Essence of the Holy Qur’an — Page xiii
Essence of the Holy Qur’ a n xiii H ir a ’, on the 24th night of Rama da n and according to some scholars on some other odd night after this night, thirteen years before the Hijrah , corresponding to 610 A. D. The last verse to be revealed was the fourth verse of S u rah Al-M a ’idah. The Holy Qur’ a n has two sets of verses. Some are Mu h kam— firm and decisive in meaning and others Mutash a bih —capable of different interpretations. When interpreting a Mutash a bih verse it may be noted that only such interpretation of it should be accepted as agrees with verses that are Mu h kam. For the convenience of the readers the Holy Qur’ a n was later divided into thirty P a rahs and seven Manzils and each S u rah into Ruk u ‘s (sections). Of the one hundred and fourteen S u rahs, sixty-five are believed to have been revealed before the Hijrah , eighteen after the Hijrah and opinions about the remaining thirty-one S u rahs differ as to how many were revealed before the Hijrah and how many after it. The S u rahs revealed before the Hijrah —the Meccan S u rahs deal with the fundamentals of religion, particularly with the basic principles of Islam. Stress has been laid in them upon doctrines and morals and upon Divine attributes with particular emphasis upon the necessity and importance of Revelation, repudiation of polytheism, life after death and upon how to preach and propagate the Divine Message and to bear courageously and steadfastly the opposition and persecution one had to suffer in the discharge of the sacred mission. They contain prophecies about the ultimate triumph of Islam and deal also with the doubts and objections of disbelievers regarding the Divine origin of the Holy Qur’ a n and the truth of the claims of the Holy Prophet (may peace and blessings be upon him) and most effectively and convincingly removed them in terse, pithy and forceful language. They provide striking illustrations of condensation and economy of expression. The S u rahs revealed after the Hijrah —(Medinite S u rahs ), however, primarily deal at length with statecraft and international relations, also shed light on the fulfilment of the prophecies made in the Meccan S u rahs. The Revelation of the Holy Qur’ a n The Holy Qur’ a n was revealed at intervals and it took about twenty-three years to complete. The disbelievers say, ‘ Why was the Holy Qur’ a n not revealed to the Prophet all at once’ (v. 25:33)? To this objection the Holy Qur’ a n answered in the words: We have revealed it in this manner that we may strengthen thy heart therewith and we have arranged it in the best form (v. 25:33). The gradual revelation of the Holy Qur’ a n was, therefore, intended to serve a sublime purpose. The Divine design was to provide for the needs of each situation as it arose. The interval between the revelation of different passages afforded the believers an opportunity to witness the fulfilment of some of the prophecies contained in the passages already revealed and thus their faith became strengthened. It was also intended to answer the objections raised by disbelievers during the interval. The revelation was spread over a