ulum-al-quran
ulum-al-quran
ulum-al-quran
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CHAPTER 5 : Understanding the Text<br />
MAKKAN AND MADINAN REVELATIONS<br />
The growth and development of the Muslim umma is marked by two great phases:<br />
The period in Makka, before the hijra (A.D. 622).<br />
<br />
The period in Madina, after the hijra.<br />
Natur<strong>al</strong>ly the revelation from Allah to guide the Muslims <strong>al</strong>so responded, to some extent, to these particular situations.<br />
The Makkan Phase<br />
The Makkan phase of the revelation lasted about 13 years, from the first revelation up to the hijra.<br />
This phase is determined by the prime task of the Prophet to c<strong>al</strong>l people to Islam. The main themes of this c<strong>al</strong>l, based on<br />
the Qur'anic revelation are:<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
Allah and His unity (Tawhid).<br />
The coming resurrection and judgement.<br />
Righteous conduct.<br />
The role of the Prophet in this phase is in particular that of an announcer and Warner.<br />
The Madinan Phase<br />
The Madinan phase lasted about ten years, from the hijra to the death of the Prophet. While the basic themes of the<br />
Makkan phase remain, the factor of the Muslims' growing together into a community and the formation of the umma,<br />
now makes its presence clearly felt.<br />
In Madina, there are four groups of people to be met:<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
The muhajirun, who migrated from Makka to Madina.<br />
The ansar, who originated from Madina and helped the muhajirun.<br />
The munafiqun, who are from Madina and pretended to support the Muslims.<br />
The ahl <strong>al</strong>-kitab, i.e. Jews and Christians, with their respective scriptures.<br />
In addition to these the Qur'an <strong>al</strong>so continued to address <strong>al</strong>-nas, 'mankind' i.e. <strong>al</strong>l people, and referred to the disbelievers<br />
and ignorant ones.<br />
Makkan and Madinan Suras<br />
Suras of the Qur'an have <strong>al</strong>so been classified, according to their origin, into Makkan and Madinan suras.<br />
A sura is said to be of Makkan origin, when its beginning was reve<strong>al</strong>ed in the Makkan phase, even if it contains verses<br />
from Madina.<br />
A sura is said to be of Madinan origin, when its beginning was reve<strong>al</strong>ed in the Madinan phase, even if it has verses from<br />
the Makkan period in its text. [Mabani, in GdQ, 1, p.59.]<br />
The following 85 suras are, according to Zarkashi, [Zarkashi, B.: Al-burhan fi '<strong>ulum</strong> <strong>al</strong>-Qur’an, Cairo, 1958,Vol. 1,p.193.]<br />
of Makkan origin:<br />
96, 68, 73, 74, 111, 81, 87, 92, 89, 93, 94, 103, 100, 108, 102, 107, 109,<br />
105,113,114,112,53,80,97,91,85,95, 106,101,75, 104,77,50,90,86,54,38,7,72,36,25,35, 19,20, 56,26,27,<br />
28, 17, 10, 11, 12, 15, 6, 37, 31, 34, 39, 40, 41, 42, 43, 44, 45, 46, 51, 88, 18, 16, 71, 14, 21, 23, 32,