It is established that Abu Bakr said to the Prophet ﷺ: “O Messenger of Allah, you have grown grey!” He replied: “Hud, Al-Waqi’ah, Al-Mursalat, ’Amma yatasa’alun and At-Takwir have made me grey,” or in another version: “Hud and its sisters”, because of the terrors of the Last Day and the punishments that struck past nations. It is one of the Mi’un, given to the Prophet ﷺ in place of the Psalms.
When told “You have grown grey”, the Prophet ﷺ replied: “Hud, Al-Waqi’ah, Al-Mursalat, ’Amma yatasa’alun and At-Takwir have made me grey,” or: “Hud and its sisters”, because of the terrors of the Last Day and the punishments of past nations that these surahs describe.
Good (hasan)At-Tirmidhi (3297) and Al-Hakim Authentic (sahih)At-Tabarani (Al-Mu’jam al-Kabir, 790)
The Prophet ﷺ said: “Whoever would like to look at the Day of Resurrection as if seeing it with his own eyes, let him recite At-Takwir and Al-Infitar.” In Ahmad’s version the narrator added: “I think he also said: and Surah Hud”, so its mention is uncertain.
Authentic (sahih)Ahmad (Al-Musnad, 2/27) and At-Tirmidhi (3333)
It is one of the Mi’un (surahs of a hundred verses or more), given to the Prophet ﷺ in place of the Psalms, according to the hadith of Wathilah ibn al-Asqa’: “I was given in place of the Torah the seven long ones, and in place of the Psalms the Mi’un.”
According to Al-Qurtubi, reciting these surahs reveals to the hearts of those who know Allah His sovereignty and the severity of His seizing, so that souls are overwhelmed and heads turn grey.
Arabic text, translation, reference and authenticity grade of each hadith.
قال أبو بكر: يا رسول الله قد شبت، قال: شيبتني هود، والواقعة، والمرسلات و﴿عَمَّ يَتَسَاءَلُونَ﴾ و﴿إِذَا الشَّمْسُ كُوِّرَتْ﴾
Abu Bakr said: “O Messenger of Allah, you have grown grey!” He replied: “Hud, Al-Waqi’ah, Al-Mursalat, ‘About what are they asking one another?’ and ‘When the sun is wrapped up’ have made me grey.”
أن رجلًا قال: يا رسول اللّه شبت. قال: شيبتني هود وأخواتها
A man said: “O Messenger of Allah, you have grown grey.” He replied: “Hud and its sister surahs have made me grey.”
من سره أن ينظر إلى يوم القيامة كأنه رأي عين فليقرأ: ﴿إِذَا الشَّمْسُ كُوِّرَتْ﴾ و﴿إِذَا السَّمَاءُ انْفَطَرَتْ﴾ وحسبت أنه قال: وسورة هود
Whoever would like to look at the Day of Resurrection as if seeing it with his own eyes, let him recite “When the sun is wrapped up” and “When the sky breaks apart”; the narrator added: “I think he also said: and Surah Hud.”
اقرأوا سورة هود يوم الجمعة
“Recite Surah Hud on Friday.”
Main purpose: To strengthen the Prophet ﷺ and the believers with the stories of earlier prophets, and to intensify the warning to the deniers.
Hud is a Meccan surah, the 11th in the order of the Qur’an and the 52nd in the order of revelation, revealed after Yunus. It has one hundred and twenty-three verses. It has no other known name than “Hud”, which the Prophet ﷺ gave it; it owes it to the prophet Hud, mentioned in it five times. It was revealed after the Night Journey, in one of the hardest periods of the call, after the deaths of Abu Talib and Khadijah.
The full Arabic text: introduction, virtues, themes, and a study of the chain and authenticity of each hadith.
