Here is a damning piece I wrote about sura 111, in which Muhammad condemns his own uncle and aunt because they would not believe in him. I include some material by maududie which is in the public domain and out of copyright.
For those that wish to study the quran and are new to it, I recommend reading the suras in the reverse order, starting from the back at reading sura 114, and continuing through the suras in the reverse order. The shortest suras are at the back, and they are mostly the first verses that were written anyway.
The first verse that leaps out at you in the reverse reading of the quran is sura 111. The following is the five lines of the verse with comments about their meaning by Yusuf Ali.
It would seem to me to be one of the most damning suras in the quran, which tells the whole story of Muhammads real nature, and the source of his knowledge of the bible. He curses his own uncle to death and to burning hell, and his aunt with him.
The reason is because his uncle refused to accept him as a prophet, and that may well be because it was his uncle who taught him the bible stories, therefore he knew Muhammad did not get any information from the angel Gabriel.
sura 111, know as, (the plaited rope) or Al Lahab (the flame)
In the name of Allah, Most Gracious, Most Merciful.
111.1. Perish the hands of the Father of Flame! Perish he!
111.2. No profit to him from all his wealth, and all his gains!
111.3. Burnt soon will he be in a fire of blazing flame!
Comment: Abu Lahab, "Father of Flame", was the nick-name of an uncle of the holy Prophet, from his fiery hot temper and his ruddy complexion. He was one of the most inveterate enemies of early Islam. When the holy Prophet called together the Quraish and his own kith and kin to come and listen to his preaching and his warning against the sins of his people, the "Father of Flame" flared up and cursed the holy Prophet, saying "Perdition to thee!" According to the English saying, "the causeless curse will not come". His words were futile, but his power and strength were equally futile. The star of Islam rose higher and higher every day, and its persecuters dwindled in strength and power. Many of the leaders of persecution perished at Badr, and Abu Lahab himself perished a week after Badr, consumed with grief and his own fiery passions. Verse 3 was prophetic of his end in this very life, though it also refers to the Hereafter.
111.4. His wife shall carry the (crackling) wood - As fuel!-
111.5. A twisted rope of palm-leaf fibre around her (own) neck!
Comment: Abu Lahab's wife was a woman of equally passionate spite and cruelty against the sacred person of the holy Prophet. She used to tie bundles of thorns with ropes of twisted palm-leaf fibre and carry them and strew them about on dark nights in the paths which the Prophet was expected to take, in order to cause him bodily injury. "To carry firewood" may also be symbolical for carrying tales between people to embroil them. This was also one of her vices. But she was laying up for herself another kind of Fire and another kind of Rope, the Fire of Punishment, and the Rope of Slavery to Evil. Thus does Evil prepare its own fate. This is the general lesson of sustained craft and cruel wrong-doing recoiling on the wrong-doer's head. See also Introduction to this Sura.
The following is from Maududi's comments on sura 111
Wherever the Holy Prophet went to preach his message of Islam, this man followed him and forbade the people to listen to him. Rabiah bin Abbad ad- Dill has related:"I was a young boy when I accompanied my father to the face of Dhul-Majaz. There I saw the Holy Messenger (may peace be upon him) who was exhorting the people, saying: 'O people, say: there is no deity but Allah, you will attain success.'Following behind him I saw a man, who was telling the people; `This fellow is a liar: he has gone astray from his ancestral faith.' I asked; who is he?The people replied: He is his uncle, Abu Lahab." (Musnad Ahmad, Baihaqi). Another tradition from Hadrat Rabiah is to the effect; "I saw that the Holy Prophet went to the halting place of each tribe and said: `O children of so and so, I have been appointed Allah's Messenger to you. I exhort you to worship only Allah and to associate none with Him. So, affirm faith in me and join me so that I may fulfill the mission for which I have been sent.'Following close behind him there was a man who was saying: `O children of so and so, he is leading you astray from Lat and Uzza and inviting you to the religion of error and innovation which he has brought. Do not at all listen to what he says and do not follow him.' I asked my father: who is he?He replied: he is his uncle, Abu Lahab." (Musnad Ahmad, Tabarani). Tariq bin Abdullah al-Muharibi's tradition is similar. He says: "I saw in the fare of Dhul-Majaz that the Holy Messenger (upon whom be peace) was exhorting the people, saying: `O people, say La ilaha ill-Allah, you will attain success', and behind him there was a man who was casting stones at him, until his heels bled, and he was telling the people: 'Do not listen to him, he is a liar.' I asked the people who he was. They said he was his uncle, Abu Lahab." (Tirmidhi).
For those that wish to study the quran and are new to it, I recommend reading the suras in the reverse order, starting from the back at reading sura 114, and continuing through the suras in the reverse order. The shortest suras are at the back, and they are mostly the first verses that were written anyway.
The first verse that leaps out at you in the reverse reading of the quran is sura 111. The following is the five lines of the verse with comments about their meaning by Yusuf Ali.
It would seem to me to be one of the most damning suras in the quran, which tells the whole story of Muhammads real nature, and the source of his knowledge of the bible. He curses his own uncle to death and to burning hell, and his aunt with him.
The reason is because his uncle refused to accept him as a prophet, and that may well be because it was his uncle who taught him the bible stories, therefore he knew Muhammad did not get any information from the angel Gabriel.
sura 111, know as, (the plaited rope) or Al Lahab (the flame)
In the name of Allah, Most Gracious, Most Merciful.
111.1. Perish the hands of the Father of Flame! Perish he!
111.2. No profit to him from all his wealth, and all his gains!
111.3. Burnt soon will he be in a fire of blazing flame!
Comment: Abu Lahab, "Father of Flame", was the nick-name of an uncle of the holy Prophet, from his fiery hot temper and his ruddy complexion. He was one of the most inveterate enemies of early Islam. When the holy Prophet called together the Quraish and his own kith and kin to come and listen to his preaching and his warning against the sins of his people, the "Father of Flame" flared up and cursed the holy Prophet, saying "Perdition to thee!" According to the English saying, "the causeless curse will not come". His words were futile, but his power and strength were equally futile. The star of Islam rose higher and higher every day, and its persecuters dwindled in strength and power. Many of the leaders of persecution perished at Badr, and Abu Lahab himself perished a week after Badr, consumed with grief and his own fiery passions. Verse 3 was prophetic of his end in this very life, though it also refers to the Hereafter.
111.4. His wife shall carry the (crackling) wood - As fuel!-
111.5. A twisted rope of palm-leaf fibre around her (own) neck!
Comment: Abu Lahab's wife was a woman of equally passionate spite and cruelty against the sacred person of the holy Prophet. She used to tie bundles of thorns with ropes of twisted palm-leaf fibre and carry them and strew them about on dark nights in the paths which the Prophet was expected to take, in order to cause him bodily injury. "To carry firewood" may also be symbolical for carrying tales between people to embroil them. This was also one of her vices. But she was laying up for herself another kind of Fire and another kind of Rope, the Fire of Punishment, and the Rope of Slavery to Evil. Thus does Evil prepare its own fate. This is the general lesson of sustained craft and cruel wrong-doing recoiling on the wrong-doer's head. See also Introduction to this Sura.
The following is from Maududi's comments on sura 111
Wherever the Holy Prophet went to preach his message of Islam, this man followed him and forbade the people to listen to him. Rabiah bin Abbad ad- Dill has related:"I was a young boy when I accompanied my father to the face of Dhul-Majaz. There I saw the Holy Messenger (may peace be upon him) who was exhorting the people, saying: 'O people, say: there is no deity but Allah, you will attain success.'Following behind him I saw a man, who was telling the people; `This fellow is a liar: he has gone astray from his ancestral faith.' I asked; who is he?The people replied: He is his uncle, Abu Lahab." (Musnad Ahmad, Baihaqi). Another tradition from Hadrat Rabiah is to the effect; "I saw that the Holy Prophet went to the halting place of each tribe and said: `O children of so and so, I have been appointed Allah's Messenger to you. I exhort you to worship only Allah and to associate none with Him. So, affirm faith in me and join me so that I may fulfill the mission for which I have been sent.'Following close behind him there was a man who was saying: `O children of so and so, he is leading you astray from Lat and Uzza and inviting you to the religion of error and innovation which he has brought. Do not at all listen to what he says and do not follow him.' I asked my father: who is he?He replied: he is his uncle, Abu Lahab." (Musnad Ahmad, Tabarani). Tariq bin Abdullah al-Muharibi's tradition is similar. He says: "I saw in the fare of Dhul-Majaz that the Holy Messenger (upon whom be peace) was exhorting the people, saying: `O people, say La ilaha ill-Allah, you will attain success', and behind him there was a man who was casting stones at him, until his heels bled, and he was telling the people: 'Do not listen to him, he is a liar.' I asked the people who he was. They said he was his uncle, Abu Lahab." (Tirmidhi).
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