Before we dive into the Tafseer or Tadabbur of the Quran, we will quickly go through some technical aspects of the Quran:
The Quran is Allah’s divine message to all mankind. The words are His words. The Quran was revealed to the last Messenger for mankind. There had been previous Divine Messages (such as the Torah and Injeel) before the Quran which were limited to one nation at a time.
The whole of Quran was sent down from Lauh Mahfuz (the preserved tablet) in the heavens to the worldly sky "Baitul-‘Izzah" on the night of Al-Qadr. ("Lauh" = Tablet, "Mahfuz" = Preserved)
From "Baitul-‘Izzah", the Quran was revealed to the Prophet s.a.w ayah by ayah by Jibril a.s. for 23 years beginning on 17th Ramadhan when the Prophet was 40 years old at the Hira Cave on Jabal Nur. Revelations ended at the passing of the Prophet s.a.w at 63 years old of age.
The first Surah to be revealed was the first 5 ayaat of Surah Al-'Alaq. The rest of the ayaat for this Surah were revealed at other times.
"Ayah" = 1 ayah (singular).
"Ayaat" = several ayaat (plural)
--> An "Ayah" is not a sentence. It has its own unique definition.
--> There can be several sentences in 1 "Ayah".
--> There can be several "Ayaat" in 1 Sentence.
--> Ayaat in a Surah are NOT revealed sequentially one after another until a Surah is complete.
--> Ayaat are revealed randomly in the timeline and the Prophet s.a.w will dictate which ayah will come after which ayah and in which Surah. The sequence of revelations in the timeline does not dictate the order of the ayaat in Surahs.
--> Eg. Several ayaat revealed today may be put at an earlier part of a Surah than ayaat revealed yesterday or last month.
--> The Prophet s.a.w did not mentioned the number of ayaat for each Surah except for a few eg. Surah Fatihah (7 ayaat), Surah Al-Mulk (30 Ayaat).
--> In the original written Uthmani Mushaf, there were no Ayah number. Later generations of scholars start to put in ayah numbers. They were actually putting in the "Full Stop" for each ayah.
The printed Mushafs of today from different printing companies will have most of the Surahs having the same number of ayaat except for a few Surahs. Why?
--> As the scholars are from different continents and different time in history, therefore the place where they put the punctuation mark of the "Full Stop" for an ayah may vary.
--> A long ayah may be broken into 2 ayaat by one set of scholars but remained as 1 ayah for other.
--> There were no addition or subtraction of ayaat. All the words remain intact. Only the "Full Stop" marks vary from one Mushaf to the other in another region of the world.
--> Majority of the 114 Surahs have exactly the same location of all the "Full Stops" except a few where the Scholars differed in the "Full Stop" locations.
Refer to Ayaat for full discussion.
There are 114 Surahs consisting of 86 "Makki" Surahs and 28 "Madani" Surahs.
Makki Surah having Ayaat that were revealed before the Hijrah of the Prophet s.a.w.
Madani Surah having Ayaat that were revealed after the Hijrah of the Prophet s.a.w.
--> If an Ayah was revealed in Makkah but after the Hijrah, it is considered as a Madani ayah.
--> Therefore a Madani Surah may contain ayaat revealed in Makkah after the Hijrah.
Makki Surah - The Theme is mainly about Tauhid (The Oneness of Allah as the Creator and Master), life after death, judgement day, Sabr (perseverance, patience), strength in faith, etc. The Primary non believing audience were the pagan Mushrikun. Generally, the shorter Surahs were usually Makki.
Madani Surah - The Theme is mainly about Islamic Laws, the Muslim community, the Jews, the Christians, the Munafiqs, relationship with others, tension with the Mushrikun, war, etc. The Primary non believing audience were the Jews and Christians.
--> Some Surahs are named by the Prophet s.a.w while others are named by the Companions.
--> A Surah may have more than 1 name. Eg. Surah "At-Tawbah" is also Surah "Al-Bara'ah". Do not be confused when a printed Mushaf has a different name for a Surah than what you are familiar with.
--> Surahs are not Chapters (unlike a Story book). It has its own unique definition. Most will translate it as Chapters as this is what the English speakers are familiar with. A Chapter in a story book will depend on an earlier Chapter for the reader to follow the story line. Surahs are not part of a sequence of Chapters in a story.
--> Surahs are not revealed sequentially one after the other in a timeline. Revelations keep coming and it does not wait for a Surah to be completed before another Surah is revealed. Therefore in 1 given period, several ayaat may be revealed and put into different Surahs. The order of the Ayaat and Surah was dictated by the Prophet s.a.w and not based on the sequentially order of revelations.
--> Refer to Surah for the full discussion.
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