prophet ﷺ later ruling that they would have sinned by entering it — is authentically reported in Sahih Muslim. The commander is not named in that wording of the report. Classical tafsir (Ibn Kathir and others, citing additional chains through Ibn Abi Hatim) identifies him as Abdullah ibn Hudhafah al-Sahmi and ties the episode specifically to this verse; that identification and the verse-link rest on the tafsir tradition rather than on the Sahih Muslim isnad itself, so the two are kept distinct here rather than merged into one claim.

💬Zihar — a wife's complaint reaches heaven

Zihar was a pre-Islamic Arabian form of divorce in which a husband said to his wife, "you are to me like my mother's back" — leaving her neither married nor free to remarry. Surah al-Mujadila ("the woman who pleads") takes its name from the woman at the centre of this occasion.

Historical circumstance Hadith-attested (mixed chains)Khawlah bint Tha'labah's husband, Aws ibn al-Samit, pronounced zihar against her in anger. She went directly to the Prophet ﷺ to plead her case, arguing that he had no basis in her youth and years of service to now discard her this way without even a proper divorce. Aisha later recalled overhearing the exchange from another room and marvelling that Allah heard what even she, close by, could not make out in full.

⛓️Forced into immorality — a master's abuse of power

This ayah closes with an explicit prohibition on compelling slave-girls into prostitution for their master's profit — a direct response to a specific abuse.

Historical circumstance Hadith-attestedAbdullah ibn Ubayy ibn Salul — the same figure behind the Ifk slander above — owned two slave-girls, Musaykah and Umaymah, whom he forced into prostitution for his own financial gain, over their own wish to remain chaste. This verse forbids the practice outright and extends Allah's forgiveness to the women who were compelled into it.