History and Importance

Of the Holy Quran

Mawlawi Jahangir Mahmud
An Introduction
 The Quran is the last of the revealed books of Allah.
It was sent down to His Last messenger Muhammad
between the years 610 A.D. to 632 A.D.
 All the heavenly books that Allah revealed were
brought along with His other messages to His
Prophets by the Archangel Angel Jibreel
 Hence when Allah willed that the Quran be
revealed to the Holy Prophet it was Jibreel who
brought the first revelation to him in the Cave of
Hira.
The Revelation of the Holy Quran
 The Quran was not revealed to
the Holy Prophet in one incident.
 It began to be revealed to the
Holy Prophet in the cave of Hira
in one of the last ten nights of
Ramadan in 610 A.D.
 From time to time, Allah would
send down different parts of it as
and when He deemed proper.
 In the next 23 years, the Quran
was sent down to the Holy
Prophet bit by bit.
 Sometimes Allah would reveal
several verses, a complete Surah,
or sometimes Suwar (pl of Surah).
 Whenever the Holy Prophet
would receive a revelation, he
would also be divinely guided
arrange the same in the specified
sequence of Surahs of the Holy
Quran.
 The order of revelation and the
sequence of the Surahs in the
Book were not the same
 However, both were according to
the will of Allah.
 However, it must be remembered
that both of them are from Allah
Himself.
Methods of Revelation
 Jibreel: The Archangel would usually bring him the message of
Allah. This too was in three different ways:-
 He would appear in his real form, ie, of the Archangel and speak to
him.
 He would meet him in the form of a man and deliver him the
message.
 He would inspire him in his heart with the words of the revelation.
 Dreams: The Prophet’s dreams are 'Ruya as Sadiqah' or true
dreams, meaning whatever Allah showed him in his dreams was
Divine Truth and a message from Allah.
 Divine Sounds: Sometimes the Holy Prophet would hear the
sound of bells ringing or bees buzzing, at the end of which the
words of the revelation would be inscribed in his heart.
 Direct conversation with Allah: The Holy Prophet was
granted the honour of speaking to Allah directly more than once.
Divisions in the Types of Verses
Makki
 These are the verses revealed to the Holy
Prophete during the Makkan phase of his
mission, i.e, from 610 AD to 622AD.
 These Ayat (verses) and Suwar (chapters)
have a distinctive subject matter.
 They are usually recognized by the
addressees which are often “O People!”.
 The language is also majestic and flowery.
These Suwar mostly consist of subjects
such as:
Oneness of Allah, Prophethood,
affirmation of the Hereafter, the panorama
of the Resurrection, words of comfort for
the Holy Prophete and events relating to
the past communities.
Madani
 These are the verses revealed to the
Holy Prophete the Hijrah, ie the years
622 to 632 AD.
 The style of the Madani Surahs is
comparatively simple.
 These mostly address (besides the
believers) the hypocrites and the
“People of the Book”.
 The chapters are long and detailed.
 Now that an Islamic State was being
established, the verses revealed were
regarding :
family and social laws, injunctions of
jihad and expositions of limits and
duties.
Tafseer of The Holy Quran
 Tafseer is an Arabic word which is derived from the root
'fassara' which means to "explain" or to "expound". It
is best understood as 'explanation' or 'interpretation' of
the Quran.
 Tafseer (pl. Tafaseer) in Islamic terminology means
explanation and clarification of the Holy Quran. It
means the exegesis or commentary on the Holy Quran.
Or simply, it means a detailed explanation of the
teachings contained in the Holy Quran.
 It aims at knowledge and understanding concerning the
book of Allah, to explain its meanings, extract its legal
rulings and grasp its underlying reasons.
 Someone who writes tafsir is a mufassir (pl. mufassirūn).
Evolution of Tafseer
 The Holy Quran was revealed to Allah's Final Messenger Muhammad over a period
of twenty three years. Sometimes Allah would reveal a verse when He deemed fit to
explain or ordain His Will. At other times, a situation would arise that required
Divine guidance and Allah would send relevant instructions to His Prophet, who
would implement them.
 The Holy Prophet being the vice regent of Allah on the earth was there to explain
and demonstrate the implications of each verse to the Companions and thus the
entire treasure of Islamic teachings was right before their very eyes.
 After the departure of the Holy Prophete from this world, the Companions were left
behind to explain the Holy Quran to the coming generations of Muslims.
 Allah's Messenger had trained them well and they were qualified to transmit the
Quranic teachings to their successors.
 Yet they also realized that they were not the teachers that their Teacher was; so some
of them decided to chalk out the science of Tafseer.
 Amongst the first persons to do so was the Prophet's cousin Abdullah bin Abbas
(popularly known as Ibne Abbas).
 He would teach the Holy Quran and also explain it, and in this course, the sources of
commentary on the Quran were defined.
What sources are used to explain the
Quran?
 The Qur'an
This is regarded as the highest form of tafsir, based
on the belief that the Qu'ran is the word of God, in
Arabic revealed by Allah, and authoritative when
it explains itself. The Qur'an is free of any
contradiction, and any apparent inconsistencies in
its message are inevitably resolved through closer
study of the Qur'anic text.
 The Hadith & Sunnah
The entire life of the Holy Prophet was a practical
demonstration of the Holy Quran. He was sent to
explain and communicate the Qur'an to people.
Thus his life (Seerah) and Traditions (Ahadith)
contain much tafsir of the Qur'an. These are often
marked as 'Meaning of Qur'anic verses' in almost
all the major collections of Ahadith. An authentic
hadith is regarded the second highest form of
tafsir.
 Aathar or the reports of the Sahaba
The Sahaba, or companions, also interpreted and
taught the Qur'an. If Qur'anic explication is
absent, and there is no authentic hadith, then a
consensus of the companions may be helpful in
interpreting a certain verse. Scholars have an
obligation to follow that consensus.
 Tabaeen's Explanations
These people grew up in an environment with the
Companions and were taught by them thus had
insight that is the next in line of the sources of
tafsir.
 Reason
A qualified scholar's personal reasoning
(deductive logic and personal evaluation of
arguments) is the final method of understanding
the Qur'an; it exists in conjunction with the other
four.
 Methods of Tafseer
 Interpretation of the Quran by
the Quran:
Known as Tasfeer ul Quran bil Quran, it
has the highest status. Because of the
close interrelatedness of the verses of the
Quran with one another, the Quranic
verses explain and interpret one another.
Many verses or words in the Quran are
explained or further clarified in other
verses of the Quran.
 Interpretation of the Quran by
the Hadith:
Known as Tafseer bil Hadith,
interpretation is done using the Ahadith
and Sunnah of the Holy Prophete. When
a verse was explained by the words of the
actions of the Holy Prophete himself, no
better explanation is possible by a human
being. An example of this is the
injunction of Salah (prayer).
 Interpretation of the
Qur'an by the History:
It is considered extremely
important for commentators to
explain how the Qur'an was
revealed -- when and under
which circumstances. Much
commentary, or tafsir, was
dedicated to history. These
circumstances are called 'Asbab e
Nuzool' or conditions
surrounding the revelations.
These may also be in more than
one instance. A classic example is
Surah Kauthar, which was
revealed to console the Holy
Prophet when he was being
taunted upon the death of his
son.
Who can comment on the Quran?
 To be able to comment on the Quran, i.e. to be a
Mufassir, all the scholars agree that the following
qualities must be present in the person.
 Must be a highly qualified scholar and his/her
credentials must be recognized by the scholars.
 Must be an extremely pious Muslim.
 Must have absolute command over twenty three sciences
Some of them are:
 1. Usool e Tafseer or science of Tafseer.
 2. Hadith and its sciences
 3. History and Asbab e Nuzul
 4. Nasikh and Mansukh
 5. Arabic Language, Lexicology, Grammar and Meanings.
Some important classical Tafaseer
 Tafaseer (plural of Tafseer) are many in number.
Some of the unanimously accepted classical
commentaries are
1. Tafseer Ibne Abbas: Abdullah bin Abbas
2. Tafseer Ibne Katheer: Imam Ibne Katheer
3. Al-Jami' li Ahkam il-Qur'an: Imam Abu Abdullah al-
Qurtubi
Nasikh & Mansukh
 The Holy Quran was revealed in portions and
commandments and rulings were sent as and when
Allah willed it proper.
 At times a Quranic verse allowed a certain act but
later disallowed it.
 Such a verse that is cancelled is called 'Mansukh'
and the verse that cancels it is called 'Nasikh'.
 The best example is the inclusion of parents and
relatives in one's will (2:180) which was later
abrogated when details of inheritance were laid
down in Surah Nisa verse 11 & 12.