Ulum_al_Qur'an
An Introduction
to the Sciences of the Qur'an
Ahmad von Denffer
Introduction
CHAPTER 1: The Qur'an and Revelation
CHAPTER 2 : Transmission of the Qur'anic Revelation
CHAPTER 3 : The Qur'an in Manuscript and Print
CHAPTER 4: Form, Language and Style
CHAPTER 5 : Understanding the Text
CHAPTER 6 : Interpreting the Text
CHAPTER
1: The Qur'an and Revelation
REVELATION
AND SCRIPTURE BEFORE THE QUR'AN
God's
Communication with Man
God communicated with man. This is the
key concept of revelation upon which all religious belief
if more than a mere philosophical attempt to explain man's
relationship with the great 'unknown', the 'wholly other'
is founded. There is no religious belief, however remote
it may be in time or concept from the clear teachings of
Islam, which can do without or has attempted to do without
God's communication with man.
Man denies God
God's communication with man has always
accompanied him, from the earliest period of his
appearance on this planet, and throughout the ages until
today. Men have often denied the communication from God or
attributed it to something other than its true source and
origin. More recently some have begun to deny God
altogether, or to explain away man's preoccupation with
God and the communication from Him as a preoccupation with
delusion and fantasy. Yet even such people do not doubt
that the preoccupation of man with God's communication is
as old as man himself. Their reasoning is, they claim,
based on material evidence. Following this line of thought
they feel that they should deny God's existence, but are
at the same time compelled to concede the point for
material evidence is abundant that man has ever been
preoccupied with thinking about God and the concept of
God's communication with man. Empiricism and Realism.
Their general approach to emphasize
material evidence in the search for reality and truth, is
surely commendable. Not only empiricist philosophy but
also commonsense tell us that one should accept as real
and existent what can be grasped empirically, that is, by
direct experience, by seeing, hearing, touching and so on.
While there may be in other systems of thought, other
criteria for the evaluation of reality, at present it is a
materialistic philosophy that rules the day, and though
many people (especially the 'religious' type) are saddened
by this and wish back the 'old days of idealism and rule
of the creed', I personally think that we have to accept
the present state of affairs not as ideal and
unchangeable, but as our point of departure and moreover
that doing so is of some advantage to us.
Creation is
Material Evidence for God
Many now accept empiricism as their
guiding principles and God gives ample evidence, material
evidence, capable of verification by all empiricists, for
His being and existence. The wide earth, the whole
universe of creation, are evidence, material evidence, for
God. No empiricist would deny that the earth and the
universe do exist. It is only that he does not always
perceive them as 'creation', for then he would have to
argue from the material evidence that he has to a mighty
and puissant cause, to reason and purpose behind it. Such
an argument would by no means be in contradiction with his
empiricist, rational and scientific line of thought,
rather in perfect agreement with it.
Man's Pride
I do not wish to discuss here in any
detail why then, despite this, man denies God and
disregards His communication with man. Suffice to say that
the cause must be seen in man's self-perception, his
arrogance and false pride. Having discovered that he and
his kind constitute the peak of 'creation', he thinks
himself autonomous, self-dependent, absolutely free and
fully equipped to be master of the universe. Somehow, this
self-perception too has been with man from his early days.
He has always thought himself better than anything else. [The
question of how evil came into the world has preoccupied
many sincere seekers after the truth. The answer which the
Qur'an gives is simple yet convincing if seen against all
the evidence of historical and contemporary human
civilization. At the root of all evil in this world is
disobedience to God, resulting from the belief that one is
superior to another. From this belief stems oppression of
man by man discrimination, crime and all other evils that
rule the day. The test lies in obedience to God, for seen
against God, the 'wholly other', all creation is indeed on
the other side and equal. In Sura
al-A'raf (7)
it is related that God asked all angels to bow before
Adam, the first man. The angels obeyed, and observed God's
will, except Iblis. When asked why he opposed God's will,
he replied: 'ana khairun minhu' I
(Iblis) am better than him (Adam), you created me from
fire and created him from clay'
(Al-Qur'an
7:12)
. This then is the beginning of all evil, for it is Iblis
who after this makes it his mission to incite men also to
act against God's will.]
Guidance for
Man
Muslims, referring to the Holy Qur'an,
also conclude that from the beginning of his life on
earth, man has received communication from God, to guide
him and protect him from such self-perception and deceit:
'We said: Get ye down all from here;
and if, as is sure, there comes to you guidance from Me,
whosoever follows My guidance on them shall be no fear,
nor shall they grieve' (Al-Qur'an
2:38)
[I shall use the following two
English translations of the Holy Qur'an: A. Yusuf Ali, (Ali,
Abdullah Yusuf: The Glorious Qur'an: Text, Translation
and Commentary. Leicester, 1978)
and M. Pickthall (Pickthall,
Mohammad Marmaduke: The Meaning of the Glorious Koran,
New York, 1963).]
This message and promise has been
communicated by God to all mankind, all children of Adam,
as the Qur'an explains:
'O ye children of Adam! Whenever
there come to you apostles from amongst you, rehearsing
My signs unto you those who are righteous and mend
(their lives) on them shall be no fear nor shall they
grieve' (Al-Qur'an
7:35).
The Messengers
The guidance from God comes through the
apostles or messengers, and they bringwith them the
scripture from God:
'We sent before time Our apostles
with clear signs and sent down with them the book and
the balance (of right and wrong) that men may stand
forth in justice ...'
(Al-Qur'an
57:25).
The basic message of all prophets from
God, and hence of all scriptures they brought, is one and
the same message from God to man:'
'And verily We have raised in every
nation a messenger, (proclaiming): Serve Allah and shun
false gods ...' (Al-Qur'an
16:36).
The Names of
the Prophets and their Number
The Qur'an mentions the following
prophets by name: Adam, Nuh, Ibrahim, Isma'il, Ishaq, Lut,
Ya'qub, Yusuf, Musa, Harun, Dawud, Sulaiman, Ilyas, Al-Yasa',
Yunus, Ayyub, Zakariya, Yahya, 'Isa, Idris, Hud, Dhul Kifl,
Shu'aib, Salih, Luqmaan, Dhul Qarnain, 'Uzair, Muhammad.
This does not mean, however, that only
these have been God's prophets. Indeed the Qur'an is very
clear that the number of prophets is much larger and that
to each community from among mankind God has sent His
messenger:
'We did aforetime send apostles
before thee: of them there are some whose story We have
related to thee and some whose story We have not related
to thee ...' (Al-Qur'an
40:78).
'To every people (was sent) an
apostle ...' (Al-Qur'an
10: 47).
The
Names of the Scriptures and their Number
Just as there have been numerous
prophets so there were numerous written records of their
messages. The Qur'an mentions the following revelations in
particular, which are sometimes called sheets or leaves (Suhuf)
and sometimes book or scripture (Kitab):
The 'sheets' of Ibrahim and Musa. The
Torah (Taurat) of Musa. The Psalms (Zabur) of Dawud. The
Gospel (Injil) of 'Isa. The Qur'an of Muhammad.
The
Contents of the Former Scriptures
All the teachings contained in the
former Scriptures that were meant to be of lasting value
and importance are included in the Qur'an. The Qur'an also
gives some specific accounts, although selective, of what
the pre-Qur'anic scriptures contained and it is worthwhile
to look briefly at this material:
A reference to the 'sheets' (Suhuf) of
Ibrahim and Musa:
'But those will prosper who purify
themselves, and glorify the name of their guardian Lord,
and (lift their hearts) in prayer. Nay, behold, ye
prefer the life of this world; but the Hereafter is
better and more enduring'
(Al-Qur'an
87: 14-17).
[Some say that the whole of Sura 87
is a reference to this first book of revelation, but
others hold that only the few verses quoted here are
actually meant. See mukhtasar
tafsir Ibn Kathir,
Beirut, 1402/1981, Vol. 3, p. 631. Another reference to
the Suhuf of Musa and Ibrahim is in Sura
53:36.]
A reference to the Torah (Taurat) of
Musa:
'It was We who revealed the law (to
Moses): therein was guidance and light ... We ordained
therein for them: life for life, eye for eye, nose for
nose, ear for ear, tooth for tooth and wounds equal for
equal, but if anyone remits the retaliation by way of
charity it is an act of atonement for himself and if any
fail to judge by (the light of) what God has revealed
they are (no better than) wrongdoers'
(Al-Qur'an
5: 47-8).
A reference to the Psalms (Zabur) of
Dawud:
'And verily We have written in the
Psalms, after the Reminder: My righteous slaves will
inherit the earth'
(Al-Qur'an
21: 105).
A reference to the Gospel (Injil) of 'Isa:
'Muhammad is the messenger of Allah.
And those with him are hard against the disbelievers and
merciful among themselves. Thou (O Muhammad) seest them
bowing and falling prostrate (in worship) seeking bounty
from Allah and (His) acceptance. The mark of them is on
their foreheads from the traces of prostration. Such is
their likeness in the Torah and their likeness in the
Gospel like as sown corn that sendeth forth its shoot
and strengtheneth it and riseth firm upon its stalk,
delighting the sowers that He may enrage the
disbelievers with (the sight of) them. Allah has
promised, unto such of them as believe and do good
works, forgiveness and immense reward'
(Al-Qur'an
48: 29).
The pre-Qur'anic scriptures, besides
carrying the same basic message about Allah, the Master of
the worlds, and man, His creation, also brought specific
instructions addressed directly to particular communities
of people at given points of time in history and in
particular circumstances, such as the Jewish or Christian
communities. Revelation before the Qur'an, and hence
scriptures before it, were in many of their details
situation-oriented in nature and therefore confined to
their particular frameworks. This also explains the
continuity of revelation. With changing circumstances and
in different situations new guidance from Allah was
required. As long as the revelation and scripture were not
completely universal in nature, revelation would not reach
its finality.
The
Final Revelation
Muhammad was the last messenger from
Allah to mankind, and he brought the final revelation from
God to man. Therefore the scripture containing this
revelation is the last of the Holy Scriptures.
The basic message of the Holy Qur'an is
the same as the basic message of the previous revelations
and books, and the directives and instructions, by which
it provides guidance for man are of a universal nature.
They apply for all times to come and in all situations.
This revelation corresponds to man's position on earth and
in history. Man has reached, in his development, the stage
when universal principles need to be applied to safeguard
his purposeful existence.
THE
QUR'AN, HADITH AND HADITH QUDSI
The
Qur'an
The Qur'an can be defined as follows:
The speech of Allah, sent down upon the
last Prophet Muhammad, through the Angel Gabriel, in its
precise meaning and precise wording, transmitted to us by
numerous persons (tawatur), both verbally and in writing. Inimitable
and unique, protected by God from corruption.
The
word Qur'an
The Arabic word 'qur'an' is derived
from the root qara'a, which has various meanings, such as
to read, [Sura
17: 93.] to recite, [Sura
75:18:17: 46.] etc.
Qur'an is a verbal noun and hence means the 'reading' or
'recitation'. As used in the Qur'an itself, the word
refers to the revelation from Allah in the broad sense [Sura
17: 82.] and is not
always restricted to the written form in the shape of a
book, as we have it before us today.
However, it means revelation to
Muhammad only, while revelation to other prophets has been
referred to by different names (e.g. taurat, Injil, kitab,
etc.).
Other
Names of the Qur'an
The revelation from Allah to the
Prophet Muhammad is referred to in the Qur'an itself by
the name qur'an (recitation) as well as by other names,
such as e.g.
- Furqaan (criterion, see 25: 1).
- Tanzil (sent down, see 26: 192).
- Dhikr (reminder, see 15: 9).
- Kitab (scripture, see 21:10).
Other references to the Qur'an are by
such words as Nur (light), Huda (guidance), Rahma (mercy),
Majid (glorious), Mubarak (blessed), Bashir (announcer),
Nadhir (warner), etc.
All these names reflect one of the
various aspects of the revealed word of Allah.
The
Meaning of hadith
[For details on
hadith see: A'zami, Muhammad Mustafa: Studies in Hadith
Methodology and Literature, Indianapolis, 1977.]
The word hadith means news, report or
narration. It is in this general sense that the word is
used in the Qur'an. [e.g.
Sura 12:101.]
Technically, the word hadith, (pl. ahadith) means in
particular the reports (verbal and written) about the
sunna of the Prophet Muhammad. Hadith reports about the
Prophet Muhammad are of the following kinds:
- What he said (qaul).
- What he did (fi'l).
- What he (silently) approved (taqrir) in others'
actions.
There are also reports about him, i.e.
about what he was like (sifa).
The
difference between the Qur'an and Hadith.
There is agreement among most Muslim
scholars that the contents of the sunna are also from
Allah. Hence they have described it as also being the
result of some form of inspiration. [For
details see kitab al-risala, by Imam al-Shafi'i, Cairo,
n.d., especially pp. 28-9. In English: Khadduri Majid,
Islamic Jurisprudence. Shafi'i's Risala, Baltimore, 1961,
chapter 5, especially pp. 121-2.]
The contents of the sunna are however expressed through
the Prophet's own words or actions, while in the case of
the Qur'an the Angel Gabriel brought the exact wording and
contents to the Prophet, who received this as revelation
and then announced it, in the very same manner that he
received it.
The difference between these two forms
has been illustrated by Suyuti (following Juwaini) in the
following manner:
'The revealed speech of Allah is of
two kinds: As to the first kind, Allah says to Gabriel:
Tell the Prophet to whom I sent you that Allah tells him
to do this and this, and He ordered him something. So
Gabriel understood what His Lord had told him. Then he
descended with this to the Prophet and told him what His
Lord had told him, but the expression is not this (same)
expression, just as a king says to someone upon whom he
relies: Tell so-and-so: The king says to you: strive in
his service and gather your army for fighting ... and
when the messenger (goes and) says: The king tells you:
do not fail in my service, and do not let the army break
up, and call for fighting, etc., then he has not lied
nor shortened (the message) ...
'And as to the other kind, Allah says
to Gabriel: Read to the Prophet this (piece of) writing,
and Gabriel descended with it from Allah, without
altering it the least, just as (if) the king writes a
written (instruction) and hands it over to his
trustworthy (servant) and says (to him): Read it to
so-and-so. Suyuti said: The Qur'an belongs to the second
kind, and the first kind is the Sunna, and from this
derives the reporting of the Sunna according to the
meaning unlike the Qur'an."
[Sabuni,
tibyan, p.52]
It is generally accepted that the
difference between Qur'an and sunna is as follows:
The ahadith from or about the
Prophet Muhammad are:
- The words or actions of a human being, and not the
speech of God as the Qur'an is.
- Not necessarily reported in their precise wording,
as the Qur'an is.
- Not necessarily transmitted by tawatur, except in
some instances.
Hadith
Qudsi
[For an introduction to the subject and
select sample texts, see e.g. Ibrahim Izzuddin and Denis
Johnson-Davies: Forty Hadith Qudsi, Beirut, Damascus,
1980.]
Qudsi means holy, or pure. There are
some reports from the Prophet Muhammad where he relates to
the people what God has said (says) or did (does), but
this information is not part of the Qur'an. Such a report
is called hadith qudsi, e.g.:
Abu Hurairah reported that Allah's
messenger said:
'Allah, Mighty and Exalted is He,
said: If My servant likes to meet me, I like to meet
him, and if he dislikes to meet Me, I dislike to meet
him.' [Forty
Hadith Qudsi, Beirut, Damascus, 1980, No. 30.]
While the common factor between hadith
qudsi and the Qur'an is that both contain words from Allah
which have been revealed to Muhammad, the main points of
difference between Qur'an and hadith qudsi are as follows:
In the Qur'an the precise wording is
from Allah, while in the hadith qudsi the wording is given
by the Prophet Muhammad.
- The Qur'an has been brought to Muhammad only by
the Angel Gabriel, while hadith qudsi may also have
been inspired otherwise, such as e.g. in a dream.
- The Qur'an is inimitable and unique, but not so
the hadith qudsi.
- The Qur'an has been transmitted by numerous
persons, (tawatur) but the hadith and hadith qudsi
often only by a few or even one individual. There
are hadith qudsi which are sahth, but also others
hasan, or even da'if, while there is no doubt at all
about any aya from the Qur'an.
Another point is that a hadith qudsi
cannot be recited in prayer.
Distinctive
Features of the Qur'an
The most important distinction between
the Qur'an and all other words or writings therefore is
that the Qur'an is the speech from Allah, revealed in its
precise meaning and wording through the Angel Gabriel,
transmitted by many, inimitable, unique and protected by
Allah Himself against any corruption.
REVELATION
AND HOW IT CAME TO THE PROPHET MUHAMMAD
God
guides His Creation God guides His Creation
Allah the Creator has not only brought
about the creation, but continues to sustain and direct
it, in the way that He has created us and all that is
around us. He has provided many forms of guidance, indeed,
a system of guiding principles, of which the laws of
'nature' are a part.
But Allah has also granted a special
form of guidance for mankind from the outset of its
occupancy of the earth. He promised to Adam and his
descendants: 'Get
ye down all from here; and if, as is sure, there comes to
you guidance from Me, whosoever follows guidance, on them
shall be no fear, nor shall they grieve'
(2:
38).' [The
word here used for guidance is hudan.]
This guidance comes through the prophets, whom Allah
continuously sent to mankind, until the last messenger,
Muhammad received His final guidance.
Guidance
through Revelation
We call a man to whom God in his own
way communicates His guidance, a prophet or messenger (nabi,
rasul). Prophets receive the word of God through
revelation and then communicate it to their fellow human
beings:
'We have sent thee INSPIRATION, as We
sent it to Noah and the messengers after him: We sent
INSPIRATION to Abraham, Ismail, Isaac, Jacob and the
tribes, to Jesus, Job, Jonah, Harun and Solomon, and to
David We gave the Psalms. Of some apostles, We have
already told the story, of others We have not and to
Moses God spoke direct apostles who gave good news as
well as warning, that mankind after (the coming) of the
apostles should have no plea against God: for God is
exalted in power and ways' (4:
163-5).
The two words italicized (capitalized)
in the above translation are both derived from the Arabic
root 'wahy'.
The
Meaning of Wahy
The word awha, from which 'wahy'
(revelation) is derived, occurs in a number of shades of
meaning in the Qur'an, each of them indicating the main
underlying idea of inspiration directing or guiding
someone. In each example below, the italicised words in
the translation are forms of the root word wahy in the
original text of the Qur'an:
- Guidance in natural intuition:
'so
we sent this inspiration to the mother of Moses . . .'
(28:
7)
Guidance
in natural instinct:
'and
thy Lord taught the bee to build its cells in hills,
on trees and in (man's) habitations' (16:
68)
Guidance
by signs:
'So
Zakaria came out to his people from his chamber: he
told them by signs to celebrate God's praises in the
morning and in the evening' (19:
11)
Guidance
from evil:
'Likewise
did we make for every messenger an enemy evil ones
among men and jinns, inspiring each other with flowery
discourses by way of deception ...' (6:
112)
- Guidance from God:
'Remember
thy Lord inspired the angels (with the message) ...' (8:
12)
Means
of Revelation
Wahy in the sense of 'revelation' is
guidance from God for His creation, brought by the
Prophets, who received the word from God through one of
the means mentioned in the following Qur'anic verse:
'It is not fitting for a man that God
should speak to him except by inspiration, or from
behind a veil, or by sending of a messenger to reveal
with God's permission what God wills: for He is Most
High, Most Wise' (42:
51)
Means of revelation are:
- Inspiration, e.g. in a dream (see
37:102, where it is
related that Ibrahim receives guidance in a vision,
while asleep, to sacrifice his son).
- Speech hidden away (
see
27:8, where it is
related that God spoke to Musa from the fire).
- Words (speech) sent through a special messenger from
God (see 2:97, where it is related that God sent the
Angel Gabriel as the messenger to Muhammad to reveal
His message).
The
Qur'an revealed to Muhammad
Prophet Muhammad, the last of God's
messengers, received the revelation of the Qur'an through
a special messenger sent by God for this purpose: the
Angel Gabriel, who recited to him God's words exactly.
The
Descent of the Qur'an
According to Suyuti' [al
Itqan fi ulum al quran, Beirut, 1973, Vol. I pp. 39-40]
on the basis of three reports from 'Abdullah Ibn 'Abbas,
in Hakim, Baihaqi and Nasa'i, the Qur'an descended in two
stages:
- From the lauh al-mahfuz, the 'well-preserved
tablet', to the lowest of the heavens (bait al-'izza)
of the world, all together, in the laila al-qadr.
- From the heavens to earth in stages throughout the
twenty-three years of Muhammad's Prophethood, and
first in the laila al-qadr of Ramadan, through the
Angel Gabriel.
This second descent from the heaven to
the heart of the Prophet is referred to in Sura
al-isra' (17) and Sura
al-furqan (25).
BEGINNING
OF THE REVELATION
The revelation of the Qur'an began in
the laila al-qadr of Ramadan (the 27th night or one of the
odd nights after the 21st) after the Prophet Muhammad had
passed the fortieth year of his life (that is around the
year 610), during his seclusion in the cave of Hira' on a
mountain near Makka.
Bukhari's
Account
[English translations of ahadith are,
unless otherwise indicated, from Khan,
Muhammad Muhsin: The Translation of the Meanings of Sahih
al-Bukhari, 9 vols., Istanbul, 1978
(abbr. as Bukhari) and Siddiqui,
Abdul Hamid: Sahih Muslim, 4 vols., Lahore, 1978
(abbr. as Muslim).]
This is the account, as reported in the
Sahih of Bukhari:
Narrated Aisha the mother of the
faithful believers: The commencement of the divine
inspiration to Allah's apostle was in the form of good
dreams which came like bright daylight (i.e. true) and
then the love of seclusion was bestowed upon him.
He used to go in seclusion in the
Cave of Hira', where he used to worship (Allah alone)
continuously for many days before his desire to see his
family. He used to take with him food for the stay and
then come back to (his wife) Khadija to take his food
likewise again, till suddenly the truth descended upon
him while he was in the Cave of Hira'.
The angel came to him and asked him
to read. The Prophet replied 'I do not know how to
read'. The Prophet added, 'The angel caught me
(forcibly) and pressed me so hard that I could not bear
it any more. He then released me and again asked me to
read and I replied, "I do not know how to
read". Thereupon he caught me again and pressed me
a second time till I could not bear it any more. He then
released me and again asked me to read, but again I
replied, "I do not know how to read" (or what
shall I read?). Thereupon he caught me for the third
time and pressed me, and then released me and said:
"Read, in the name of Your Lord, who created,
created man from a clot. Read! And Your Lord is the most
bountiful" ... [Bukhari,
I, No. 3; VI, No. 478; Muslim I, No. 301.]
The narration goes on to tell us that
the Prophet went back to his wife Khadija and recounted to
her his dreadful experience. She comforted him and both of
them consulted Waraqa, Khadlja's relative and a learned
Christian, about it. Waraqa told Muhammad that he had
encountered the one 'whom Allah had sent to Moses' and
that he would be driven out by his people.
How
Revelation came
Narrated Aisha, the mother of the
faithful believers: Al-Harith bin Hisham asked Allah's
apostle: 'O Allah's apostle. How is the divine inspiration
revealed to you?' Allah's apostle replied, 'Sometimes it
is "revealed" like the ringing of a bell, this
form of inspiration is the hardest of all and then this
state passes off after I have grasped what is inspired.
Sometimes the Angel comes in the form of a man and talks
to me and I grasp whatever he says'.
[Bukhari,
I, No. 2.]
The
First Revelation' [See
Suyuti, Itqan, I, pp.23-4.]
The first revelation that the Prophet
Muhammad received is in the first verses from Sura al-'alaq
(96:1-3,
according to others 1-5):
'Read in the name of your Lord, who
created, created man from a clot. Read! And your Lord is
most bountiful. (He who taught) the use of the pen
taught man which he knew not.'
The remainder of Sura 96, which now has
19 ayat, was revealed on some later occasion.
The
Pause (fatra)
After the first message thus received,
revelation ceased for a certain period (called fatra) and
then resumed:
Narrated Jabir bin 'Abdullah Al-Ansari
while talking about the period of pause in revelation
reporting the speech of the Prophet, 'While I was
walking, all of a sudden I heard a voice from the
heaven. I looked up and saw the same angel who had
visited me at the Cave of Hira' sitting on a chair
between the sky and the earth. I got afraid of him and
came back home and said "Wrap me (in
blankets)" and then Allah revealed the following
holy verses (of the Qur'an): O you covered in your
cloak, arise and warn (the people against Allah's
punishment) ... up to "and all pollution
shun".'
After this revelation came strongly and
regularly. [Bukhari,
I, end of No. 3.]
The
Second Revelation
The second portion of the Qur'an
revealed to the Prophet Muhammad was the beginning of Sura
al-muddaththir (74: 15). It now consists of 56 verses, the
rest revealed later, and begins as follows: 'O you,
covered in your cloak, arise and warn, thy Lord magnify,
thy raiment purify, pollution shun ...'
Other
Early Revelations
Many hold that Sura al-muzzammil (73)
was the next revelation.
According to others, Sura al-fatiha (1)
was the third sura to be revealed. [Suyuti,
Itqan, I, p.24.]
Among other early revelations, which
the Prophet declared in Makka, are, according to some
reports, Sura 111, Sura 81, Sura 87, Sura 92, Sura 89,
etc. Then revelation continued, 'mentioning Paradise and
Hell, and until mankind turned to Islam, then came
revelation about halal and haram ... ' [Suyuti,
Itqan, I, p.24.]
Revelation came to the Prophet
throughout his lifetime, both in Makka and Madina, i.e.
over a period of approximately 23 years, until shortly
before his death in the year 10 after Hijra (632).
The
Last Revelation
Many Muslim scholars agree that the
last revelation was Sura
2, verse 281:
'And fear the day when ye shall be
brought back to God. Then shall every soul be paid what
it earned and none shall be dealt with unjustly.'
Some also say that it was 2:282
or 2:278.
[Kamal,
Ahmad 'Adil: 'ulum al-Qur'an, Cairo, 1974, p.18.]
It has also been suggested that all
three verses were revealed on one occasion. The Prophet
died nine nights after the last revelation.
Others hold that Sura
5:4 was the last to be
revealed:
'This day I have perfected your
religion for you, completed My favour upon you and have
chosen for you Islam as your religion.'
The opinion that this verse was the
last revelation is not sound according to many scholars,
since it was revealed during the last pilgrimage of the
Prophet. This information is based upon a hadith from 'Umar.
Suyuti explains concerning the verse in Sura 5 that after
it nothing concerning ahkam and hal'al and haram was
revealed, and in this sense it is the 'completion' of
religion. However, revelation reminding man of the coming
day of judgement continued and the last such revelation is
the above verse. [Sabuni,
tibyan pp. 18-9]
Reasons
why the Qur'an was sent down in Stages
The Qur'an was revealed in stages over
a period of 23 years, and not as a complete book in one
single act of revelation. There are a number of reasons
for this; most important are the following:
- To strengthen the heart of the Prophet by
addressing him continuously and whenever the need
for guidance arose.
- Out of consideration for the Prophet since
revelation was a very difficult experience for him.
- To gradually implement the laws of God.
- To make understanding, application and
memorization of the revelation easier for the
believers.
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