Q. It has been mentioned under discussion about Islamic faith and beliefs that the Qur-an took twenty- three years to be revealed. On the other hand, Al-lah says in Qur-an: SHAHRU RAMADANAL-LAZI UNZILA FIHIL-QUR-AN ( Ramadan is the month in which the holy Qur-an was revealed). This shows that the Qur-an was revealed in the month of Ramadan . At another place the Qur-an says: IN-NA ANZALNAHU FI-LAILATIL- QADR (We revealed it [the Qur-an] in the night of ‘ Qadr ’). This shows that the Holy Qur-an was revealed in the night of ‘Qadr ’. These three statements seem to be mutually contradictory. Which one of these is to be taken as correct? Ans. All the three statements are correct. The fact is that the revelation of the Holy Qur-an is of two kinds. First, the whole of the Qur-an was at one stroke sent down from the Preserved Tablet to the Sky of the earth the first sky). Secondly, it was sent down in installments and bit by bit into the world as and when necessity arose. Thus, the meaning of the two verses of the Holy Qur-an is that it was sent down in a certain night ( Qadr ) of the holy Ramadan from the Preserved Tablet to the sky of the earth. Reference to twenty-three years means that it continued to be revealed on the holy Prophet (peace be on him) for twenty-three years. Thus, the three propositions are not contradictory, but complementary. Q. Where did the Qur-an start being revealed, or more appropriately, which is the place where Qur-an started being revealed? Ans. The Holy Qur-an started being revealed in Hira . Hira is the name of a mountain in the holy city of Mecca. The mountain had a cave. The prophet (peace be on him) frequented the cave for the worship of Al-lah . Sometimes, he lived there for days on end. Whenever he ran short of food supply, he went home and brought fresh supplies to last several days and, thus, busied himself in the worship of Al-lah in loneliness. It was in this cave (Hira) that the Qur-an started being revealed. Q. How did revelation of the Quran commence? Ans. The holy Prophet (peace be on him) was stationed in this very cave (Hira) when the angel Jibril (Gabriel) appeared before him and said "iqra ?!" This the first word of the chapter "Al-‘alaq ". It means "read" or "proclaim". The holy Prophet (peace be on him) said, "I am not literate" The exhortation and the answer were repeated three times. Then Hadrat Jibril (Gabriel) recited the following verses: IQRA? BISMI RAB-BIKAL-LAZI KHALAQ KHALAQAL-INSANA MIN ‘ALAQ. IQRA? WA RAB-BUKAL—AKRAMUL—LAZI’ AL-LAMA BIL-QALAM,’ AL-LAMAL- INSANA MA LAM YA’ LAM. The Holy Prophet also repeated the verses after him. These are the earliest verses of the Holy Quran revealed on the Prophet (peace be on him).
Posted on: Sat, 06 Jul 2013 14:19:14 +0000
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