Adapted from Tafsir Ibn Ashur

Themes and purpose:

This Madinan surah is a foundational source for social legislation, focusing on purity, honour, and community stability. It establishes severe legal punishments for adultery and false accusation, grants specific laws of liʿān (mutual cursing), and contains the definitive exoneration of Aishah—training the community against scandal and tongue-driven corruption. It also lays down fundamental rules for modesty and seeking permission to enter rooms at home, while encouraging marriage. Finally, it crowns this social programme with the parable of Allah’s Light and the honouring of His houses of worship, showing that these laws and manners are meant to form a society guided by divine light rather than desire or gossip.

Context of Revelation:

Era: Madinan by unanimous agreement.

Context: The surah was revealed in stages over a long period. Its earliest parts (on adultery) likely date to the late 1st or early 2nd year AH. The incident of the Slander (al-ifk) that takes up a significant portion of the surah occurred after the battle of Banū al-Muṣṭaliq which most likely took place in 4 AH. The verses concerning liʿān [6-9] would have been revealed after the Battle of Tabuk in 9 AH. This indicates that its verses would have been revealed piecemeal and then added to their appropriate places in the surah.

Chronology: It has been counted as the 100th surah in the order of revelation (in the chronology of Jabir ibn Zayd), after Sūrat al-Naṣr and before al-Ḥajj. However, there are various views about the timings of these surahs.

Name and Ayah Count:

Name: The surah's established name is "Sūrat al-Nūr" (The Light), due to the profound "Ayah of Light" [35], which is a unique description of Allah.

Significance: The Companion ʿUmar ibn al-Khaṭṭāb instructed the community to learn this surah.

Ayah Count: 62 ayahs (Madīnah/Makkah) or 64 (Kūfah/Shām/Baṣrah).

Surah Overview:

• Clarifying the legal punishment for adultery (zinā) and false accusation (qadhf). [2-5]
• Detailing the law of mutual cursing (liʿān) between spouses. [6–10]
• Establishing the innocence of ʿĀ’ishah and punishing those who spread the Slander (al-ifk). [11–26]
• Condemnation of those who love that immorality spread among believers, and warning against falling into Satan’s snares. [19, 21] 
• Legislating the laws of seeking permission to enter homes, including rulings on non-inhabited houses and the spreading of salām. [27–29, 58–59, 61]
• Commanding Muslim men and women to guard their gaze and maintain modesty, and enjoining chastity more generally. [30–31, 33] 
• Encouraging the marriage of the single and the freeing of slaves. [32–33]
• Prohibiting forced prostitution. [33]
• Describing the grandeur of Allah's Light (nūr) and praising those who maintain the houses of worship, together with the parables contrasting the guidance of faith and the misguidance of disbelief. [35–40]
• Interweaving reminders of Allah’s greatness and the wonders of His creation and blessings. [41–46]
• Warning against the hypocrites and their wicked intentions. [47–57]
• Concluding with the etiquette of responding to the Messenger and the final return to Allah, who knows what every soul conceals, and who grants reward and inflicts punishment. [62–64]