Principles of Understanding the Qur’an (Part 3/3)
The Final Book on Religion
The Qur’an is last and final and not the first book of the religion it presents. The history of this religion is that when God created man on this earth, the basic realities of religion were ingrained in his nature. He was then told through his earliest ancestor Adam:
Firstly, he has a creator who created him; He alone is his Lord, and as a natural corollary to this, He alone should be worshipped by him.
Secondly, he has been sent in this world to be tried and tested, and, for this, he has been given a clear awareness of good and evil; he has not only been given the freedom to exercise his will, he has also been given sovereignty on this earth. This trial of his will continue till his death. If he is successful in this trial, he will be given the Kingdom of Heaven where he will be free from the regrets of the past and the fears of the future.
Thirdly, the Almighty, at various times, will keep sending His guidance according to man’s needs. If he obeys this guidance, he will not go astray, and if he evades it, he will be eternally doomed in the Hereafter.
Consequently, the Almighty fulfilled His promise and provided guidance to mankind by selecting people from among them and through them delivered His guidance to mankind. This guidance contained both al-hikmah and al-shari‘ah. The former obviously did not require any change, while the latter was revealed as per the needs of a people until the time of Abraham (sws) when its directives crystallized in the form of a sunnah for all mankind. In the time of Moses (sws), when a formal state of the Israelites had been established, the Torah was revealed and directives of the shari‘ah regarding the collectivity were also revealed. During this time, when certain aspects of hikmah did not remain before the eyes of people, they were made evident to them through the Psalms and Gospels. When the original texts of these scriptures became extinct, the Almighty sent the last of His messengers and gave him the Qur’an:
وَأَنزَلْنَا إِلَيْكَ الْكِتَابَ بِالْحَقِّ مُصَدِّقًا لِّمَا بَيْنَ يَدَيْهِ مِنَ الْكِتَابِ وَمُهَيْمِنًا عَلَيْهِ فَاحْكُم بَيْنَهُم بِمَا أَنزَلَ اللّهُ وَلاَ تَتَّبِعْ أَهْوَاءهُمْ عَمَّا جَاءكَ مِنَ الْحَقِّ لِكُلٍّ جَعَلْنَا مِنكُمْ شِرْعَةً وَمِنْهَاجًا وَلَوْ شَاء اللّهُ لَجَعَلَكُمْ أُمَّةً وَاحِدَةً وَلَـكِن لِّيَبْلُوَكُمْ فِي مَآ آتَاكُم فَاسْتَبِقُوا الخَيْرَاتِ إِلَى الله مَرْجِعُكُمْ جَمِيعًا فَيُنَبِّئُكُم بِمَا كُنتُمْ فِيهِ تَخْتَلِفُونَ (5: 48)
And [O Prophet!] We have revealed to you the Book with the truth in confirmation of the shari‘ah before it, and standing as a guardian over it. Therefore give judgement among these [People of the Book] according to the guidance revealed by God and do not yield to their whims by swerving from the truth revealed to you. For each of you, we have ordained a shari‘ah and assigned a path, and had God pleased, He could have made of you one community: but it is His wish to try you by that which He has bestowed upon you. So, compete with each other in good deeds. To God shall you all return. Then He shall disclose upon you all your differences.
This is the history of religion. Consequently, keeping it in consideration, the following precede the Qur’an:
i. Innate Guidance
ii. The Sunan of Abraham (sws)
iii. The Scriptures of the Prophets
The first of the above mentioned things relate to the basics of faith and morality. In the terminology of the Qur’an, a major portion of this is called ma‘ruf and munkar. The former refers to things which are regarded to be good by human nature and the latter refers to things which are regarded to be evil by it and which it evades. The Qur’an does not give a comprehensive list of these things; on other hand, it says that a person is innately aware of these and is able to fully distinguish the two on this basis. It thus demands that a person accept ma‘ruf and shun munkar:
وَالْمُؤْمِنُونَ وَالْمُؤْمِنَاتُ بَعْضُهُمْ أَوْلِيَاء بَعْضٍ يَأْمُرُونَ بِالْمَعْرُوفِ وَيَنْهَوْنَ عَنِ الْمُنكَرِ نهَِي عَنِ المُنْكَر (71:9)
And true believers, both men and women, are friends to one another. They urge one another to what is good and forbid what is evil. (9:71)
If there arises a difference of opinion in determining the ma‘ruf or themunkar, then the inclination of the progeny of Abraham (sws) shall be regarded as decisive in that particular matter. The reason for this is that for the past many centuries, prophets were sent to them and it is as if their inclination of the ma‘ruf and the munkar has been ratified by the prophets.
The second of the above mentioned things is called by the Qur’an as millat-i ibrahimi. The prayer, the fast, the hajj and the zakah are all directives of this millat-i ibrahimi. The addressees of the Qur’an were fully aware of them and to a great extent practiced them the way they were. In the narrative which depicts Abu Dharr’s (rta) acceptance of faith, he explicitly says that he would diligently offer the prayer even before Muhammad (sws) had declared his Prophethood.[1]It is known that the Friday prayer was not unknown to the addressees of the Qur’an.[2]They would offer the funeral prayer[3]and would fast in the very manner we would fast today.[4]Zakah too was known to them as a specific share in their wealth the way it is now.[5]Regarding the worship rituals of hajj and ‘umrah, every knowledgeable person knows that though the Quraysh had added some religious innovations to them, the rites of these worship rituals which they offered were virtually the same as they are today. In fact, it is evident from certain narratives that people were even aware of these innovations. Consequently, there is a narrative in Bukhari that the hajj offered by Muhammad (sws) before his prophethood was offered without these innovations of the Quraysh in the very manner it was offered ever since the time of Abraham (sws).[6]
Same is the case with animal sacrifice, i‘tikaf, circumcision besides some other customs and etiquette of Islam. All these things were already known and specified and the Arabs were aware of them as age old traditions transferred by one generation to another. Thus there was no need for the Qur’an to give their details. They fully knew what the Arabic words which referred to them meant. If the Qur’an asked them to pray and to fast and to offer the hajj and to pay zakah, they fully knew what these terms meant. The Qur’an never gave them the first directive about these. It only reformed and revived them and explained some aspect – and that too to the extent of what was essential. All this tradition of the religion of Abraham (sws), which in religious parlance is called Sunnah, is regarded by the Qur’an as the religion of God, and it asks of its followers to fully adopt it:
ثُمَّ أَوْحَيْنَا إِلَيْكَ أَنِ اتَّبِعْ مِلَّةَ إِبْرَاهِيمَ حَنِيفًا وَمَا كَانَ مِنَ الْمُشْرِكِينَ (123:16)
Then We revealed to you to follow the ways of Abraham, who was true in faith and was not among the polytheists. (16:123)
The third of these are the divine scriptures which are present in the Bible in the form of the Torah, the Gospels and the Psalms. Their recipients have lost parts of them to posterity and have also been guilty of interpolations in them. However, still a rich treasure of the shari‘ah and hikmah revealed by the Almighty is present in them in its vintage divine style. Students of the Qur’an know that it has referred to them at various places, has made concise allusions to the prophetic tales mentioned in them and has negated the interpolations of the Jews and the Christians and criticized the history presented in them. The Qur’an has based its itmam al-hujjah (unveiling of the truth to the extent that nobody denies it) on these very scriptures and it unequivocally declares that its fountainhead and origin is the same as these scriptures:
نَزَّلَ عَلَيْكَ الْكِتَابَ بِالْحَقِّ مُصَدِّقاً لِّمَا بَيْنَ يَدَيْهِ وَأَنزَلَ التَّوْرَاةَ وَالإِنجِيلَ مِن قَبْلُ هُدًى لِّلنَّاسِ وَأَنزَلَ الْفُرْقَانَ إِنَّ الَّذِينَ كَفَرُواْ بِآيَاتِ اللّهِ لَهُمْ عَذَابٌ شَدِيدٌ وَاللّهُ عَزِيزٌ ذُو انتِقَامٍ (3: 3-4)
[O Prophet!], He has revealed to you the Book with the truth, in confirmation of the scriptures which preceded it; and before this He has already revealed the Torah and the Gospel for the guidance of mankind, and [after them] revealed this furqan. Indeed, those that deny God’s revelations shall be sternly punished; God is mighty and capable of retribution. (3:3-4)
إِنَّا أَوْحَيْنَا إِلَيْكَ كَمَا أَوْحَيْنَا إِلَى نُوحٍ وَالنَّبِيِّينَ مِن بَعْدِهِ وَأَوْحَيْنَا إِلَى إِبْرَاهِيمَ وَإِسْمَاعِيلَ وَإْسْحَقَ وَيَعْقُوبَ وَالأَسْبَاطِ وَعِيسَى وَأَيُّوبَ وَيُونُسَ وَهَارُونَ وَسُلَيْمَانَ وَآتَيْنَا دَاوُودَ زَبُورًا (163:4)
O Prophet (sws)! We have sent revelations to you as We sent revelations to Noah and to the prophets who came after him, and as We sent revelations to Abraham, Ishmael, Isaac, Jacob, and his progeny and to Jesus, Job, Jonah, Aaron, Solomon, and We gave the Psalms to David. (4:163)
It is because of this background of the Qur’an because of which certain things should be accepted as a principle in interpreting the Qur’an.
Firstly, this religion stands completed with the awareness of good and evil which is found in human nature and which the Qur’an calls ma‘ruf (good) and munkar (evil). This ma‘ruf and munkar precede the directives and prohibitions of the shari‘ah which are prescribed in the Qur’an, and are the foundations on which the latter stand. Any concept of the shari‘ah which is devoid of the good and evil found in human nature will definitely be defective and against the purport of the Qur’an.
Secondly, the Sunnah is not after the Qur’an; it precedes it historically. Hence it shall be derived from the consensus and perpetual adherence of the ummah to it. They shall not be derived from the Qur’an the way some scholars of contemporary times have done so, and in this manner grossly misinterpreted the Qur’an.
Thirdly, in order to understand styles peculiar to divine literature, the history of the Jews and the Christians and accounts of the Israelite prophets and the allusions of the Qur’an to other similar topics as well as the details of facts it briefly refers to, the real source are the previous scriptures. They shall be regarded as the basis of debate and discussion. In this regard, the narratives which have been recorded in various exegeses of the Qur’an and which are mostly based on hearsay shall be disregarded. These narratives cannot be a substitute to the light which ancient scriptures caste on these subjects and the way the words of the Qur’an accept these details or bring to surface the real facts about certain aspects mentioned in them. Such narratives neither satisfy the intellect of the students of the Qur’an nor prove of any worth as an argument for the People of the Book.
Theme of the Qur’an
The theme of the Qur’an is Muhammad’s indhar. Every page of the Qur’an speaks of this reality. The reason for this is that the Qur’an has not merely been revealed as an amalgam of shari‘ah and hikmah, it has also been revealed to become the real means of the Prophet’s indhar to his people:
وَأُوحِيَ إِلَيَّ هَذَا الْقُرْآنُ لأُنذِرَكُم بِهِ وَمَن بَلَغَ (19:6)
And this Qur’an has been revealed to me that I may warn you through it and all whom it may reach. (6:19)
It is known that Muhammad (sws) was not merely a nabi (prophet), he was also a rasul (messenger). Prophets are personalities whom the Almighty reveals divine guidance so that they can guide people. However, not every prophet is a messenger. Messengerhood is a position bestowed to only some prophets. According to its details furnished by the Qur’an, a rasul implements the judgement of God on his addressees in this very world. The Qur’an informs us that this final phase in the preaching endeavour of a rasul comes after it passes through the phases of indhar[7], indhar-i ‘am[8], itmam al-hujjah[9]and hijrah wa bara’ah[10]. It is in this phase that the divine court of justice descends and is set up on this earth. Punishment is meted out to the rejecters of the truth and those who have accepted it are rewarded, and in this way a miniature Day of Judgement is witnessed on the face of the earth. The history of the preaching endeavours of the rusul related in the Qur’an shows that at this stage generally either of the two situations arise.
Firstly, a rasul only has a few companions and there is no place available to him for migration.
Secondly, his companions are in substantial numbers and the Almighty also furnishes a place to them where they can migrate and be bestowed with political authority.
In both these situations, the established practice of the Almighty manifests itself – the practice which the Qur’an refers to in the following words:
إِنَّ الَّذِينَ يُحَادُّونَ اللَّهَ وَرَسُولَهُ أُوْلَئِكَ فِي الأَذَلِّينَ كَتَبَ اللَّهُ لَأَغْلِبَنَّ أَنَا وَرُسُلِي إِنَّ اللَّهَ قَوِيٌّ عَزِيزٌ (58: 20-21)
Indeed those who are opposing Allah and His Messenger are bound to be humiliated. The Almighty has ordained: “I and My Messengers shall always prevail.” Indeed Allah is Mighty and Powerful. (58:20-21)
In the first situation, divine punishment descends upon those who have rejected the rusulin the form of raging storms, cyclones and other calamities, which completely destroy them. It is evident from the Qur’an that the people of Noah (sws), Lot (sws), Salih (sws) and Shu‘ayb (sws) besides others met with this dreadful fate. The only exception in this case were the Israelites. Since they primarily adhered to monotheism, instead of annihilation, the punishment of subjugation was meted out to them once the Prophet Jesus (sws) left them.
In the second situation, a rasul and his companions subdue their nation by force. In this case, the addressees of the rasul are given some more respite for he delivers the truth to the people of the place he has migrated to till the extent that they too are left with no excuse to deny it. Also, during this time he instructs and purifies his followers and isolates them from his rejecters and organizes them to fight the enemy. He also consolidates his political authority in the place he has migrated to the extent that with its help he is able to destroy his rejecters and achieve victory for his followers.
In the case of the Prophet Muhammad (sws), this second situation arose. Consequently, the theme of the Qur’an is the account of his indhar which passed through various phases referred to above and culminated in the worldly reward and retribution of his addressees. Each of its surahs has been revealed in this background, and each of its groups have been arranged keeping it in view.
While taking into consideration this theme of the Qur’an, the following three things should thus always remain in consideration before a student of the Qur’an viz a viz its exegesis and interpretation:
Firstly, after deliberation on the contents of a surah, the exact phase in which it was revealed should be determined. So deep and accurate is a person required to go in this endeavour that he is able to very satisfactorily say that for example a surah has been revealed in the phase of indhar or in the phase of migration and acquittal or in the phase of reward and punishment. Each verse of a surah also should be interpreted keeping in view this distinction.
Secondly, the addressees of each surah must be determined from among people present at the time of revelation of the Qur’an. They could be the Idolaters, the People of the Book, the Hypocrites, the Prophet (sws) and his followers or some specific group from among these denominations. It must also be determined if parts of a surah address a secondary addressee besides the primary one. Consequently, the antecedent of every pronoun, the referred to entity of every defining article alif lam and the connotation of every term and expression should be determined in the light of the addressees of the surah.
Thirdly, it must be determined specially in case of directives which relate to jihad, supremacy of the truth and political authority as a result of this supremacy whether they are a permanent directive of shari‘ah or if they specifically relate to the addressees of the prophetic times and the directive cannot be extended beyond these addressees.
Coherence in the Discourse
Each surah is a coherent collection of verses. These verses are not disjoined and haphazardly placed in a surah. In fact, each surah has a theme and all the verses are aptly placed with regard to this theme. When a surah is studied while keeping in consideration its theme and when its coherence becomes evident as a result of this study, it comes out as a well-knit unit. What is the values of this coherence? While answering this question, Imam Amin Ahsan Islahi writes:
It is absolutely incorrect to think that nazm (coherence) is merely a subtle thing which has no importance as regards the real objective of Islam. In my consideration, its real worth stems from the fact that it is the door through which the real knowledge and wisdom of the Qur’an can be reached. A person who reads the Qur’an without the guidance of nazm will at best obtain some independent and solitary directives.
Although independent and solitary directives are also valuable, however there is a world of difference in having knowledge of the effects of certain plants and herbs from a dictionary of medical terms and in the fact that an adept doctor prepares a prescription from all these ingredients which totally cures the patient. The brick and fabric of the Taj Mahal would have been used in many different buildings of the world; however, in spite of this, there is only one Taj Mahal. Without any real comparison, I would say that the words and sentences of the Qur’an all belong to the Arabic language; however, the unparalleled arrangement of the Qur’an have bestowed on them the ambience and beauty which nothing on this earth can rival.
Just as families have genealogies, pious and evil deeds too have genealogies. Sometimes we regard a pious deed to be an ordinary one, whereas it actually belongs to the family of pious deeds from which the branches of great pious deeds originate. Similarly, sometimes we regard an evil deed to be ordinary, whereas it belongs to that family of evil deeds from which originate the deadliest of diseases. A person who wants to understand the wisdom of religion should be aware of all these steps and stages of pious and evil deeds otherwise there is a strong chance that he would end up considering a disease which is a harbinger to tuberculosis as the one which fortells of influenza and vice versa. This wisdom of the Qur’an is not evident from isolated parts of its discourse but from the coherence and arrangement of the discourse. If a person is aware of the individual verses of a surah, but is not aware of the meaningful coherence that exists between these verses, then he will never be able to have access to this wisdom.
Similarly, the Qur’an has furnished historical arguments as well as the ones found in human nature and in the external world in order to substantiate some principle premise. When a person who is aware of this arrangement deliberates on a surah, he will feel that he has read a very comprehensive, well-argumented and satisfying discourse on the topic under discussion. On the other hand a person who is not aware of this arrangement may have an idea of the contents of the discourse but will be deprived of the wisdom found in the surah.[11]
After that he has explained the importance of Qur’anic coherence with reference to the collective and political unity of the Muslims:
Every person knows that it is the strong rope of the Qur’an that holds together the fabric of this ummah, and all Muslims have been directed to hold steadfast to this rope and not divide themselves into factions. An obvious requirement of this directive is that we must turn to the Qur’an to resolve all differences which arise among us; however, it is very unfortunate that all of us have different opinions regarding the Qur’an. There are so many views in the interpretation of every verse, and most of these views are contradictory to one another and we do not have any reference point to decide which view is the correct one. If a difference of opinion arises in the interpretation of a discourse, the most satisfactory thing which can resolve this is the context and coherence of the discourse. Unfortunately, most people do not regard the Qur’an to be a coherent book having a definite context. The result is that differences of opinions have become permanent. A lot of differences of opinion which have arisen in fiqh are because of disregarding the context of a verse. If this context is kept in consideration, one will find that at most occasions only one interpretation is possible.
More critical than the issue of juristic differences is the case of misguided sects. Most of these sects have lent credence to their beliefs through various verses of the Qur’an. They normally sever a verse from its context and then interpret it the way they want to. Obviously, once a sentence is severed from its context, one can attribute multiple meanings to it if one wants to. Some of these meanings could never have even been imagined by the speaker. But for the fear of consuming a lot of space, I could have given several examples of verses which have been misinterpreted owing to this approach and wrecking havoc with the actual meaning they imply. However, no one seems to be bothered to just look up the context and placement of the verse. He does not give any importance to these aspects if the Qur’an is being deliberated upon.[12]
It is evident from the foregoing discussion that what makes the Qur’an a document having one definite meaning and which resolves all differences of interpretation and thus verifies Imam Farahi’s words الْقُرْآنُ لاَ يَحْتَمِلُ إِلاَّ تَاْوِيْلاً وَاحِداً[13]about it is the coherence it possesses. Imam Amin Ahsan Islahi writes:
In my exegesis, I have tried to determine a single interpretation of each Qur’anic verse because I have given full importance to the context and coherence in the verses. In fact, the truth of the matter is that I have been forced into this because the context and coherence in the verses have not allowed me to swerve from this. The right interpretation becomes so clear and obvious, and if a person is not deeply prejudiced, he can give his life but he cannot bear to deviate from it.[14]
It is because of this coherence in the Qur’an that when it called upon its addressees to emulate it, it did not ask them to produce independent verses but to produce one or more surah like it:
وَإِنْ كُنتُمْ فِي رَيْبٍ مِمَّا نَزَّلْنَا عَلَى عَبْدِنَا فَأْتُوا بِسُورَةٍ مِنْ مِثْلِهِ وَادْعُوا شُهَدَاءَكُمْ مِنْ دُونِ اللَّهِ إِنْ كُنتُمْ صَادِقِينَ (2: 23 )
And if you are in doubt about what We have revealed to Our servant, then [go and] produce a single surah like it. And [for this purpose] also call your leaders besides Allah, if your are truthful [in your claim]. (2:23)
أَمْ يَقُولُونَ افْتَرَاهُ قُلْ فَأْتُواْ بِعَشْرِ سُوَرٍ مِّثْلِهِ مُفْتَرَيَاتٍ وَادْعُواْ مَنِ اسْتَطَعْتُم مِّن دُونِ اللّهِ إِن كُنتُمْ صَادِقِينَ (13:11)
Do they say: “He has invented it himself”; Tell them: “Produce ten invented surahs like it and call on whom you can except God if you are truthful.” (11:13)
The way the exponents of the Farahi school of thought have revealed the coherence in the Qur’an does not require any further discussion to prove that it does exist; however, what is the nature of this coherence? The following points will help in understanding it:
1. Each surah has a theme round which its contents revolve and make it into a unified whole. It is the most comprehensive statement of its contents and what the soul is to a body, the theme is to a surah.
2. Together with the main text of a surah, there is an introduction and a conclusion. Surahs have distinct sections to mark thematic shifts, and every section is paragraphed to mark smaller shifts. Some surahs may be without sections. The verses of the introduction and of the conclusion also may at times be divided into paragraphs.
3. These paragraphs and these sections relate to each other not through a verse to verse linear connection but through various literary devices like similes, comments, conditional statements, parenthetical statements, principle statements, warning statements, parallelism, conclusion of a theme, questions and their answers, and statements or passages which return to what is said in the beginning. This of course is not an exhaustive list.
4. The text of a surah progresses through these paragraphs and section and gradually reaches its culmination. As a result, the surah assumes a distinct and unique form and shape, and becomes a complete and independent whole.
Arrangement of the Qur’an
The surahs of the Qur’an are not haphazardly compiled as is generally thought. They have been arranged in a specific order by the Almighty, and like the arrangement of the verses within a surah, the arrangement of the surahs within the Qur’an is very apt and meaningful with relation to the topic they discuss. In a nutshell, as per this arrangement, the Qur’an is divided in seven distinct groups and the surahs within each group occur in pairs. This pairing of the surahs is on the basis of the topics discussed, and each member of a pair has a complimentary relation with one another. Some surahs are an exception to this scheme like Surah Fatihah, which is like an introduction to the whole Qur’an. Some other surahs have come as an appendix or as a conclusion of a group. This scheme, with its seven surah-groups and pairing of the surahs, is stated by the Qur’an in the following words:
وَلَقَدْ آتَيْنَاكَ سَبْعًا مِنْ الْمَثَانِي وَالْقُرْآنَ الْعَظِيمَ (15 : 87)
And We have bestowed upon you seven mathani[15] which is this great Qur’an. (15:87)[16]
Each group of the Qur’an begins with one or more Makkan surah and ends with one or more Madinan surah.
Following is a brief description of the seven Qur’anic groups:
Group I {Surah Fatihah (1) - Surah Mai’dah (5)}
Makkan: 1
Madinan: 2-5
Group II {Surah An‘am (6) - Surah Tawbah (9)}
Makkan: 6,7
Madinan: 8.9
Group III {Surah Yunus (10) - Surah Nur (24)}
Makkan: 10-23
Madinan: 24
Group IV {Surah Furqan (25) - Surah Ahzab (33)}
Makkan: 25-32
Madinan: 33
Group V {Surah Saba (34) - Surah Hujrat (49)}
Makkan: 34-46
Madinan: 47-49
Group VI {Surah Qaf (50) - Surah Tihrim (66)}
Makkan: 50-56
Madinan: 57-66
Group VII {Surah Mulk (67) - Surah Nas (114)}
Makkan: 67-112
Madinan : 113-14
Each group has a theme, and the surahs within it are arranged according to this theme.
The theme of the first group is to communicate the truth to the Jews and Christians to the extent that they are left with no excuse to deny it, to institute a new ummah from among the ishmaelites, its purification and isolation from the disbelievers and a description of the final worldly Judgment of God.
The theme of the second group is to communicate the truth to the polytheists of Arabia to the extent that they are left with no excuse to deny it, purification of the believers and their isolation from the disbelievers and a description of the final worldly Judgment of God.
The third, fourth, fifth and sixth groups have the same theme: delivering warning and glad tidings and purification of the believers and their isolation from the disbelievers.
The theme of the seventh group is to warn the leadership of the Quraysh of the consequences of the Hereafter, to communicate the truth to them to the extent that they are left with no excuse to deny it, and, as a result, to warn them of asevere punishment, and to give glad tidings to Muhammad (sws) of the dominance of his religion in the Arabian peninsula. Briefly, this can be stated as delivering warning and glad tidings.
If the first group is not taken into consideration, the sequence of the groups is from the end to the beginning (the seventh to the second group). Consequently, the seventh group ends on delivering warning and glad tidings. After that, in the sixth, fifth, fourth and third groups besides the theme of delivering warning and glad tidings, the theme of purification of the believers and their isolation from the disbelievers is also added. The second group is the culmination of the groups. It is here that the indhar of Muhammad (sws) reaches its culmination too. Thus besides the themes of delivering warning and glad tidings, and the purification of the believers and their isolation from the disbelievers, the worldly Judgement of God is also depicted which is actually a miniature Day of Judgement that will take place before the actual Day of Judgement.
The first group addresses the People of the Book of Arabia and in this respect differs from the rest. However, it too relates to the worldly judgement pronounced in the second group in Surah Tawbah in the very manner the rest of the groups relate to it. Thus the second group is the culmination of all the groups. The topic of indhar after passing through various phases reaches its peak of worldly judgement in this group from both sides. The only difference are the addressees.
It is evident from this that from the seventh to the second group an ascending order arrangement is present in order relate it with the first group in this manner.
The first group has been placed the foremost because the recipients of the Qur’an are its addresses the foremost.
Except for the first group, the Makkansurahs of each group discuss delivering of warning and glad tidings and of communicating the truth to the addresses to the extent that they do not have any excuse to deny it, while the Madinansurahs discuss the purification and isolation of the believers. However, both the Makkan and Madinan surahs are in harmony and consonance with one another in each group and relate to one another in a manner a root and stem are related to the branches.
This then is the arrangement of the Qur’an. If it is deliberated upon at length the extent of guidance it provides to a student of the Qur’an in understanding the background of the surahs and their time of revelation and the addressees of the Qur’an as well in determining the topic of a surah and its purport cannot be obtained whatsoever from any thing external to the Qur’an.
Historical Background
The Qur’an must be understood in the background in which it was revealed. According to established history, it was revealed to Muhammad (sws) in the sixth century in Arabia. It is evident from this history that Muhammad (sws) explained the Qur’an wherever and whenever a need arose, and so did the scholars among his Companions and the scholars and researchers after them. This history of the Qur’an is an established fact and demands the following from its students:
Firstly, he must be well aware of the history of the period and place in which the Qur’an was revealed. Every student of the Qur’an knows that it mentions the destruction of previous Arab nations like the ‘A%d, the Thamud and the people of Madyan. The views held by these peoples are alluded to by the Qur’an. It also mentions the preaching of their respective prophets and the way these people reacted to it. Also depicted in the Qur’an is the arrival of Abraham (sws) into Arabia, the sacrifice of his son Ishmael (sws) and the construction of the Baytullah. The Qur’an also refers to the influence of Abraham (sws) and Ishmael (sws) on the cultural, moral, social and economic conditions of Arabia. Also portrayed in the Qur’an are the alterations done by the Quraysh in the religion constituted by Abraham (sws) and Ishmael (sws) and the way they transformed the Baytullah, the centre of monotheism into a centre of idol worship and the religious innovations and rituals which as a result of this made way into their religion. Similarly, discussed in the Qur’an are the circumstances in which the Qur’an was revealed, the incidents which took place at that time, as well as the political and religious views which were in vogue at that time. In order to understand all this, it is essential that the available history of that period be fully benefited from while keeping it subservient to the words of the Qur’an and its coherence. Through this, many aspects to which the Qur’an refers to can be understood better, and it is also helpful in unfolding many complexities of the Qur’an.
Secondly, full importance should be given to whatever is mentioned in Ahadith and Athar literature with reference to the Prophet (sws) and his Companions (rta). No doubt they contain many spurious things, and since the original words have not always been preserved and a narrator has relied on his own intellect to transmit these words, a lot of changes have come about in the original words, yet this literature still contains many valuable gems. While pointing out the correct attitude in this regard, Imam Amin Ahsan Islahi, writes:
Among the dhanni [speculative; non-definite] sources of tafsir, Ahadith and Athar occupy the highest status. If their authenticity could have been full relied upon, they would have had the same importance in tafsir as the Sunnat-i Mutawatirah. However, since Ahadith and Athar do not possess this degree of authenticity, they can only be benefited from as far as they are found to be in conformity with the absolute principles of interpreting the Qur’an delineated above. Those who give such importance to the Hadith that they make the Qur’an subservient to it are neither aware of the status of the Qur’an nor that of the Hadith. On other hand, people who don’t even refer to the Hadith in interpreting the Qur’an deprive themselves of a great treasure second only to the Qur’an. I consider the Hadith to be totally derived from the Qur’an; thus I have not confined myself to Hadith which are mentioned in relation to a verse of the Qur’an; as far as I could, I have tried to benefit from the whole corpus of the Hadith. They have helped me the most in understanding the wisdom of the Qur’an. If I have found a Hadith which is not in harmony with the Qur’an, I have deliberated upon it for a long period, and I have only rejected it when it became abundantly clear to me that it is against the Qur’an or it is in conflict with some principle of religion. As far as correct Hadith are concerned, seldom has there arisen a case in which they contradict the Qur’an; however, when this was the case, I have preferred the Qur’an to them, and have written my reasons of this preference in detail.[17]
Thirdly, whatever scholars and exegetes have written must be given due consideration. It is only by benefiting from the works of previous scholars that new dimensions are added in such disciplines; this cannot be done by ignoring them. True knowledge does not come through arrogance and haughtiness; it comes with humility and a sincere love for the truth. Thus it is essential that students of the Qur’an must always study the primary exegetical works on the Qur’an when they are forming an opinion or deliberating on and teaching a verse. Prior to the leading scholars of the Farahi school who have worked on Qur’anic exegesis, three primary works on the exegesis of the Qur’an can be identified: al-Jami‘ al-Bayan of Ibn Jarir, Tafsir al-Kabir of Razi and al-Kashshaff of Zamakhshari. The first of these is a compendium of the opinions of authorities of the past; the second mostly deals with theological issues and third with declensions and syntax. From among these primary works, though a student of the Qur’an should only take what is in harmony with the words of the Qur’an and its coherence and arrangement; however, he should never ignore these works.