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Introduction to Qur’an
We have revealed this Qur'an in the Arabic language so that you may
understand.
The Arabic language is the most eloquent, plain, deep and expressive of the
meanings that might arise in one’s mind. Therefore, the most honorable Book,
was revealed in the most honorable language, to the most honorable Prophet
and Messenger(Peace be upon him), delivered by the most honorable
angel(Gabriel), in the most honorable land on earth(Makkah), and its revelation
started during the most honorable month of the year, Ramadan. Therefore, the
Qur’an [1] is perfect in every respect. It is the word of the Lord of the Worlds,
which He revealed to His Messenger Muhammad (Peace be upon him), to bring
mankind forth from darkness into light. It is the greatest of the heavenly
Books, the most complete, the most perfect and the last of them.
Central Theme
The Central Theme that runs throughout the Qur’an is the exposition of the
reality and the invitation to the right way. It declares that the same reality was
revealed to Adam (Peace be upon him), and all the Messengers after him, and
they all preached the same right way. Thus, the real object for the Book is to
call people to this "right way" and to illuminate Allah’s true guidance, which
has often been lost either through man's negligence and heedlessness or
distorted by his wicked perversity.
Subject
The Qur’an addresses two groups of people primarily, the Arabs and the People
of the Book. Arabs were from the progeny of Ismail (Peace be upon him), son of
Ibrahim (Peace be upon him). These were the unlettered people who were not
sent any Prophet before Muhammad (Peace be upon him). Secondly, the Qur’an
addresses the previous Muslim Ummahs i.e. The Jews and the Christians. They
were given all the previous scriptures and most of the Prophets were sent to
them before the advent of Prophet Muhammad (Peace be upon him). But as a
whole, Qur’an was revealed as a guidance and addresses all of the Mankind,
and not to a particular group or a nation. It speaks to innumerable varieties of
people, remote from one another in time, space, and character, and still it has
such an easy way of explanation, such a purity of style, and a clear way of
description that it is as if it were addressing only a single homogenous group,
and each different group thinks that it is being addressed uniquely and
specifically.
Preservation of the Qur’an
Allah has guaranteed to preserve this Qur’an, and He says:
“Verily, it is We Who have sent down the Dhikr (i.e. the Quraan) and surely, We
will guard it.” [2]
Unlike the case with other divinely-revealed Books which Allah revealed to the
people of a particular Prophet only, and not to all of mankind, so He did not
guarantee to preserve them, rather He delegated their preservation to the
followers of the Prophets (Peace be upon them). But they did not preserve them,
rather they introduced alterations and changes which distorted most of the
meanings. The Qur’an, on the other hand, was revealed by Allah to all of
Mankind until the end of time, because the message of Muhammad (Peace be
upon him) is the final message, so the Qur’an is preserved in men’s hearts and
in written form, as is proven by the events of history.
In another ayah Allah states:
“Surely this is a Glorious Qur'an, inscribed on a Preserved Tablet(Al-Lawh al-
Mahfuz)”[3].
And in surah Al-Waqi’ah, Allah says:
“This is indeed a Glorious Qur'an, in a well-guarded Book.” [4].
Allah is protecting its location, and protecting it from having anything added or
taken away, or being distorted. He is protecting its meanings from being
twisted, just as He is protecting its words from being changed, and He is
protecting its letters so that nothing is added or taken away.[5]
And in surah Zakhraf, Allah says:
And verily it is in the Mother of the Book in Our Presence high, full of wisdom.
This means, that the actual Qur’an is with Allah in the Mother of the Book,
and from there it was revealed to Muhammad(Peace be upon him), in two
stages. At first, Allah sent the Qur’an down all at one time from the Preserved
Tablet[6] to the House of Might (Baytul-Izzah), which is in the heaven of this
world. Then it came down in parts to the Messenger of Allah(Peace be upon
him), based upon the incidents that occurred over a period of twenty two years.
Beginning of the Revelation
The Prophet(Peace be upon him) received the first revelation in 610CE, in the
Cave of Hira, in the Mountain of Light (Jabal-e-Noor), two and a half miles away
from the House of Allah in the city of Makkah. It was revealed in Laila-tul-qadr
(Night of Decree) in the holy month of Ramadan, through Angel Gabriel.
The Qur'an was revealed in stages over a period of 22 years, and not as a
complete book in one single act of revelation. Firstly it was done to strengthen
the heart of the Prophet(Peace be upon him) by addressing him continuously
and whenever the need for guidance arose. Secondly, to gradually implement
the laws of Allah. And thirdly, to make understanding, application and
memorization of the revelation easier for the believers.
During the 22 years of the revelation, Prophet(Peace be upon him) stayed at
Makkah for about 12 years, and then he migrated to Madinah in the year
622CE, where the revelation continued for ten more years. Nearly two-third of
the Qur’an was revealed in Makkah, and the remaining in Madinah, with some
surahs revealed during the migration from Makkah to Madinah.
Division of Qur’an
Qur’an has been divided into units, portions and sections, according to the
convenience of the readers who wish to complete it in a given time and
according to the subject matter. The Arabic terms used for this division are
Manzil, Juz, surah, Hizb, ruku and ayah. There are different interpretations in
different translations for these Arabic terms, but there are a few terms which
we will use as they are in Arabic, like the words ayah and surah.
- Ayah
Ayah is the unit of Qur’an. It is guidance from Allah to Mankind and it is
therefore not at all surprising to find that its smallest divisions are called
'signs'(ayat) i.e. signs of the Wisdom of Allah. The terms sentence and verse are
not appropriate to use in place of the word ayah, as the Qur’an is not a Book of
poetry. The size of an ayah varies in different surahs. The smallest ayah in the
Qur’an comprises of only two letters i.e. ‘Ha-Mim’. On the other hand an ayah
can be as big as Ayat-ul-Kursi, which is one of the biggest ayat of the Qur’an.
So the division or the length of an ayah is not based on any principal of Arabic
grammar, rather it was accepted as Prophet Muhammad(Peace be upon him)
told us. As far as the count of ayat of the Qur’an are concerned, there is a
difference of opinion in this matter, but it is known that there are atleast 6500
ayat in the Glorious Qur’an.
- Surah
Surah, plural Suwar, literally means 'row' or 'fence'. In technical language, it is
the passage-wise division of the Qur'anic text. The Qur'an has 114 surahs of
unequal length, the shortest consisting of four (Al-Asr) and the longest of 286
ayat (Al-Baqarah). The surahs are not divided into topics or subjects, quite
unlike the books we are accustomed with and the reader also encounters
abrupt transitions between one subject matter into another within a surah,
that is what makes Qur’an a unique Book. Likewise, a surah does not contain
any chapters or paragraphs, thus these terms cannot be interchanged with the
Arabic word ‘surah’.
- Ruku
The surahs are further divided into sections called ruku. These divisions were
not present at the time of the Prophet (Peace be upon him) or during the days of
his Companions (May Allah be pleased with them all). They were later added on
for the convenience of the readers, under the leadership of Hajjaj bin Yusuf.
Rukus are indicated by the Arabic letter ‘Ain’ and a number on it.
- Juz
The Qur’an is also divided into thirty well know ‘Juz’ of approximately equal
length for easy recitation during the thirty nights of a month, especially of the
month of Ramadan. Usually they are indicated by the word and the number of
it given alongside. This division of the Qur’an was present at the time of the
Companions (May Allah be pleased with them all), as indicated by the hadith:
Aws bin Hudhayfah said, he asked the Companions (May Allah be pleased with
them all) of the Prophet(Peace be upon him), during his lifetime about how they
used to divide the Qur’an, they said, “A third, a fifth, a seventh, a ninth, oneeleventh,
one thirteenth and the Mufassal 7 until the end”8.
- Hizb
The Qur'an has each Juz subdivided into four Hizb. Each hizb is again
subdivided into quarters, the division is as follows, Rub’u (one-fourth), Nisf
(half), and Sulus (one-third).
- Manzil
The Qur'anic text is also divided into seven parts of approximately equal
length, called Manzil. It is indicated by the word ‘manzil’ and the respective
number in the margin. This arrangement was done by the Companions (May
Allah be pleased with them all) of the Prophet(Peace be upon him), to enable
them to recite the whole Qur’an in the course of a week. First manzil contains
three surahs, excluding Al-Fatihah, second has five, third seven, then nine,
eleven, thirteen and the seventh Manzil contains sixty-five surahs.
- Pairs
Some surahs in the Qur’an form pairs, like surah Al-Baqarah and surah Al-
Imran. Similarly the surahs Bani Israel and Al-Kahf form a pair. They form
pairs because of the similarities of the subject addressed in them. There are
also some unique surahs which do not form a pair with any surah like surah
Yasin.
- Makkan and Madinan Division
As part of studying the revelation of the Qur'an, scholars have categorized the
surahs of the Qur'an according to the time or era of their revelation. This is the
subject that came to be known as the Makkan and Madinan division of Qur'an.
The surahs revealed before Hijrah are known as Makkan surahs and those
revealed after Hijrah are called Madinan surahs. The Makkan surahs are 85
and Madinan surahs number 28, which are divided into seven Makkan-
Madinan groups. There is a scholarly consensus on the categorization of the
Makkan and the Madinan surahs except for a few, where not all the ayat in a
surah are of the same category, e.g. Surah Hajj. Some say it is Makkan and
others say it of the Madinan origin, both opinions are correct, as it contains
some ayat of the Makkan phase as well as from the Madinan period.
Asbab al-nuzul (reasons of the revelations)
The Qur'an has been revealed for guidance, for all times and situations to
come. However, various ayat were revealed at a particular time in history and
in particular circumstances. So we have to know the knowledge about the
reasons of the revelations (Asbab al-nuzul). i.e. the knowledge about the events
and circumstances in history that are related to the revelation of certain
passages from the Qur'an. With the knowledge of the reasons of revelations, it
is also to be decided whether the revelation has a specific implication or
whether it is of a general nature, and needs to be applied by all Muslims at all
times.
The Order of Surahs and its Compilation
The complete Qur’an was revealed over a period of 22 years portion by portion,
as and when it was required. The sequence of the ayat as they appear in the
Mushaf [9], is different from its chronological order of revelation. The order and
sequence of the Qur’an was Divinely inspired and was instructed to the Prophet
(Peace be upon him) by Allah through angel Gabriel. The compilation of the
Qur’an was completed in three stages. First of all, Prophet Muhammad (Peace
be upon him), received the revelation of the Qur'an through angel Gabriel. When
the beloved Prophet Muhammad (Peace be upon him), received a revelation, he
dictated it to a scribe, who promptly wrote it down. That is to say, the Qur'an
was not written down by his Companions (May Allah be pleased with them all),
on their own initiative, but the Prophet (Peace be upon him), dictated it to them.
The Prophet had several such scribes, among whom was Zaid bin Thabit (May
Allah be pleased with him), who was very prominent. Uthman (May Allah be
pleased with him), said that the Prophet told his scribes where to place a
particular ayah that was just revealed. He used to say: “Place these ayat in the
surah, in which this and this is mentioned.” And when one ayah was revealed to
him, he said: “Place this ayah in the surah in which this and this is mentioned.”
[10]. The Revelation scribes wrote down the Qur’an, according to the order of
Prophet Muhammad (Peace be upon him), on pieces of cloth, leather, bones,
and stones. Its ayat were ordered and arranged according to Allah's
inspiration. At the beginning, it was not gathered in one book, which was later
done during the caliphate of Abu Bakr (May Allah be pleased wit him). The Oral
transmission of the revelation was based on memorization and the Prophet
Muhammad (Peace be upon him), himself was the first to commit a revelation to
memory after the angel Gabriel had brought it to him. Every Ramadan all the
portions of the Qur’an that had been revealed, including the order of the ayat,
were revised and reconfirmed by the Prophet (Peace be upon him) with Gabriel.
During the last Ramadan, before the demise of the Prophet (Peace be upon
him), the Qur’an was rechecked and reconfirmed twice.
The Prophet (Peace be upon him), also instructed his Companions (May Allah
be pleased with them all), to memorize it. Abdullah Ibn Masud (May Allah be
pleased wit him), was the first man to publicly recite the Qur'an in Makkah. It
is also reported that Abu Bakr (May Allah be pleased wit him) used to recite the
Qur'an in front of his house in Makkah. [11]. It is therefore clearly evident that
the Qur’an was compiled and authenticated by the Prophet (Peace be upon him)
himself during his lifetime, both in the written form as well as in the memory of
several of his Companions (May Allah be pleased with them all). In the second
phase of the compilation of the Qur’an, it was collected as Suhuf (Loose pieces
of writing material, such as paper and skin.), during the Caliphate of Abu Bakr
(May Allah be pleased with him). Tradition informs us that at the Battle of
Yamama, a number of Muslims who had memorized the Qur'an were killed.
Hence it was feared that unless a written copy of the Qur'an were prepared, a
large part of the revelation might be lost. Therefore, Abu Bakr (May Allah be
pleased with him) ordered Zaid bin Thabit (May Allah be pleased with him) to
collect the Qur’an. Zaid (May Allah be pleased with him), collected it from
various written materials and the memories of people. The sheets thus
prepared were kept with Abu Bakr, then Umar, and then Hafsah (May Allah be
pleased with them all). In these Suhuf the order of the ayat within each surah
was fixed, but the sheets with the surahs on them were still in a loose
arrangement, i.e. not bound into a volume.
The Qur’an was finally compiled into a Mushaf (collected Suhuf into a volume),
during the Caliphate of Uthman (May Allah be pleased with him), where both
the order of the ayat within each surah, as well as the order of the sheets were
fixed. It was written from the main copy gathered during the era of Abu Bakr
(May Allah be pleased with him). It was kept at the residence of Hafsah Bint
Umar (May Allah be pleased with her). Abu Bakr (May Allah be pleased with
him), charged the following scribes to do it:
1. Zaid Ibn Thabit.
2. Abdullah Ibn Al-Zubair.
3. Said Ibn Al-As.
4. Abdur Rahman Ibn Al-Harith Ibn Hisham.
They scribed many copies of Qur’an, reflecting in their writing the different
correct readings of it; excluding any incorrect one. It was not marked with dots
or vowel points. Uthman (May Allah be pleased with him), kept a copy at
Madinah and sent the remaining copies to the various Islamic countries.