CHAPTER
1: The Qur'an and Revelation
REVELATION
AND SCRIPTURE BEFORE THE QUR'AN
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.
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.
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.
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.]
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 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 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.
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 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.).
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.
[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.
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.
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 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.
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.
[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.
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 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.
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
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 ...'
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).
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]
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.