What is "al-ankabut"

Surat al-‘Ankabūt (, "The Spider") is the 29th sura of the Qur'an with 69 verses. It is a Meccan surah due to the introduction concerning the persecution of the Muslims. The early Muslims were persecuted in Mecca, where Muhammed was not a head of state and not persecuted in Medina, where he was a head of state and had some protection. The surah states that Nuh, Ibrahim, Lut, Shuaib, Hud, Saleh, Musa and Muhammad all were prophets of God. All of them endured hardships. For example, Noah was ridiculed often and Abraham was thrown into the fire. But God destroyed their people who transgressed. As it says in verse 40,

So each We punished for his sin; of them was he on whom We sent down a violent storm, and of them was he whom the rumbling overtook, and of them was he whom We made to be swallowed up by the earth, and of them was he whom We drowned; and it did not beseem Allah that He should be unjust to them, but they were unjust to their own souls.