Sūrat ar-Raʿd
Section 6 of 13 · Surah Studies · Mufti Abdul Rahman Mangera
The Angel of the Thunder
Verse 13 is the verse in which the word occurs from which the sūrah takes its name. Allah says:
وَيُسَبِّحُ ٱلرَّعْدُ بِحَمْدِهِۦ وَٱلْمَلَـٰٓئِكَةُ مِنْ خِيفَتِهِۦ وَيُرْسِلُ ٱلصَّوَٰعِقَ فَيُصِيبُ بِهَا مَن يَشَآءُ وَهُمْ يُجَـٰدِلُونَ فِى ٱللَّهِ وَهُوَ شَدِيدُ ٱلْمِحَالِ
“The thunder proclaims His purity with His praise, and (so do) the angels, out of His awe. And He sends the thunderbolts and strikes with it whom He wills. They are quarrelling about Allah, and He is stern in His plan.” (13:13)
The raʿd glorifies Allah with His praise, and so do the angels, out of fear of Him. Then Allah sends the ṣawāʿiq, and strikes with them whom He wills, while they dispute about Allah — and He is severe in might.
What, then, is the raʿd? It is an angel. And as the name indicates, this is the sūrah of the thunder. The ṣawāʿiq are the lightning bolts, so it is Allah who sends the lightning; the raʿd is the angel of thunder, the one who causes these things to happen in the heavens, whereupon this sound is produced. But that sound is also the angel of the raʿd praising Allah (swt), glorifying Him with His praise. It is a very prominent verse.