beyond mere repetition. Yet it is deficient in another respect: they take this to be an address to particular individuals, thereby restricting the surah’s meaning. This is an error.

For His words:

“Say, ‘O disbelievers!’”

address every disbeliever. The Prophet used to recite this surah in Medina after those particular individuals had died, instruct others to recite it, and say, “It is a disavowal of polytheism.” Had it addressed only those particular individuals, or those among them whom he knew would die as disbelievers, he would not have addressed with it anyone whose ultimate fate he did not know. Moreover, even if it is true that he addressed only those particular individuals, he did not know at that time that they would die in disbelief. The claim that he addressed only particular individuals with this surah was not made by anyone whose authority can be relied upon.

Muqātil ibn Sulaymān did, however, say that it was revealed concerning Abū Jahl and the mockers, and that none of those concerning whom it was revealed ever believed. Reports transmitted by Muqātil alone cannot be relied upon, by agreement of the hadith scholars, just like those transmitted by al-Kalbī. This is why scholars of transmitted reports who compiled Quranic commentaries—such as Muhammad ibn Jarīr, ‘Abd al-Rahmān ibn Abī Hātim, and Abū Bakr ibn al-Mundhir—do not cite anything from either of them, let alone scholars such as Ahmad ibn Hanbal and Ishāq ibn Rāhawayh. Others have related this concerning Quraysh generally, as reported by ‘Abd ibn Humayd