An-Najm النجم

Holy Quran

An-Najm meaning: The Star is the 53rd chapter of the Quran, with 62 verses

The surah opens with the oath of the Divine One swearing by every one of the stars, as they descend and disappear beneath the horizon, that Muhammad is indeed God's awaited Messenger. It takes its name from chapter #1, which mentions "the stars" (najm). The surah confirms the divine source of the Prophet's message and refers to his ascension to heaven during the Night Journey (Ayah#1 ff.). The surah refutes the claims of the disbelievers about the goddesses and the angels (ayah#19 ff.), and lists several truths about God's power. It closes with a warning of the imminent Day of Judgement.

The surah is distinguished as being the first that required Muslims to prostrate, or perform sajdah, when it is recited, according to Tafsir Ibn Kathir and a number of hadiths. The surah claims that, when it was first narrated by Muhammad in Mecca, all Muslims and non-Muslims who heard the recitation (except one man) prostrated to God upon its completion due to the effect that the words had upon them

• 1-5 Oath that Muhammad received the Quran from the Angel Gabriel
• 6-18 Description of the angelic visions vouchsafed to Muhammad
• 19-20 21-23 The revelation concerning Al Lát, Al Uzzah, and Manáh etc.
• 24-31 The vanity of trusting to the intercession of female deities
• 32-33 God almighty and omniscient
• 34-56 Rebuke of a man who employed another to bear his punishment on the judgment-day
• 57 Muhammad a preacher like other prophets
• 58 - 62 The judgment-day approacheth, therefore prepare for it

The first eighteen verses of this surah are considered to be some of the earliest revelations of the Quran. These verses address the legitimacy of Muhammad's prophetic visions. The surah begins with the divine voice swearing by the collapsing star that "Your companion," referring to Muhammad, has not gone mad, nor does he speak out of his desire. The passage evokes the process of vision by tracing the movement along the highest horizon and then coming down and drawing near to the distance of "two bows" length. The passage ends with the affirmation of the validity of the vision by stating that the heart of the prophet "did not lie in what it saw."

The surah is also known for referencing the star Sirius in verse 49, where it is given the name الشِّعْرَى (transliteration: aš-ši‘rā or ash-shira; the leader).[4] The verse is: "وأنَّهُ هُوَ رَبُّ الشِّعْرَى", "That He is the Lord of Sirius (the Mighty Star)."[5]

Ibn Kathir (d.1373) said in his commentary "that it is the bright star, named Mirzam Al-Jawza' (Sirius), which a group of Arabs used to worship."[1]: 53:49  The alternate (to Sirius) Aschere, used by Johann Bayer, is derived from this.

The prostration in An-Najm (No. 53)(4)باب سَجْدَةِ النَّجْمِ

Narrated `Abdullah bin Mas`ud:

The Prophet (ﷺ) recited Surat-an-Najm (53) and prostrated while reciting it and all the people prostrated and a man amongst the people took a handful of stones or earth and raised it to his face and said, "This is sufficient for me. Later on I saw him killed as a non-believer."

حَدَّثَنَا حَفْصُ بْنُ عُمَرَ، قَالَ حَدَّثَنَا شُعْبَةُ، عَنْ أَبِي إِسْحَاقَ، عَنِ الأَسْوَدِ، عَنْ عَبْدِ اللَّهِ ـ رضى الله عنه ـ أَنَّ النَّبِيَّ صلى الله عليه وسلم قَرَأَ سُورَةَ النَّجْمِ فَسَجَدَ بِهَا، فَمَا بَقِيَ أَحَدٌ مِنَ الْقَوْمِ إِلاَّ سَجَدَ، فَأَخَذَ رَجُلٌ مِنَ الْقَوْمِ كَفًّا مِنْ حَصًى أَوْ تُرَابٍ، فَرَفَعَهُ إِلَى وَجْهِهِ وَقَالَ يَكْفِينِي هَذَا، فَلَقَدْ رَأَيْتُهُ بَعْدُ قُتِلَ كَافِرًا‏.‏